The Nation Newspaper

Category: e-Business

  • NIMC’s facility gets certification

    NIMC’s facility gets certification

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC’s) facility has secured the certification of the Global Vendors Certification Programme (GVCP) by MasterCard.

    The facility that got certified is the Card Personalisation Bureau (CPB), which is where the National e-ID Cards are personalised and made ready for distribution and subsequent activation. This is one of the few government-owned facilities certified under the GVCP Scheme of the MasterCard on the African continent.

    Its Deputy Director, Corporate Communications, Mr. Abdulhamid Umar who confirmed the development said the certification followed conscious effort by the management of NIMC that led to the refitting, retooling and upgrading of the card printing facility that was built by government under the previous scheme in compliance with some of the requirements and standards for security and operational procedure in the Plastic Card Industry as set by the Europay, MasterCard and Visa, (EMV), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) globally for such High Security Areas (HSAs).

    He noted that the ISO 27001: 2005 certification was also part of efforts at ensuring the GVCP, PCI DSS certification and noted that the coast was now clear for the NIMC to deploy its full capacity for card personalization and also for extending it to the third party vendors it has contracted for that purpose once they are ready. Mr. Umar further noted that as usual with industry practice, the facility would be recertified every year.

    He said the measures taken included providing the required security monitoring appliances for the ‘High Security Areas (HSAs) as well as ensuring the entire area is made safe and secured from threats of physical and logical security, including ensuring that the right persons with ‘clean service records’ are working in the Bureau with clearly defined access to the premises and to the entire NIMS system, particularly the card perso plant process.

    The entire exercise was subjected to an independent audit that raised necessary remedial steps to be taken following which, after subsequent audit exercise, the certification was granted. So the NIMC Card Bureau can personalise EMV Cards and there is no limit for its ability to do so except for the installed capacity of about 20,000 Cards a day.

  • Zinox chief urges gender parity in ICT devt

    Chairman, Zinox Group, Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, has urged  stakeholders in the information communication technology (ICT)  to create a level playing field for women in the industry.

    He said given the appropriate mix of innovation, business focus, accountability and ambition, women entrepreneurs could take the centre stage of on-going revolution of the industry in the 21st Century and relegate their male counterparts to the back seat.

    Ekeh, who made specific reference to global tech giants, IBM which now has Ginni Rometty, a woman as its CEO, pointed at the increasing pivotal role women in the corporate world are playing in the global space.

    He said: “Women are naturally more structured, trustworthy, less greedy and more prayerful than men. These innate qualities have strategically endowed women with the basic ingredients for leadership. As entrepreneurs, all you need to do is combine these innate qualities with absolute commitment, capacity for innovation, credibility and sound digital knowledge and very soon, the male folk will be struggling to keep pace with the women in the industry.

    “ICT is a business of the future; one that you can bequeath to your children and unborn generations. It is an industry of constant innovation, requiring a sound business model and structure. I encourage you to enhance your knowledge in the digital business and build capacity, which will in turn enable you accommodate the short-term business shocks and eventually take charge of the digital economy.”

    Eke, who was the guest speaker at an interactive breakfast meeting tagged: Women in ICT organised by Technology Distributions Limited (TDL), at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, urged female participants to become more ambitious in growing their businesses and targeting bigger ventures

    He urged women to see themselves as equal partners with men, adding that participants should leverage on the emerging force of e-commerce and m-commerce, which has the potential of laying a foundation for women to control the wealth and leadership of nations in the third quarter of the century.  While assuring the women, ICT entrepreneurs of the utmost support of TDL in their respective roles as business partners, the Zinox chief cautioned against excessive borrowing and emotional decisions, which he said, are two factors capable of negating business success.

    TDL’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs. Chioma Ekeh, urged women entrepreneurs to break out of the outdated stereotypes that have long held them back and taken their rightful place in the scheme of things in driving the revolution in the ICT industry.

    She said women are credible, balanced, emotionally intelligent, proven masters of crisis and opportunity management as well as great managers of resources. Mrs. Ekeh urged the participants to borrow a leaf from Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, who has urged women to seek leadership roles and own their success.

