December, 2019 - itbusinessdirect

Airtel and Telkom merger approved

December 16, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Kenya’s telecommunication sector is set to become a duopoly after Airtel and Telkom Kenya received approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to merge their businesses. The firms however have to wait for approval from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK), which might take awhile as the industry regulator is currently facing a leadership crisis following nullification of the board of directors appointed earlier this year.The merged operator, which will be renamed Airtel-Telkom, will now battle it out with Safaricom once the transaction is concluded. CAK yesterday gave the…

Innovation that will help with the provision of clean water

December 16, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Kenya’s quest to fulfill the need for clean water mainly in rural areas could be finally met after five university students invented a solar-powered water desalinator. The group calling itself, The Greatest of All Time (Goat), which comprises students from Kenyatta University, University of Nairobi and Strathmore University was unveiled at this year’s IBM Digital-Nation Africa: Smart Water Challenge. Goat’s innovation also uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to prevent water pipes from bursting by keeping the piping system fully functional. The team which won a paid internships with IBM…

Emotion detecting Tech should be restricted

December 13, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

A leading research centre has called for new laws to restrict the use of emotion-detecting tech. The AI Now Institute says the field is “built on markedly shaky foundations”. Despite this, systems are on sale to help vet job seekers, test criminal suspects for signs of deception, and set insurance prices. It wants such software to be banned from use in important decisions that affect people’s lives and/or determine their access to opportunities. The US-based body has found support in the UK from the founder of a company developing its…

The rise of the anti-drone technology

December 13, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

One of the first drone deliveries was operated not by a tech giant from Silicon Valley but by small-time criminals who saw potential in the new technology. In late 2013, days before Amazon announced its futuristic plan to operate a fleet of automated vehicles, four people were arrested for attempting to smuggle contraband into a Georgia state prison using a drone. Guards had noticed a remote-controlled helicopter hovering above Calhoun prison. Later, they found the six-rotor drone in a nearby car alongside what appeared to be its cargo: pouches of tobacco and…

Data Breaches Faced by Indian Internet Consumers

December 13, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Over the last few years, India has been making headlines with a steady stream of data breaches ranging from the Aadhaar scandal and Quora row, to the muck-up between Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. In fact, data breaches cost Indian organisations ₹12.8 crores on an average between July 2018 to April 2019, making the country the second-most cyber affected region in the world. The first half of 2019 witnessed a 22% jump in cyber attacks due to the increased deployment of IoT. With industries like healthcare, financial institutions and other businesses getting breached regularly,…

Samsung TV owners face glitch to be fixed in 2020

December 13, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

A number of Samsung TV owners have been hit by an irritating issue which leaves them unable to access BBC iPlayer. If you own a Samsung TV you may find you are suddenly being blocked from watching content on iPlayer. Some of these hugely popular TV sets have been hit by an annoying software glitch which has blocked access to the BBC’s streaming service. Samsung has issued a statement, explaining that the problem has been caused by security certificates that expired. The Korean firm has pushed out an update to some of…

Google Maps gets new features on iPhone and Android

December 13, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Google Maps has announced a major upgrade to its popular service on both Apple and Android. Google Maps users are getting some vital extra features which could make them feel much more at ease when using the hugely popular service. Google has just announced two bonus upgrades which will be available on both Apple and Android devices and they are well worth your attention. The US technology giant says this update to its Maps app will bring Incognito Mode to iPhone users and Android fans are also getting something called Bulk…

Startup food delivery Yumi Foods fed another $8M

December 11, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Babies have options these days when it comes to what goes in their mouths. No more is it just the standard mush in a jar. Now they have got everything from pouches to organic purees delivered right to their parents’ door and Yumi Foods is one of several startups cashing in. The company has just announced that it raised another $8 million from several of Silicon Valley’s household names, including Allbirds, Warby Parker etc. But it’s a tough and saturated market full of products all vying for mom and dad’s attention, and that’s not…

2020 Cybersecurity trends for businesses

December 11, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Cybersecurity is key in any business because cyber attacks are a daily occurrence and when an organization is breached, millions to even billions of dollars is lost due to lawsuits, fines and loss of revenues and regaining customer trust? Well, that could take years to build back…if ever. Because of this, I believe that one of the biggest trends to impact cybersecurity in the coming year is the growing importance for organizations to view cyber risk as a measure of business risk because cybersecurity is no longer just the responsibility…