TACKLING INSECURITY WILL HAVE KENYANS LOSE PRIVACY OF PHONE COMMUNICATION

Kenya has been facing insecurity challenges that have led to loss of life and seen some sectors such as tourism get crippled prompting the country to come up with means to counter them the latest being getting an American company to monitor information exchanged between citizens.

The Business Daily reports that over the next two months there will be a roll out of digital personal identification cards and a telecoms surveillance network to remotely intercept voice and text messages between people.

Yesterday Interior secretary Joseph ole Lenku said Kenya is negotiating with American firm Richmar and Associates for the supply of Biometric Identification Cards as well as portable data centre technology that will hold a person’s biometrics including voice.

“The technology has the ability to strategically and tactically track all forms of communication (cellphones, SMS, satellite and Web, helping security agencies to pursue criminals,” Mr. Lenku said during a briefing on President Uhuru Kenyatta’s recent trip to the US.

It is however unclear how this will be carried out without contravening the rights of privacy of citizens and if the matter is not addressed it could have telecoms being exposed to legal suits as the constitution provides for right to privacy in  Article 31 that also includes  “the right not to have the privacy of their communications infringed.”

Yesterday the government set the stage for the issuance of digital IDs and everyone is expected to acquire the cards within a year of its roll out failure of which they will not be able to transact in banks, make utility payments or travel out of the country.

HOW WARREN BUFFETT HIRES

When you analyze how we initially screen job applicants, something becomes obvious: it is all about what the applicants have done (or said they’ve done), instead of finding out who the people really are.

Think about it. Looking at a resume – 80 percent of which contain misleading statements, and 53 percent of which contain outright lies, according to ERE.net – is little more than looking at a self-reported work history that is likely embellished. It does little to answer the critical three questions to hiring: can the person do the job, does this person really want this job and will they fit in culturally.

Instead, candidate screening should be all about discovering who the person is. And that’s done through capturing behavioral data.

Just ask Warren Buffett.

How Buffett Hires

Buffett is a great example of someone who cares more about behavioral data than a resume. During his hiring process, he aims to find out three things: is the person smart, does the person have energy and do they have integrity.

Buffett’s interviewing process isn’t just someone sitting and answering questions. Instead, it is full of hands-on activities to see how the person is really going to act if they are hired,according to CBS News.

To find out if the person is smart, Buffett gives them puzzles or a tough situation to see if they can figure out a solution. To find out if they have energy, he asks candidates to give a 10-minute presentation and, after they are done, gives them two minutes to figure out a new way to present that same information in a five-minute presentation.

Integrity is harder to uncover in an interview, so Buffett relies more on background checks,according to CBS. But the point is that Buffett puts his energy on discovering who the person really is and not what they did.

How Will It Scale?

Buffett’s process is great if you have to pick between three applicants. But what if 100 people apply for a job? How do you get behavioral data on them without working 24 hours a day for a week?

The answer is technology. Use candidate screening software to ask candidates tough situational questions to see how they react and to determine if they have the mental aptitude to do the job. Use gamification to see how they handle stress and if they can adjust on the fly.

These investments can be invaluable because they are investments into the people who will eventually work for your company. And, ultimately, those people are going to determine if your company will continue to grow or get run over.

SAFARICOM & VIRTUAL CITY UNVEIL M-DISTRIBUTR, A REAL-TIME ORDER MANAGEMENT TOOL

Today, Safaricom Business and Kenya’s Virtual City, a mobility solutions developer announced the launch of M-Distributr an application to help FMCG sector firms to track their orders, sales and deliveries.

M-Distributr is set to enable sales teams and businesses generate sales transactions, place orders, collect returns and enable mobile money payments on the go. Available on Google Play store for Android devices, M-Distributr monitors every sale from the initial point of contact with a customer to close and also from the sales agent in the field to the distributor and back to the guys at the warehouse or store.

The app aims to help sales teams track orders and deliveries in real-time over their phones. It also aims to speed up the ordering process and minize any losses of both money and time.

Speaking to TechMoran, Sylvia Mulinge, General Manager-Safaricom Business said, “M-Distributr was developed by Virtual City and aims to enhance service effeciancy in the FMCG sector. It runs on our already existing platforms such as our cloud infrastructure, data services, M-Pesa among others. We have entered into a revenue share agreement with Virtual City to make M-Distributr available to the FMCG sector.”

Already firms like PZ Cussons and several Safaricom Airtime Dealers are using the service which has been integrated into the pre-existing ERP solutions to help them map their sales teams, distributors and orders or returns.

According to John Waibochi, CEO Virtual City, the firm that has developed and tested M-Distributr for a few years before launch, “Technology’s role in this day and age is to make our lives easier. A lot of opportunities however remain unexploited. Our role is to create a bridge between these two divides.”

