Africa No Filter, a narrative change organisation, and Meta have announced a partnership to launch “Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds” program, aimed at boosting the use of Virtual Reality in Africa’s storytelling.
Supporting Extended Reality storytellers to develop new and compelling content about Africa, the program will provide grants and mentorship. “Future Africa: Telling Stories, Building Worlds” forms part of Meta’s focus on immersive technologies and Africa No Filter’s investments in innovative storytelling that shifts negative stereotypes about Africa.
Moky Makura, Executive Director at Africa No Filter, said, “Virtual Reality has the potential to take storytelling to another level. In this new metaverse, audiences don’t just get to watch a story unfold, they get to live in it. This is an opportunity for African content creators to push the boundaries of their creativity and innovation.”
Open from today, Africa No Filter and Meta are inviting Extended Reality creators to apply to the program, and recieve funding of up to $30,000. Applicants must be of African descent and living in the continent, aged over 18 years, have a track record of XR content creation and have a portfolio of work showing their creativity and innovation.
They also need to show how the proposed project will tell an exciting African story that changes stereotypical narratives about the continent. Projects can use 360 Video, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality.
The application is open to organisations and individuals.
Delivered in collaboration with Electric South and Imisi 3D, participants will also get ongoing mentorship, production support, and opportunities to launch their projects in a virtual or in-person showcase, including the Electric South’s Creators Lab held in February 2022 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Commenting, Sherry Dzinoreva, Meta’s Public Policy Programs Director, Africa, Middle East, and Turkey said: “We’re excited to be partnering with ANF to launch a fund that brings together the best of the African tech ecosystem to showcase innovations for the future and tell positive stories about Africa. Meta sits at the intersection of innovation, technology, entrepreneurship and social connection, and this investment is a vote of confidence in the strength of the African tech industry and its ongoing potential. I’m certainly proud that Africa will be helping to shape the metaverse experience from the start.”
Applications close on 7 January 2022 at 6pm GMT. The program runs from 13 February to 13 August, 2022. Participants must be available on these dates. The proposed project must also be completed within six months.
WhatsApp, has announced the launch of #YouSaid, a campaign to educate people on how to verify information they come across before passing it on, to help reduce the spread of false news in Nigeria.
The campaign offers tips for WhatsApp users to spot false news and take responsibility in minimizing its spread, by encouraging people to think carefully and check authoritative sources before deciding to share any information with their friends and family.
“At WhatsApp, all personal messages are protected with end-to-end encryption because the safety and security of our users and their messages is important to us. ” Akua Gyekye, WhatsApp Public Policy Lead said while commenting on the launch of the campaign. “While we remain committed to creating a safe space for our users to communicate privately, we encourage everyone to verify any information they receive and confirm whether it is true or false before sharing it with other people. Regardless of the person you received the information from, as soon as you share any information, it becomes something people think #YouSaid. Our hope is that this campaign will open up a conversation on the importance of verifying information and thinking carefully about what people read, trust and choose to share” Gyekye added.
Here are four easy ways to reduce the spread of false news on WhatsApp
Understand what a ‘Forwarded’ message means: Any message that has the ‘forwarded’ label (an arrow or double arrow icon) did not start with the person who sent it to you. They will also have received it from someone else before passing it on to you. If you are not sure the information is true, do not forward it to someone else without verifying it.
A double arrow icon and “Forwarded many times” label will be displayed when a message has been forwarded more than five times since it was originally sent and will restrict sharing to just one chat at a time.
Always fact check information with other sources: False news can go viral, and photos, audio recordings, and videos can be edited to mislead you. If you’re unsure whether a message is true, check trusted news sites to see where the story came from. When a story is reported in multiple places and from trustworthy sources, it’s more likely to be true.
Look out for messages that look different: If you receive messages that have such things like misspelled words, wrong dates, awkward layouts, unrelated pictures and web addresses (URLs), it’s a sign that the information could be false.
Read the message objectively: Don’t let what you think you know get in the way of your judgment. Review the facts yourself before sharing information. Stories that seem hard to believe are often untrue.
Today, WhatsApp protects the personal communication of over two billion users all over the world, securing it with end-to-end encryption by default.
The National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, is leading by example for being the first agency of government in Nigeria to implement a major aspect of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) by launching the NDPR complaint visitors’ book today in Abuja.
The launching of the booklet was performed by the Director General of the Agency, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, shortly after the agency’s first staff meeting of the year 2022 with all staff in attendance physically and virtually, especially for those outside the headquarters on official assignments, zonal offices or on leave.
According to Inuwa; “It is NITDA’s mandate as enshrined in NITDA Act of 2007 to inter alia; develop regulations for electronic governance and monitor the use of electronic data interchange and other forms of electronic communication transactions as an alternative to paper-based methods in government, commerce, education, the private and public sectors, labour and other fields, where the use of electronic communication may improve the exchange of data and information”.
He said, “Recognizing that many public and private bodies have migrated their respective businesses and other information systems online, information solutions with both the private and public sectors now drive service delivery in the country through digital systems. These information systems have thus become critical information infrastructure that must be safeguarded, regulated, and protected against atrocious breaches”.
