HACKATHON 2022: NITDA TRIGGERS ENTREPRENEURSHIP SPIRIT AMONGST SOUTH-SOUTH YOUTHS

HACKATHON 2022: NITDA TRIGGERS ENTREPRENEURSHIP SPIRIT AMONGST SOUTH-SOUTH YOUTHS

A challenge has been thrown to the youths from the South-south geopolitical region to be spirited in utilizing their God-given talents through digital innovations to become entrepreneurs and job creators.

The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, represented by Dr. Salihu Abdulkareem of the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, threw the challenge during the south-south HACKATHON, held at the Senate Chambers of University of Calabar, Cross Rivers.

Inuwa said “driving digital innovation and entrepreneurship by challenging Nigeria’s youth to create and develop solutions from inception to commercialization will, no doubt, boost the country’s economy.”

The challenge’s theme is “Innovation-Driven Ideas for addressing local challenges in Health, Government, Transportation, Financial Services and Smart city in Nigeria for Social and Economic Development.”

The DG asserted that digital innovation and entrepreneurship would help fast-track the recovery of other traditional economic sectors by supporting the provision and adoption of indigenous and tailor-made solutions for nationwide implementation of the policy through automation, intelligent processes, and ICT solutions.

He further revealed that NITDA Hackathon 2022 aims to find solutions towards building a digital Nigeria, adding that talented Nigerians are challenged to come up with clearly defined ideas and prototypes of solutions around agriculture, logistics, and security for the swift growth and development of the country.

According to Kashifu, “African continent is full of problems waiting to be solved, this presents the next biggest market worldwide. Nigeria, in particular, has a rapidly growing youthful population by which taking advantage of the market will lead to the creation of jobs, solutions, and revenue flow for the country”, he added.

The DG maintained that collective responsibility is needed to achieve the positive impacts, for which the nation yearns for solutions. He encouraged the young innovators not to relent in their various efforts towards tackling the problems bedeviling the country, saying that such solutions will go a long way in addressing development issues.

He appeals to teeming youths from the region to always showcase their talents which will serve as channels for solutions to some of the problems that require immediate panacea.

He revealed that the program also provides an avenue for young Nigerians to contribute their quota in the solution-finding and provides opportunities for creating jobs both directly and indirectly, keying into the Digital Economy policy that will facilitate the swift growth and development of the country.

The Vice-Chancellor, University of Calabar, Professor Florence Banji Obi, ably represented by Professor Idingesit Akpabio, Chairman, Committee of Deans, the University of Calabar, in her earlier remarks, appreciated NITDA for choosing the University of Calabar for the program. She commended the initiatives and the manner of their implementation across the country for the growth of our nation.

She commented that technology is changing how we do things and has fast-tracked operations processes. “Programs like this are needed to keep the young people busy solving the problems faced by the country, more so that such programs give an avenue for teeming youth to showcase their talents which will help solve those challenges,” she added.

Prof. Obi encouraged participants not to stop at solution finding after this program but to go further in actualizing what they have started, which she believes will bring about solutions to the problems faced in the country.

Winners from the pitching context received cash prizes ranging from N1.5million for the overall Winners, N1 million for the first runner ups, and N500,000 to the second runner ups as the 3-day event came to a close with fanfare and beautiful memories.

NCC-CSIRT Identifies Two Cyber Vulnerabilities

NCC-CSIRT Identifies Two Cyber Vulnerabilities

The Nigerian Communications Commission’s Cyber Security Incident Response Team (NCC-CSIRT) has independently identified two cyber vulnerabilities and advised Nigerian telecom consumers on the measures to be taken to get protected from the cyber-attacks.

The CSIRT, in its first-ever security advisories less than three months after its creation, has solely identified the two cyber-attacks targeting the consumers and proffer solutions that can help telecom consumers from falling victims to the two cyber vulnerabilities.

The first is described as Juice Jacking, which can gain access into consumers’ devices when charging mobile phones at public charging stations and it applies to all mobile phones. The other is a Facebook for Android Friend Acceptance Vulnerability, which targets only Android Operating System.

