Author: Contributor
By Sundaram Mahalingam, Senior Technical Architect – IoT delivery at Prodapt and Vishwa Nigam, Manager – Business Analysis & Insights at Prodapt The retail industry is moving from selling products to selling experiences, so it has become extremely important for retailers to know what their customers need in order to enhance their shopping experience. However, knowing customer issues has been a challenge for retailers — as a result, the retail industry is one that faces the greatest risk of losing a customer. Almost 8 out of 10 customers don’t even give retailers a chance to fix their issues before moving to the competitors. IoT…
By Staff Writer Good sales for the electrified cars are slowing bring BMW’s plan closer to sell more than 100 000 electric vehicles in 2017. The German carmaker announced on Thursday that more than 50,000 BMW i, BMW iPerformance and electrified MINI vehicles have been delivered to customers around the world since the start of the year. The company now has a total of nine electrified automobiles on the market: sales of these vehicles totalled 50,711 in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 74.8% on the same period last year. The German automaker said this makes…
South African and Nigerian authorities should hang their heads in shame for allowing the ludicrously high mobile telecoms roaming charges suffered by travellers from between the two countries. If you are not careful enough you could land a bill around the R100 000 mark for normal internet browsing when travelling between the two countries. We were exposed to the ludicrously high charges when we landed in Lagos from Johannesburg early this week. Landing with an intention to roam throughout our scheduled two weeks stay, we had to reconsider our options on discovering the ludicrously high roaming charges. On landing at the, Murtala…
By Staff Writer Opera and digital reading non-profit Worldreader have joined forces to understand how women in Africa use mobile internet. Two studies undertaken by the organizations have found that women in Africa use mobile internet to empower and entertain themselves. Opera ran a survey of 1,500 women and men aged 14 to 44 in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa in May 2017 to learn more about their web browsing habits on their mobile phones. The poll results were later combined with Worldreader insights on the mobile reading habits of 50,000 Worldreader app users in the three countries above. Women…
By Staff Writer The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Commission is investigating Netcare, Nokia, MTN, Eskom and the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) for allegedly violating the BBBEE Act. According to a report by Business Day, the Commission is investigating MTN’s broad-based black economic empowerment schemes MTN Zakhele and Zakhele Futhi BBBEE The Commission is also investigating Nokia Solutions and Networks SA to determine whether the BBBEE ownership transaction involving its employee trust and Sekunjalo Investment resulting in 26% black ownership and the subsequent change in black ownership, which resulted in 31.28% black ownership by Sekunjalo, complied with the…
by Ben Dickson Where will humans fit in a world where robots outsmart them? This is the focus of a heated debate between thought leaders and tech billionaires. Some believe we’re steadily meandering toward an AI apocalypse, where humans are either obliterated or enslaved by robots, and we must act quickly to prevent it. Others will tell you that artificial intelligence will always be the subservient best friend of mankind, even when it outwits its creators, and we should move ahead with developing AI at full speed. At every industrial revolution, there’s a dystopian and a utopian vision of the future. And…
By Staff Writer Luxury smartphone design made accessible with the launch of the STK Sync 5e in South Africa STK, the born-in-London smartphone brand, has expanded its fast-growing product range in South Africa by bringing the STK Sync 5e Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) smartphone with 5-inch high-definition display to the local market. The Sync 5e is available from major retailers across southern Africa, including PEP, Ackermans, The Foschini Group, OK and Shoprite, with a recommended retail price of R999. Crafted with a blend of the finest materials and a beautiful aesthetic design, the Sync 5e offers a luxurious smartphone experience at…
By Teddy Daka, Ansys CEO Anyone who studies the economics of our continent soon stumbles upon some well-documented facts about South Africa. Facts such as we account for 35% of the entire GDP of sub-Saharan Africa and Gauteng alone accounts for 10% of the continent’s wealth. The few square kilometres that connect the Sandton and Joburg CBD makes up the majority of that. There’s an argument about whether or not South Africa or Nigeria has the largest overall economy, but there’s no doubt ours is more high tech. By some reports, smartphone penetration in South Africa is up to 60%.…
Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba says steps are being taken to address the challenges faced by South African Airways (SAA). Addressing Members of Parliament (MPs) at the Old Assembly Chamber in Parliament on Friday, the Minister said while the airline is faced with external market challenges, as is the case with other airlines, there were internal matters that SAA is looking at to bring stability in governance and to also ensure the airline’s liquidity is protected. The Minister was accompanied by SAA’s top leadership, including Chairperson Dudu Myeni and newly appointed CEO Vuyani Jarana. “There are far deeper challenges that we…
By Staff Writer Vodacom, the country’s biggest mobile phone operator, is taking steps in ensuring that people in rural areas are connected and have access to fast data speeds. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone operator said in a statement it has already achieved 99.9% urban and 99.6% of rural population voice coverage and 99.9% urban and 95.6% of rural population data coverage. While this presents a tremendous achievement, Vodacom, said: “We are now looking at innovative ways to connect the outstanding 4.4% rural population with data coverage and 0.4% population with voice coverage.” The rollout of data services into rural areas is caused…
By Staff Writer When the internet was first invented over 25 years ago, no one could have predicted that it would have such enormous social, economic, and technological significance, attracting over 3.5 billion users globally. Certainly, nobody envisioned it ever being used to connect toasters, egg trays and toothbrushes. With a current market valuation of over $900 billion, both manufacturers and those looking to adopt Internet of Things (IoT) solutions are aware of the potential of IoT. Be it a connected home, connected car or even a connected dustbin, the journey towards IoT always begins with the simple question: what…
By Staff Writers The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) may scarp smaller medical aids with less than 6, 000 principal members. CMS has told Business Day that medical schemes with less than 6,000 principal members had been identified as potential targets for consolidation, as they failed to meet the requirements of the Medical Schemes Act. While the Act says schemes must have 6,000 members to register, the CMS has, for the past 17 years, permitted schemes to operate below this threshold. Consolidation of the industry was necessary because fragmented risk pools were expensive, and limited the scope for cross-subsidisation, CMS…
By Agnat Max Makgoale, CEO of South Africa’s first IoT network, Vula Telematix For the first time in history, more than 50% of the human population lives in cities. Many of these are large or even mega cities, with populations of anywhere between 5 million and 38 million people. Urban areas with such dense populations are extremely complex to manage, so it is no surprise that they are rapidly gearing up to become fully fledged smart cities powered by the Internet of Things (IoT). Interconnected infrastructure is, without a doubt, the way of the future. At a Smart Cities Summit held…
By Staff Writer It takes a long time for petrol to find its way into your tank. Thousands of years to be exact. Originating from the fossils of animals and plants, petroleum (crude oil) needs to be extracted from the earth, refined into petrol or diesel, and transported and stored under precise conditions. Petrol is thus one of the biggest expenses a car owner has. South African motorists have it tougher than most – our petrol is expensive and we consume a great deal. Out of 61 countries on the Bloomberg Global Fuel Price Index, South Africa is 55th in…
By Staff Writer Project Isizwe, which provides the Tshwane Free WiFi service, announced on Tuesday it has appointed Dudu Mkhwanazi as the new CEO. The organisation said the 26-year-old describes herself as an “activist” for Free WiFi. Project Isizwe said Mkhwanazi has a demonstrated history of successfully managing complex projects (without mentioning them) at scale. Mkhwanazi holds a Master’s Degree in Public Policy Analysis from University Montpellier. “Her unique leadership approach combines authentic relationship building with thorough business rigour to deliver sustainably impactful projects in pursuit of social justice for all South Africans,” said Project Isizwe in a statement. Mkhwanazi’s…
By Ben Dickson It’s fair to say that artificial intelligence has helped online shopping take huge leaps and leave brick-and-mortar retail behind in terms of innovation and efficiency. There are no in-store equivalents for the personalized features that you find in e-commerce platforms. The main hurdle to putting AI to use in retail is data, the new gold, and the reason companies such as Google and Facebook are offering you their services for free. Online shopping platforms provide a direct interface to the customer. This is useful to gather tons of information about every user, including the products they view, their search queries, items…
By Reshaad Sha, CEO at SqwidNet The Internet of Things (IoT) is counted among emerging technologies that promise to transform the South African market. While the opportunity for IoT is young in South Africa, its potential influence is far-reaching. For example, in the mining industry, devices monitor air quality, seismic activity, shaft stability, equipment wear, and energy usage. In the logistics industry, sensors track and monitor vehicles and routes for efficiency and safety. The possibilities are endless. With all of these benefits comes risk, as the increase in connected devices gives hackers and cyber criminals more entry points. A recent…
