GAMING IS NOT FOR FUN
The world has a new sports world champion and he is only 16. His name is Kyle Giersdorf, better known in the gaming world as Bugha. He is now $3 million rich, thanks to rewards from the first Fortnite World Cup (a gaming world cup). Fortnite is an online video game, which parachutes 100 players onto an island and leaves them to battle to the death until only one remain.
The game is played by 250 million people worldwide. Millions spend time playing this game. More than 300 million hours of Fortnite was watched on Twitch in the second quarter of 2019, according to live streaming platform company StreamElements. Unlike many high-end console games, Fortnite is free to download and play but has embedded costs to upgrade the gaming experience.
Fortnite, the gaming platform, was created in 2017. Its popularity has helped drive up revenue for the video game industry and other interactive media last year by 13 per cent, to about $120 billion, according to a report by SuperData, a market research entity owned by Nielsen. Fortnite raked $2.4 billion in revenue according to recent research data.
Fortnite is changing gaming as we know it. Gaming is no longer just for fun, it is now a serious sport. It is also a serious business that employs a new generation of workers.
Apple, Google, Microsoft and other leading tech giants are positioning themselves as gaming platforms. Apple has developed its own gaming platform, Apple Arcade. Google has also developed its own version of a gaming platform, Stadia.
The seriousness with which tech giants are pursuing the gaming business should inspire young people to consider gaming as a career. One can choose to be a gamer (sports player) or a game designer and developer.
There’s a huge opportunity in gaming for Africa. The continent, however, has to take a different approach to gaming. Instead of being a consumer of gaming it should focus more on designing and developing games. As opposed to developing games that promote violence, game designers and developers from the continent should develop games that enable society to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and other critical societal initiatives.
According to a report by PWC, Entertainment and media outlook 2018 – 2022, South Africa’s video games market will continue to grow. According to the report, total revenue in 2017 was over R3.0 billion and it’s estimated to be about R6.2 billion by 2022. The report points out that Nigeria’s video games market is also growing quickly and will reach a value of US$80 million in 2022. The e-sports industry is a billion dollar industry with huge opportunities for the continent in the following areas: Media rights revenue, consumer ticket sales revenue and sponsorship revenue. To reap full benefits from the gaming industry there’s still a need for gaming infrastructure (games specific-servers) to support local gamers.
The most popular game in the world right now has also been blamed for fuelling violence in schools. This is an opportunity for African game designers who understand the negative impact of violence in society to design a game that will promote peace and prosperity.
WHY YOUR FACE MATTERS TO FACE APP
FACE APP applied on Kanye West
In the race towards enabling facial recognition technology, your face is the most important resource. If you are reading this article, you are probably one of the millions who saw or fell for the FACE App trap that got people to donate their facial images in return for looking old. The internet is once again filled by images of aged looking facial pictures of younger users. This has been made possible by FACE App, a Russian developed app by Yaroslav Goncharov.
While this activity felt harmless, there’s a reason to be concerned. In the very near future you will walk into a building, a city or country and without talking to anyone it will be known who you are, why you are there and what you’ve done in the past. All of this will be made possible by a technology known as facial recognition technology. Besides other reasons such as selling your images or using them to create a deep fake (where images or footage of real people are digitally altered and disseminated as real) images captured by FACE App may be used for facial recognition.
What needs to be understood about what FACE App has just done is that the world is going through a process of digitisation that includes a collection of data. There’s a race amongst corporations to collect as much data as possible to feed technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable the development of products. Corporations are trying to take advantage of whatever data they have at their disposal to generate revenue. Those that do not have data yet are collecting it for their own advantage. As we move towards the world of the Internet of things every object including our bodies is being digitised through the collection of data. Some like Facebook and Google are trying to own every piece of data and some like FACE App just want one piece of data and that is your face.
It’s true that there’s little that one can do to prevent facial images from being collected in view of the current proliferation of cameras in cities and buildings. The difference however with the FACE App phenomenon is the extent to which users have personally given away their own facial images. By doing so, users of the app have agreed that their own faces can be used for commercial purposes and other FACE App objectives that are yet unknown. Society has to be concerned about FACE App but there should be more concern about other apps and platforms that are used regularly. Other apps like Facebook have also proven to be untrustworthy when it comes to how user data has been used. The FACE App noise should serve as a warning to society to take personal data such as facial data seriously.