According to CSIRT security Advisory 0001 released on January 26, 2022, with Juice Jacking, attackers have found a new way to gain unauthorized entry into unsuspecting mobile phone users devices when they charge their mobile phones at public charging stations.

Many public spaces, restaurants, malls and even in the public trains do offer complementary services to their customers in a bid to enhance customer services, one of which is providing charging ports or sockets.  

However, an attacker can leverage this courtesy to load a payload in the charging station or on the cables they would leave plugged in at the stations.

Once unsuspecting persons plug their phones at the charging station or the cable left by the attacker, the payload is automatically downloaded on the victims’ phone. This payload then gives the attacker remote access to the mobile phone, allowing them to monitor data transmitted as text, or audio using the microphone. The attacker can even watch the victim in real time if the victims’ camera is not covered. The attacker is also given full access to the gallery and also to the phone’s Global Positioning System (GPS) location.

When an attacker gains access to a user’s Mobile phone, he gets remote access to the User’s phone which leads to breach in Confidentiality, Violation of Data Integrity and bypass of Authentication Mechanisms. Symptoms of attack may include sudden spike in battery consumption, device operating slower than usual, apps taking a long time to load, and when they load they crash frequently and cause abnormal data usage.

The NCC-CSIRT, however, proffered solutions to this attack to include using ‘charging only USB cable’, to avoid Universal Serial Bus (USB) data connection; using one’s AC charging adaptor in public space; and not granting trust to portable devices prompt for USB data connection.

Other preventive measures against Juice Jacking include installing Antivirus and updating them to the latest definitions always; keeping mobile devices up to date with the latest patches; using one’s own power bank; keeping mobile phone off when charging in public places; as well as ensuring use of one’s own charger, if one must charge in public.

On the other hand, the NCC-CSIRT Advisory 0001 of January 27, 2022, warns that Facebook for Android is vulnerable to a permission issue which gives privilege to anyone with physical access to the android device to accept friend requests without unlocking the phone. The products affected include Versions 329.0.0.29.120 of Android OS.

With this, the attacker will be able to add the victim as a friend and collect personal information of the victim, such as Email, Date of Birth, Check-ins, Mobile phone number, Address, Pictures and other information that the victim may have shared, which would only be visible to his/her friends.

However, to be protected from the Facebook-associated vulnerability, NCC-CSIRT in the security advisory recommends to users to disable the feature from their device’s lock screen notification settings.

The NCC-CSIRT was inaugurated in October, 2021 to provide guidance and direction for the constituents in dealing with issues relating to the security of critical infrastructure in their possession, and periodically assess, review and collate the threat landscape, risks, and opportunities affecting the communications sector, in order to provide advice to relevant stakeholders in those regards.

As the telecoms-industry specific intervention, the objective of which aligns with the objective of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) document published by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the NCC-CSIRT ensures continuous improvement of processes and communication frameworks to guarantee secure and collaborative exchange of timely information while responding to cyber threats within the sector.

In recent times, NCC-CSIRT has raised series of cyber-vulnerability awareness based on security advisories it receives from the Nigerian Cybersecurity Emergency Response Team (ngCERT), which is the national body for the implementation of the NCPS objective. However, Juice Jacking and Facebook for Android Friend Acceptance Vulnerabilities are the two first-ever cyber vulnerabilities published by the NCC-CSIRT.

NITDA ENGAGES STAKEHOLDERS AT THE GRASSROOT

NITDA ENGAGES STAKEHOLDERS AT THE GRASSROOT

The National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) in its aspiration to be closer to its stakeholders, today, organized a one-day Stakeholders Engagement Program to cascade its programs, projects, and policies to the grassroots people.

Speaking virtually during the first edition of the program, the NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, who was represented by the Director, Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions, Dr. Usman Abdullahi, disclosed that the Agency holds its stakeholders in high esteem and would ensure they derive value from all NITDA’s interventions.

