Now, innovators get platform to meet investors

By Jacob Ajom The centrality of the internet in modern business has been made more relevant with the introduction of mypeopleconnect.com, an application designed to serve as a meeting point between idea owners, innovators and investors.

Launched recently at the Innovation Centre, Lekki, owners of the platform, PisonVision Global Solution Ltd., said mypeopleconnect.com will provide answers to the question of finding financiers and investors for innovations. “We noticed that there are youths who want to take their destinies in their hands.

 There are also many people looking for where to invest their money. With this application we have bridged the gap between them,” said Akinsoji Bello of Cyberfix, the web designers hired to design the  app. Also speaking, Chief Executive Officer, PisonVision Global Solution Ltd, Femi Okikiola said, “It is a simple app open to both idea owners and investors. Mypeopleconnect.co provides a broad platform where idea owners and financiers meet, no matter where they are in the world. Once the idea is marketable both parties can network.” Okikiola was happy to note that some invetors had identified with the platform, thus;

Another look at Galaxy Note 8 after Note 7’s misfortune

By Prince Osuagwu The failure of Galaxy Note 7 last year may have come with a huge loss to the mobile phone manufacturer, Samsung Electronics. Perhaps, in that disappointment, the device maker has found the opportunity to do bigger  things.

It came out with Galaxy note 8 which appears bigger and is said to have capabilities that double that of Note 7. At its launch recently, Hi-Tech confronted the device makers on the failure of its last outing and the guarantee that a repeat is avoided in the obviously bigger framed Note 8. The answer was that the misfortune has given it a bigger opportunity to rule the smartphone world.

Uber For Her: There could be 1m women Uber drivers in 2020

….as NIGERIAN female drivers set to cut the pie By Prince Osuagwu, Hi Tech Editor & Omolola Shobowale

The next time you call an Uber ride, don’t be surprised to see a woman at the wheel. This is because many NIGERIAN female drivers are showing signs of wresting the wheels from their male counterparts in the transportation business.

Eight 2018 trends that’ll impact business, tech & design – Accenture

Analyzing the pressing forces acting internally and externally on organizations and society, Accenture has released Fjord Trends 2018. Its 11th annual report examines seven emergent trends expected to impact business, technology and design in the year ahead.

Rapid technological advancements are altering the world we live in today, provoking both wonder and angst about the possibilities. Whether it’s artificial intelligence, computer vision or blockchain, emerging technologies are uprooting the digital and physical experiences of our everyday lives. These joint forces are simultaneously creating optimism and concern about the unprecedented wave of change that is unfolding.

Artificial intelligence finds solar system with 8 planets like ours

A solar system with as many planets as our own has been discovered with the help of NASA’s Kepler space telescope and artificial intelligence, the US space agency said Thursday.

“Our solar system now is tied for most number of planets around a single star,” NASA said in a statement.

10,000 Google staff set to police YouTube content

Google is to deploy a staff of 10,000 to hunt down extremist content on its YouTube platform following recent criticism, the video-sharing site’s chief executive told Britain’s Daily Telegraph Tuesday.

Susan Wojcicki admitted in the broadsheet that “bad actors” had used the website to “mislead, manipulate, harass or even harm.”

British Prime Minister Theresa May has put pressure on internet giants to root out online radical material following a spate of terror attacks, while YouTube last week pulled 150,000 videos of children after lewd comments about them were posted by viewers.

NIGERIA: The national reconstruction plan to survive in IoT world (4)

By Chris Uwaje

Director General of Delta State Innovation Hub and former President Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria, ISPON, Mr. Chris Uwaje was a guest lecturer at the sixth annual dinner/fund raising party of the Government College, Ughelli Old Boys Association, GCUOBA, recently.

The Oracle as he is generally known in the Information and Communications, ICT circles, delivered a lecture on “The critical role of ICT and Innovation in education-imperative for schools.”

Although the lecture focused on how to equip our schools to produce knowledgeable and skilled students who would be 21st century compliant in all ramifications, a cursory look at the paper will expose a deliberate attempt to tip the country off on what is to come with the menacing world of Internet of Things, IoT and most probably, how to live in such a world without playing catch up to the e-ready economies.

Yuletide: MultiChoice extends call center service hours

By Prince Osuagwu

Pay TV operators, MultiChoice Nigeria, yesterday, announced extension of its call centre operation by three hours, beginning from yesterday, till the last day of December.