“Data protection applies to all transactions intended for the processing of Personal Data, notwithstanding how the data processing is being conducted or intended to be conducted in respect of natural persons in Nigeria’’, he said.
The DG stated that organisations in Nigeria were caught scrambling to comply with the NDPR when it was launched in 2019. “Most organisations especially Small and Medium Businesses (SMB) are finding it difficult to comply with some of the basic requirements of the regulation due to financial constraints,” he added.
Inuwa disclosed that a recent study has revealed that many Nigeria Public Institutions and small business owners are still confused by the rules around data protection and privacy regulations.
“Disturbingly, out of 30 surveyed, 100% confirmed their paper visitors’ books are not confidential and do not protect the visitors’ personal data. Another 98% admitted they do not dispose of paper visitor books securely and confidentially – leaving the personal data of millions of employees and customers at risk,’’ he lamented.
He explained that when putting NDPR procedures in place, it’s very likely that many organisations did so with one big misconception that the new law only affects data collected online. The NDPR is technology-agnostic. It applies to all acts of personal data collection and processing, no matter how and where it takes place, visitor data, employee personal data, etc.
Inuwa submitted that the Data Services Protection Limited (DSPL) patented visitor’s book was selected amongst the most innovative NDPR product at 2021 Privacy Week organised by NITDA. The visitor’s book pages are duplicates and works by making personal details on the visitor’s book invisible on the first page while capturing the data on the duplicate page. This basic but ingenious visitor’s book is cheap in comparison with the expensive digital visitor’s management solutions.
He, however, noted that the visitors’ book is an addition to the processes of computing the visitors’ data electronically.
Among the highlights of the staff meeting was the presentation of a plaque of recognition to the staff of the quarter Mr. Peter Chucks Emakpor, a staff of the e-Government Training Center, Kubwa, Abuja, by the Director-General.
Ethnos IT Security Solutions Limited is celebrating 10 years as an IT Security solution provider. Can we know how it all started?
As a company we were designed to provide security solutions to organisations, businesses and others. As technology keeps improving we came to knowledge that security is the backbone of technology. We can’t talk about technology advancement without thinking of how to secure your business assets and human to human engagements. We, at Ethnos IT Solutions have grown with the growth of technology, Today, technology is looking at artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, metaverse, digital transformation, Holography and many others. We have grown with these new technologies and also improved in our capacity and skillset to support our customers as they consume these technologies. We have grown our market base, personnel, in terms of global technical engagements we have grown also. That is the journey. Someone said if I survive 5 years it means we would be in business for long and thank God we have survived these 5 years and we are ten today. Ten years has been a good experience for us. We have our ups and downs but we keep evolving.
Are you focused in B2B relationship or B2C relationship as it pertains to cyber security business?
Currently, we have a wealth of experience and we have changed our thinking and vision as a company. What we do now is to solve real problems for organisation and we are not limited in our thinking. We are not limited in any area of cyber security. Companies and organisations are on a journey as it pertains to business and we come in to solve problems for organisations in terms of security. We are no longer at this stage delivering products but solving problems. Some customers we evaluate them, some we train them and improve their cyber hygiene culture, some we deploy technologies to control their touchpoints, some we help on their regulatory compliance and certification journeys. We do firewall, application security, database security or perimeter security. So, we look at businesses and implement threat management and we have platforms that we can plugin your environment and help you control and detect threats from internet exposure to data base etc. We detect and remediate these threats. We also conduct threat hunting and keep checking what criminals will check for, we detect it before the criminals. We specialise in solving problems for customers regardless of what you are doing.
Do you do Penetration and vulnerability testing for companies?
Yes, we always do that for customers, before we implement anything, we first assess your threat and risk level… we do what we call threat assessment. This is the first level we take. Currently, we are conducting vulnerability and assessment testing for most of the stockbrokers as required by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
What do you think about security breaches in Nigerian banking system?
There is the roadmap from Central Bank for banks on the levels of protections that should be in place. They have gone to define some framework that the banks must have, they are also looking at mobile environment such as mobile applications. If the CBN defines a roadmap, then banks must follow them because they are developed from expert experience and advise. So, banks must follow these guidelines. I’m not aware the Nigerian government has enacted a law that compels every organization to make their breaches public. This is what a responsible government must do. Banks are making huge efforts and investment to protect their data and that of their customers. I do sympathize with them because as they borrow new frameworks and technologies, they sometimes run into difficulties and no organization is breach proof and I know that the banks and CBN aren’t sleeping.
https://ethnos.com.ng
What about independent merchants and those deploying mobile apps?
As of the merchants, I don’t know how much regulatory frameworks are into this area. People are spinning out all kinds of mobile app, depending on what they are offering and these apps collate critical information from people and we do not know how they store and process it. We do not know the level of investment and I do not know how they do their source code analysis etc? We know how much source code analysis cost. The criticality of source code environment determines how strong the app is and criminals are now looking in that direction to launch attacks… there is the need to regulate them because if the apps are vulnerable, the users are in trouble.
Now, what do you think about public sector and what do you think that the government can do?