The program, which would hold in eight different states across the country commences with the Gombe State’ edition today, January 25, 2022, at the Banquet Hall, Gombe International Hotel, Gombe, Gombe State with the theme ” Creating Opportunities, Breaking Boundaries: Towards Digitalisation and Entrepreneurial Evolution.”

The other States where the program would be taken place includes; Bauchi, Kano. Kaduna Lagos, Ogun, Rivers, and Bayelsa.

According to the NITDA boss, “Stakeholders’ Engagement Program is aimed at delivering values to our stakeholders and this is in tandem with our core values of people first, innovative and professionalism.”

He added that part of why the Agency is organizing the event is its strive to deliver value to its stakeholders. “That would not be possible without listening to you and speaking with you to get clarity on your perspective, aspirations, and needs,” he disclosed.

Inuwa noted that the meeting would serve as a veritable platform to pool knowledge, experiences, and expertise and to create solutions, articulate strategies, and extend the Agency’s services to all its stakeholders.

He emphasized that the engagement would constantly rethink its ideas, system, and processes. He maintained that the objectives of the program are; to offer stakeholders the opportunity to express their views and opinions on matters related to the Agency’s implementation of its mandate, establish a sustainable collaboration and consistent channel for feedback and exchange of ideas, and also share with the stakeholders the Agency’s vision, the regulatory instrument for national development and the Agency’s journey so far.

He assured the participants that the Agency is not oblivious of the fact that more still needs to be done and pledged the commitment of the Agency to make further progress with the stakeholders in the coming years.

The Gombe State Commissioner of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Dr. Aisha Umar Maigari in her goodwill remarks commended NITDA for the roles it is playing in ensuring that policies are also domesticated in states which she described as a better way to ensure uniformity in developing the ICT sector in the country. She stated that the Stakeholders’ Engagement Program is coming at the right time when the state needs more collaboration from NITDA.

She said NITDA has helped them develop a very ambitious state ICT policy and the state has since commenced implementation of some of the initiatives in the document after it has carried out need assessment analysis.

She said the present administration has ensured that civil servants in the state are using dot ng for government businesses adding that the state is building the capacity of the staff also in the area of basic computer operation for its staff and promoting digital literacy in the state especially among the underserved and unserved indigene of the state. She added that COVID-19 has also made them train over 60 persons in the area of digital and online marketing.

She added that most of the government processes have been digitized especially in the area of internally generated revenue to the government.

Participants at the event shared their observations on how they think NITDA could deepen its influence among the stakeholders, especially the rural populace.

UMallam Zakari Suleiman of the Computer Professional Council of Nigeria, CPN, was of the view that NITDA should constitute a monitoring team that would be inspecting all its interventions with a view of ascertaining there proper usage. He said the Agency should ensure that the end-users are trained on how to properly take care of those interventions.

New SMS-based Android Malware, TangleBot, Unleashed by Cybercriminals

New SMS-based Android Malware, TangleBot, Unleashed by Cybercriminals

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), again, has been informed of a new high-risk, critical and Short Messaging Service-based malware, TangleBot, infecting Android mobile devices.

TangleBot employs more or less similar tactics as the recently-announced notorious FlutBot SMS Android malware that targets mobile devices. TangleBot equally gains control of the device but in far more invasive manner than the FlutBot malware.

The disclosure on TangleBot was made in a recent security advisory made available to the Commission’s New Media and Information Security Department by the Nigerian Computer Emergency Response Team (ngCERT).

TangleBot Android malware is installed when an unsuspecting user clicks on a malicious link disguised as COVID-19 vaccination appointment-related information in an SMS message or information about fake local power outages that are due to occur.

The aim behind both or either of the messages (on COVID-19 or impending power outages) is to encourage potential victims to follow a link that supposedly offers detailed information. Once at the page, users are asked to update applications such as Adobe Flash Player to view the page’s content by going through nine (9) dialogue boxes to give acceptance to different permissions that will allow the malware operators initiate the malware configuration process.

The immediate consequence to this, is that TangleBot gains access to several different permissions when installed on a device, allowing it to eavesdrop on user communications. The malware then steals sensitive data stored on the device and monitors almost every user activity, including camera use, audio conversations, and location, among other things.

