Author: Staff Writer

BuildRSA chat platform is a South African technology initiative, which gives people the chance to share their thoughts and feelings on developmental issues facing the country and find sustainable solutions to resolving them. It serves as a platform for constructive dialogue, providing everyone interested in building a prosperous South Africa with the opportunity to share opinions and practical, considered ways to address the socio-economic and political challenges plaguing our country. The BuildRSA National Conference, South Africa’s first-ever text-based conference, will happen on the BuildRSA platform at Buildrsa.co.za on 24 July 2023.  Running from 10:00am to 1:00pm, conference participants will focus…

Vodacom today pays tribute to Professor Kole Omotoso, widely recognised as the face of Vodacom’s long-running ‘YeboGogo’ advertising campaign, who passed away on Wednesday 19 July 2023. Most South Africans know Prof Omotoso as “the Yebo Gogo man” from Vodacom’s iconic adverts which the telco used to promote brand Vodacom in the early 1990s and early 2000s in South Africa. Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub says: “We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Prof Omotoso, who is one of the country’s respected academic and playwrights. At Vodacom, we remember him as an iconic figure who helped…

Huawei and the East African Communication Organisation (EACO) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at driving up levels of digital participation in the region. The MoU, which was signed by Dr Ally Simba, Executive Secretary, EACO and Yang Hongjie, Director of ICT Strategy and Policy Department of Huawei Southern Africa Region during the 25th EACO Congress and 28th Annual Assembly in Bujumbura, recognises the importance of ICT as a digital enabler. It further contains an agreement that both Huawei and EACO have determined to partner in the areas of ICT Capacity Building for EACO Secretariat staff and EACO…

To reinforce this proactive approach and ensure effective risk management, MTN SA has appointed Bradley Swanepoel as Chief Risk Officer, effective 1 October 2023. Swanepoel, who presently holds the position of General Manager: Finance Business Partner, has organisation-wide experience having served MTN’s Enterprise, Consumer, Fintech, and Technology businesses. He possesses a comprehensive understanding of MTN’s operations that aligns perfectly with the requirements of a Chief Risk Officer. “Bradley is a seasoned CA (SA) and finance executive with more than 20 years of experience in senior leadership roles. With many of those years spent in the telecoms including his current tenure…

Enhancing learner online safety this new school term is about adopting a progressively protective approach. That’s according to South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) which says online threats to the country’s school children are real, but can be mitigated by parents taking progressive action in the face of potential danger. ISPA chair, Sasha Booth-Beharilal says: “With access to information, comes the risk of learners being exposed to harmful content and equally harmful predators and cyberbullies.” When it comes to cyberbullying, it’s important for parents to advise their children not to respond and not to retaliate, either online or in…

TikTok is where culture, entertainment and music collide, making TikTok the ultimate platform for music discovery and promotion. Every day on TikTok, millions of passionate music fans discover their new favorite musician, rediscover old hits, and support up-and-coming artists to break through and reach the top of the charts. “We’re committed to supporting rising talent to help them break through the noise to reach their dreams,” said TikTok in a statement. “That’s why we are so excited to officially announce our next program aimed at raising the volume of the voices of emerging artists.” TikTok Elevate: TikTok’s first-ever programme to identify,…

The Forex market, also known as the foreign exchange market, is a vibrant and fast-paced financial market where both regular retail investors and major financial institutions trade currencies. It is a market that never sleeps, operating 24 hours a day, five days a week, across different time zones. What makes the Forex market truly intriguing is its dynamic nature, characterised by constant fluctuations in the prices of financial instruments and a multitude of factors driving these changes. Those qualities attract investors around the world seeking to maximise their profit potential in a short time. What dynamic factors shape the Forex…

The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA), an industry body focused on promoting the advancement of responsible AI in South Africa, will officially be launched  in partnership with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), one of the AI Institute of South Africa Hubs, on 19th July 2023. SAAIA seeks to encourage stakeholders to adopt responsible AI for the commercial and societal benefit of the citizens of South Africa with a primary focus on economic growth, trade, investment, equality and inclusivity by uniting practitioners across commercial, government, academic, start-up and NGO sectors. Dr Nick Bradshaw, the founder of SAAIA, states: “From…