In business you have to know that there is what is called “focus”. Our focus as a business is to offer solutions to private businesses, it is easier and faster to deal with the organized private sector. Government isn’t an easy client to deal with, we do not want to be distracted while chasing or engaging with government. We know the political side of it and we are apolitical as a firm. If the government wants to engage us, we are open to consultancy but as per chasing government contracts, we are strictly focused on private sector. Although, we are engaging with NITDA as a DPCO (Data Protection Regulator Organization) that has been certified by NITDA. We want the lawmakers to make law on security of critical public infrastructure. There are couple of experts who are speaking to government here. We believe that it will come out positive.
You changed your corporate logo, why the change?
When we started as a company, we wanted to create an identity but as we have come of age, we tweaked our logo a bit to reflect whom we are as of today. The concept of the circle you find in our logo shows a network of our customers. If you look at it clearly it is not broken, we meant here that our customers are safeguarded and we are supplying the livewire they need to grow. We wanted that to reflect in our logo as a problem-solving organization.
What have you learnt this past 10 years as a CEO of an IT firm?
As a Chief Executive Officer of this organization and the leader of this team, I have learnt a lot of things. As a person, I have learnt to create a platform for people to thrive. We recently created an academy where people are recruited and made to know the rudiments of cybersecurity. We created a platform that will have skills available to the young ones and we trained them at no charges. We are building a platform of security experts. We are also a strong and bonded team; we encourage people to try. Opportunities abound in the market and we encourage people to take advantage of them. I also learnt that you just have to put in your best strategically and see where life take you. I enjoy what I do, it is no longer like a work to me but a lifestyle.
How did you gain market acceptance during your early years as an indigenous firm?
Well, it is mindset which has become cultural where Nigerians believe that foreign firms are better but we met some Nigeria who were of different opinion and they gave us a chance and here we are today. The industry has grown today, we were early birds that came to the industry when it was young or green. The security industry has grown so wide and today a lot of people have joined and the industry has grown. What sets us apart is that we do not only provide products but we provide services. We go to companies with questions like; what have you tried and failed? What are your plans for security? what fears do you nurse and your plan? We help organization answer these and even equip the people with skillset. We help organization to optimize their products. These are few of the things that sets us apart. We appreciate those that gave us a chance during the early days. A good number of Nigerian companies died off due to the acceptability of their products where many business owners think that foreign firms are better. Some companies are built from scratch to survive and we are built to stay in business and provide an environment for many others to thrive and grow.
What do we expect from you in future?
Currently, we are running a platform that allows us to conduct detection and response. It is a managed service that is focused on threat hunting. We want to grow that platform and see many organizations cost effectively enjoy security protection. We want to expand our capacity and give people opportunity to express themselves and contribute to protecting national assets. Cyberspace is getting more dangerous today with software everywhere, we have houses, watches, phones and a whole lot that is powered by software and because software is everywhere, it means that risk is everywhere. We want to stay relevant and ensure that these software are protected because they carry critical information from health, flight, defense, education to financial to others.
Today, technology is looking at artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, metaverse, digital transformation, Holography and many others. We have grown with these new technologies and also improved in our capacity and skillset to support our customers as they consume these technologies. We have grown our market base, personnel, in terms of global technical engagements we have grown also. That is the journey. Someone said if I survive 5 years it means we would be in business for long and thank God we have survived these 5 years and we are ten today. Ten years has been a good experience for us. We have our ups and downs but we keep evolving.
…Microsoft ADC Disability Inclusion event is aimed at identifying the stereotypical perspectives affecting the employment of talent living with disabilities.
Microsoft Africa Development Center (Microsoft ADC), the engineering center for Microsoft is set to host a Disability Inclusion event across Africa focused on engineering and non-engineering talents living with disabilities on the 3rd of December, 2021. The event is diversity-centered and will encourage the inclusiveness of people living with disabilities in key career paths, while also raising awareness about the potential of talents living with disabilities. The event will showcase appropriate facilities, programs, and tools well suited for people with disabilities to achieve functional change.
The event will cover the Microsoft Accessibility- an essential tool used in delivering on Microsoft’s mission which is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and also unveil the next phase of the accessibility journey, our companywide commitment to creating and opening doors to bigger opportunities for people with disabilities and bring together every corner of Microsoft’s business while focusing on these three priorities: Spurring the development of more accessible technology across the industry and the economy, using the technology to create opportunities for more people living with disabilities to be included in the workforce; and building a workplace that is more inclusive for people living with disabilities.
Presenting the keynote at the Microsoft Disability Inclusion Event, Jack Ngare, Managing Director, Microsoft ADC- Kenya, noted ‘’More than one billion people around the world live with a disability, and employment rates are relatively lower and poverty rates are higher for people with disabilities than for those without disabilities. From our 25 years of work on accessibility at Microsoft, we at ADC have learned that people with disabilities represent one of the world’s largest untapped talent pools, and that inclusion of disabled talent is crucial to achieving our mission. Our employees with disabilities continue to be the catalysts of our innovations such as Learning Tools, live captioning in Teams, , Seeing AI and many more. We continue to actively work to hire and nurture people with disabilities to bring their expertise into our processes, products, and culture at every level.”