Furthermore, the malware takes complete control of the targeted device, including access to banking data, and can reach the deepest recesses of the Android operating system.

The NCC, therefore, wishes to, once again, urge millions of telecom consumers in Nigeria to be wary of such wiles of cyber criminals, whose intent is to defraud unsuspecting Internet users.

In order to ensure maximum protection for Internet users in the country, the ngCERT has offered a number of preventive measures to be taken by the consumers.

These measures include an advisory to telecom consumers and other Internet users to refrain from opening Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) from unknown sources while using your mobile devices.

Additionally, telecom consumers should never respond or send reply to messages or call back a phone number that is associated with the text that they are unaware of. Should any telecom consumer or Internet user become curious and wish to ascertain the authenticity of any call or messages and wish to probe the incident,  such persons may do a web search of both the number and the message content.

The NCC hereby reiterates that mobile users are under obligation to practice safe messaging practices and avoid clicking on any links in texts, even if they appear to come from a legitimate contact. Indeed, it is important to be judicious when downloading apps by reading install prompts closely, looking out for information regarding rights  and privileges that the app may request.

Other risk-mitigating measures advised by ngCERT is for users to be cautious of procuring any software from outside a certified app store. Advisedly, it is safer to call the company directly rather than using the phone number on the message received, especially if the message is spoofing a company. Finally, telecom consumers and other Internet users should report any incident of system compromise to ngCERT via incident@cert.gov.ng for necessary support and technical assistance.

The Commission expresses its commitment to continuously inform and educate mobile telephony subscribers and Internet users in Nigeria, on cyber risks, however they may manifest. This is to insulate them from the dangers and losses arising from cybercrimes of any kind.

The world’s biggest, most powerful space telescope reached its final destination

The world’s biggest, most powerful space telescope reached its final destination

The world’s biggest, most powerful space telescope reached its final destination 1.6 million Kilometers from Earth on Monday, a month after it lifted off on a quest to behold the dawn of the universe.

The James Webb Space Telescope fired its rocket thrusters for nearly five minutes to go into orbit around the sun at its designated spot, and NASA confirmed the operation went as planned.
The mirrors on the $10 billion observatory still must be meticulously aligned and the infrared detectors sufficiently chilled before science observations can begin in June. But flight controllers in Baltimore were euphoric after chalking up another success.

We’re one step closer to uncovering the mysteries of the universe. And I can’t wait to see Webb’s first new views of the universe this summer!” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement.

The telescope will enable astronomers to peer back further in time than ever before, all the way back to when the first stars and galaxies were forming. It will help humanity look at and study the universe in ways never possible before. Besides making stellar observations, Webb will scan the atmospheres of planets orbiting other stars outside our solar system for possible signs of life

At 1.6 million kilometers away, Webb is more than four times as distant as the moon.

Will 2022 sustain the sophisticated cyberattacks developed in 2021? 

Will 2022 sustain the sophisticated cyberattacks developed in 2021? 

By: Steve Flynn, Sales and Marketing Director for ESET Southern Africa


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After two years of unexpected events, how will 2022 stack against what is becoming a much more sophisticated approach to cybercrime?​ While cloud technology enjoyed an unprecedented increase in its adoption, entire industries were held back after major cyberattacks. To cap off an eventful 2021, many organisations entered the festive season with some form of threat from the Log4J vulnerability hanging over their heads too. Awareness is, in effect, a form of prevention and understanding the increasing trends, which set the tone for the year to come in cybersecurity can only help build appropriate defence mechanisms.

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As the world continues to move towards the increasingly common distributed workforce and the steady shift towards the cloud, ESET, a global leader in cybersecurity, says that there has been a greater and understandable demand for reliable end-point security with increases in targeted ransomware attacks. Despite the concern that remote computing has caused, it does present an opportunity for many organisations to modernise their infrastructure and move more of the workloads into the cloud. The result, in many instances, is a more reliable, recoverable and scalable infrastructure set not only for its clients but for ESET too.

