business - itbusinessdirect

Canva introduces Business friendly tools for 2020

December 9, 2019 Dianne Jacobs

Aussie-founded design tool Canva has launched a range of new features, including design kiosks, among its business friendly additions for its 20 million users worldwide. At its annual staff event dubbed the Canva Season Opener, Canva on Friday (6 December) unveiled several new products and tools through which it hopes to capture an even greater share of the design market for advertising and social media. Designed with the education sector in mind, but with obvious benefits for business as well, Canva will launch collaborative access to designs in 2020. Originating…

Singapore to launch QR based SG-Verify for businesses to perform secure ID verification and data transfer

May 28, 2019 Editor

The Singapore government says it will introduce a tool that enables businesses to verify user identity and transfer data via QR codes, giving them another way to facilitate customer acquisition and visitor registration at events. Called SG-Verify, the new platform is one of several the government has been planning for deployment this year as part of its smart nation efforts. The National Digital Identity (NDI), for instance, would serve as a common digital credential for citizens who transacted with the public sector and businesses. The latter group could tap the…

Amazon retreats from its China business in defeat, could it also mean anything for its India market?

April 29, 2019April 29, 2019 Editor

Is it possible that the almighty Amazon, global dominator of all things retail and pulveriser of hapless competitors, has finally conceded defeat in China? It certainly seems that way, as the US-based global e-commerce Goliath announced it would bring the curtain down on its Chinese marketplace business in July and will revert to offering only overseas products to domestic Chinese customers. “We are notifying sellers we will no longer operate a marketplace on Amazon.cn, and we will no longer be providing seller services on Amazon.cn effective July 18,” the company…

How prepared are African businesses to tap AI benefits?

March 1, 2019March 1, 2019 Editor

The world is becoming a consumers’ market where future trends are now determined by an impatient customer with a smart phone. The modern shopper wants the best for less right now. They also demand that brands speak to and about their unique individuality. These conversations are taking place online in real time, feeding research, design and development teams with enough data to make accurate predictions of what will sell in the future. How this information is collected and collated is being made possible by technology. What does Artificial Intelligence mean…

Bekele calls for the business world to balance between profit and social impact at the 2018 EurAfrican forum in Portugal

July 25, 2018April 30, 2019 Editor

To build its social capital,”The world needs to find the right balance between profit and social impact”. Sophia Bekele Founder & CEO of DotConnectAfrica Group Joined other distinguished speakers at the one-day exclusive High-Level 2018 EurAfrican forum held under the High Patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the Government of Portugal who pleaded for a “sustainable” strategy for Europe and Africa that builds bridges between the two continents This year’s forum which was organized by special invite, is themed “Crafting Coalitions for Change,…

Lyft makes it easier to track business travel expenses

June 21, 2018 Dianne Jacobs

Lyft announced today that taking a business trip and then actually turning in your travel receipts just got a whole lot easier. A new feature for business profiles will allow employers to create a direct connection between employee trips and travel managers in charge of their reimbursement. While this integrated functionality is not new for the ridesharing company, it is the smoothest it has ever been. In 2016, Lyft launched its business profiles to allow users the ability to easily share receipts via their work emails. Then, in the summer of 2017, the company announced in-app integration…

Microsoft 365 now available for small and medium businesses

November 1, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Businesses can now subscribe to a bundle with Office 365, Windows 10 and the company’s mobile device management tools through Microsoft 365. The early focus for this program was enterprises, but a few months ago, Microsoft also launched a preview version of Microsoft 365 for small and medium businesses. Today, Microsoft 365 Business is coming out of beta and is now generally available to customers. Also coming out of beta are the company’s tools for managing email marketing campaigns (Microsoft Connections), creating invoices (Microsoft Invoicing) and keeping tabs on a…

One on One with Sendy Ltd: Using Technology to bring efficiency in business

August 14, 2017August 30, 2017 Dianne Jacobs

Think back to how business was done a few decades ago. There was no email, Internet, mobile marketing, telecommuting or smartphones. Innovations in technology have improved operations at companies of all sizes. ITBusinessDirect spoke with Sendy Ltd, a tech platform in Kenya that connects businesses to Drivers to make delivery simple and transparent, on the tech ecosystem in Kenya. The session is majorly on the digital innovation trends and the set backs faced by Tech start ups in the industry. Question: Its true that Technology brings businesses closer to customers. How can…