tech news africa
Wits University Robotics Team to Compete in AI-Powered “Robot Soccer World Cup”
Image sourced from the Mail & Guardian. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_0f9.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_0f9.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } For the first time, a Wits University team will compete in the international RoboCup tournament. RoboCup, the world cup for soccer robots, is a major annual event on the artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics calendar with a goal to advance the state of the art of intelligent robots. It sees teams from across the globe competing in different soccer leagues to show their mastery in AI and machine learning. The soccer robots can either be working physical robots or simulation robots. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_2e0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_2e0.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Wits will be participating in the 3D simul...
Startup “Unicorns” Help Mobile Money Soar in Africa
Image sourced from WeeTracker. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_c6c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_c6c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A recent GSMA report reveals that there are 1.2 billion registered global mobile money accounts. 560-million of these registered accounts are in Africa. The GSMA, which represents several mobile network firms, states that “Sub-Saharan Africa has been at the forefront of the mobile money industry for over a decade, and in 2020 continued to account for the majority of growth.” FinTech Unicorns Running Wild in Africa Now, five African fintech startups, Flutterwave, ChipperCash, Interswitch, Paga and OPay are now being identified as “unicorns” by investors, the business media and analysts following the surge of mobile payments. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_4...
Remote Work is Here to Stay: 4 Critical Elements Companies MUST Address
Sourced from Getty Images. Every business has to protect three critical assets – its staff, customers and its data. When one has six-foot walls around their home, one hopes to protect their physical property and household goods. Unfortunately, most people’s defences are woefully inadequate when it comes to their digital property. When COVID-19 struck last year, many businesses within a week were mandated to have their staff work from home. From an IT perspective, it meant slapping a band-aid on a wound. However, more than a year later, with many companies embarking on a process to get their staff back into the offices, IT assets remain at risk. The reality is that remote working is here to stay, and that an increase in remote work has led to surges in cyber attacks worldwide. Locally and i...
Satya Nadella Becomes Microsoft’s First Chair & CEO Since Bill Gates
Sourced from Getty Images. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_342.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_342.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s current CEO was elected by the tech giant’s board to be its new chair on Wednesday. This is the first time in more than 20 years that the roles of CEO and chair have been held by the same person. The last person who simultaneously held both positions was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, before stepping down as CEO 21 years ago at the turn of the millennium. Gates stepped down as Microsoft’s chair in 2014 and left the company’s board entirely last year in a bid to focus on his philanthropic priorities. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_564.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_564.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } In February 201...
Why SMEs in South Africa Benefit from Alternative FinTech
Image sourced from Cape Business News. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_c3c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_c3c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Data and automation are rapidly changing the lending game in South Africa. The country is seeing the emergence of an agile new class of fintech that uses proprietary data and algorithms to vet loan applications within minutes so that retailers can access working capital they need to grow and thrive. This is according to Steven Heilbron, CEO of the Connect Group. “Alternative, technology-powered financing solutions are disrupting South Africa’s commercial lending market, especially the retail space and in the process, it is helping thousands of SMEs to navigate the threats and opportunities of a volatile economic landscape during the pandemic...
SA Schools May Face Penalties for PoPIA Non-Compliance
Image sourced from Business Tech. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_b41.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_b41.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } With the third wave of COVID-19 crashing upon South Africans and amidst increasing calls for schooling to be temporarily suspended, it could prove helpful for educational institutions across the country to use the time away from teaching to put some focus into protecting their data privacy. Schools and other tertiary institutions store and process more personal information than most other organisations, they are by far the most affected by the Protection of Personal Information Act, No 4 of 2012 (PoPIA), which comes into effect on 1 July 2021. PoPIA Applies to Schools, Universities /* custom css */ .tdi_3_cab.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi...
Cyber Insurance: A Growing Demand for All Companies?