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The cloud is the limit

Although more of a gradual upgrade rather than a dramatic shift, organisations are moving their infrastructure off-premise as they opt for more reliability, the scalability offered from Cloud solutions that can adapt to the needs of the business.

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Employees are returning to work, but it seems more likely that the new workplace will be more hybrid, necessitating unique security requirements. A far greater emphasis on protecting end-point devices is required as security to The Edge is only reasonable in on-premise solutions. As a result, In 2022, it will be necessary for every organisation to evaluate their return to work policies and ensure that the security measures they have in place suit the needs of a hybrid workforce and the protection of their data. Many of the existing security technologies that organisations have in place are inapplicable.

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Cyberattacks on small businesses had a massive impact in 2021. Upwards of 60% said they could not recover financially from a severe cyber or ransomware attack. And the massive cyberattacks on the Department of Justice and another South African parastatal, Transnet, in 2021, showed that even large organisations could suffer irreparable harm.

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Consequently, there will be increasing demand for high-quality, reputable security software for laptops, which are the backbone for many SMBs and end-user mobile devices.

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ESET LiveGuard is a feature that adds a layer of​ cloud-based protection​ specifically designed to mitigate threats that are new in the wild by intelligently moving to a protected cloud-based sandbox, virtually eliminating any threat of malware or suspicious scripts unknowingly being opened.

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In the partner landscape,​ ESET provides efficient tools to enable how its partners solution their customers with the best support and cloud-based security products.​

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System-driven efficiencies

The pandemic continues to unsettle activities that partners and clients relied on previously: face to face get-togethers and engagements, training and other on-premise support. Support services and training – typically delivered in-person in the past – will continue to become the norm to facilitate online, but still, several systems at organisations need to be adapted to facilitate this move.

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The benefit of this shift to online-based interactions is that many organisations, including ESET, have found new ways of providing customer support, training and business development, forcing a critical review of many systems and processes.

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This fundamental shift will improve efficiency and efficacy in how ESET engages with its partners, clients and customers.

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Recently IDC MarketScape acknowledged ESET for the continued reinvestment of its profits into software development, core threat research, and threat hunting. The acknowledgement is a cornerstone of why ESET remains Europe’s favourite cybersecurity brand and fast becoming a significant player in South Africa, too.​

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Partnering for success

ESET Southern Africa’s engagement with its partners continues to deliver results. Successful partnerships are the core of a vendor’s success. ESET’s re-imagined engagement platform increased support and dedication to helping managed services providers and resellers achieve their sales goals is expected to build on the success that the company enjoyed in 2022.​

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We expect this to be helped by excellent new products in the consumer and enterprise Cloud space.

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Looking ahead

Organisations large and small saw – to some extent – the effects of not having adequate protection in place. Cyberthreats are sophisticated, and cybercriminals will stop at nothing to hold a business or individual to ransom, acquire data, or steal funds. And cybercrime is increasing unabated.

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Sophisticated attacks are going to become more personalised, which will drive an even greater need to protect vulnerable proprietary applications from attack.

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Organisations cannot operate today without some form of a protective solution in place regardless of where the infrastructure is located or what device it is on.​ ​

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NIGERIAN FINTECH P2VEST RECORDS 100,000 USERS ON ITS PLATFORM

NIGERIAN FINTECH P2VEST RECORDS 100,000 USERS ON ITS PLATFORM

The P2vest lending platform offers quick disbursement of loans and flexible payback plan where people can begin to have an ecosystem of lending and borrowing.

P2vest Technology Limited, today announced that its peer-to-peer lending application, P2Vest has hit 100,000 users with access to quick loans. This achievement underscores the organisations’ role in transforming the way people access credit and lend money by bringing borrowers and lenders together.

The foremost peer-to- peer lending platform has over the past 15 months used technology to serve its users with quick disbursement of loans and flexible payback plan. To bridge the gap of access, P2Vest connects authorized lenders with borrowers, while helping them take control of their debt, grow their businesses, and invest for the future.