The company said it was to shape its business, in anticipation of customer needs in the yuletide. The company’s call centre usually operate from 8am to 9pm, Monday to Sundays but has now been extended to operate from 8 am to 12 am till the xmas period is over, December 31, 2017.

NITDA moves to halt N60b loss on data hosting

By Emmanuel Elebeke

National Informa- tion Technology Development Agency, NITDA, has said its priority would be to cut down, to barest minimum, the over N60 billion the country loses in hosting data in foreign databases.

The Director General of the agency Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, said the  agency,  has made progress in the adoption and utilization of Information and Communications Technology,  ICT, in both the public and private sectors of the economy, which should make local hosting of data and information inevitable.

He condemned what he referred to as the current practices of both public and private sector organizations hosting data offshore, despite having highly reliable Tier III Data Centers, certified by various international organizations.

Start-up ecosystem: How young Nigerian innovators lead new tech world

By Prince Osuagwu

When Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg, visited Nigeria, last year, one of the challenges he threw at local application developers was to look inwards for applications that would solve the country’s economic problem.

Zuckerberg said the challenge is based on the immense talent and energy Nigerian youth exuded in different innovation camps he visited. He charged developers to arm themselves with the realisation that the best way to predict the future is to be creative, as there is no problem in the world that does not have an application to solve it.

One year after his visit, it appears the challenge is still fresh in the minds of Nigerian app developers and is spurring them to greater heights. From Co Creation, CcHub, to Andela, Hotels.ng and a host of others, there are several success stories. These successful start-ups are thriving against the odds of weak infrastructure, epileptic power supply and general lack of funding or investment. In the face of these odds a lot of new start-ups have also latched on this challenge to do exploit. Some of them are flying Africa’s flag high in the world based on new ideas and presence in the new technology world order. They are largely part of the estimated 700 active startups tech ecosystem located in Lagos city alone that are bursting with energy and dynamism. They account the local startup ecosystem valued at well over $2 billion (N614bn) So, it was not any surprise that three Nigerian tech start-ups made the final list of 16 people selected from across Africa for the 2018 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation. The shortlist which was announced in Cape Town, South Africa recognises the most talented African engineers from across sub-Saharan Africa, including innovators working to make malaria and reproductive health tests easier, using dolphin-inspired echo-location for visually impaired people, and recovering precious metals from car parts for re-use in manufacturing. 

The Nigerian wonder kids include: Ifediora Ugochukwu who developed an app called Intelligent meter, iMeter. The iMeter, an advanced metering infrastructure, gives consumers and power utilities control over how electricity usage The smart meter measures energy usage and connects to cell phones or computers that have the AMI software on them. Another Nigerian youth engineer, who made the list, is Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu who developed ColdHubs -a solar powered walk-in cold room that extend the shelf-life of perishable foods from two to 21 days. The other, is Emeka Nwachinemere who developed Kitovu; an online platform that helps rural and remote small holder farmers triple their crop yields and sell their produce. The three Nigerians and their 14 other counterparts across Africa would be challenged to develop skills that last a lifetime. They will become part of a growing community of talented African engineers working to accelerate socio-economic development through business. 

Why Nigeria is important market for iPhone 8

By Tare Youdeowei Apple’s iPhone 8 has launched in Lagos, Nigeria and is dubbed a new generation of iPhone due to its new, durable glass design with an embedded wireless charging system, that is described for living conditions in Nigeria.

SMART CITY: TAXIFYing Abuja with 15% commisision for drivers

By Prince Osuagwu Fast growing ride-sharing platform, Taxify has brought its innovative taxi hailing app to  Abuja with hundreds of driver-partners that will pay only 15 percent commission .

This new trend is opposed to 25 percent known with its competitors in the industry. To celebrate its arrival in Abuja, Taxify is offering a 40 percent discount to riders during the month of November, as disclosed by Uche Okafor, Taxify’s Operations Manager.  ”Abuja is an exciting and thriving market with an outgoing population for private urban transport. We are very excited to launch here and have a solid team on ground. 

‘Digital transformation will create long term value for telecos, their customers’

Mr. Li Peng, the Huawei Southern African President has opined that Digital transformation will create long term value for Telecoms and their companies

He said this at the Telecoms Industry Operations Transformation Forum, tagged ‘AfricaCom’, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa, with the mindset that this should be geared towards creating long term strategic value both for the telecom and its customers. 