Speaking further about the importance of the Microsoft ADC Event, Sophie Okonkwo, Engineering Talent Sourcing Specialist, Microsoft ADC, added “Diversity in the workplace is an essential component of any highly inclusive organization like Microsoft. Organizing this event to engage people with disabilities and allies in the Africa tech ecosystem is imperative, as the awareness of disability and inclusion needs to be widespread. The Microsoft Africa Development Centre Disability Event aims to celebrate the ability in disability and bring to the fore, the limitless possibilities that people with disabilities can achieve in an inclusive world”.
The Microsoft ADC Disability Inclusion event is an open to all virtual event to commemorate the International day of persons with disabilities in Africa as well as reveal the ecosystem of Microsoft’s commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive workforce and work culture. The event’s activities are backed up by organizations affiliated with Microsoft Africa Development Centre, and participants would have access to a wide range of mentors and speakers.
About Microsoft ADC Microsoft Africa Development Center (ADC)represents Microsoft’s first-ever engineering offices in Africa, with locations in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria. These centers were created by Microsoft to serve as a base for African industry leaders to create local solutions with global scalability as well as provide employment opportunities and further enhance technological innovations in the continent of Africa.
About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. For more information, news and insights from Microsoft, please visit Microsoft’s news center at http://news.microsoft.com and or Middle East & Africa News Center (microsoft.com)
Zeta-Web Nigeria Limited, an indigenous Information Technology (IT) firm in Lagos has reiterated their commitment to bring robust broadband and internet solutions that would ease productivity for Nigerians in the post Covid 19 work place. The company introduced Z-Force, a super-fast internet service designed for Nigerians working from home and other notable services for other market segments lately.
Speaking to the media on importance of the Z-Force to the current work place, Chris Obasi, the Managing Director of Zeta–Web Nigeria Limited said “Our Z-Force service is unique in its design as it came out at a point where users wanted internet services with both speed and data that they can use while working remotely, void of the frequent intermittencies and high-cost associated with such requests. As you would agree with me, the global pandemic brought with it, different challenges and an uncharted path that a lot of businesses where ill-prepared for; but we saw it as an opportunity to change the way we think and operate, and this meant that we had to look at a product that acts as a best-fit to the need of our clients as well as meet the current demand and market trend.”
“Our unique selling point is One product that meets the unique need of every user, Fast installation, High Quality of Service, Fair Pricing and Excellent Customer Turnaround Response Time to mention a few. Z-Force is a hybrid product that serves both the SME market (Home office) and selective mass market – home users, online schooling, entertainment, etc.”, Chris added.
With a collection of world-class services & solutions, the company has repositioned itself as a one-stop centre for IT needs. In line with the global best practices, Zeta-Web Nigeria Limited has demonstrated a high level of commitment to customer support over the years which has brought accolades and recognition to them.
In the words of Chris Obasi, he said “Our unique selling point is that we listen to our customers before designing the desired product that meets their specific needs; as we know that the world is evolving and it is no more one product fits all.”
Zeta-Web Nigeria Limited is also bringing to the fore, enhanced solutions around Virtualization and IT Security Solutions for enterprises as well as IT/Cyber Security trainings for IT administrators and regular users that utilise enterprise systems. Aside all these, they are positioning their Cloud infrastructure (both private and public) as well as digital transformation as the best-fit for the Nigerian market.
Chris Obasi, Managing Director, Zeta Web Nigeria Limited
The company has been lauded as being innovative in their solutions offerings that has brought respite to the premium segment of the market.
Zeta-Web Nigeria Limited have designed enterprise solutions for businesses and large corporate organizations like banks, government establishments and large business conglomerates and their aim is to fill the gap of quality ICT Service Integration and Services by designing, implementing, operating and managing high-end enterprise networks, data center technologies and applications for their customers’ specific needs.
Their current product suites are being aligned to meet the new-normal and ensure their solutions help improve users’ IT environment, support their digital transformation journey, enhance their overall experience & processes and facilitate business growth; bringing customer satisfaction to a new height and giving clients respite. They are poised to provide solutions that will meet every customer’s unique requirement.
The company commended the regulator, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) on their strides in the ecosystem and put forward that tax waivers and tax incentives be considered, such as eliminate multiple taxation and include tax reduction on OEMs equipment manufacturing and importation to encourage investors. On spectrum management, Obasi appealed to the regulator to make spectrum available at a fair price. He opined that “We need the government to create a sustainable and predictable spectrum allocation regime that makes useful frequency spectrum available at a fair price. They should also properly differentiate the market so that Telcos and ISPs do not overlap, by enacting laws that separate what markets can be serviced by each category of provider.”
Zeta-Web Limited is a company set up specifically to bridge the gap between quality solutions and services as well guaranteeing business success. Having started as an ISP about 7 years ago, today the company has diversified to other areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) such as Data Centre Services, Data Centre Virtualisation, Network Virtualisation, SDWAN, IT & Cybersecurity trainings, Broadband deployment, Business Solutions, Contact Centres and many more.
