Author: Contributor

By James Harland, RMIT University Scientists who build artificial intelligence and autonomous systems need a strong ethical understanding of the impact their work could have. More than 100 technology pioneers recently published an open letter to the United Nations on the topic of lethal autonomous weapons, or “killer robots”. Read More: How to make robots that we can trust These people, including the entrepreneur Elon Musk and the founders of several robotics companies, are part of an effort that began in 2015. The original letter called for an end to an arms race that it claimed could be the “third…

By Hemkumar Balaraman, project manager at Africa, Wipro Limited Recent years have seen South African banks compete in a key battleground: the mighty mobile app. Each bank is positioning mobile in slightly different way – with some emphasising contactless mobile payments, another highlighting bot-like automation and machine learning, others focusing on simplicity, or intuitive user experiences. For banks, the mobile channel has the potential to provide far more contextual, personalised services, and the opportunity to rapidly scale the distribution of financial services into remote areas, at far lower costs than traditional branch-based banking footprints. But actually, developing mobile solutions is…

By Staff Writer SnapnSave, South Africa’s fastest growing shopping community, has sold a minority stake to both Kalon Venture Partners and Smollan Group SA. Kalon, a venture capital fund and Smollan Group, an international retail solutions business invested R7 million each. SnapnSave, founded by Mark Bradshaw is South Africa’s leading cashback coupon app that gives shoppers cash back on their favourite products, wherever they shop, just by snapping a photo of their till slip. The launch of SnapnSave comes in the wake of a surging global trend that will see over one billion people globally expected to use digital coupons…

By Reshaad Sha, CEO at SqwidNet The rise of the Internet of Things and other mobile technologies offers humanity the opportunity to truly advance their efforts in preserving and saving the environment in more innovative and relevant ways. Humanity today finds itself living in what is defined as the ‘Anthropocene Age’, or the age of man. This is characterised by the massive environmental modifications occurring on Earth, encompassing such issues as climate change and the rapid loss of biodiversity. Fortunately, there is another age we are also living in at present, namely the ‘Information Age’, where the Internet, social networks,…

By Staff Writer A former executive chairman of Dimension Data’s Africa and Middle East operations has accused the South African-based tech giant of institutional racism. Andile Ngcaba, who became executive chairman of the tech firm in 2004 after his firm Convergence Partners bought a 25% interest in Dimension Data, has alleged that his former employer has discriminated and treated him unfairly. Ngcaba told Business Day newspaper that he learnt in May 2016 that Dimension Data’s executive directors, including his juniors, were benefiting from a long-term incentive scheme, from which he was excluded. “The directors need to disclose on what basis…

By Lisa Michaels After many large businesses around the world became involved in data breach scandals, many other businesses of all sizes have begun paying more attention to data security and protection. No matter what kind of business you run, protecting customer data is crucial to maintain your brand’s reputation and your bottom line. In some industries, businesses who fail to take proper measures to secure confidential information may expose themselves to fines and other penalties from regulatory authorities. In order to prevent data leaks that carry huge financial costs and could have a huge negative impact on your reputation, you…

The revolution for on-demand content streaming is here. From September 1, Telkom – South Africa’s largest fixed-line telephone group – will be offering its customers LIT, a  streaming service providing zero rated video and music streaming to select content partners for its FreeMe 2GB and up customers. The Telkom LIT Video and LIT Music are giving Telkom customers access to on-demand movies, series, online video and music through some of the world’s most popular online content providers. Telkom also announced the imminent launch LIT TV, offering Unlimited ADSL, Fibre and LTE SmartBroadband customers the Telkom LIT TVC 100 media box…

By Davina Myburgh, director of Core Credit for TransUnion Africa Biometrics may at the outset seem like a space-age, technology driven discipline, but using unique physical characteristics as identifying features is nothing new. Artefacts discovered in ancient Babylon and China have been uncovered bearing handprints and fingerprints that scholars believe were used for everything from business to criminal prosecution. Technology, and a greater understanding of what makes humans unique on a biological and behavioural level, have accelerated and expanded the biometric field to practically limitless applications in the modern business landscape. From the fingerprint scanners that we use to get…

By Staff Writer Cell C’s black economic empowerment shareholder, CellSAf, which currently holds 25% of South Africa’s third largest mobile operator, has warned that the restructuring of the mobile phone operator is far from a “done deal”. The country’s third-biggest mobile phone operator recently announced its restructuring involving Net 1 and Blue Label Telecoms. The Cell C’s empowerment partner declared that the recapitalisation of the mobile phone operator amounts to a blatant attempt at corporate capture, and is likely to collapse under regulatory scrutiny. CellSAf founded Cell C 16 years ago along with the now-bankrupt Middle-Eastern conglomerate, Saudi Oger. After…

By Staff Writer The South African Government accesses tens of thousands of people’s sensitive communications information every year using a loophole in South Africa’s surveillance policies, according to the Right2Know (R2K) Campaign. The R2K releases statistics from MTN, Vodacom, Cell C and Telkom that show show that, at a minimum, law enforcement agencies are spying on the communications of at least 70,000 phone numbers each year. In May 2017, R2K asked the big four mobile operators how many warrants they received in terms of section 205 of the Criminal Procedures Act, in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The organisation said these…