Eskom said on Monday that Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 today until 05:00 on Tuesday, as previously communicated. Thereafter, Stage 1 loadshedding will be implemented from 05:00 until 16:00, followed by Stage 3 loadshedding from 16:00 until 05:00 on Wednesday. This pattern will continue to be implemented daily until further notice. Eskom will publish another update should any significant changes occur. Eskom said breakdowns have reduced to 15 747MW of generating capacity while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 1 946MW. Since Friday, a generating unit each at Kriel, Lethabo, Majuba, Matla and…

MyBroadband Insights has released its 2023 Mobile Voice Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has the best mobile voice service in South Africa. The report is based on South Africa’s biggest-ever mobile network quality test, conducted between 20 March and 24 April. Over the testing period, MyBroadband Insights travelled over 10,000 kilometres, made 93,912 calls, and recorded over 41,000 call minutes. MyBroadband Insights partnered with Analytico and Keysight distributor Coral-i for the extensive, country-wide network testing project. This project used Keysight’s world-leading network testing platform, Nemo, to test a range of voice network quality variables. Network performance was also…

Over a year after its planned implementation was ruled unconstitutional, Aarto will soon be on the cards for motorists again. Yesterday, the Constitutional Court overturned the High Court’s ruling of Aarto as invalid and unconstitutional. What does this mean for South African motorists? The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says the efficacy of Aarto in bringing change to the high fatality rates, needs motorists to have faith in the Act as well. “Yet, even before the High Court overturned Aarto, the public had little faith in Aarto. There are concerns there is too much opportunity for corruption to creep into…

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa today officially opened the Huawei Innovation Centre in Woodmead, Johannesburg. President Ramaphosa said that facilities like this innovation centre, along with the adoption of a range of cutting-edge technologies being pioneered by companies such as Huawei, will enable South Africa and the wider African continent to leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. According to Huawei South Africa, the newly launched Innovation Centre serves to foster and encourage joint innovation with Huawei’s South African partners, app developers, and SMMEs in the ICT space. It also showcases Huawei’s latest and most innovative digital technologies and solutions such…

Wits University and Sibanye-Stillwater (tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW) have launched the newly refurbished and rebranded Wits Sibanye-Stillwater Innovation bridge (‘the Innovation bridge’), a Wits Centenary Project funded by Sibanye-Stillwater. The launch on 12 July 2023 was accompanied by an additional commitment of R51 million from Sibanye-Stillwater to Wits for study bursaries, learnerships within the Group’s mining operations, graduate internship programmes and staff development within the Wits Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE). The refurbished Innovation bridge is both a symbol of the past and a gateway to the future. It represents shared value and a strengthening of the partnership…

Google today announced the expansion of Bard, its conversational AI service, to 40 new languages including Swahili- the first African language to be included and 59 new countries and territories. The expansion includes new features that allow users to better customize their experience, boost their creativity, and get more done. With the expansion, Bard is now available in most of the world, including countries in the European Union (EU), and in the most widely spoken languages, including Swahili, Chinese, German, Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi, and Spanish. Users can now access Bard in their preferred language with text-to-speech also enabled in…

Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology and approach that originated in the field of design but has since been widely adopted across various industries and disciplines. It emphasizes a human-centered and iterative approach to tackling complex problems and finding innovative solutions. Design thinking places a strong emphasis on understanding the needs and perspectives of the end-users or customers and uses empathy as a key driver in the problem-solving process. In recent years, design thinking has gained widespread acclaim as a powerful tool for navigating the AI revolution. Its proponents argue that it brings a human-centered approach to the development of…

You don’t need statistics to tell you there are severe inefficiencies in the South African healthcare system. You just need to look at the long queues at clinics and hospitals. Or if you’re fortunate enough to afford private healthcare, try and make an appointment with specialists (months’ long waiting lists aren’t uncommon). It is worth noting, however, that the waiting list at one Eastern Cape Hospital for knee and hip replacements is over a decade long. Across the Gauteng public healthcare system, meanwhile, wait times for the same operations can be up to five years long. That’s to say nothing of the long clinic…

Vuma, one of South Africa’s biggest Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) provider, has announced the integration of next generation fibre technology and innovation to the South African market, through its latest partnership with Huawei. As a next-generation PON technology defined by ITU-T, the 50G PON effectively supports 10Gbps Everywhere. It provides high-density symmetrical 50G PON to meet the increasing bandwidth requirements in future campus, industrial interconnection, enterprise, and home scenarios. And it integrates GPON, 10G PON, and 50G PON into one port, allowing for service upgrade on demand. The partnership sees the launch of 50G PON capabilities – significantly higher than the existing…