According to the Founder and CEO of P2vest Technology, Mr Austin Abolusoro ‘’Our goal at P2vest is to build a platform that delivers on ease of access to credit while also building a credit history. Our approach is different, we are using Artificial Intelligence to ensure credit worthy Nigerians have access to quick loans. Since we launched, we have provided access to quick loans to over 105,000 Nigerians. This is a big achievement for us as we have availed people the chance to access loans for their different needs like setting up of businesses, house renovations, Car loans, paying rent, school loan, medical bills on the platform faster and without delay. While also creating an opportunity for people to borrow more as long as they continue to pay back’’

The fast rise of fintech Industries and massive digital transformation in the provision of financial services has brought about the sharing economy- a new model of consumption, sharing, collaboration between individuals of goods, services, resources, with or without monetary exchanges via dedicated platforms. With the adoption of the sharing economy technology by businesses, the model which has grown in leaps and bounds allows for the peer-to-peer economy to thrive as they cut out the role of third parties. Users on P2Vest can borrow money and also lend to others and make some interest.

About:
Founded in 2020, P2vest is a peer-to-peer lending platform known for providing lending solutions for lenders and borrowers through its platform. Utilising technology, P2vest is committed to ease of access to credit for borrowers and ensuring competitive returns for lenders. For more information about the P2vest, visit its website at www.p2vest.com

SoftwareONE and Amazon Web Services sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement to accelerate global cloud adoption 

SoftwareONE and Amazon Web Services sign Strategic Collaboration Agreement to accelerate global cloud adoption 

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SoftwareONE Holding AG, a leading global provider of software and cloud technology solutions, today announced a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to accelerate their customers’ cloud journeys. Through this comprehensive agreement, SoftwareONE and AWS will collaborate to accelerate the adoption of AWS services and solutions globally across all industries, supported by joint investments into go-to-market and delivery capabilities.

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Building on a well-established relationship, SoftwareONE and AWS have entered into a multi-year Strategic Collaboration Agreement to provide customers globally with a variety of AWS solutions and services to support their cloud migration and modernization efforts. Key areas of collaboration include accelerating growth of SoftwareONE’s Simple for AWS offering, industrializing AWS cloud migrations and driving AWS Marketplace adoption in conjunction with SoftwareONE’s platform PyraCloud.

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SoftwareONE helps customers manage their software and cloud spend through software digital supply chain and FinOps Certified services and platforms. By accessing thousands of ISV partners consolidated in SoftwareONE’s ecosystem, customers can use volume to maximize the value of the AWS Estate. At the same time, customers can achieve ongoing AWS cloud cost optimization and management. SoftwareONE’s PyraCloud platform delivers a single digital experience for customers to help manage their software and cloud spend in one place.

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Utilizing investments from AWS, SoftwareONE will further develop its global Cloud Center of Excellence with best-in-class and fully certified AWS resources to support and improve the overall customer experience. In addition, SoftwareONE will provided dedicated training for the next generation of AWS cloud professionals through the SoftwareONE Academy by sourcing talent from a diverse range of backgrounds. The Academy will leverage AWS Education Programs to develop both sales and technical capabilities to support entire customer journeys and overall growth of SoftwareONE’s AWS practice.

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SoftwareONE’s Chief Executive Officer, Dieter Schlosser, said, “We maintain long-term relationships with our customers, modernizing their software, cloud and technology to attain their digital transformation goals. This ground-breaking agreement signals our commitment to scaling out our global AWS practice to advance our customers’ multi-cloud strategies. It underpins our vision of growing our Application Services, SAP Services, Industry Vertical Solutions, Cloud Services and FinOps to a combined CHF 1 billion services business by 2025. Finally, it helps our PyraCloud platform customers optimize their AWS cloud service consumption.”

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“As cloud adoption accelerates, we are excited to work with our AWS Public Sector Partners, like SoftwareONE, that are global in scale and have comprehensive cloud-native expertise and delivery capabilities to address mission-critical tasks and the complex needs of today’s organizations,” said Jeff Kratz, Vice President, Worldwide Public Sector Partners and Programs, AWS.

