Author: Contributor

by Bitange Ndemo Africacross the world, the conversion of information into a digital format – also called “digitalisation” – has increased productivity in the public and private sectors. As a result, virtually every country in the world is working towards a digital economy. As this new economy evolves, special skills like computer programming are needed. This is like a language of numbers, known as code, which allows people to write instructions that are executed by computers. The goal is to create something: from a web page, to an image, to a piece of software. Early coding languages emerged in the…

Despite significant investments in battery backup systems and generators, MTN’s mobile sites continue to face significant threats, due to Eskom’s ongoing load shedding and in particular the introduction of stage six load shedding. The majority of MTN’s sites have been equipped with battery backup systems to ensure there is enough power on-site to run the systems for several hours when local power goes down. However, the frequency of load shedding is resulting in batteries not having enough time to recharge. “These batteries generally have a capacity of six to 12 hours, depending on the site category and require 12 to…

The world of crypto in 2019 has brought more price fluctuation, many announcements that indicate cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly mainstream and tighter regulatory scrutiny. As the world moves towards a new financial system, cryptocurrency ownership has grown this year along with the number of use cases, including stablecoins and crypto lending. Marius Reitz, Luno GM for Africa, provides an overview of the important stories of the year. Crypto being taken seriously  Facebook’s announcement of an asset-backed stablecoin, Libra, dominated headlines this year. With access to a massive user base, Libra has the potential to bring cryptocurrency into the mainstream. The…

Altron, a JSE-listed technology company, has acquired identity security company, Ubusha Technologies in a deal worth R360-million. The deal is effective 1 March 2020. Founded in 2003, Ubusha, as a next-generation IT security services provider enables dynamic authentication and authorisation, identity management and governance and privileged account security for leading local and international banking, financial services, insurance, telecommunications and retail customers. Ubusha is the largest identity security company in Africa. The deal is pending Competition Commission approval. Identity security is an essential foundation for customers’ digital transformation strategies and governance structures. “By acquiring Ubusha we are enhancing our capability in…

by Nic Haralambous I am in no way a financial advisor. I do, however, understand the basics of diversified investments and one that people still ignore is the new market of cryptocurrencies. South Africans are notoriously bad at saving for their own future and planning for their kids financial future. No matter how many times you do it, buying Christmas gifts for your kids can be daunting. Too little, too much, too small or too big – the possibilities (for disaster) are endless. This year, I’m suggesting you spend less on toys and things your kids will throw away and…

by Sara James, and Sarah Midford If recent television shows are anything to go by, we’re a little concerned about the consequences of technological development. Dystopian narratives abound. Black Mirror projects the negative consequences of social media, while artificial intelligence turns rogue in The 100 and Better Than Us. The potential extinction of the human race is up for grabs in Travellers, and Altered Carbon frets over the separation of human consciousness from the body. And Humans and Westworld see trouble ahead for human-android relations. Narratives like these have a long lineage. Science fiction has been articulating our hopes and…

by Kathryn Smith and Caroline Wilkinson Facial reconstruction is best known as a forensic tool that can help identify human remains and reconnect them with families for burial or memorialisation. The technique has a potent claim on our imaginations. These images are usually produced when other identification methods have failed. It’s usually a last resort with very high stakes. This is perhaps why, when forensic depictions lead to recognition in spite of their own technical limitations, it can feel like a miracle, providing an essential, often long-awaited, piece of an investigative puzzle. Facial reconstruction becomes most culturally visible when it…

Aqua Air Africa, a subsidiary of Moipone Group Investments, has launched Africa’s first atmospheric water generating plant in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria. The plant is aimed at tackling the critical scarcity of potable water in South Africa. The plant, which is based in the old Ga-Rankuwa Industrial Zone, produces 10 000 litres of clean potable water from air daily. Aqua Air Africa plans to expand production to 100 000 litres per day; thus, creating a sustainable water technology solution to address South Africa’s looming water shortage crisis. Aqua Air Africa, founded in 2018 and led by CEO Keamogetswe Matsho, is a BBB-EE…