    She said: “It is no accident that women make up over half of the world’s population. Why then are there so few women occupying positions of authority?  It is high time we unleashed our potential and began to take charge of things happening around us. There is a growing trend of more women in the ICT. This is quite encouraging. In spite of the challenges in the system, we must capitalise on this to lead the revolutions in the industry.”

  • Data revolution ‘ll shake banking sector, says NCC

    Data revolution ‘ll shake banking sector, says NCC

    The Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr Eugene Juwah, said Nigeria’s second revolution is in data, adding that it will have decisive effect on the banking sector as it will eliminate the expensive branch networks.

    Juwah said things are indeed happening in the industry without people taking notice.

    Juwah, who spoke at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos, said the world is fast changing, lamenting that many people seem not to be realising it.

    He said: “The banking sector is the sector that will be most affected’ by the data revolution that will sweep across the sector. It will eliminate branch banking and allow the road side mechanic, who is afraid of going to the banking hall, to do banking transaction on their mobile phones.”

    Juwah said it is a fact that Nigeria is the fastest growing telecommunications market in Africa since the deregulation of the industry, adding that the transformation of telecom industry has led to a phenomenal increase in foreign direct investments (FDIs), employment, and efficient business transactions among others.

    This, he said, emphasises the importance of ICT in the development path of a nation. He said: “Nevertheless, for a country of about 180million people as at 2014, having more than 130million subscriber base, we cannot afford to be contented.  ICT remains a priority of the Federal Government and an important sector in the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for strong, inclusive, non-inflationary growth, using ICT as the major driver for transformation.  Mr. President requires us to ensure that ICT facilities are extended to all citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “In this regard, internet and broadband have been globally acknowledged as the foundation for the nation’s transformation to a knowledge-based economy.”

    He said the path to an efficient broadband service in Nigeria has been a long and difficult one; internet connectivity has come a long way from a single international submarine cable system with 340GB total capacity installed in 2001 (SAT3) to four cable systems with international bandwidth capacity of over nine terra bits in 2012.

    He said in spite of the progress made, Nigeria is still a far cry from achieving what is considered global broadband standards even among other developing countries.

    He said it has become more worrisome the kind of services most service providers sell to their subscribers, all in the name of 3G, while some canvassed to have 4G, but nothing has changed in data services as consumer experience is nothing to write home about.

    He said the Commission has taken some steps towards realising effective deployment of broadband services in the country, realising that the world is a global village and Nigeria cannot afford to be improperly integrated into it. This integration, he argued, could be better achieved not only through voice telephony, but  effective data service delivery.

    “On consolidation of progress made so far, we have increased teledensity from 63 per cent in 2010 to more than 90 per cent in 2014. The NCC is targeting a 30 per cent increase in broadband internet penetration by 2018. The increase from its current level of six per cent is expected to come from the planned historic auction of the 2.6 gigahertz spectrum band,” Juwah said.

  • Ebola: Ericsson, IRC partner to deploy mobile tech

    Ebola: Ericsson, IRC partner to deploy mobile tech

    Ericsson and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) has announced a multi-faceted partnership aimed at connecting and providing support for those impacted by health, natural disaster and conflict-driven humanitarian crises.

    The partnership initially will focus on the use of mobile phones and applications designed to support Ebola infection-prevention efforts at primary healthcare facilities in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Specifically, the technology will enable IRC teams to more accurately and efficiently capture and monitor data related to the facilities’ Ebola preparedness and response.

    The partnership also will provide technology and services that enable displaced families to reconnect with one another. Longer term, the organizations will collaborate on employee volunteer engagement, common projects, advocacy and knowledge-sharing.

    Speaking on the initiative, President and CEO of IRC, David Miliband said: “The combination of IRC’s operational expertise and Ericsson’s technology leadership has huge potential to help alleviate human suffering in some of the places hardest hit by conflict and disease. Ericsson’s global reach and proven track record in using technology for good will be a huge asset in future relief efforts.”

