Author: ITPulse

  As part of efforts to support tech startups in Nigeria, HMD Global, the Home of Nokia phones is sponsoring Techpoint Build 2018 billed for the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, from 25th – 27th of January 2018. The event’s theme is “Using technology to accelerate the nation’s economy”.                                                                                                                Organized by TechPoint.ng, Nigeria’s largest chronicler of tech developments with the goal of encouraging innovation and technology to bring revolutionary change to Nigeria’s economy, the event will showcase creativity and innovation from several Nigerian tech start-ups. Head of Marketing, West Africa, HMD Global, Olumide Balogun posits that technology development is an…

  The proposed book by the Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) that will x-ray the Nigerian telecom/ICT sector and come up with 100 leading personalities with their companies, is expected to have six structures that all stakeholders will look up to. The structures are the curriculum vitae (in an easy format) of the personalities, a brief historical background of how the company has led creativity in terms of the company’s services and products, the future plans of the company with respect to innovation and creativity and the list of corporate social responsibility that the company has done in…

  By Kester Omu The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has started discussing areas of mutuality for partnership and collaboration with the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council (NIPCAC). The partnership, according to NCC is to enhance the growth of the Nigerian telecommunications sector, the second most vibrant sector of the economy after oil with a promising potential for employment, economic growth and development. “The Nigerian telecom industry remains to be deeply exploited, but the maiden visit of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council is aimed at partnership and collaboration, with a view to enhancing the growth of…

  Google engineers have disclosed that 90 percent of Gmail users are vulnerable to cyber attacks, as only less than 10 percent of active Gmail users have enabled two-factor authentication. This is despite the growing rate of sophisticated cyber threats globally. According to Google engineers, compromised passwords are the top way hackers gain access to accounts, urging all users to implement two-factor authentication immediately, saying the two-factor authentication has proven to be one of the most effective ways to protect online accounts given that compromised passwords are the top way attackers gain access to accounts. Apart from the two-steps factor…

  Search engine giant, Google said it decided to suspend its fact checking feature, it launched last year as a result of some quality concerns. The fact checking feature is one of Google’s efforts to highlight articles and news. But  Google in a statement said the  feature proved to be too faulty for public use. “We launched the reviewed claims feature at the end of last year as an experiment with the aim of helping people quickly learn more about news publications and online news portal,”Daily Signal quoted a Google spokeswoman as saying. The tech giant said it previously encountered…

World’s leading messaging application, Whatsapp is set to roll out its new service tagged ‘WhatsApp Business’ across the world in the coming weeks.  Whatsapp said the service will be free at the moment and is targeted at small businesses that have been using account meant for individuals. “While the focus, at present, is to get a small business on the platform for free, the firm plans to charge them in the future,” WhatsApp chief operating officer Matt Idema told ET Telecom in a phone interview. The service is presently available via Google Play Store in Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, the…

  The management of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced the restructuring process for the registration of Indigenous Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The government IT Clearing House therefore called on all Information Technology (IT) Indigenous Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), other government establishments, the organised private sector and the general public to take note the restructured process of registering and certifying indigenous IT OEMs. According to a statement signed by Dr. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General/CEO of NITDA, the restructuring became necessary considering the incessant complaints received from consumers of indigenous IT…

  Tech startups in in Africa received investment funding of a whopping US$195 million in 2017, making it the highest in three years, with three African countries of South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya getting the highest. According to Disrupt Africa, the startups totaling 159 across the three countries received the funding, which is 51 percent growth compared to 2016. The report noted that 2017 marks the first year Nigeria overtook South Africa in terms of the total amount of funding raised, with over 60 percent of the funding going to Andela, a tech startup that helps companies quickly and confidently…

  By Kester Omu A recent report by the Business Insider Intelligence has noted that, despite the sharp gains in e-commerce, which will nearly double between now and 2021, the online shopping environment is yet to compensate for the reasons customers like brick-and-mortar shopping. The report, believes that the lion’s share of purchasing continues to take place in-store, a situation Business Insider said is unlikely to change anytime soon, describing the notion that brick-and-mortar commerce is falling as overblown. It also urged POS terminal providers to up their game in an increasingly competitive environment, as a result of the continued…

  By Kester Omu The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta has said there is a need for Nigeria to develop a proper pricing structure, saying such structure would ensure the affordability and availability of Broadband in the country. Danbatta stated this today in Lagos at the Digital Bridge Institute, during a stakeholders’ forum on the study of the determination of cost based pricing for retail broadband and data services in Nigeria. According to Danbatta, not only would a broadband pricing structure ensures affordability, it will also ensure fair competition by checking price discrimination,…