by Sonwabise Sebata Time and again it has been proven that companies that foster gender diversity at board, executive and employee levels outperform and produce greater value for their shareholders than homogeneous companies. In fact, colleagues in the investment community share that when selecting companies for their portfolios one of their top priorities is the considerations of companies that have equal (or more) female representation. Despite this, statistics tell a different story. In South Africa, for instance, we have less than 23% of female representation in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) employment environment. In Europe, the female representation is…

by Eugenia Ha Rim Rho Whether you’re a conservative or a liberal, you have most likely come across a political hashtag in an article, a tweet or a personal story shared on Facebook. A hashtag is a functional tag widely used in search engines and social networking services that allow people to search for content that falls under the word or phrase, followed by the # sign. First popularized by Twitter in 2009, the use of hashtags has become widespread. Nearly anything political with the intent of attracting a wide audience is now branded with a catchy hashtag. Take for…

by Christelle Colman With over 16 million Facebook users alone in South Africa, social interaction increasingly involves the conscious – and also unconscious – exchange of personal information online. Apart from the obvious security risks, social media users often don’t realise that insurers also view social media platforms and posts to verify client information and claims data. In time the industry is also likely to begin using the vast pool of personal information that exists online, to build risk profiles and even to price cover. Thanks to Kim Kardashian’s much-publicised diamond jewellery heist people are generally aware that posting pics…

by Victor Odundo Owuor When one talks about young Africans using smartphones, the dominant narrative is that these gadgets serve mostly as platforms for connection so that users can communicate and share greetings and information via text and images. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp and Signal take pride of place in that description, despite their murkier side. What has perhaps been overlooked is how smartphones are also affecting other facets of young people’s lives. One area is the ever-growing community of sports betting in Africa. The phenomenon of sports betting among African youths has taken the region by storm. Recent polls…

Brewer SAB is one of the only businesses in the world, and the first in South Africa, to introduce environmentally friendly Core Linerless Solutions labels for its product packaging. The labels, which have no release liner, were developed in partnership with Ritrama, and completely suppress the waste of the release liner of older self-adhesive labels.   Ritrama, an Italian private multinational with a South African-based business, is considered a market leader in design, distribution and manufacture of self-adhesive products. The new Core Linerless Solutions labels will help reduce the group’s impact on the environment by 57 tonnes/yr. The perforated Core Linerless…

by Allison Gardner, Keele University Researchers recently produced an algorithm that could guess whether heart patients had lived or died from their condition within a year. By looking at data from a test of the heart’s electrical activity known as an electrocardiogram or ECG, the algorithm successfully predicted patient survival in 85% of cases. But its developers couldn’t explain how the algorithm did this. Its stated purpose was to find previously unknown information that doctors couldn’t see in ECGs. Developed by US healthcare provider Geisinger, the algorithm was trained using 1.7 million ECG results from 400,000 patients, including some who…

by Ryan Hawthorne and Lukasz Grzybowski Mobile services have had an important and positive impact on developing countries where they are the main means of connecting to the internet. However, mobile services have capacity constraints. They use limited radio frequency spectrum, which means that mobile data typically has usage limits. They also have high prices per unit (per gigabyte), which results in lower use per connection. Fixed-line broadband, on the other hand, has significantly lower prices per unit. It is often offered on an uncapped or unlimited basis, and therefore has higher usage per connection. This enables a wider range of…

South Africa’s leading eCommerce group expects to ship at least one order every second, with roughly 10 000 boxes leaving their warehouses every hour this shopping season. Black Friday was first introduced to South Africa by Takealot in 2012, and has since become an important day in South Africa’s annual retail calendar. It has been a record-breaker for both of the retailers in the Takealot Group: Takealot and Superbalist. Takealot’s Black Friday gross merchandise value (GMV) grew 125% from 2017 to 2018, with orders up 127%. Superbalist’s Black Friday GMV has grown on average around 50%. This year, CEO Kim…

by Basebone Is it a phone? Is it a tablet? Actually, it’s both. It’s a folding phone – and it’s this year’s big handset trend. Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, Huawei’s Mate X and Motorola’s re-booted Razr are setting the pace. Will they succeed? On November 13, Motorola will host a launch party in LA for a new phone. It says the event will unveil a product that is ‘an original unlike any other’. Really? If the inside gossip is to be believed, the new phone will be the Razr. https://www.trustedreviews.com/news/motorola-razr-2019-price-release-date-specs-3646133 Not exactly ‘original’. Moto launched its first Razr 15 years ago.…