“Our unique selling point is that we listen to our customers before designing the desired product that meets their specific needs; as we know that the world is evolving and it is no more one product fits all.”
In this interview, the Chief Executive Officer of Silex Secure Lab Limited, Nsikak Joseph Nelson talks about the information technology (IT) ecosystem in Abuja, how the company has been able to develop home made solutions that have enables organisations to scale up their businesses in Abuja and Northern Region. He also talks about the need for government to create an enabling environment through policies that would encourage indigenous software development firms. Anthony Nwosu captures this in an exclusive interview.
Tell us more about Silex Secure Lab Limited?
SILEX SECURE LAB LIMITED is a leading Nigerian IT company duly registered in 2014 with its office in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. Silex Secure Lab offers services in Cyber Security, Software development, Programming, Data analytics, Cloud computing, Animation, Website development, Fintech, business processes and solutions. We blend Business and Internet Intelligence by developing innovative cyber investigative, encrypted communications and business solutions that are targeted at enabling our clients operate more efficiently.
Over the years, we have offered our services to Nigerian Government Agencies, Private companies and individuals. As a CSR company, we have trained over 200 web developers in Abuja, the Federal University of Technology (FUT) Minna, Jos and other cities.
As an IT firm based in Abuja, how has it been appreciating your services in the Northern region?
It has been pretty good and you know this is the Federal Capital City where a lot of people including governmental and corporate organizations think the best IT companies are in Lagos, but you won’t blame them. A lot of Information Technology (IT) firms in this area have their existing customers most of them have been focusing on governmental project, while others are servicing the informal sector however you look at it, we have got a lot of clients whom we have served and appreciate us for rendering exceptional services and giving them value for their money in a simple and effective way. We strongly believe that the IT ecosystem is robust and there is no need heading to Lagos for IT solutions.
Do you have these solutions and software developed in-house?
All our software solutions are developed in-house. From UI/UX to front end, backend and Mobile Apps are done in-house; as a matter of fact, we have a vibrant and energetic team comprising of developers, UI/UX designers, Cyber security experts, Mobile App working on various innovative solutions and products. As a software development & a cyber security company, we totally understand the importance of intellectual property especially with the uniqueness of the products we develop. So as an organisation, we ensure we develop and build capacity around these areas in line with the global best practices. We deliver these solutions to our clients and we are proud that we developed them in-house and they have been working efficiently.
How efficient is your Self Tracer software and do you think that government facilities can deploy them for security purposes?
As guardians and parents are busy today, we understand that they need to keep a tab on their wards and kids so we developed such a solution. Our self-Tracer apps is so special to us, we developed this app basically for parental control but as time evolved, we saw the need of extending the services to corporate organisations and government agencies. Talking of effectiveness, the app is so effective, the sole purpose is to monitor the movement of yourself and family especially in this current security situation, there is need for self-tracing and when there is an emergency with a click on the apps you can notify your family member or anyone you add on hotspot on your current location and if for any reason your phone is turned-off and SIM card is changed, Once the phone is turned back on the apps will notify the admin through the cloud-based system.
Again, this can be fully effective for law enforcement agency for tracking of asset and monitoring communication against insider threat. Other components of the app include Internet Filter, communication filter on social media etc, Website Blocker, GPS Tracking, Remote Control. But again, there is always a privacy to talk about which, in developing this app, we also took into consideration.
Again, this can be fully effective for law enforcement agency for tracking of asset and monitoring communication against insider threat. Other components of the app include Internet Filter, communication filter on social media etc, Website Blocker, GPS Tracking, Remote Control. But again, there is always a privacy to talk about which, in developing this app, we also took into consideration.
As Nigerians are more into mobility, what is the unique feature of your phone encryption technology and how can you work hand in hand with Telcos?
Wow! Our end-to-end encryption is one of the best things that has happened to Silex Secure and one of the local products in Africa cyber security arena. What we have done as a company is not all about call encryption but more of a state-of-the-art mobile security solution. Some of the amazing features are listed on; http://silexscrypt.com.ng/. Let us take a look at Secure File sharing, one of the key features of the app, which guides against data leak in organisations, you know as at now any information that comes to your phone can be easily shared to others, I mean important documents but we made it in such a way that the original owner of the data has the right to grant permission to a recipient of the file and if permission isn’t granted from the owner, that file can’t be shared, so in a way the originator of the file has full control on who gets access to the file.
Our primary goal of making an encrypted solution for mobile user is to provide Total Privacy and absolute security to mobile users which also applies to calls and also solves the problem of leaked conversations which is often so common in our society today, at least we have seen and read on the news on how High profile, politicians and celebrities and business executives’ private conversations are leaked to the public domain, including personal information, business transactions etc. Working with telecoms provider will be a welcome development we can provide this service as an exclusive product to subscriber.
You develop software in house; can we know what you have developed and where you have deployed?