Image sourced from Forbes. The advancement of connectivity in light of the digital revolution has radically transformed our lives and brought unprecedented benefits to companies in the way they operate and do business. However, digitalization is a double-edged sword and comes with risks as well, among them cyber exposures. Companies are facing a number of challenges such as the prospect of more disruptive and expensive business interruptions, the increase in the frequency and cost of ransomware incidents, the consequences from larger data breaches and more robust regulation – both at home and overseas – as well as the prospect of litigation if something does go wrong. In 2021, cyber incidents ranked among top business risks in South Africa, Africa and globally in the Allianz Risk Barometer...
How VPNs Can Shield Nigerian Users from Government – An Interview with the VP of ExpressVPN
“Outrage as Buhari bans Twitter.” Image sourced from Reuters. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_fa6.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_fa6.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } 5 June, on a brisk Friday evening, the Nigerian government sought to indefinitely ban users in the country from accessing social media network Twitter. A decision based on the government’s reaction to the service’s deletion of a Tweet that was posted from President Muhammadu Buhari’s official Twitter account. In an official statement, the government declared that Twitter was “undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence.” The Tweet in question, believed to have been posted by Buhari himself, had been referring to the bloody two-year-long Nigeria-Biafra war. A conflict that saw the deaths of an estimated one to...
Vodafone and UNHCR Expand Connected Education for Refugees in Mozambique
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_200.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_200.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Ahead of World Refugee Day (June 20), Vodafone Foundation and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), have expanded their Instant Network Schools (INS) programme – which supports over 94,000 refugee students and communities in four African countries – into Mozambique. Two new INS, in the Maratane Refugee Settlement and the city of Nampula, will benefit nearly 9,000 students in the 7th-12th grades, 25,000 family members and over 200 teachers. Instant Network Schools /* custom css */ .tdi_3_68b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_68b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } INS transforms existing classrooms into multimedia hubs for learning, complete with internet connectivity, sustaina...
Android Has 47 Times More Malware Than iOS According to Apple CEO
Image sourced from Reuters. CEO of Apple, Tim Cook has said that Android has significantly more malware than iOS and that “sideloading” smartphone apps is something “not in the best interest of users.” Virtually speaking at the VivaTech 2021 conference in Paris, France, on June 16, Cook claims that Android carries “47 times more malware” than Apple’s OS because of the way that iOS has been designed. Namely, that there’s only one App Store and that all Apps loaded to the Store undergo a strict review process. App Sideloading Android-operating devices allow users to sideload apps, meaning that users can download apps directly from third parties or websites into their phones without having to go through the Google Play store. Obviously, unaware users can be caught off-guard by malware in side...
More than Half a Billion 5G Subscribers Expected by End of 2021 via New Report
Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company, Ericsson projects that 5G mobile subscriptions will exceed 580-million by the end of 2021, driven by an estimated one million new 5G mobile subscriptions every day. The forecast, which features in the twentieth edition of the Ericsson Mobility Report, enhances the expectation that 5G will become the fastest adopted mobile generation. About 3.50-billion 5G subscriptions and 60% 5G world population coverage are forecast by the end of 2026. However, the pace of adoption varies widely by region. Europe is off to a slower start and has continued to fall far behind China, the U.S., Korea, Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets in the pace of 5G deployments. 5G is expected to surpass a billion subscriptions two years a...
IT Teams Facing Cyber Threats in 2020 – 5 Vital Insights
Image sourced from CIO. “Around the world, 2020 was an unprecedented year for IT teams,” said Chester Wisniewski, principal research scientist, Sophos. IT professionals played a vital role in helping organizations to keep going despite the restrictions and limitations necessitated by COVID-19. Among other things, they enabled education institutions to move learning online, retailers to switch to online transactions, healthcare organizations to deliver digital services and care under incredibly tough circumstances, and ensured public entities could continue to provide essential services. Much of this will have been done at high speed, with limited equipment and resources available and while facing a rising tide of cyberattacks against the network, endpoints and employees. To say things were...
