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Tag: NITDA

  • NITDA: People, process, tech key to e-governance

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has identified people, process and technology as key success factors in the deployment of electronic or e-governance tool in the country and the benefits therefrom.

    Its acting Director General, Dr Vincent Olatunji who spoke on: Information Technology- A Veritable Tool for Governance and Achieving a Corrupt Free Public Administration, at Nigerian Telecom Awards, in  Lagos said President Muhammadu Buhari has mounted a holistic anti-corruption crusade as one of the tenets of his administration, adding however that strong and transparent institutions are required to achieve good governance and a corrupt free administration.

    According to him, Information Technology (IT) provides a veritable platform for the development of such strong and transparent institutions as it supports reduction of waste and enthrones efficient service delivery which are two key areas of focus of this administration.

    He said IT allows for the identification of processes that lead to waste and inefficiency and also allows for the automation of processing that can prevent human error, both intentional and unintentional.

    On strengthening institutions and ensuring successful e-governance, said people are critical, stressing that they can either support the delivery of effective governance or serve as a clog in the wheel of progress, hence they require knowledge to perform optimally or otherwise.

    He said processes refer to a series of actions taken to achieve a specific goal.

    “Institutional processes can either strengthen or weaken governance in an institution. Technology can be used to speed up the processes and improve efficiency,” Olatunji said.

    On technology, he said it include hardware and software, satellite systems, and others leading to emerging technologies such as social networking, big data analytics, cloud computing and Internet of Things (IoTs).

    “e-Government is not only about ‘e’ but about government; e-government is not about computers and websites but about citizens and businesses; e-government is not about translating processes but about transforming processes,” Olatunji said.

    He said the key areas of the National E-government Initiative include Connected Government; Informed Citizenry (through the services.gov.ng portal) and Open Government/Open Data Initiative such as WAEC, JAMB, Customs, Immigrations, Schools, CAC.

    He said this has had a tremendous effect on the financial sector which witnessed over N4trillion worth of transactions last year.

    Other eGovernment Component of the Nigerian ICT4D Plan include the National e-Government Master Plan in collaboration with Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) implementation which he said led Communications Technology Minister,  Adebayo Shittu, to lead a 14-man delegation to Korea for a 10-day High Level Capacity Building for e-Government in Nigeria. He said it was designed by KOICA.

  • NITDA urges standard in software testing

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called for standard in software testing in the country.

    Its Southwest Zonal Director, Mr Olayinka Adejuiba, made this call during a workshop in Lagos.

    He said if there is standard for software testing, it would guide software developers on how to go about software testing, create jobs for software testers and protect Nigerians who would be the end users.

    He noted that in ensuring software testing in the country, government can issue out policy that all software to be used in Nigeria must be tested.

    Mr Adejuiba said with software testing, software brought into the country will be correct, functional and can stand the test of time, especially in the era of cyber security issues.

    He said the issue of software has to do with basic decisions, nothing that using locally made software or the imported ones is a matter of preference.

    He said software developers are capable of developing software for use in the country, but noted that the most important things is to ensure that the quality of the software meets the required standards.

    “If we test our software appropriately, we will ensure that we do not have software failure, software would not be hacked, it would do what it is meant to do and we would be able to predict future happenings,” he said.

    NITDA Head of Standard, Guidelines and Regulations, Mr Lazarus Nikoti added that there is need for a framework for software testing in the country. He said a framework is needed because a lot of money is spent on buying and importing software into the country.

    “If the software is not properly tested, it will become a liability and would not fulfil its mandate. We need to put a framework in place to ensure that any software that is imported or developed in the country is tested. This would help us to know how they run on our systems, whether they will run well and if there is problem, it would be detected early enough. If the problem is detected late, it would cause a lot of hardship, loss of money, economic loss and would deny Nigerian developers of the necessary earning that they ought to have got from testing,” he said.

    Mr Nikoti said if we ensure software testing in Nigeria, there will be value for money, in that the software will perform the work it is meant for, it would be reliable and compatible with our system.

  • Funding major challenge of ICT startups, says NITDA

    Funding major challenge of ICT startups, says NITDA

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)  has identified dearth of seed fund as one of the major challenges inhibiting the growth of startups in the information communications technology (ICT) industry in the country.