The Shoprite Group invites technology students and seasoned Information Technology (IT) professionals to join Africa’s largest retailer by applying for its bursary programme or various available job opportunities. The retailer’s comprehensive bursary programme covers tuition fees and on-campus accommodation, provides a grocery allowance, and guarantees employment upon graduation. Youth studying scarce and sought after skills are invited to apply by visiting www.shopriteholdings.co.za/careers.html before 30 September 2023. Home to some of the brightest industry talent, the Group’s Shoprite Technology division uses technology, data, insights, systems and processes to take advantage of and unlock new opportunities. Greytown-born Percival Phakathi (28) joined the…

Vodacom Eastern Cape region will invest over R500 million into the network and power backup upgrades across the province during the 2023/2024 financial year. This significant investment into the network will help the region expand connectivity in deep rural areas and townships that had no connectivity before. This will enable hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the digital economy for the first time. This coupled with a concerted effort to drive down the cost to communicate through innovative platforms such as Just4U and Just4YouTown has lowered voice and data rates across the province and enabled scores of people…

South African-based aviation group Pegasus Universal Aerospace has announced that it has launched a new shares sale to raise capital for the next developmental stage of its ground-breaking Vertical Business Jet (VBJ) project. Aimed at raising a minimum of R200,000 in funding, the sale will remain open for three months until 21 August 2023. The company has made some six million Class A, seven-year preference shares available at an issue price of R2,900 per share, offering a fixed interest rate of 10% per annum. With a minimum transaction requirement of four shares per investor, this means that South Africans can…

Take Note IT, a leading provider of innovative IT solutions – is thrilled to announce the launch of the Cyber Excellence Academy, in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and with the support of the Media, Information, and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICTSETA). The Cyber Excellence Academy aims to revolutionise the cybersecurity landscape by empowering individuals with advanced skills and knowledge to combat evolving digital threats. The Cyber Excellence Academy is an intensive training programme designed to equip participants with industry-leading expertise in cybersecurity. By fostering a deep understanding of cybersecurity principles, strategies…

During his keynote speech on the afternoon of July 7, at the opening of HUAWEI Developer Conference — HDC.Cloud 2023, Zhang Ping’an, Huawei’s Executive Director and CEO of Huawei Cloud, announced the launch of Huawei Cloud Pangu Models 3.0 and Ascend AI cloud services. Guided by its three stated purposes — reshaping industries, honing technologies, and sharing success — Pangu Models 3.0 will focus on building up core competitiveness and helping customers, partners, and developers operationalize AI and drive real value creation across industries. With Ascend AI cloud services, a single compute cluster can provide 2,000 petaFLOPS of compute capacity,…

Huawei this week hosted its flagship Eco-Connect Sub-Saharan Africa 2023 event, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Run under the theme, ‘Leading Digital for New Value Together’, the event brought together nearly 3 000 delegates from more than 10 countries, representing a wide variety of industries and organisations. Huawei has long recognised Africa’s potential. It has operated in Africa for 26 years and has worked with partners to help Africa achieve inclusive and reliable network connectivity and support the digital transformation agenda in various industries on the continent. In his opening address, David Wang, Executive Director of the Board, Chairman of ICT…

Vodacom is South Africa’s ‘Most Reliable Network’. The latest biannual network report by the independent benchmarking organisation umlaut, part of Accenture, has ranked Vodacom ‘Best in Test’ ahead of competitors and scored the highest for reliability, data services and crowdsourced quality. This is testament to Vodacom’s commitment to deliver unparalleled connectivity to its valued customers and reaffirms its purpose of connecting South Africans to a better future. Sitho Mdlalose, CEO of Vodacom South Africa, expressed his pride in achieving this remarkable milestone, stating: “We are honoured to be acknowledged as South Africa’s most reliable network. This achievement reflects the tireless…

JSE-listed telecoms group Blue Label Telecoms announced on Friday the appointment of Happy Masondo as an independent non-executive director and as a member of the Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee. Her appointment is effective from 1 August 2023. Masondo is a qualified senior attorney and director, with specialist skills in renewable energy projects, information technology projects and public-private partnerships. Her expertise includes legal and regulatory project management skills including collation of relevant compliance tender documents, analysis and review of the legal and regulatory requirements. She is an experienced non-executive director and currently serves on the boards of Dis-Chem Pharmacies, Bright…