    Vice President Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility at Ericsson, Elaine Weidman-Grunewald, said: “The world of humanitarian response is challenged like never before. The spread of Ebola, the Syrian refugee crisis and less high-profile crisis in South Sudan all present different challenges to those working with humanitarian response.

  • IT is strategic business driver, say experts

    IT is strategic business driver, say experts

    Over 90 per cent of business leaders in Nigeria have identified information technology (IT) as a strategic lever for business growth.

    According to the survey of 528 business and technology decision makers across the countrys private and public sectors, more than 80 per cent of respondents agree that their organisations recognise the increasing role of automation, such as software defined storage, as critical to business growth.

    The study which was carried out by EMC Corporation and unveiled in Lagos also showed that about 96 per cent of respondents expect next-generation technologies such as mobile, social, cloud computing and big data to give their organisations a competitive advantage, adding that these new technologies will impact key aspects of business, including improving customer experience, managing mission-critical business operations and building new products and services.

    EMC’s General Manager for West Africa, Rasheed Ola Jimoh, said the survey results reflect heightened interest in third platform technologies by organisations operating within the country’s ecosystem.

    He said:  “Enterprises across Nigeria are realising the value that can be derived from technologies such as Cloud Computing and Big Data. These technologies form a bed rock for driving agility and engaging the connected consumer. As the transition to third platform commences, IT departments will find themselves open to new opportunities to innovate and truly fuel business transformation.”

    Jimoh underscored the need for organisations to take a more cloud-centric approach to business, against the backdrop of changing customer expectations arising from the emergence of new, always-on technology platforms.

    “Consumer expectations have undergone a radical shift. They now expect to interact not only with each other, but with a multitude of organizations, via mobile devices and at the speed of now. To remain relevant and competitive, organisations across every industry are reinventing their business models to handle unprecedented levels of access, interaction and scale. For this reason, IT finds itself back in the driver’s seat, morphing from cost centre to a true catalyst for change through the use of cloud and big data technologies,” Jimoh explained.

    He added that EMC’s long-established reputation as a global leader in helping businesses and service providers transform their operations places the organisation at a vantage position for facilitating Nigeria’s transition to an IT-driven economy.

  • e-Commerce: Beyond selling shoes, bags, phones online

    e-Commerce: Beyond selling shoes, bags, phones online

    The liberalisation of the telecoms sector has boosted the economy. Access to telephony has become more democartised because of affordability. The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) figures showed there are over 130 million active subscribers in the country while mobile operators have provided mobile internet for e-commerce to thrive. LUCAS AJANAKU writes on innovations and challenges of e-commerce.

    Nigeria and, indeed, Africa provides significant growth opportunities for players looking to have a sizeable bite of the emerging electronic or e-commerce cake.

    Analysts say the growth percentages are expected to reach hundreds and even thousands in no distant time, but argue that the growth trajectory does not match the value it represents.

    With consistent growth of e-commerce in the country and the African region with no sign of a slump, industry watchers say there is the prospect of a solid e-commerce expansion in the country.

    It is too common to associate e-Commerce with popular sites such as Jumia, Konga, Amazon and other online retail shops. In Nigeria, it is a belief being held by a large number of people that when one wants to buy consumer items such as shoes or electronics or books, one could go online. It is also possible to book local and international flights and hotel accommodation online.

    Of course, other sites allow people to search for jobs or properties or cars, but cannot really buy those items online.

    Analysts ask if it then meant that e-Commerce is only for shoes and phones. The answer is no. e-Commerce properly done allows an organisation of any size to greatly increase its turnover and sales irrespective of the business or the goods being sold.

    Chief Technology Officer, Computer Warehouse Group Plc, Mr. James Agada, said latest statistics showed that 66 million Nigerians are on Facebook, the popular internet social website. About 24 million Nigerians have smartphones that have internet capability, and internet penetration is at 50 per cent.

    Mobile internet provided chiefly by service providers using the global system for mobile communication (GSM) licence, has played significant role in his respect as it is used in the country by men, women, children, teachers, students, businessmen and enterprises. The addressable market for any business that goes online literally explodes. The importer of shoes can sell to more dealers, the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) seller could sell to the distributors, and the tailor could sell both tailoring service and ready-made clothes, while the event organiser or transporter can sell tickets, everything riding on the internet.