    Its subsidiary, Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), lamented that, despite the importance of seed funds in the early life of startups, it remained a big challenge in the development of the ICT ecosystem.

    Coordinator of OIIE Bunmi Okunowo, who spoke at the maiden edition of StartUP Friday in Abuja, however, said the office disbursed N50 million grants to tech-driven startups last year as a demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to strengthening indigenous ICT entrepreneurship to reduce joblessness and create wealth for the people.

    He said OIIE gave the grants to incubators and accelerators that have proven records of nurturing and producing startups with growth potential, adding that it is expecting the approval of its budget for this year before implementing this year’s disbursement.

    He said: “One of the major challenges facing startups is the seed funding. That early stage funding that helps the startups to get the idea off ground to prototype, to working product and commercialisation stage. Seed funding is very scarce in our society, despite the increased rates of ICT products and services springing up every now and then. What we are doing is to assist thriving incubators and accelerators with grants in bankrolling the cost of incubating or accelerating promising tech-driven startups to successful businesses,” he said.

    At the StartUP Friday, which hosted over 100 entrepreneurs, Okunowo said the programme was a component of its StartUP Café designed to bridge the gap by enriching the development processes of new tech-driven businesses through “meet-up” which he said, would connect the tech-startup with investors, mentors, technology buyers and enthusiasts in major tech clusters in Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Enugu as well as Port-Harcourt, Ibadan and Ife.

    He said StartUP Friday was a product of the feedback got from a study OIIE conducted in last year when it launched an online application for grants. The results of the poll revealed that Lagos State has the highest number of startups that applied, while Abuja and Kaduna came second and third respectively.

    “For us, it was surprising that Abuja was second. This brought questions such as: Where are they? Where do they meet? Where do they go? Is there a forum where they connect and share resources, experiences? We began to strategise on how to create a community of startups, an ecosystem where everyone belongs to just as we have in Lagos. A place where it doesn’t matter what hub or community you belong to, rather where all connect to share and grow. That’s how StartUP Friday came into being,” he said.

    According to him, the event was borne out of the desire for the OIIE to create an environment for startups to learn, interact and, re-scale their business, adding that through the process, startups would also get to socialise with investors, technology buyers, and technology enthusiasts.

    Senior Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and Youth Employment under the Office of the Vice President, Afolabi Imoukhuede, said the development is in line the focus of the government in catalysing the creation of jobs in some sectors, which includes ICT, especially tech innovation clusters across the country.

    CEOs of some of the tech-driven startups spoke on their experiences. The founder of Mamalette, a young ICT-driven business that provides existing and new mothers with technology-driven access to continuous quality content and network with those going through similar experiences, Anike Lawal, narrated her experience on how she kept on pushing against all odds and learning many skills to enable her company take off. Today she has over 80,000 members on her platform, reaching 200,000 people weekly and managing 1,800 registered forum users on the platform.

    Founder of Health Tech Global Solutions, Dr. Neto Ikpeme, also spoke on how he started three businesses that he had to stop until he found this current one. He said: “Rejection from sponsors or buyers should not deter an entrepreneur from pursuing his passion”.

    At the March edition of StartUP Friday, Okunowo said the programme would be expanded to feature pitches from at least ten tech-driven start-ups, product demonstrations, networking and shortlisting for an upcoming incubation programme overseas.

  • Minister suspends NITDA DG

    Minister suspends NITDA DG

    Minister of Communications and Technology Adebayo Shittu has suspended the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack indefinitely for  “misconduct”.

    The suspension in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media to the  Hon. Minister of Communications, Victor Oluwadamilare, took effect from yesterday.

    The statement said the suspension became imperative on the strength of deluge of petitions regarding several alleged wrong doings in NITDA and subsequent preliminary findings of an Investigative Committee set up by the Ministry.

    It added that” the petitions against Mr Jack relates to illegal employments not approved by the appropriate authority and procurements carried out in direct contraventions of laid down rules and procedure unknown to Civil Service administration in Nigeria”.