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SoftwareONE is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner and recently acquired HeleCloud, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner and AWS Managed Service Provider. SoftwareONE also holds competencies for Migration, SAP, DevOps, Solution Provider, Public Sector, AWS Well-Architected Program, End User Computing and Microsoft Workloads.

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No terms or financial details of the agreement have been disclosed.

About SoftwareONE

SoftwareONE is a leading global provider of end-to-end software and cloud technology solutions, headquartered in Switzerland. With an IP and technology-driven services portfolio, it enables companies to holistically develop and implement their commercial, technology and digital transformation strategies. This is achieved by modernizing applications and migrating critical workloads on public clouds, while simultaneously managing and optimizing the related software and cloud assets and licensing. SoftwareONE’s offerings are connected by PyraCloud, its proprietary digital platform, which provides customers with data-driven, actionable intelligence. With around 8,300 employees and sales and service delivery capabilities in 90 countries, SoftwareONE provides around 65,000 business customers with software and cloud solutions from over 7,500 publishers. SoftwareONE’s shares (SWON) are listed on SIX Swiss Exchange. For more information, please visit www.softwareone.com

SoftwareONE Holding AG, Riedenmatt 4, CH-6370 Stans

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NETCOM AFRICA REITERATES ITS COMMITMENT TO RENDER WORLD-CLASS ICT SOLUTIONS IN NIGERIAN

NETCOM AFRICA REITERATES ITS COMMITMENT TO RENDER WORLD-CLASS ICT SOLUTIONS IN NIGERIAN

In an internet and data hungry ecosystem, Nigerian corporate space has shown promise and regarded as one of the biggest markets in Africa. With a lot of organization increasingly adopting modern technologies especially in the area of data analytics, cyber security and IT outsourcing to increase their productivity. Having seen this thriving ecosystem, Netcom Africa, one of the foremost information and communication technology (ICT) firm located in the Victoria Island, Lagos has brought a bouquet of services that will enable many Nigerian corporate organizations to scale and deepen their productivity.

Servicing many industries such as Financial Services, the company said that their solutions for this sector is crucial. In their words, they said “The financial services industry has its unique set of technology challenges owing to a complex set of regulations and industry best practices to which organizations must adhere. We deliver flexible technology solutions that will allow you to meet your organizational objectives while maintaining the strictest levels of compliance with security and fiduciary requirements.”

They added that “For a leading Nigerian Financial Institution, the contact center is a vital part of its customer-focused operations. The inbound side takes around One hundred and fifty thousand calls a month, while the outbound team makes over 30,000 calls per month. The outbound calls are a combination of sales activity and customer support follow up calls. To sell successfully, reaching a targeted number of customers at a time convenient to communicate effectively is the best way to close the sale.”

“Netcom Africa has been using the On-Premise Avaya (contact center) since 2012. While that delivered reliability and a range of features, particularly for the inbound operation, the Company’s felt they needed to outsource the infrastructure while giving their distributed contact center operators the ability to have equal access to inbound calls and customer information from a managed service partner. This facilitated their move away from On-Premise to IP based cloud telephony for internal and outbound calls”

“We were working in a single location and at the mercy of a single point of failure. Our Sales Agents were not able to respond effectively to local needs, while our customer data was disconnected from our customer service agents”, Charles Harrington – VP, Corporate Development & Marketing.

On the manufacturing sub sector, Netcom has robust solution for this sector. Netcom Africa added that “The frequent need for innovation and adaptability is amplified by strong economic pressures, resulting in the need for cost-effective and robust IT environments ready to meet today’s fast-paced changes head-on. our solutions provide the Manufacturing and distribution sector with the technology they need to support their business goals.”

Netcom Africa has been known to be the industry leader in various IT solution such as Managed Cyber Security, Disaster Recovery And Backup, Firewall, Enterprise technology/solutions such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Productivity Applications and Unified Communications.