by Byron Clatterbuck Any good business decision-maker knows that change is inevitable and rather than fighting the unavoidable, one should lean into the discomfort of disruption. Flexibility and a willingness to embrace change are two valuable assets that will serve any business well on its transformation journey. But, given today’s evolving nature of the business, what exactly should an organisation be prioritising to futureproof the company and set up growth? I believe digital migration and business consolidation are two of the best places to start. Seacom has itself, over the past few years, made significant moves to transform into a…

by Basebone Everywhere you go on the web, an army of companies are tracking you. Now the browser companies are starting to block them. Is this the birth of a new private web? Or will it just make the trackers even sneakier? Over the years, the browser companies competed over which product was faster or had the best features. Now they’re all pretty amazing. Whichever you pick – Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Opera, Firefox – you can be sure the experience will be great. So is there anything left to differentiate them? Yes, there is: privacy. Recently, the battle to…

by Andrew Schmulow South Africa’s regulatory regime for the financial services sector is going through major changes. The question is whether companies can adapt to a principles-based approach. Or will they default back to rules-based compliance during the implementation of the Conduct of Financial Institutions Act? The aim of the new law is to improve financial sector conduct and ensure fairer outcomes, particularly for customers. There are strong arguments that a business that prioritises the values of good conduct will be rewarded with loyal customers. They, in turn, have a high degree of trust in the business, and are more…

by Rune Werliin On November 12, Disney launched its long-awaited streaming service Disney+ in the US, Canada and the Netherlands. With content ranging from Disney and Pixar classics to movies in the Star Wars and Marvel franchises, it’s hard to believe that Disney+ won’t be a success. But what exactly can we expect when Disney+ is entering the market? In our new study, we reveal the impact Disney’s new streaming service will have on the market in the US, UK, Germany and Nordics. High level of purchase intent Despite the fact that Disney+ has just gone live in the US…

Huawei has released its new 5G microwave solution with “1+2” simplified architecture ahead of AfricaCom 2019 which will be held in Cape Town from 12-14 November. The ICT company will showcase the solution to Africa’s telecoms at the continent’s biggest ICT trade showcase. This space-saving solution allows for more efficiency in the use of space on cell towers, decreasing antennas that are mounted on them. Huawei Simplified “1+2” 5G Microwave Architecture This microwave solution is the first of its kind in the industry. With 1 dual-band antenna, plus 2 any band (6-86GHz) RF unit, the simplified architecture allows 5G microwave…

by Sioux McKenna Around the world there has been a massive increase in demand for doctoral education. This mostly stems from the idea that the “knowledge economy” requires high-level skills. The claim that there’s a correlation between a country’s economic stability and the proportion of its population who have doctorates has led to national targets being set for doctoral graduation. In 2010, 1,420 doctoral candidates graduated in South Africa. Since then the number has more than doubled. The high increase in both intake and graduation has led to concerns about quality. A key question is: how did South Africa find…

by Michael Oluwatosin Bodunrin William Gregor, an amateur mineralogist and chemist, first discovered ilmenite – some black sand containing one of the world’s lightest metals – in the UK in 1791. Four years later, this light metal was isolated and named “titanium” by a German chemist Martin Heinrich Klaproth. Titanium has comparable strength to steel, the world’s most used metal, but is about 56% as dense and 45% lighter. Pure titanium is very difficult to extract from ilmenite and so it took about 145 years before the metal became generally useful. Titanium alloys are made when controlled amounts of other…

Sasol Exploration and Production International (E&PI) has aspirations to maintain and extend its gas supply from Southern Mozambique and to grow its gas portfolio in the southern cone of Africa in addition to growing its portfolio in West Africa. In Mozambique, Sasol and partners have been a catalyst for socio-economic development. Sasol’s capital investment of over $3 billion, day-to-day operations, social investment and skills development have made a significant impact with over 6% contribution to Mozambique’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the period 2004 to 2018 and is also a significant contributor to the national fiscus with $495 million in…