    The statement reads:”Some of the infractions identified by the Investigative Committee made up of three senior Ministry officials include unauthorised illegal recruitment of additional staff totalling 245 within a spate of seven months.

  • Panel to probe allegations against NITDA’s chief

    Panel to probe allegations against NITDA’s chief

    Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu has set up a committee to probe alleged breach of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and financial abuse in the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

    The minister was angered by the non-adherence to a letter ofAugust 14, 2015, by a former Permanent Secretary, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, who queried alleged breach of rules by the NITDA Director-General, Mr. Peter Jack.

    Jack was alleged to have  mismanaged state funds running into hundreds of millions of naira and breached civil service rules.

    A source close to the minister said a petition by Information Technology Law Practitioners Association of Nigeria, signed by its President, Fredrick Uyabeme and Secretary Olumide Aboyade-Cole, accused the director-general of fraud and administrative impunity in its six-page memorandum on NITDA and annexure attached as exhibits 1-12.

    The petition was also sent to the anti-graft agencies.

    Olaopa, in the letter to Jack, titled: “Reported Breaches in NITDA”, copy of which was made available to reporters in Ibadan at the weekend, stated: “It has come to my attention that there are several anomalies in your agency, which touch on the following: breach of public service rules pertaining to recruitment and secondment of staff; breaches of the Public Procurement Act 2007 and non-implementation of board directives as well as failure to seek approval of the ministry in absence of a board.

    “I have also been inundated with news of your invitation to answer to sundry queries for breaches, yet you have not deemed it fit to update me on issues so I can appraise our principal as required. Notwithstanding the foregoing, I am directing that you reverse all recruitment and secondment implemented without the approval of your board.

    “You are to also ensure that all procurement processes are implemented with strict adherence to the Public Procurement Act 2007; and furthermore, I am reminding you that the absence of a board does not confer the liberty to breach the NITDA Act nor the Public Service rules.

    “You are required to comply with the letters and spirit of the circular of July 16, 2015, on matters that would normally require the attention of the NITDA board.”

    But the minister was worried that months after the letter was issued by the former permanent secretary, “the director-general continues to treat the matter with disdain”.

    This attitude informed the minister’s resolve to set up a ministerial committee headed by the Director, Research and Statistics to probe the matter.

    The committee is expected to submit its report this week.

  • NITDA seeks global collaboration to fight cybercrimes

    NITDA seeks global collaboration to fight cybercrimes

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is seeking global collaboration to tackle the menace of cybercrimes. It said since cybercrimes is a global phenomenon, the whole world must sit together and find a way of collaborating to fight them.

    Its Head, Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships and Inter-Agency, Mr John Kennedy Chime, who spoke in Lagos, said since information communication technology (ICT) has taken the centre stage, creating efficiency and wealth in many forms in all sphere of human endeavours, there is a need to maintain a minimum standard of security.

    The NITDA as a Federal Government agency, he said, is mandated to regulate Information Technology (IT) in Nigeria, adding that it does that through policy, standards, enforcement and multi-stakeholders’ engagements.

    He said it is not easy to do away with cybercrime totally, but stressed the need for continuous stakeholder’s engagement with the private sector, security agencies and other agencies globally so as to monitor developments and follow up.

    According to him, the people engaged in cybercrimes are also working ahead of regulators, adding that NITDA has developed means of checking and tracking the criminals so that the system does not get damaged.

    He called for multi-stakeholders collaboration, urging the private sector to key into what the Federal Government has done with a view to coming out with solutions to the challenge.

    Chime said the Cybercrime Act, which was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan, is the beginning of the fight against cybercrime, but noted that there is more to be done in the area of enforcement and information monitoring aspect. “This is because, as the law is being enforced, the criminals are also looking for better ways to perpetrate their crime and are coming up with new apps,” he said.

    He continued: “The private and public sectors have so much idea and this is why we call for stakeholders’ relationship, which is the best approach to proffer solutions to the problems.

    “This is not a problem to be solved by one person, but people should come together to look for an agency like ours, that is in charge of IT regulation in Nigeria. We have so many information and relationship with other organisations, which they may not have. With a team work, we will have the ways to together, fight this cybercrime and get the best from it.”

