Author: Gugu Lourie
South Africa is in the process of selecting a new public protector to replace the incumbent, Thuli Madonsela. The country’s National Assembly is responsible for recruiting her replacement. But the way it goes about doing this is deeply flawed. By Sandiso Bazana Firstly, the recruitment and selection ad hoc committee assembled to make the decision consists entirely of politicians. It has 11 members – six from the governing African National Congress, two from the main opposition Democratic Alliance, one from the Economic Freedom Fighters and two from smaller parties. All represent their party interests. This hugely compromises the professional ethics of…
Exponential Ventures, the innovation unit of JSE listed financial services group, MMI Holdings, partners with Europe’s leading accelerator programme to showcase South Africa’s entrepreneurial talent in the global market. By Staff Writer Exponential Ventures, the disruptive innovation unit of JSE listed company, MMI Holdings, has continued with its relentless pursuit of innovation by becoming an investor partner in the insurance incubator programme, Startupbootcamp InsurTech managed by Startupbootcamp a leading international startup accelerator. Startupbootcamp InsurTech has announced that the FastTrack tour will be coming to Cape Town on 11 October and Johannesburg on 13 October 2016. FastTrack days (or pitch days)…
Pan-African telecoms provider Seacom extends its corporate market offering to Kenya by providing Internet connectivity and cloud services directly to corporates. By Staff Writer The new product offerings include high-speed, dedicated Fibre Internet Access with options ranging from 10 Mbps up to 1 Gbps which will allow businesses in East Africa to unlock their true potential in today’s online and digital age. Following the launch of its Seacom Business offering in South Africa a year ago, the division in East Africa has already signed up almost 50 business customers, adding more each month. It has also recently appointed several corporate partners to support its…
Paid Content by MasterCard These days, pretty much everybody (including, somewhat surprisingly, many of our grandparents) uses technology to pay for things — and doing so goes hand-in-hand with entering and storing private information somewhere in the Internet’s vast ether. Remember when people refused to even reveal their last names online? Those days are long gone. By MasterCard Today, more than 344 million people are online in Latin America, with more than 200 million on Facebook, and e-commerce in the region is growing. The escalation in Internet and social media use has made it more commonplace for our data to live online. Technology…
After replacing human editors with an algorithm, Facebook ended up with a fake Trending news story, according to Quartz report. By Staff Writer Just two days after Facebook laid off the entire editorial staff of its Trending news team, it seems the robots left in charge of making decisions have already been fooled. On Sunday (Aug. 28), a fake news story about Fox anchor Megyn Kelly ended up in the Trending section of the social network’s homepage. The story, which falsely claimed that Kelly had been fired, had over 200,000 likes on Facebook. It was finally removed from the trending…
The concept of tracking your fitness with wearable technology is not new but the rate at which activity trackers are being worn by school children, is. And it’s causing quite a range of reactions. By Steve Goschnick In the UK, a mother withdrew her child from primary school because it stopped him from wearing his electronic fitness bracelet, although following protests the school later allowed pupils to wear Fitbits (except during physical education class). In New Zealand, high school counsellors said they were concerned the Fitbit devices could become a fixation, particularly with girls trying to lose weight and keep fit.…
It is often said that you should not believe everything you see on the internet. But with the advent of immersive technology – like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) – this becomes more than doubly true. By David Evans Bailey The full capabilities of these immersive technologies have yet to be explored, but already we can get a sense of how they can be used to manipulate us. You may not think you are someone who is easily duped, but what if the techniques used are so subtle that you are not even aware of them? The truth is…
South Africa’s ICT sector has made great strides in changing its gender demographics over the past decade, but more work needs to be done to support women’s progress in this sector, says MTN South Africa CEO Mteto Nyati. Speaking ahead of the South African Women in ICT Awards, Nyati said South African ICT sector demographics had changed significantly during his 20 years in the industry. “In the 1990s, the sector was primarily white and male. Now, it is far more representative of the population. However, participation by women at a senior level is still too low.” It is estimated that only…
Civic technology initiatives are on the rise. They are using new information and communication technologies to improve transparency, accountability and governance – faster and more cheaply than before. By Indra de Lanerolle In Taiwan, for instance, tech activists have built online databases to track political contributions and create channels for public participation in parliamentary debates. In South Africa, anti-corruption organisation Corruption Watch has used online and mobile platforms to gather public votes for Public Protector candidates. But research I recently completed with partners in Africa and Europe suggests that few of these organisations may be choosing the right technological tools to…
Experience the rumbling dynamism and unbridled power of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 during a hot lap at the SA Festival of Motoring. By Staff Writer For the first time ever in South Africa, you can strap into the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and get your blood pumping with a professional Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy driver. Experience the delicious downforce, superior aerodynamics and raw power of its naturally-aspirated 6.3 litre V8 engine first-hand. Get into the heart of premium race performance with a ride in this beastly sports car at the SA Festival of Motoring. Heart racing. Skin tingling. The powerful new Mercedes-AMG GT3 is…