Yes, we have developed innovative Mobile Apps projects. We currently features a number of projects, but let’s look at just a few: The Towing Apps; this is the easiest and most convenient way to request for a Tow Truck; Just Tap and Tow! Once you set your pickup location, select a Tow Truck of your choice to help you when you need a Tow Truck to rescue you or you just need help with a flat battery or flat tire. Another one is the “Barber Apps” this app is designed for salons. The Salon.ng is a mobile platform for barbers and clients, modernizing the barbershop experience. With Salon.ng you can turn on your apps location, send a request within your location, a close barber sees the request, accepts the request and moves to your location to cut your hair.
We aslo have the “eCounsel Apps”: the eCOUNSEL is an online platform set up to revolutionize the way legal service is accessed. The world of work is evolving and to thrive in this new reality, we are focused on using data and technology as a tool to make legal help more easily accessible by all Nigerians. Then we looked at the cooking gas supply chain ecosystem and built a solution around that space. We called it “Gas Apps”. This is an On-demand gas/fuel/diesel delivery service that delivers fuel to vehicles and diesel for generators and gas for cooking cylinders in any location. This service could come in handy in case of emergency where perhaps a person is stranded on the highway or at home or work. It works in a similar pattern like Uber & bolt Apps.
What about solutions built around intelligence and information gathering, now that we are trying to deepen our security apparatus in the country?
We have designed the OSINT SOLUTIONS that offer direct solutions to the questions around intelligence and information gathering for security agencies. This is a Social Media Intelligence and OSINT products that makes use of and transforms public data such as Social Media and Deep & Dark Web into valuable intelligence. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) platforms support collection and analysis of relevant and targeted information relating to criminal and political open sources. This tool has wide benefits for a number of industries, including; Government and Defence Intelligence agencies, Law Enforcement, Commercial Risk Management companies, and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). We also have developed an End-to-Encryption Solutions.
Through our flagship “Invest in Technology” Initiative, which gives people the opportunity to invest in innovative solutions targeted at various sectors, some of our commercial apps are open for outright sales or investment, i.e. for people who are willing to invest their funds in smart technological solutions like ours. Most of our application are being deployed to Private companies, Public sectors, individual and multinational companies.
Do you think that the government is doing enough to ensure that indigenous IT firms like yours scale?
Well, for us as a company, we look beyond government knowing that government can’t meet everyone’s demand. However, government has a major role to play in policy making, provision of infrastructure & patronage and open access to local companies. But this is where we are now, At Silexsecure we build most of our products for international Market not depending on Nigerian government to do business. That is the beauty of Technology. Policy wise not much is being done, intervention funds nothing much is done and in terms of palliative, not much is done either.
Take for example, during this lockdown most of our developers were working remotely, we had to make sure we provide alternative sources of power like Generator and Solar Power for our developer so as to meet projects schedules. Again, you should understand the impact of that to our business if most of our developers staying in various places have access to power and good internet, we won’t spend so much on running cost as a company.
Capacity building and training are the things you do. Can we know how this has been?
Capacity building can’t be over emphasised. As a company, we have done tremendously well in that aspect, we started by training Students in Nigerian universities narrowing down to Government agencies and Law enforcement agencies. Right now, we are doing tailored training based on the products we develop. So we feel training should be attached to a product. Take for an example, Our OSINT project enables us set up training in the area of intelligence and information gathering for security agencies. While we are still accommodating student in Cyber Security, which is a core area of specialization, overall remark has been very impressive, the testimonials are there for people to see.
What are we to expect from you this last quarter?
This is mind blowing, you should expect more innovative solutions from us. As a company we are diving deep to international markets. Right now I am sure sooner or later we will tell you of our ground-breaking technology in the international scene. But be rest assured that we are making Nigerians proud, we are focusing more on Artificial Intelligence which will majorly be used by Defence and military operations, community policing and the AVIATION Sector. So, there is more to expect from us.
Do you think that the Covid 19 will make Nigerian firms to deploy robust IT solution for greater productivity?
This is the time for everyone to think deep. I am sure you have read of innovative and robust solutions that have been developed by various companies in Nigeria within the lock down, though productivity has increased since a lot of companies like ours adopted personal and meaningful products. Imagine all technology companies in Nigeria having their products, I mean personal products not client product knowing fully the impact of this to the economy. But I must tell you productivity in the technology space is very high right now. We have seen clients who have spent so much on freelance platforms, outsourcing jobs to Indian guys, come to us, people really want to take control of most of the product they are developing so on that note I could say Covid-19 is a blessing in disguise. So, I think personally, this is when African countries should really overtake the west.
What are the challenges that you face as an IT firm?
They are the normal challenges that every growing businesses face in Nigeria such as poor Infrastructure, non-existent Government policies/ Enabling Environment, Competition. Though we can’t assume to be a monopoly in a capitalist setting but a bit of protectionist policies matter. Also, Market Access-Intra Africa Trade, Access to capital and Finding the Right developers or skilled I.T personnel to help us scale.
If you are to advice government on IT, what would be your take?
It is a straightforward thing, I would say, that they should encourage local technology and setup an innovative centre where they can easily access local software and purchase some of these great technological solutions for local consumption and deployment. They should also fund local companies to meet government demands. invest in idea, build a better frame work for funding local technology. And lastly, proper policy frame work to guide local content.