Though only available for Android smartphones and tied to Safaricom’s M-PESA, Waibochi told TechMoran M-Distributr can be inegrated to any mobile money platform or configured for any mobile operating system.

“M-Distributr now uses Lipa Na M-PESA which is nearly 99% used by businesses. As a technology firm, we can integrate any mobile money payment platform to it.”

If the uptake is as high as the two firms expect, M-Distributr can be launched in as many country’s in Africa as possible because of its scalability. Before Safaricom believed in M-Dstributr, Nokia saw its potential and supported the firm to develop it further.

Cisco Projects There will be Nearly 850 Million Mobile Users in M. East and Africa By 2017

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2012 to 2017, in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), there will be 849,226,090 mobile users in 2017. The expected steady increase in mobile traffic is partly due to continued strong growth in the number of mobile Internet connections (personal devices and machine-to-machine applications), which will exceed the world’s population (United Nations estimates 7.6 billion) by 2017:
2017 VNI MEA Highlights:

• In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will grow 17-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 77%.
• In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will reach 861,298 Terabytes (0.86 Exabytes) per month in 2017, the equivalent of 215 million DVDs each month or 2,374 million text messages each second.
• In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will account for 17% of Middle Eastern and African fixed and mobile data traffic in 2017, up from 8% in 2012. (An official Cisco VNI fixed IP traffic forecast through 2017 will not be released until June 2013.)

Business Mobile Traffic in MEA:

• In 2012, Middle East and Africa’s business mobile data traffic grew 1.7-fold, or 69%.
• In Middle East and Africa, business mobile traffic will grow 11-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 60%.
• Business will account for 12% of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic in 2017, compared to 19% at the end of 2012.

Video in MEA:

• In Middle East and Africa, mobile video traffic will grow 27-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 93%.
• Video will be 72% of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic in 2017, compared to 47% at the end of 2012.
• Video reaches half of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic by year-end 2012

Consumer Mobile Traffic in MEA:

• In 2012, Middle East and Africa’s consumer mobile data traffic grew 2.1-fold, or 110%.
• In Middle East and Africa, consumer mobile traffic will grow 19-fold from 2012 to 2017, a compound annual growth rate of 80%.
• Consumer will account for 88% of Middle East and Africa’s mobile data traffic in 2017, compared to 81% at the end of 2012

During the 2012 to 2017 forecast period, Cisco anticipates that global mobile data traffic will outpace global fixed data traffic by a factor of three. The following major trends are driving global mobile data traffic growth:

• More mobile users: By 2017, there will be 5.2 billion mobile users (up from 4.3 billion in 2012).
• More mobile connections: By 2017, there will be more than 10 billion mobile devices/connections, including more than 1.7 billion M2M connections (up from 7 billion total mobile devices and M2M connections in 2012).
• Faster mobile speeds: Average global mobile network speeds will increase seven-fold from 2012 (0.5 Mbps) to 2017 (3.9 Mbps).
• More mobile video: By 2017, mobile video will represent 66 percent of global mobile data traffic (up from 51 percent in 2012).

Impact of Mobile Devices/Connections

• Smartphones, laptops, and tablets will drive 93 percent of global mobile data traffic by 2017.
• M2M traffic (such as GPS systems in cars, asset tracking systems, medical applications, etc.) will represent 5 percent of 2017 global mobile data traffic.
• Basic handsets will account for the remaining 2 percent of global mobile data traffic in 2017.
• In 2012, 14 percent of all mobile-connected devices/connections (1 billion) were IPv6-capable.
• By 2017, 41 percent of all mobile-connected devices/connections (4.2 billion) will be IPv6-capable.

Traffic Offload from Mobile Networks to Fixed Networks
To address the rise in demand for mobile Internet, and to address the lack of available new mobile spectrum and the expense and complexity of adding new macrocell sites, service providers are increasingly looking to offload traffic to fixed or Wi-Fi networks.
4G Adoption and Mobile Data Traffic Growth
Many global mobile carriers are deploying 4G technologies to address consumer and business users’ demands for wireless services. In many emerging markets, carriers are creating new mobile networks with 4G solutions. In mature markets, carriers are supplementing or replacing legacy (2G/3G) networks with 4G technologies. The Cisco Mobile VNI study now projects the growth and impact of 4G.