    Dr Chime noted that in the banking sector, there has always been the application of new software that ensures that intruders are kept at bay.

    He encouraged the use of genuine apps that will fight fraud, warning that if criminals get access to a bank’s data, it could lead to the extinction of the bank and some of its customers whose life savings may have been affected.

     

  • NITDA, NIPC seek support for GITEX

    The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Peter Jack and the Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mrs. Uju Aisha Hassan Baba, have expressed  support and participation at the GITEX Leader’s Congress on Innovation and Investment, holding next month in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    Also tipped to speak for Nigeria at the GITEX Congress, is the Country Director of the ICT4SOML Project, Mr. Olasupo Oyedepo.

    ‘The Internet of Everything’ (IoT) is the main theme for GITEX 2015. The sub-themes are Big Data, Cloud, Mobility, and Security.

    GITEX, which stands for Gulf Information Technology Exhibition, is the third largest technology event on the planet. GITEX’s 35th edition is holding this year with over 145,000 technology professionals, governments, investors and other trade visitors expected at the five day event. The 34th edition last year with Nigeria as Official Country Partner, had over 143,000 visitors from 150 countries.

    Gitex is strategically positioned as the gateway to the Middle East, Africa and South Asia’s ICT Industry.

    This year, Nigeria is promoting some of her ICT startups in addition to already established companies shopping for offshore deals and partners. The Nigerian Country Pavilion with 20 exhibitors in all has the Nigerian Communications Commission and the NIPC, as key government players. The NIPC is leveraging on the event to showcase the country’s investment potential.

    The GITEX Leaders Summit is a high level leadership conference focusing on Smart Cities and IoT bringing the government and private sectors together.

    NITDA will be showcasing one of Nigeria’s smart city project, in partnership with Chams Plc. The country’s other speakers are expected to feature in the plenary on the impact of IoT or Machine to Machine (M2M) across multiple industries in the GITEX TechVertical conferences that cover retail, oil and gas, banking, healthcare, education.

    According to Jack, “Nigeria is using the GITEX platform to promote Nigeria, Nigerian related ICT businesses, where new commercial partnerships can be explored, including those with: telecom operators, mobile app developers, and mobile enabled transaction service providers from Nigeria.”

    Part of the activities built around Nigeria’s presence at GITEX is the Nigeria Pavilion Investment Forum, with the country’s pavilion  occupying the entrance foyer of the expo.

     

  • NITDA to focus on tech startup, innovation

    Emerging technology startup, innovation and the ecosystem is one key areas of Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector that is engaging the attention of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Director-General of the agency, Mr. Peter Jack, has said.

    According to the DG, with the vast resources that Demo Africa attracts, the technology “startups require this kind of exposure” now and in the future; as the agency has supported Demo Africa, which Nigeria is hosting for the second year.

    Demo Africa will showcase Nigerian ICT startups to the world and enrich their solution as well as provide them opportunity to network with venture capitalists, managers and investors. In addition, the event will build the necessary partnership that would take the startup technology products to a successful height. “This will pave the path for job and wealth creation”, he enumerated.

    Explaining what motivated NITDA to partner iDEA in the establishment of innovation hubs in Lagos and Calabar, he affirmed that it is an Act of parliament to establish IT parks and incubators as part of the efforts to develop the ICT industry.

    “We have partnered with iDEA to establish those two centres. The result of iDEA is fascinating and proves that government can do more partnerships with the private sector to grow the industry,” he said.

    In the last three years of Demo Africa, 26 Nigerian ICT startups have launched their products at the event while others have co-located or incubated inside iDEA Hub, Co-Creation Hub and other hubs.

    The agency avowed that it would continue to explore platforms to encourage ICT startups to develop innovative solution, launch their products and build organisational capacity. While also helping the technology startups to access funds, market and scale their businesses, NITDA believes Demo Africa offers the right atmosphere to develop the ecosystem.

    To sustain this tradition, the agency said it would assess existing situation in the country, viz-a-viz, other technology events and decide what would be the best form of partnership with the industry stakeholders.