Mr. Li Peng said further, that “as global voice revenue and growth is declining, data and digital services are now driving revenue growth, digital operations transformation is crucial for operators’ business growth and evolution and digital operation transformation must return to the commercial nature, what specific problems to be solved and what value to be delivered. “ Huawei , as a leading ICT Company has identified three key elements for Digital Operations Transformation, these are: a set of Industry-based best practices and methodologies, open industry reference models and a series of executable targets. As a leading telecom service and solution provider, Huawei plans to invest 1 Billion USD in the next 3 years, to propel progress in digitization solution to build business and technical capabilities, and has already seen the benefits in R&D, supply chain and delivery. “Operators can maximize value and efficiency through digitization and it is ready to partner with our customers and third-party partners to walk this journey of digital Transformation together”. 

NCC, CBN threaten action against non transparent sale of 9mobile

By Prince Osuagwu There are indications that the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC and its counterpart in the banking sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, are querying the decision of the Backlays Africa, to sell 9mobile without advertising “expression of interest”.

The two regulators, in a joint letter to the facility agent for 9mobile syndicated loan, GTBank, dated November 4, 2017, frowned that since the appointment of Backlays Africa as financial advisers, it appears to have jettisoned agreed processes of handing 9mobile over to prospective new bidders. 

NCC slams operators’call for price hike

To establish more emergencycentres next year By Prince Osuagwu

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Prof Umar Garba Danbatta, has revealed that telecom operators in the country were calling for tariff hike.

Danbatta who made the disclosure when a delegation of the National agency for prohibition of trafficking in persons, NAPTIP visited him in Abuja, however said the commission usually rebuffs those calls. He said that although Nigeria has one of the lowest telecom tariffs in the world, calls for tariff hike by operators were unnecessary. He also disclosed that the commission was working hard to ensure that more emergency centres are established in the country next year. Speaking while receiving a delegation of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) led by the Director-General, Bar Julie Okah- Donli, he said the projects of building and equipping the emergency centres in the 36 states of the federation and Abuja are currently at various stages of completion. “The Federal Government has mandated the commission to provide emergency communications centres in all states of the federation and Abuja. We already have 3 digit emergency line, 112, which is equivalent to 911 in other climes,” he pointed out.

Ericsson: Why African telcos must brace up for next level of growth

.LTE broadband growth in 2023 ‘ll be massive …310 LTE, 990 mobile subscriptions ‘ll trigger network evolution By Prince Osuagwu
African operators, including Nigeria’s four major telecom operators, MTN, Globacom, Airtel 9Mobile and other mobile broadband service providers, are put on alert over the massive growth that will hit the continent in the next six years.

The growth is expected to hit the continent from improvements in Long Term Evolution, LTE and mobile telecommunications subscriptions. Among several reports that have predicted Africa’s growth, the latest regional appendix to the Ericsson Mobility Report was more explicit. The report forecasts that there will be massive growth in LTE and mobile subscriptions between 2017 and 2023.

 The level of growth, according to Ericsson will trigger network evolution, meaning that in order not to be caught unawares or resort to playing catch up when the chips are down, operators should begin now to gradually optimize their networks. This warning concerns the Nigerian telecom operators the more, considering their places in African telecom revolution. Nigeria takes a major chunk of telecom growth in Africa after having an unprecedented telecom revolution which started in 2001.

 Since then, the country has remained a shining example of Africa’s telecom prowess. Although Nigeria ranked 14 out of 39 African countries rated in the 2016 world ICT development index, the country however recorded enviable strides in growth. Nigerian ICT sector recorded  2.72 per cent growth in 2016 as against 2.48 seen in 2015. In mobile-cellular telephony subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, there was 82.10 per cent coverage. For international Internet bandwidth per internet user (Bit/s), Nigeria spent N2,986.16 on each user. The per cent of households with computer in Nigeria was 9.84 per cent in 2016, whereas the percentage    of households with internet access in Nigeria was 11.40 in the same year. For individuals using the internet, Nigeria recorded 47.44 per cent in 2016. 

This is also as the active mobile broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants in Nigeria stood at 20.95 per cent also in the year under review. In internet users, Nigeria has maintained an impressive growth since 2005 when it ranked 40th in the world with 5.0 million users. In 2009 the country jumped to 9th with 44.0 million users and eventually became 8th in 2015 when it hit 67.0 million users. Today the country maintained number one position in Africa in terms of internet usage. 