     

    Initiative to boost e-commerce

    According to Agada, the CWG Openshopen platform enables any one to sell anything online. Sales are not only about accepting orders. Information technology (IT) is also about collecting payments and making deliveries. With CWG Openshopen, these services are built in so that once you sign up, you can, if you want, begin to receive payments online and have your goods delivered to customers nationwide without having to invest in any other logistics for payments or delivery. Take for instance an FMCG that currently battles with a bank to help do collections and hires an army of order takers to input order details into its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. The FMCG can replace the entire collection and ordering system by opening an online shop on Openshopen for her factors and distributors. They will order online, pay online and delivery can be arranged. Or consider a transporter who wants to run a cashless ticketing system. Simply put the tickets online and people can buy and pay and get their ticket numbers which can be verified from a phone.

    He said: “The CWG Openshopen platform takes eCommerce way beyond the pedestrian selling of shoes and phones, and extends it into the best tool for increased market access. This is a deliberate design borne out of the determination of CWG Plc through her new CWG 2.0 initiative to democratize access to the technology of business.

    “With 17.6 million small enterprises in Nigeria, extending eCommerce to the sale of locally made goods and services greatly expands market access for local content. This same role has been played by Alibaba in China. Today, Alibaba’s stock sells for $98-$100 per share. It will be interesting to see whether CWG shares will also trade at those levels in the nearest future.”

     

    Challenges

    A key stumbling block to the growth of e-commerce is power supply. Though there are innovative ways such as solar-powered chargers for mobile phones, inverters that could power PCs, power supply from the national grid continues to be a major issue.

    Analysts say though the government has done all the right things in terms of reforming the power sector, they argue that as with the telecoms liberalisation, it will take at least another five years for the new owners of the successor firms of the unbundled defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to get a control of people owing money and to start renewing the mass of obsolete infrastructure inherited from the power octopus.

    Aside stable power supply, a new survey has highlighted other potential threats to the future of the internet within the next 20 years, to 2025, including surveillance and government interference.

    The Pew Research Centre, a nonpartisan American think tank based in Washington, D.C., and providing information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States (U.S) and the world, canvassed 1,400 experts to get their view on the future of the internet.

    Majority said they hope that by 2025 there will not be significant changes for the worse and hindrances to the ways in which people get and share content online today.

    According to Pew, four net threats these experts fear: are: actions by nation-states to maintain security and political control will lead to more blocking, filtering, segmentation, and balkanisation of the internet; trust will evaporate in the wake of revelations about government and corporate surveillance and likely greater surveillance in the future; commercial pressures affecting everything from Internet architecture to the flow of information will endanger the open structure of online life; and efforts to fix the too much information (TMI) problem might over-compensate and actually thwart content sharing.

    Former Director-General, National Information Dvelopment Agency (NITDA), Prof Officer Cleopas-Angaye said the global trend now is for governments to look for ways of controlling the internet for national security.

    Chief Executive Officer, Teledon Group, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem said in view of the potential cyber attack on banks, telcos, payment cards, air traffic controller (ATC), there is need for government intervention in controlling the cyberspace.

    He said Nigeria’s territorial integrity includes her cyber space and should be treated the way air, land sea borders are generously protected. He therefore urged the appointment of a cyber security chief just as there are army, police, navy and air force chiefs.

    Britain has just determined that internet service providers (ISPs) block sites the government considers ‘terrorist’ or otherwise dangerous. This will grow. There will usually be ways to circumvent the obstruction but most people won’t bother.

    According to Pew, a professor of Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, U.S and architect of the Web, Jim Hendler, said: “If anything, it is privacy that will have to give way to openness, not the other way around… Repressive governments will be working hard to stop the spread of information. As today, there will be both good and bad news continually in that area, but over time more integration, access, and sharing will be a driving force.”