By Staff Writer South African led UK genetics brand DNAFit has been selected as a launch partner of Helix, the new US-based marketplace of DNA-powered products set to transform the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry. Led by South African life sciences entrepreneur CEO Avi Lasarow, DNAFit will deliver their health and fitness products for the ground-breaking new Helix platform. While operating out of a head office in London, the company retains a strong South African connection thanks to a core team of 25 based in Johannesburg. Lasarow’s DNAFit has been chosen as health and fitness partner for Helix, placing the brand…
By Staff Writer Ignite – the internet and communication technology services provider focused on South African SMEs – announced on Monday that it has added LTE-A services via the Rain network to its connectivity offering. It added that SMEs can select one of three month-to-month packages, and scale data up or down as requirements change: LTE-A Starter – 55GB LTE-A for R549 per month incl. VAT LTE-A Advanced – 85GB LTE-A for R799 per month incl. VAT LTE-A Premium – 120GB LTE-A for R999 per month incl. VAT Ignite’s first 250 LTE-A customers will pay just R999 for installation and…
By Staff Writer The Nigerian Senate has withdrawn a statement that largely exonerated Africa’s biggest mobile phone giant MTN of accusations of illegally repatriating $14 billion. The report, presented to the Nigerian Senate was almost immediately sent back for further work because it did not capture possible infractions by all stakeholders, Reuters news agency reported and citing two people familiar with the matter said. The Nigerian parliament decided last September to investigate whether MTN unlawfully repatriated $13.92 billion from Nigeria between 2006 and 2016. Reuters reported that senators did not understand why the report largely condemned the CBN while MTN…
By Staff Writer The National Treasury has recommended that Eskom’s former CEO Brian Molefe, along with suspended CFO Anoj Singh and Matshela Koko, be investigated for corruption, a report in the City Press revealed. According to the report a recommendation for investigation is contained in an explosive National Treasury report, which references the #GuptaLeaks extensively. The Treasury report also recommends that the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer “appoint a forensic audit firm and report the matter to law enforcement agencies” to investigate several issues. The report has been sent to Parliament’s standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) as well…
By Staff Writer Dreadful minister Faith Muthambi flew 30 members of her family and friends to Cape Town for her budget speech in parliament in May. The Sunday Times reported that Muthambi treated family and friends to a luxury junket at huge expense to the taxpayer just two months after being moved to the public service and administration portfolio from communications department. The newspaper reveals that Muthambi: Flew several family members, including her mother, aunt, sister, and son, to Cape Town for her budget vote speech in parliament in May. Also in the entourage was disgraced former SABC board chairwoman…
By Staff Writer Communications Minister Ayanda Dlodlo allegedly tried to save Pakamile Pongwana, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), from facing serious charges, including sexual harassment, according to a City Press report. The newspaper said Dlodlo wanted to hire Pongwana as her director-general. In a request to the country’s communications watchdog, Dlodlo asked that Pongwana to be seconded to her department to fill a position of director-general that has been vacant for some time. On July 6, ICASA announced that Pongwana was placed on precautionary suspension pending an internal disciplinary process. The regulator didn’t disclose…
By Staff Writer The author of the social media post purported to show a racist and offensive mail written by a MiWay staff member, has apologised, the short-term insurer announced on Friday. The writer of the post, former MiWay client Mondli Madlala, was identified in an independent forensic investigation into the incident. After having a claim legitimately rejected by MiWay and subsequently by the Ombudsman for Short-term Insurance, he used a MiWay mail to generate a false and defamatory mail containing racist remarks and making false allegations about MiWay’s claims handling policies. In a meeting yesterday with MiWay CEO, René…
By Staff Writer Telkom on Friday announced an overhaul of its fixed line product offering with the launch of Unlimited Home Internet and voice plans. For the first time, fixed line consumers are now able to choose their internet speeds and get uncapped data and unlimited anytime Telkom voice calls for free. This includes calls to over 6 million Telkom fixed and mobile numbers, and discounted calls to the top 30 international destinations. In addition, consumers will also receive at least 1GB of mobile data per month, to stay connected while on the move. Telkom has been taking a stand…