    While appreciating the commitment of the Demo Africa Local Organising Committee (LOC) for managing the technology event for two consecutive years, he said it is such “a sacrifice and passion that they have for the industry. We are all working relentlessly to ensure the success of this event. Many thanks to the chair, Mr. Yele Okeremi, for his leadership support”, he said.

     

  • Skilled youths vital to driving growth, says NITDA

    •Affirms confidence in DEMO Africa 2015

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it is committed to driving youth development through the promotion of the acquisition of relevant information communications technology (ICT) skills, adding that this is one way of driving the economy.

    Its Director-General, Peter Jack, said Africa is growing while the youth are showing the way, stressing that technology forum, such as DEMO Africa 2015, a pan-African launch-pad for technology start-ups to become technology leaders and entrepreneurs, is the way to go.

    He said: “Africa is growing in strength and its youths are pointing to the direction of things to come. NITDA is committed to Demo Africa as part of its mandate on youth development from the perspective of IT as well as its belief that a large population of highly exposed and trained youths will be the driver of Nigeria’s new economy.”

    The DEMO Africa takes place between September 21 and 25 in Lagos. It will showcase 30 technology start-ups from across Africa. Nigeria leads the table with eight startups. They are: PoshRite, Oga Venue, TalkingBookz, iKon Tracker, Mavis Computel,  CarpartsNigeria, Zuvaa, and SmartEdu.

    Kenya, increasingly gaining global spot as tech-startup haven, has six namely: Bitsoko, BambaPOS, Shield Finance, InsureAfrika, LipaPlus, ENT-Mobile, Abacus, and SimbaPay. South Africa has three startup-representatives: Edge Books, Bozza and Eco-mc2.  Ghana has two: Ghana’s Zeepay and Flippy Campus. Egypt also has two: LockName and Raye7. Cameroon features two: Koomza and Feem Wi-Fi; and Zimbabwe also has two startups: IPC eProductivity and RoadRules.

    Uganda, Tanzania and Ivory Coast each have one startup in this order respectively: Roundbob, Tango TV, and Airshop.  Francophone Ivory Coast with its Airshop startup company will be featuring in the event for the first time and underscores the expanding ecosystem for Africa’s technology startups.

    NITDA with the Ministry of Communication Technology is a co-host of DEMO Africa in collaboration with LIONS@FRICA and VC4Africa. NITDA is already promoting eight Nigerian startups at this year’s GITEX Expo and Conference taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

    DEMO Africa also has the support of private sector technology giants, including Microsoft, under the 4Afrika Initiative.The software company is encouraged by the support of public institutions such as the NITDA for the DEMO Africa forum.

    “It is actions by different players that will see technology entrepreneurship effectively bringing sustainability to entrepreneurship across Africa,” said Executive Producer of DEMO Africa, Harry Hare, while commending on Microsoft’s support for the event.

    One of the highpoints of DEMO Africa 2015 is the newly introduced knowledge streams to delve into critical topics including Business Modelling, Scaling Businesses, Creating an Unfair Advantage, and Raising Capital. Top industry players, including MEST Founder, Jorn Lyseggen,  President, Harry Tomi Davies-ABAN, Partner, Adlevo Capital, Folabi Esan, IROKO TV CEO, Jason Njoku, among others, will lead the discussion.

    Other notable activities at the event would include an investor roundtable forum and theLIONS@FRICA Summit, with the uptake of Africa-generated technology being expected to dominate the conversations.

  • NITDA to showcase 20 tech exhibitors at GITEX

    The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is firming up the country’s participation in the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) holding this October in Dubai with about 20 companies and organisations selected to participate inside the Nigerian Pavilion.

    The exhibitors include public and private enterprises notably ICT startups for which the NITDA is hinging its 2015 participation in the 2015 GITEX Expo and Conference which usually attracts over 145, 000 participants from about 120 countries.

    In a GITEX Prep Forum in Abuja, the Director-General, NITDA, Mr. Peter Jack, said Nigeria would leverage on the theme of this year’s event ‘The Internet Future of Everything’, to promote some of its budding innovators who have created solutions with strong market or commercial values. The innovators cut across sectors across including the retail industry, agriculture, education, security, oil and gas, and health care.