    Pew added that Peter S. Vogel, Internet law expert at Gardere Wynne Sewell,U.S said: “Privacy issues are the most serious threat to accessing and sharing Internet content in 2014, and there is little reason to expect that to change by 2025, particularly given the cyber terror threats confronting the Internet users and worldwide businesses.”

    Another issue is connectivity. But this is gradually paling into insignificance as there is a rising trend in retailers growing due to advances in this area. According to figures by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 16 per cent of the African population has Internet access – up from 10 per cent it was in 2010.

    According to the 2014 Mobile Media Consumption report released in February by InMobi, 83 per cent of consumers planned to conduct mobile commerce this year – up 15 per cent from last year’s figures. The study includes data from 14 000 users across 14 countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

  • Glo thrills customers with new ring back tunes

    Glo thrills customers with new ring back tunes

    National telecommunications carrier, Globacom, has moved to deepen customer-experience on its network with the latest and exclusive songs of the country’s top rated artistes. Glo Mobile subscribers, by simply subscribing to the Caller Ringback Tune platform, will exclusively have access to a rich repertoire of songs which include Nigeria’s most anticipated new music releases from these popular artistes.

    At a press conference at the company’s corporate head office in Victoria Island, Lagos on Wednesday, Globacom’s top executives, led by Viswanath Nagasai, officially unveiled some of the artistes whose songs will be available on the Glo Mobile’s CRBT platform. The artistes unveiled included cross-over highlife rave-of-the-moment, Flavour, and talented female artistes Omawumi and Chee. Also presented to the media are Hip Hop stars, Burna Boy, MI, Naeto C and one of the best known artistes from the North, Sanni Danja.

    “Nigerians would readily recall that we blazed the CRBT trail in Nigeria over seven years ago when for the first time in Nigeria, we made it possible for our subscribers to download their favourite tunes and make them their ringback tunes. Others were to follow the trail, and today, Nigerian artistes net millions of naira in revenue from their music distributed by mobile operators in the country through the CRBT platform,” said Nagasai.

    He said consistent with its pedigree of leadership in innovation, Globacom is yet again raising the bar by expanding the collection of songs available to customers on its CRBT platform.”We are not just adding songs for its sake, but we are adding the latest from the best in the business all for the benefit of our esteemed customers. We are talking about new releases that music lovers have been waiting with bated breath for an opportunity to download onto their phones for quite some time now. You can now access them exclusively on our platform and serenade your callers with them,” he said.The songs that Glo customers can readily access include Flavour’s dancehall blaster, “Wake Up’, featuring Wande Coal, in addition to all his earlier hits. Also available for immediate download are Omawumi’s latest release currently ruling the airwaves, “Megbele” in addition to her existing songs; Naeto C’s collaborative effort featuring Phyno, “China”; Burna Boy’s “Checks and Balance”, Sanni Danja’s “Alhaji” and Chee’s collaborative work with Olamide, “No More”.

  • Windows game developer unveils competition

    Indigenous mobile games company, Gamsole, has launched a new competition offering $4,000 in prizes and career opportunities for five talented illustrators.

    Founded by Abiola Olaniran, Nigeria’s highest paid Windows game developer the firm creates games for the Windows phone platform, taking advantage of its fast growth and unsaturated gaming market.

    The competition will run till the 23rd of this month and entrants must submit a graphical concept for a game, including character design in different moods and positions. Gamsole will be offering a $3 000 prize for the best illustrator, with the runner-up receiving $1,000.

    He said: “The top five will be offered permanent positions at Gamsole’s offices in Lagos, giving them the chance to own equity and be part of a high-growth, fast-paced startup.”  With a passion for mobile application and design, the computer science and mathematics graduate started his business two years ago. In just six months of launching games on the Windows Phone Store Abiola had over three million players worldwide who fell in love with the addictive gameplay experience, from China to Brazil. “About 38 per cent of mobile phone users all over the world consume games, second to the use of social networks. People never get tired of gaming. On an everyday basis, millions of people are experiencing little boring moments: the long queue at the supermarket, the traffic, a 13-hour flight. Apart from providing the entertainment factor for scenarios like this, mobile gaming also serves as a great tool for education.” After being one of the first African startups to be awarded an innovation grant from Microsoft 4Afrika, Abiola’s games now top over nine million downloads. Popular games include Juicy Links and Cookie Jam.