Users need to scrutinise privacy settings behind FaceApp, but also behind all apps, especially the ones we use the most. Governments need strong government policy and broader awareness of the privacy issues with everything we use online. Companies like Apple an Google need to do more to educate users about apps downloaded from their platforms. Right now faces are the target, next is the brain. Neuralink, a company linked to Elon Musk is getting closer to implanting tech in your brain. Society should ask tougher questions about tech companies that use body parts in the quest for digitisation.
AFRICAN COLONISATION 2.0: Is Africa being re-colonised through tech?
Jumia, e-commerce tech company serving the African market
“A wave of foreign-owned start-ups is driving an African tech revolution and prompting fears of Digital recolonisation” - those were opening words of an article that appeared on the Financial Times Weekend (6 July 2019) over the weekend. It highlighted a phenomenon of foreign tech companies that are dressed in African robe to attract investment directed to African tech startups. The author who is the Africa Editor for Financial Times argues that this development has raised concern amongst African tech leaders that local tech startups are missing out on funding opportunities to foreign owned tech startups. The author highlights the so-called first African unicorn Jumia, as a case in point, since this company has foreign ownership and executives.
While this is a challenge that is worthy of attention, is it really a form of recolonisation of the continent? To some extent, it is, however, the continent has a far bigger challenge of recolonisation that is brought about by technology in the form of global tech companies that operate in the continent. To understand this you have to look at the following scenarios. The first scenario relates to the recolonisation of Africas transport systems by Uber. On 29th December 2017 ahead of New Year, Uber released the following statement:
"People around the world will rely on Uber to get to and from their New Year’s Eve festivities so they don’t need to get behind the wheel. Even on one of our busiest nights of the year, anyone, anywhere should be able to push a button and get a ride within minutes. Given we’re expecting millions of rides to occur on just this one night, fares will likely be higher than usual. We expect demand to be highest from midnight to 3:00 am local time. With upfront fares, there are no surprises. We show you the price before you request your ride so you know how much you’ll pay. And when fares are much higher, you’ll be asked to confirm the higher fare before request.”
Users of Uber will know this as surge pricing which gets activated whenever there’s high demand at a specific area. Basically, Uber charges higher prices whenever there’s high demand in a specific area. Uber once activated surge price during a time of crisis in Sydney, Australia. Due to a hostage crisis, there was a gridlock which led to high demand for more transport.
What this illustrates is that Uber, a company based in California, USA, can influence prices anywhere including within the continent without even consulting with local transport authorities whenever it feels the need. Uber can choose to make transport disappear or available. The local national transport department would have no control over the transport provisions.
This is just one example that a global tech company can usurp power from local powers whilst at the same time providing services that are considered to be adding value to society.
Another example is the imminent cryptocurrency, Libra, backed by Facebook and other powerful technology companies. If the Libra becomes a reality it could disrupt financial systems, especially in the African continent. Emerging countries are the main target of the planned cryptocurrency by Facebook and partners.
If people suddenly decide to use the Facebook backed cryptocurrency for transactions online, what will this mean for African currencies online?
These two scenarios illustrate a picture that could emerge if the continent adopts foreign owned technology fully in the name of progress. Slowly the continent will be ceding control to foreign tech companies to regulate prices and many other key activities that were traditionally the domain of governments. In the short run what everyone will see is progress and modernisation but in the long run, it’s loss of power.
In the absence of technology platforms and systems within the continent, it makes sense to adopt already existing technology to modernise the continent. This, however, should be implemented in parallel with the development of local technology platforms and systems to replace in the long run platforms and systems that are adopted from elsewhere. In addition to the implementation of foreign owned platforms regulatory systems have to be strong to prevent abuse.
Ideally as the continent adopts these technologies there should be arrangements in place to ensure that local tech startups develops similar technologies to ensure local control and presence. This is important to avoid a situation of dependency that may arise in the future.