    “We want to ensure promotion of local start-ups, projection of the country’s vast and untapped information technology potential, organisation of Nigeria’s IT Investment Forum within the Nigerian Pavilion as well as distribution of IT intelligence material from Nigeria to the rest of the world at GITEX,” said Mr. Jack while addressing participants that included heads of other government agencies, industry associations and corporate institutions including the Executive Secretary and Chief Executive, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Mrs. Uju Aisha Hassan-Baba, President, Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Lanre Ajayi, and CEO of Chams Plc, Mr. Demola Aladekomo,.

    “GITEX is not about you buying space or setting up as an exhibitor or trade visitor, the question is whether you think it’s time to take your business global. Business has to be both local and global, that is where GITEX can help you leverage on its global networks to build interest in your enterprise and also to endear foreign partners to your business,” said Commercial Director at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Mr. Bilal Al Rais.  The DWTC are the organisers of GITEX.

    Nigeria was the Country Partner for Gitex 2014 and first debuted at the 35 years old event in 2013.  The NITDA, Nigeria’s IT clearinghouse, is facilitating the country’s participation through the DWTC partnering organisations: Pinnacle International Consulting LLC and Knowhow Media International (KMI). The exhibiting companies include: the NITDA, Nigerian Communication Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) Limited, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), the Nigerian Communications Commission  (NCC) and the Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON),  a professional, non-profit, non-political umbrella organisation of all telecommunications companies of Nigeria.

    Others are Nigeria’s first indigenous computer company, Data Sciences Nigeria Limited;  indigenous software development company, Precise Financial Systems (PFS) Limited; system developers and system integrators, Sidmach Technologies Nigeria Limited; and Sasware, an investment subsidiary of Signal Alliance that provides seed fund for technology and technology-enabled start-ups and those in their growth phase.

    The list also include:  Chams Plc, reputed as the first home-grown company to be listed in Guinness Book of World Records, for setting up the ChamsCity Mega Digital Mall and also the first Computer Technology Company listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the Smartcity innovation Hub; Rlg Communications, an ICT company that started in Ghana but with strong presence in Nigeria, the Gambia, China, Dubai, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, and Rwanda; and multi-services communications company, SKtel Nigeria Limited.

    ing platform that connects with local agents, movers, estate owners, customers and mortgage marketplace; Verge, a software as a service (SaaS) retail management solution for multi-store retailers. Verge helps clients identify critical cash leakages in the business as well as other operational inefficiencies and recommend steps to mitigate them by connecting and analysis critical business data across your outlets; and Medrep.ng,  an e-Commerce and logistics solutions provider for pharmacies and hospitals. With medrep hospitals and pharmacists can now procure drugs, medical equipment and consumables from multiple manufacturers and distributors at the best offered price.

    Other startups on the Nigerian startup list for Gitex 2015 include: Blubird which was designed and developed with the sole aim of providing African business owners (small and medium enterprises) an affordable and easy to use retail management platform to effectively manage their inventory, sales, supplier and customers through an all-in-one platform (software + hardware) that is energy independent. Blubird is an all-in-one-platform that consists of an innovative retail management app running on a 10.1inch android tablet plus a mini thermal receipt printer and 2D barcode scanner. The entire platform is energy independent and once fully charged is able to run in the retail/wholesale outlet for 6-8 hours. The bluebird app runs on Windows and Android platforms.

    The startup list also has Truppr, a social startup that provides a platform for a vibrant community of fitness enthusiasts to connect with events and people around them to help make regular exercise a lifestyle. It is a one-stop-shop for finding and booking sport venues in cities around the world. Truppr simplified process of organizing amateur sporting events and teammates. It is an easy way to find mates / fitness partners even while on a business trip or in a new city.  Others are the cribpark.com marketplace is an online platform which simplifies the experience of intending home owners so they can buy any housing product, from trusted sellers, at best prices, and free delivery; the Foodstantly, which is a Mobile-Web Marketplace for Food. It enables restaurants; fast-food, caterers, farmers and food vendors set up shop and sell online to Millions of Customers as well as facilitate delivery to customers.