  • Mark urges internet use for economic devt

    Mark urges internet use for economic devt

    Senate President, David Mark, has urged Nigerians to use the internet services available in the country to grow the country’s economy.

    Mark spoke at the inauguration of a new internet provider, Spectranet Limited at the National Assembly, Abuja.

    Represented at the event by his Chief of Staff, Senator Anthony Manzo, he commended the new internet providers for bringing to the country internet services that could be comparable to the one provided anywhere in the world.

    Mark insisted that internet services should be used wisely especially for the development and growth of the country’s economy.

    He said: “Let us use the internet wisely. The internet can also be tools for destruction. So use we should use the internet for knowledge, education and growth of our country. Don’t use it to search for some equipment used in making bombs.”

    Mark who said that there is no doubt that the fasted way of moving data is through wireless added that the internet has made the world a small village and information available to the poor and rich.

    He said one of the successes of the country’s democratic experiment is liberalisation of the economy, especially internet connection, adding that one advantage the new provider has is that their services are not time bound.

    “It is a major plus and I hope they will reduce their price with time. In the West, internet is very cheap because their subscriber base is very cheap,” he said.

    Mark who said government alone cannot employ everybody noted that the country would reap from job creation from the new providers.

    He said: “The support government gives to companies like yours is what keeps the economy going because it creates jobs while the country benefits from the tax you pay. I am happy to associate with your company and I hope it will grow from strength to strength.”

    The Chief Operating Officer of Spectranet Mr. Atul Ojha said the technology of his company is equivalent to the best of the technology anywhere in the world.

  • NCC urges subscribers to report recalcitrant operators

    NCC urges subscribers to report recalcitrant operators

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged subscribers, who are displeased with unsolicited text messages and voice calls  from their service providers to first complain to them, then ‘escalate’ the complain to the regulator.

    The commission’s Executive Vice Chairman, Dr Eugene Juwah, said customers have the fundamental right to be served well, adding that the customers deserve to get the full value for their money.

    Juwah, who spoke in Lagos, said there are set rules guiding the lodgment of complaints. According to him, the first point of call is the service provider, whose door steps the complaint is supposed to be lodged.

    He emphasised that as soon as the customer lodges complaint, he or she must strive to get a complaint ticket authenticating that he or she lodged the complaint.

    According to him, if the customer fails to get his problem solved, the complaint could then be escalated to the Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB), where it will be taken up and sorted out with the service provider concerned.

    He said: “Well the NCC has avenues of complaints. We have a call centre where you can call us and complain. The call centre number is 622. It is toll free. If you call, somebody will be on ground to attend to your complaints. It is not good enough that consumers grumble in silence. It is your right as a consumer to be served well. It is also part of our responsibility in the NCC to protect the consumers.”

    When  told that the operators not only go beyond sending unsolicited messages at unholy hours but also use codes, conventional 11 digit GSM numbers to call their customers and ‘flash’ to force them to dissipate their air time, Dr Juwah  said it was music to his ears.

    He said: “I am just hearing this for the first time that they call. You see, without your complaining, there is nothing we can do. But if you complain, we will take it up with them. So, I urge you not to suffer in silence. Complain first to the service provider, ensure that you get a complaint ticket, wait for them to fix the problem and if they fail to do that, escalate it to the NCC.”

    Speaking on the issue, its Director, Public Affairs, Tony Ojobo, said though some of the unsolicited messages were ‘rogue’ messages generated through the internet from far flung continents, the NCC is not folding its arms or looking at the other side while the subscribers groan.

    He said the NCC has been working hard with mobile network operators (MNOs), directing them to upgrade their filters to block as many unsolicited messages as possible from their network.

    Ojobo said the internet remains largely unregulated, arguing that until the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) comes out with modalities to regulate the internet, a lot of unwholesome activities would continue to thrive.