SONY to Sell its VAIO PC Unit to Japanese Investor for $500 Million

Japanese electronics giant, SONY has sounded a profit warning indicating that it is booking a $1.08 billion annual loss as it cuts 5,000 jobs and sell off its overpriced but stagnant PC unit. The maker projects that it will save about $5 million through the jobs cuts starting in early 2015.
The VAIO units have not  managed to register much success despite SONY being a giant in many verticals of the electronics market. SONY is selling the PC unit to Japanese Investment Partners for between $400 million and $500 million. Not much financial information on the deal was announced.
Market analysts, Moody’s recently downgraded SONY’s credit rating to junk, saying that the giant electronics maker had more work to do in repairing its battered balance sheet. SONY expects to cut 3.5% of its global work force some of whom might be hired by the new owners.
But SONY is not facing a gloomy outlook alone. Sharp and Panasonic are facing more diminished returns,as foreign rivals such as Apple and Samsung outperform them in the smartphone and television business.

MICROSOFT SAYS NO SUPPORT FOR OLD VERSIONS OF INTERNET EXPLORER (IE)

Microsoft has announced that starting January 12, 2016 it will only support the most recent copy of Internet Explorer (IE) for the various versions of Windows. Any individual using older versions of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser will in the near future no longer receive bug fixes and security updates for the software.

The move puts an end to a long existing strategy of offering support for various IE versions. According to Microsoft, the move would improve security and assist developers who would only be required to support newer browsers.
Microsoft explained the changes in its blogpost stating that commercial clients who had “standardized” on previous IE versions should begin making plans to migrate to the latest releases.
Microsoft promised to offer resources and assistance for customers to make sure web-based programs and applications made for older IE versions continue to function with newer versions.
“The change should assist developers since they will no longer be needed to support the old technologies in those older browsers,” Microsoft said.
The change implies that Microsoft will be only supporting versions 9 and above of Internet Explorer. Users of various Window editions will be expected to use the most recent copy for that release.
Microsoft has also moved further to improve security on its browser. Starting August 12, 2014 Explorer will block outdated add-ons, called ActiveX controls, for the program.
“Outdated add-ons are often targeted by cyber-thieves as a way to destroy browsers and steal information. The regular monthly IE update will make the change that blocks outdated add-ons,” Microsoft said in a statement.

KENYA TO ESTABLISH DATA SHARING CENTRE AT JKUAT

East Africa will soon have a data sharing centre that will help to accelerate generation, analysis, management and archival of scientific data to support its development plans.
The standard reports that the Centre will be based at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology who will partner with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Committee on Data for Science and Technology ( CODATA) and the United Nations.
According to  ICT Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred. Matiang’I, the centre will facilitate creation of people-centric, inclusive, open and development oriented information society where people can create, access, utilise and share information and knowledge.
“There is a clear demand for new data sets, manifested by the recent upsurge of request,” said Matiangi.
In his speech Matiang’i at the United Nations Offices where he opened an international workshop on open data for science and sustainability in developing economies
Matiangi also said that the government will be tabling a draft legislation on access to information and data protection in parliament that will guide collection and management of information in Kenya.
While speaking at the same event JKUAT Vice Chancellor, Prof. Mabel Imbuga said Kenya is yet to draw useful insights from such data due to knowledge gaps and inadequate infrastructure despite large data sets permeating various sectors of the economy.

BRCK - RUGGED INTERNET FOR PEOPLE AND THINGS

Internet has become an integral part of our lives and the society at large so much so that we can't live without it. if the network is down all own problems begin, you will think part of our heart has seized to function, people depend on internet on almost everything nowadays. for you to have an internet you need to subscribe to an internet service provide for a convenient package that suits your need, you need a constant supply of power , if you want to share among several users, then you will need something called a router for sharing out the internet, you may decide to use Ethernet or wireless in order to use the internet amongst users. 

                    when you have all this under one roof that is in a single device then you're safe with a mobile wireless internet that can connect 20 devices together this is the concept in BRCK  pronounced as brick , an idea by Ushahidi  founder and now iHub founder ERIC a techpreneur..designed in Nairobi but made in  the United States of America.
a wireless, battery-powered modem i.e using GSM network that aims to help users connect to the web no matter where they are in the world.
                     Described as "the backup generator for the internet", BRCK can support up to 20 devices connected at once, has a tough exterior shell and an eight hour battery life so it can sit out any blackouts, it can connect to the web via Ethernet, WiFi, 3G or 4G, shifting between them dependent on service.
                     This is device is a noble thing especially in remote areas like villages in Africa and Asia where access to internet was a nightmare, with most part of this areas having a GSM network now internet is no more a problem they can connect 20 devices to BRCK and get to have internet.

                      BRCK is a noble idea but the cost of internet in our telecom companies are so high that it might render the noble idea useless until later times, i guess the government through the right authorities should bring laws and regulations curbing the high cost of internet in our GSM networks.