“THE WORLD OF WORK IS EVOLVING AND TO THRIVE IN THIS NEW REALITY, WE ARE FOCUSED ON USING DATA AND TECHNOLOGY AS A TOOL TO MAKE LEGAL HELP MORE EASILY ACCESSIBLE BY ALL NIGERIANS. THEN WE LOOKED AT THE SUPPLY CHAIN ECOSYSTEM AND BUILT A SOLUTION AROUND THAT SPACE. WE CALLED IT “GAS APP”. THIS IS AN ON-DEMAND GAS/FUEL/DIESEL DELIVERY SERVICE THAT DELIVERS FUEL TO VEHICLES AND DIESEL FOR GENERATORS AND GAS FOR COOKING CYLINDERS IN ANY LOCATION. THIS SERVICE COULD COME IN HANDY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY WHERE PERHAPS A PERSON IS STRANDED ON THE HIGHWAY OR AT HOME OR WORK. IT WORKS IN A SIMILAR PATTERN LIKE UBER & BOLT APPS.”
The need for organizations in the country to protect their critical data and information Technology (IT) architecture has become imperative in order to avoid several types of breaches. Being in the business agility and cyber security ecosystem, FPG Technologies & Solutions Limited (a member of FlexiP Group), your go-to partner for practical digital transformation (DX) consulting services and technologies, business insights and productivity solutions recently became a reseller of Accuras, a United Arab Emirates (UAE) based information technology company focused in building software solutions that large enterprises have to depend upon day to day, hour to hour. This partnership has been lauded by industry watchers as very timely and a demonstration of global organizations confidence in Nigerian IT firms which FPG Technologies represent.
Being the sole distributor and implementer of Delphix products in Turkey, Middle East and Africa; Accuras now extends its solutions and services delivery capability to Nigeria and West Africa with this new partnership with FPG Technologies.
With a combined expertise of the two technology companies, they would be able to deliver transformational DataOps, Data Management, Data Protection and Data Governance capabilities to large enterprises, including Finance and telecommunications companies in Nigeria and West Africa region.
Every company is a DATA COMPANY or is in the process of becoming one and Delphix gives data stakeholder teams self-service access to personal, production-quality, data environments that enable them to accelerate innovation and significantly reduce data compliance risks. This solution improves the speed of access to test and analytical data. This allows businesses to off-load production systems for analytical purposes and accelerates the software development lifecycle.
Delphix accelerates innovation by rapidly delivering secure enterprise data anywhere and ensures that non-production data is as secure and compliant as production data. Over 40% of the worlds Fortune 100 companies use Delphix to drive innovation and digital success.
Speaking of the partnership, Rex Mafiana, CEO of FPG Technologies said, “this partnership further shows our commitment and strengthens our portfolio in our bid to help our customers in their digital transformation journey, from a company that may be maximizing their Data to one that surely does. Your organization’s ability to virtualize it’s data securely is a measure of your digital transformation maturity as it enables you to unleash innovation and truly weaponize your Data for efficiency and the bottom-line”.
“We have been passionate about the transformational change delivered by Delphix solution since signing as a reseller in 2016, in 2018 we have extended our partnership as a distributor to Middle East and Africa region. We have brought the DataOps and Data Protection message to Turkey, Middle East and Africa. Today we are extremely excited that we will bring transformational data capabilities to our clients in Nigeria and West Africa by partnering with FPG technologies. We are very impressed by the success that FPG Technologies achieved in the region so far and we are totally sure that we the right alignment with FPG Technologies to combine our expertise together in order to do what we do best”,Ercan Eray, Accuras’ Chief Executive Officer added.
Sent in by
Anthony Nwosu
“this partnership further shows our commitment and strengthens our portfolio in our bid to help our customers in their digital transformation journey, from a company that may be maximizing their Data to one that surely does…”
Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto has advocated that a special provision should be made constitutionally to increase funding for the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in the country.
Gov. Tambuwal, who along with his Zamfara state counterpart, Bello Muhammad Mutawalle, was a special guest at the Nigerian Army Special Army Super Camp 4 at Faskari, Katsina state, also urges that the military be availed with sophisticated weapons.
“There is need for proper and structured funding of the army and other security agencies in the country to enable them procure superior weapons to that of their adversaries,. You need funding. Funding is key to combating insecurity in any country.
“There should be a special security funding not only that derived from routine appropriations,” the governor noted emphasizing that: “any constitutional means of getting funding for the army and other security agencies” should be explored.
Commending President Muhammadu Buhari for directing the effort to establish the Army Super Camp, Gov. Tambuwal, further noted that if more equipment could be marshalled for the Army, more resounding successes will be achieved.
He also gave kudos to the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai for doing a great deal in ensuring that the operations of the Camp is seamless and “Sokoto has recorded more peace, which is an opposite of the weeks preceding the operation of Ex Sahel Safety.
He explained that now farmers and villagers who left their farms when banditry was raging are now back. The South-Eastern part of the state, the governor submitted, “is witnessing a return to normalcy.”