The interesting thing about the ranking is that the majority of internet users in Nigeria do so through mobile phone and that is why Ericsson’s warning should be heeded more by Nigerian telcos. The report says that LTE subscription will expand by 47 percent from 30 million in 2017 to 310million by 2023 in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report also announced that mobile subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to grow by six percent, between 2017 and 2023, from 700 million mobile subscriptions in 2017 to 990 million subscriptions by 2023.

 Moreover, mobile traffic in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49 percent while mobile subscriptions for the total MEA region are expected to grow at four percent CAGR between 2017 and 2023, from 1.59 billion in 2017 to 2.03 billion by 2023. 

This equates to three percent growth in the Middle East and North Africa, from 890 million mobile subscriptions to 1.04 billion subscriptions between 2017 and 2023. On the other hand, mobile broadband subscriptions are forecast to grow by 15% for the MEA region from 820 million in 2017 to 1.85 billion by 2023. 

This is broken down into a 13 percent increase for the Middle East and North Africa from 460 million mobile broadband subscriptions in 2017 to 980 million by 2023. Similarly, Sub-Saharan Africa mobile broadband subscriptions are foretasted to grow by 16 percent from 350 million in 2017 to 880 million by 2023. When it comes to LTE subscriptions, the MEA region is expected to grow by 29 percent from 190 million to 860 million by 2023. This means that LTE subscriptions in the Middle East and North Africa will grow by 23 percent from 160 million in 2017 to 570 million by 2023

Photo printer: HP Sprocket prints inkless

By Tare Youdeowei One of the world’s smallest photo printers, the Sprocket by Hewlett-Packard, HP, has debuted in Nigeria.

The inkless photo printer which is smaller than the average smart phone, 5 x 7.6 cm, can be carried around like an accessory to print photos from smart phones or tablet virtually anywhere via Bluetooth.

Speaking at the  launch of HP Sprocket at Hard Rock Cafe, Lagos, Managing Director, HP Central Africa, Mrs Ifeyinwa Afe, said; “Our promise is to continue to engineer technology that meets consumers’ need and amazes them, hence the HP Sprocket.

4 unusual ways to find Aa misplaced phone

Misplaced your phone? 4 unusual ways to help find a misplaced phone. Ask Your Phone to Find Itself
Yes this is in fact possible. By installing the Blare app on your Android device, you can ask your phone to find itself as long as it is on and within earshot. Once your phone hears whatever command you have set it to respond to when looking for your phone, a loud alarm will sound to help find the phone. For iOS, the app called Marco Polo can be used.

IT innovation: Nigeria spends $70bn to support start-ups

By Emmanuel Elebeke The Minister for Communications, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, has said that the only way Nigeria can get out of the economic woods is to embrace innovations in information and communications technology, ICT.

Shittu who was a guest at the just concluded ICT Start-up Ecosystem stakeholders meeting organized by National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, in Abuja, said that is why Nigeria has spent a total $70 billion to support IT start-ups since 2001. The Minister however said this culture has to be consistent and better improved for Nigeria to compete in the global stage. “Government has no option but to support the innovators and entrepreneurs in order to survive and create jobs to the teaming population.
The entire civil service is made up of only 1.5 million Nigerians, yet we have a population of about 180 million. That means that government has barely been able to provide one percent of direct jobs for the population. ‘‘Whether we like it or not, since government cannot provide jobs for everybody, government must create enabling environment for everybody to responsibly be engaged.
If we can appreciate what is happening in other climes, it means Nigeria’s government has a primary duty, not only to create the enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive, but we must amass positive support and collaboration for innovators and entrepreneurs to be properly engaged, so that they can contribute to national development.
That is why is imperative for us as a government to support your efforts in innovation and entrepreneurship. You can be rest assured that whatever you want to do, we as a government are ready to do it,’’ he said. In his presentation, Barrister Kasim Sodanji of the Office for Nigerian Content Development in ICT, ONC, an arm of NITDA, corroborated the minister’s claim that Nigeria has spent about $70 billion to support IT start-ups since 2001.

Sodanji, who spoke on National Start-up Innovation Fund, said government had intervened in many sectors of the economy, but has not made appreciable intervention in the IT sector. “Nigeria has less venture capital with less than 100 agent investors that get access in Nigeria. 