Netcom is Nigeria’s leading Managed Service Provider. Since 2004, companies across Nigeria have been relying on Netcom to ensure that they are connected to the world. Over time, Netcom has transformed to meet their clients demands with a host of leading solutions by partnering with local and global experts and OEM’s. Today they are the leading MSP (Managed Service Provider) in Nigeria with hundreds of companies relying on our expertise and leading solutions to help them navigate their digital transformation.

“The technology landscape is complex and ever changing, and we have a solid understanding of the problems today and the solutions that will drive your business into the future. We not only have the expertise and solutions to bring about fundamental change in the way you do business, but we have also taken that journey ourselves.”

Netcom Africa has provided world-class solutions to various blue-chip firms in Nigeria such as Actis, Hennessy, BW Offshore, Dana, Air France, Emirates Airline, AMCON, Leventis and a host of others.

ANTHONY NWOSU .E.

“For a leading Nigerian Financial Institution, the contact center is a vital part of its customer-focused operations. The inbound side takes around One hundred and fifty thousand calls a month, while the outbound team makes over 30,000 calls per month. The outbound calls are a combination of sales activity and customer support follow up calls. To sell successfully, reaching a targeted number of customers at a time convenient to communicate effectively is the best way to close the sale.”

Elevating Digital Payments For a Cashless Future in Africa (By Akshay Grover)

Elevating Digital Payments For a Cashless Future in Africa (By Akshay Grover)

COVID-19 has propelled the adoption of digital payment platforms for millions of people across the African continent. The need for contactless methods of making transactions, transformed what was once a nice-to-have into a necessity. 

Indeed, whereas the pandemic has bolstered the adoption of digital payments across industries, demographics and payment types on the continent, Africa has always been at the forefront of the payments space led by mobile money services since 2010. 

As a company, serving thousands of businesses at varying growth stages across 35 African countries, we’ve witnessed firsthand the sheer drive and resilience that underpins this revolution in digital payments.

It’s the entrepreneurship spirit of the continent that inspires us to innovate for businesses, connecting people and their resources, aligning our strategy to bolster the adoption of digital payments by…

Deepening Our Presence in Existing Markets

Recently, we expanded into 8 new countries – South Africa, Egypt, Senegal, Côte D’Ivoire, Cameroon, DRC, Angola, Ethiopia – in a bid to accelerate the digitization of payments for global, regional and local businesses to build a more connected Africa. By creating seamless payment experiences for businesses and consumers, we’re opening up opportunities for millions to do business, access basic services and even connect with their loved ones when it matters the most. Whereas what we’ve achieved so far is impressive, with coverage across 220 million banking, mobile money and cards consumers, we intend to go deeper in the countries we’re already in. We firmly believe we’ve only scratched the surface and there is unparalleled opportunity in…

Mobile money accounts grew to 1.2 billion with 43% of new users all from Africa

Tapping into the Underserved Offline Payments Sector

In a report by GSMA released earlier this year, mobile money accounts grew to 1.2 billion with 43% of new users all from Africa. Inferring from this growth rate in just one year, it’s clear that the market size for offline payments is significantly larger than online payments. In coming years, we’ll be focusing on this space even as we continue to grow in online payments.

In sub saharan Africa alone, there are 44 million micro, small and medium enterprises providing the majority of jobs effectively serving as the backbone of the economy in their countries. Most of these enterprises and the individuals they serve or employ still use offline or cash payments. Whereas we’re keen on expanding access to these businesses, we can only scale by…

Creating a Win-Win Ecosystem through Partnerships

As a fintech company, we’re deeply connected with the banking ecosystem and view them as partners not competitors. Leveraging partnerships with different entities in the industry from banks, to mobile network operators and large enterprises is a fundamental aspect necessary for growth in the fintech space.

Why?

Because as consumers increasingly use digital methods for their payments – from peer-to-peer transactions to purchasing household goods, paying their bills and accessing fundamental services such as healthcare and education- this presents wonderful opportunities for retailers and businesses to grow their digital capabilities as people move from cash dependency.

Enabling businesses to adapt quickly to these changing demands by providing the right infrastrastructure and relevant value-adds is our driving force.