Author: Staff Writer

In 2018, the University of Limpopo began revamping its enterprise architecture, ushering its ailing IT infrastructure into a new world of efficiency. In 2020, this digital transformation journey accelerated towards the cloud as a more scalable, agile, and reliable solution that could ensure learning continued even in the most remote and locked down circumstances. “This project was very important to education in this country. We are building a modern ICT infrastructure that allows us to grow and service more ambitious young South Africans than we ever could before. As more users demanded access to our online, media-rich learning experience, the…

Wits University has led a national consortium that secured R54 million funding from the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) to co-ordinate a national quantum technologies initiative. Following on a proposal written by the consortium led by Professor Andrew Forbes from the Wits School of Physics, the DSI committed the first tranche of funding up until March 2025 to set up the South African Quantum Technologies Initiative (SA QuTI). It involves establishing quantum nodes at five centres – Wits University, the University of Zululand (UniZulu), Stellenbosch University, the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (UKZN) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) – and eventually…

The world celebrated the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October. There is a large number of migrant breadwinners in South Africa who send money to their families, and the Post Office has a cost-effective, same-day money transfer service to and from Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Nigeria, Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and eSwatini ready. The service is available from any post office in South Africa to any post office in the destination country. The transferred funds become available at the destination post office in the foreign country on the same day. The service is offered through the…

Standard Bank’s former information technology senior lead, Mary Mahuma, has been appointed as the new Head of Information Technology at Philip Morris South Africa (PMSA), a leading international tobacco company. Mahuma joins the company in South Africa to lead the technology and operations as PMSA transforms its core operating model beyond tobacco, underpinned by the organisation’s bold ambition to deliver a smoke-free future. PMSA Managing Director Branislav Bibic says that “A smoke-free future is attainable, and the benefits it can bring to the adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke and global public health, are enormous.” “Mary is charged…

With the global Fourth Industrial Revolution in full swing, companies are investing billions of dollars on advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI). Organisations around the world are expecting and experiencing significant increases in business returns as a result of successful investment in AI. Today, Spatialedge, an AI solutions provider headquartered in Stellenbosch, South Africa, has announced the acquisition of Cape AI. Spatialedge is a big data and applied machine learning solutions company, with a focus on enabling companies to rapidly build and operationalise robust machine learning solutions. It enables enterprise data science teams to deliver improved business value faster by…

MTN South Africa recently asked small businesses with additional generation capacity to join forces in an innovative crowd-sourcing initiative to further bolster MTN’s network resilience work, as rolling daily power cuts continue. The focus of the initiative has been to find some positive in the power crisis, by bringing small businesses closer to MTN. Two businesses – 24Solutions, SAMO Engineering – have stepped up and are now working with MTN as supply partners to provide additional generator capacity. Charles Molapisi, MTN SA CEO, says keeping MTN’s customers connected to SA’s best network is a critical focus, but so too is…

In the age of big data, the Shoprite Group is at the forefront of innovating with artificial intelligence (AI). As one of the world’s leanest and most advanced retailers here are three leading innovations which have had a marked impact on the Group’s operations as it continues to create the best possible customer experience.  Ensuring Sixty60 arrives fast and fresh   To further improve Checkers Sixty60’s delivery times, the Group developed a machine learning algorithm to dynamically define optimal delivery regions. The solution overlays a map with the spatial-temporal view of orders while using order data to determine the optimal delivery…

Starting with just one client and a workforce of 100 people across two floors of Webhelp’s Umhlanga Ridgeside office in October last year, this global consultancy and customer experience organisation has quickly shown the demand for Durban as a business hub. In just a year, the Durban location has brought in further clients and will employ 674 young individuals across the entire office of four floors – with big plans for further growth. “BPO [business process outsourcing] is one of the fastest-growing sectors in South Africa with significant year-on-year growth,” commented Tammy Chetty, Managing Director of Webhelp South Africa. “We’ve…

Shoprite’s mobile application, with the Money Market Account functionality at its core, is the winner of Most Innovative Solution and App of the Year at this year’s MTN Business App of the Year Awards.   The app supports Shoprite’s Money Market Account, a fully-fledged, transactional bank account – the first by a SA retailer – and the lowest-cost bank entry-level account on the market.   “The development of the Money Market Account has been driven entirely by customer needs and we are going to reinvest the prize money to continue to uplift the lives of our customers,” says Jean Olivier, General Manager for Financial…

Small businesses could experience some serious downtime, as result of a forced PHP upgrade that local hosting companies have started to rollout. PHP is a scripting language used to create dynamic webpages – as PHP versions reach their end-of-life, upgrading is encouraged to avoid the potential security risks that arise from vulnerabilities and bugs in older versions. “While upgrading your website PHP is important, it shouldn’t be forced on you. Choosing which PHP works for your business needs, and completing the upgrade, requires a lot of attention,” says head of local hosting company 1-grid.com, Thomas Vollrath. “For already cash-strapped…