PHOTO: Sophia Bekele Speaking on the third International Conference on Learning Cities at Cork City, Ireland Learning cities are a crucial driver in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, advocates UNESCO. Among the set SDG targets is a goal to achieve inclusive and equitable quality education for all which requires increasing efforts, especially in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia and for other vulnerable populations. Based on this, the third annual UNESCO ‘Learning Cities Conference’ that took place in Cork City Ireland, was a real game changer for…
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Nigerian Start up innovates Recycling; Q&A with Bilikiss Abiola, Founder WeCyclers
Bilikiss Adebiyi Abiola , Founder and CEO of Wecyclers The Nigerian tech startup space is developing at speed, and stands a good chance of being the Africa’s leader. ITBusinessDirect spoke with Bilikiss Adebiyi Abiola , Founder and CEO of Wecyclers, a company that offers household recycling service using a fleet of low-cost cargo bikes. They are powering social change using the environment by allowing people in low-income communities in Nigeria to capture value from their waste. Question: How can you define the technology sector in Nigeria? Bilikiss: I believe it’s…
Read MoreLinkedIn opens video uploads to all
Video is the name of the game in social networking. If you’ve been on LinkedIn recently, you may have noticed that some users are making and sharing videos, basically turning the social network into a more professional version of YouTube or Facebook Live. Following this initial testing period, video will soon be available to all users. On iOS and Android, the LinkedIn app is getting a “video” button that will let you record a new video or upload one you’ve already taken. The new feature will be available to many…
Read MoreGlobaldata: Artificial Intelligence (AI) more crucial for IoT than Big Data insights
Artificial intelligence won’t solve every problem, but its current applications are already fundamentally reshaping the way we do business and collect data. While the development of the internet of things has revolutionized heavy industry, online shopping, localized data collection and virtually every other aspect of modern life and business, innovators are still struggling over the future of the IoT, and how they’ll get there. While many see big data as the driving engine behind the IoT, savvy investors and entrepreneurs have shown that the real power behind the interconnectivity phenomenon…
Read MoreOpera shuts down its Opera Max Service
Opera Max has been the rising star in Opera’s portfolio. The service offered a system-wide data-saving proxy that funnelled all app data through Opera’s servers to compress images and videos. Initially, opening a web page required users to calculate the amount of data that they would spend. Smartphones have been always data hungry and people tried all sorts of ways to save the smallest KiloBytes of data. It is this where Opera’s data saving app came to the rescue. Opera developed some clever algorithms and used in their Opera Max…
Read MoreExplore the latest threats to your mobile device security
It is common knowledge that mobile devices are integral to both our personal and business lives. With cyberattacks against individuals, businesses, and government entities increasing in frequency and sophistication, it is no surprise that mobile devices are now considered by threat actors to be one of the weakest links in the IT infrastructure of most enterprises. A decade ago, mobile malware was considered a new and unlikely threat. Many mobile device users even considered themselves immune from such threats. Currently, more than 1.5 million new incidents of mobile malware have…
Read MoreAI is now at the heart of every innovative economy
How do you solve an enormous problem like stagnant global growth? It would require getting more productivity from people already working flat out. The solution? Well, it comes from something other than people, of course. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to double the GDP growth rates of 12 developed economies by 2035 a study found out. The study, entitled Why Artificial Intelligence is the Future of Growth, also found that AI could significantly boost labour productivity – by up to 40pc in some cases. Between them, the 12 countries…
Read MoreSnapchat acquires social map app Zenly to allow users to track their friends
Snapchat has acquired Zenly, a French startup that makes a social map so people can see where their friends are hanging out, for $200m in cash plus additional stock awards. Zenly’s app lets users see where their friends currently are on a map using constant GPS in the background. People can then message these friends in the app to make plans to hang out. Snap Inc. will however allow Zenly to run somewhat autonomously. Zenly has said that its product updates will be the main drivers of user growth, which slowed…
Read MoreMicrosoft to Introduce DNA data storage to its cloud
Humanity has a data storage problem. Now, researchers report that they’ve come up with a new way to encode digital data in DNA to create the highest-density large-scale data storage scheme ever invented and microsoft is implementing this. Microsoft is now developing an apparatus that uses biology to replace tape drives, researchers at the company say. Internally, Microsoft harbors the even more ambitious goal of replacing tape drives, a common format used for archiving information. The tech giant believes that its data center will contain a fully functional DNA storage…
Read MoreCIO Names Founder & CEO of DotConnectAfrica Sophia Bekele “Industry Trailblazer and Internet-Governance Pioneer”
CIO East Africa has been following Bekele’s work for many years now and so did we, at ITBusinessdirect. No wonder the influential Business and Tech News Magazine in its May Issue 2017 decided to lay out a two page spread and a cover note on this impressive Women-In-Tech and “her significant contribution to her field” entitled “MEET SOPHIA BEKELE – Industry Trailblazer and Internet Governance Pioneer”. True enough, Bekele’s career reads as one that simply picks up and champion the most challenging causes that society has neglected or that have…
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