For this country to compete globally in the IT sector government must invest more to justify the objective. Nigeria has intervened in many sectors. The intervention Nigeria has had over the last 15 years is N1.7 trillion.  But this money has gone into various other areas of the economy.” We have not intervened in the ICT sector the way we should, despite the fact that ICT is the third in contribution to GDP. Millions of jobs are lost due to the poor intervention. 

‘‘For start-ups to survive, government must look for a way to catalyze private sector funds so that we can have funds for long term ICT funding for start-ups in Nigeria. This fund is one that must compete globally so that other people can comfortably key into it.’’ Director General, NITDA, Isa Pantami, during his address said the workshop is meant for ideas sharing among innovators and entrepreneurs because of the indispensability of IT in job creation. His words; “The ICT sector is a catalyst in addressing the needs and interests of many other sectors. The growth rate of tech innovators in ICT has accelerated dramatically and this encompasses more diverse players than ever before. 

Technology increases productivity, therefore, when people share access in form of collaboration they build stronger business strategy for establishing large successful firms in the business ecosystem.”

unique Leadership Conference

unique Leadership Conference 

THE FIRST FIVE STEPS YOU SHOULD TAKE IN A CYBER ATTACK

Technology is a wonderful thing. It has helped to connect the world and to make things far more convenient than ever before. People love this convenience, but they do not always realize that it brings with it a substantial amount of risk. Cyber-attacks are a serious threat, and it is vital that you understand what you need to do in order to protect your business from these problems.
If you have a relatively small business, then you might feel as though you don’t need to worry about your cyber security. That’s not the case at all. For most, even smaller businesses, it is only a matter of time before they become the victim of a cyber attack. The thing that separates you from a victim though will be the ability to deal with the attack. Let’s look at the first five steps that you need to take in the event this happens.

How to Secure Your Wireless (Wi-Fi) Home Network

Wireless Networking (Wi-Fi) has made it so easy for anyone to use Internet on your computer, mobile phones, tablets and other wireless devices anywhere in the house without the clutter of cables.
difficult for someone to steal your bandwidth but the big problem with wireless signals is that others can access the Internet using your broadband connection even while they are in a neighboring building or sitting in a car that’s parked outside your apartment.
This practice, also known as piggybacking, is bad for three reasons:
  It will increase your monthly Internet bill especially when you have to pay per byte of data transfer.   It will decrease your Internet access speed since you are now sharing the same internet connection with other users.

How to perform a clean installation of Windows

You can perform a clean installation of Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 using installation media, such as a DVD or USB flash drive. You don't need a previous version of Windows installed on your PC to perform a clean installation of Windows 8.1, but you do for Windows 8. If your PC doesn't have a version of Windows already installed, you'll need install a previous version of Windows or buy Windows 8.1 or a System Builder version of Windows 8 at a local retailer if it's available in your country or region.
To perform a clean installation using a DVD or USB flash drive
If you bought Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 on DVD from a participating retailer, or created a DVD or bootable USB flash drive when you downloaded Windows using Upgrade Assistant, follow these steps to perform a clean installation.

Keep Your Child Safe Online

Just what kind of trouble can your kids get into online? We'll lay out the problems for you and the solutions.

The Internet is absolutely loaded with content and activities that are entertaining and educational for children. Modern kids have access to resources vastly beyond what their parents had, and beyond what some grandparents even understand. You've surely heard, though, that you need to protect your kids from the Internet's dangers. Just what does that mean? Here are five ways they can get into trouble.

Nasty Websites. When home video players first came out, the porn industry roared right in to supply porn videos. Likewise, as soon as the Internet population reached critical mass, porn sites popped up like mushrooms. Young kids may encounter these by accident; hormone-crazed teens may seek them out deliberately. Gambling sites, sites promoting drugs or weapons, school cheating sites?there are a lot of places on the Internet your kids shouldn't go.

Growing your business through social media is easy

The advent of social media has made more Nigerian youths internet literate to a reasonable extent. They now access all necessary information via the internet using their mobile phone. The most visited websites by young people are social websites including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
In the 21st century, you shouldn’t be ignorant of anything for more than 5 minutes because any information you want can be got from Google. Scientists in western world have proved that a kid in Africa in 2015, have access to almost all the intelligence of the world via his/her mobile phone. That’s a feat that even the president of the United States of America could not boast of 18 years ago.
We learn through social interactions. That’s how we are wired, and social media has raised the bar and revolutionized information creation, update and retrieval.