On the efforts made by the Northern Governors to complement those of the security agencies, the governor said agreed to pursue carrot and stick approach. “We in Sokoto state are still continuing with the non-kinetic measure. No matter how long it takes in a battle, you must come back to the round table. So, why wait until issues escalate?
“The kinetic and non-kinetic process are simultaneously going on in Sokoto,” he explained, adding that the state government has completed the reform of the obsolete laws, while the other Northern Governors are trying theirs to punish kidnappers and other perpetrators of crimes associated with banditry.
Muhammad Bello
Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Governor
In a post Covid 19 workplace and era, information technology, communication and data will be the critical drivers that would power the era. Having seen the change of narrative, the Association of Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ATCON) headed by Olusola Teniola invited the key stakeholders in an online forum tagged “ATCON’ Sectoral Virtual Forum 2020.” Isa Pantami ,the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy in Nigeria, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, Executive Office (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and host of others looked at how ICT will play a vital role in post Covid 19 economic realities.
Taking to zoom conference, Isa Patanmi promise to look at the cost of broadband deployment, the minister said that the ministry is looking at reviewing the taxes that are collected by various states of federation to the Infracos and also promising to look at giving preferential treatment to indigenous firms using the Executive order 003 and Presidential order 005.He also buttressed the need for patronage for the local Telco firms, a policy is being formulated to this regard. The Minister said that the government is doing the desired intervention to ensure that the indigenous telecom firms which ATCON is the body would be looked at.
On the interest of consumers, the Minister said that it is in the interest of the Ministry to protect the subscribers and consumers of telecommunication products and services is paramount to the Government. The Minister is working with NCC Operators to ensure a robust framework that would protect the interest of consumers. The minister used the forum to harp on the quality of service, though in most cases are caused by vandalization. The QoS is key to the government, especially the price of data will be looked at. The minister made it known that the right of way has a way of impacting on the price of data and there are efforts made to come up with packages.
The leadership of ATCON, is the body that helped to push the National Broadband Plan and the minister is looking at 70% penetration rates in the next 5 years. The Minister promised to work with ATCON members to ensure that this is feasible in a few years’ time. Speaking on the forum, Olu Teniola, the President of ATCON said that the organisation is desirous to assist the ministry on the issue of right of way and double taxation. The Minister said that telecom infrastructure is seen as national infrastructure. The minister said that the issue of Right of Way has been lingering and he is working with governors on this.
Prof Danbatta, opined that the Covid 19 impact affected the whole economy and there is need to utilise the power of Information Technology and in the heart of ICT, infrastructure is the key. He said that NCC is striving very hard to meet up especially in the area of broadband deployment. On the issue of underutilisation of submarine broadband and landing capacity, the EVC said that the Commission is in the process of reviewing the Infraco framework as mandated by the National Bureau for Privatization (NBP). He said that the spectrum utilization especially 800MHz CDA, 1800MHz for LTE and Spectrum auctioning, the EVC reassured Nigerians that the NCC is in the process of issuing last mile satellite operators’ licenses to provide broadband services.
On the protection of consumers, NCC has brought out measures such as DND lines 2442 and a toll-free line of 622 has been in place. Over two hundred and seventy thousand complaints have been received by the commission. On the issue of Mobile number portability, over 1.1 million have utilised this service. The commission also launched a web portal as an alternative platform where consumers can lay their complaints. The draft review of consumer code of practice is being concluded for publication.
The teething problem of Right of Way, the Commission has made tremendous strides in this regard. This year alone, NCC resolves Right of Way (RoW) disputes in Ekiti, Imo, Kaduna, and Plateau states and is working towards the harmonization of right of way charges. As a proactive agency, The NCC has allowed mobile numbers operators (MNOs) to participate fully in the provision of mobile money services through the National Financial Inclusion Strategy. This is designed to achieve an 80% financial inclusion target of the Federal Government. The EVC lamented on the huge debt being owed to telecommunication firms by many agencies, saying that over 17 billion is being owned and this has hampered the full capacity utilisation.
Kashifu Adullahi, the Director General of NITDA in his remarks said that “In a post covid 19 era, the economy would be powered by information technology. “We are witnessing the emergence of new trends such as remote work, conferences and meetings. There is a need for government intervention here because strains are being put on existing infrastructure. With over 30 million subscribers using smartphones to access the internet, there is a need for a robust framework which the president did by launching the national broadband plan”, he said.
The DG of NITDA said that the Agency is involved seriously in the area of developmental regulation especially in the area of privacy and trust. The data assets guidelines, blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are the frameworks that the agency is working on. The agency has built about 3 IT hubs, 80 Digital learning centres and other key infrastructures.
ANTHONY EMEKA NWOSU
On the issue of underutilisation of submarine broadband and landing capacity, the EVC said that the Commission is in the process of reviewing the Infraco framework as mandated by the National Bureau for Privatization (NBP). He said that the spectrum utilization especially 800MHz CDA, 1800MHz for LTE and Spectrum auctioning, the EVC reassured Nigerians that the NCC is in the process of issuing last mile satellite operators’ licenses to provide broadband services.