As the continent embraces concepts such as smart cities and 5G one of the most important assets to protect is local data. Local leaders should do everything in their power not to give away the African data. Failure to protect the data of the continent will lead to a situation where behaviour patterns of the continent such as buying, traffic patterns and others will be controlled by foreign elements to the detriment of local businesses and institutions.
There’s little that can be done to prevent the current wave of foreign-owned startups driving the African technology revolution. Entities such as Jumia are adding value to local eco-system and they also have some form of local ownership (e.g MTN is a shareholder in Jumia). Local regulators should ensure that the ownership of e-commerce data emanating from companies such as Jumia resides within the continent and it's regulated locally.
The risk of the African continent being re-colonised is real and requires serious attention by entities such as the African Union. There’s now a need for a continental body to be set up to safeguard the sovereignty of the continent from surveillance capitalists and new colonisers enabled by technology.
SMART CITY DREAM: Ramaphosas Digital Vision for South Africa
Source: Presidency,South Africa
When President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered his State of the Nation address on the 20th June 2019, he did what no other South African President has ever done. He mentioned the word, Smart City, and by doing that he outlined a Digital Strategy for South Africa that will propel the economy to new heights. He indicated clearly that technology will be the foundation upon which the future South Africa will be built. For many South Africans the Smart City concept is a foreign concept and this may have been the reason behind some remarks by some that the President is just dreaming.
What is a Smart City and what will it mean for its residents?
A Smart City is a technology powered city that has its physical objects such as buildings, bridges, buses and other ammenities integrated with sensors to source data and communicate this data for better decision making for planning and management of the city. It is a city that uses mainly internet of things and in the process source, analyse and visualise data to assess everything that happens within the city. A Smart City knows everything that happens within a city, how much water is used and it can react immediately when there’s a need. Residents of a smart city are always informed of its developments, government officials are also informed and can act on informed basis. New Smart cities are in a better position to be smart as everything can be built with smart sensors integrated. Traditional cities can also be turned into being smart by integrating sensors into existing infrastructure. Data (information) is the key component of a smart city, the ability to collect it via sensors is what enables a city to be smart.
Think of a smart city as being rather like a smartphone. To create a smart city will be like moving from a feature (dumb) phone to a smartphone. From a phone that just allows calling and messaging to a smartphone that can assess your heart rate, guide you when you’re lost and allow you to buy goods and services.
The Smart City will allow its residents to have access to a broad range of services such as
health,
transport and other
governments services
Health Services in a Smart City
A citizen in a smart city will be able to access health services from home via telemedicine when necessary. Citizens will have remote access to doctors as medical practitioners will have access to medical records online and communicate with patients via a screen. Only patients who really need to see a doctor will visit a health facility. Even there the citizens of a smart city will not need to wait in long queues as they will have the ability to collect medicine from ATM like medical dispensers. As a citizen of a smart city your doctors will know about your imminent heart attack before you even know and arrange for necessary health support.
Health authorities in a smart city will see the spread of a disease as it spreads and have the ability to save those unaffected ahead of time. News reports will alert citizens about where specifics health threats are occurring and warn you about visiting such places or recommend a health guideline to follow.
Transport Services in a Smart City
Residents of a Smart city will commute via autonomous buses and there will be less use of cars but bicycles for short commute. In a smart city, traffic congestion will be a thing of the past as people will have unlimited choices to travel including flying bikes for quick travel. Transport operators will have less of a need to hire drivers as public transport will drive itself. Previous drivers will be operators of drones that occupy air travel spaces delivering online purchases. Sensing and monitoring public activity will be the order of the day. Conducting autonomous transportation of buses and other vehicles will be required to know when to change traffic lights to enable movement of cycles and pedestrians. Underground robots will rule the world and they will sort out rubbish collected by themselves from the ground and recycling it for alternative use.
Government Services in a Smart City
A resident of a smart city will have no reason to complain about access to service delivery as government services will be accessible from screens at homes, mobile phones and public spaces. Applying for a passport will be a matter of pressing a button and you are good to go as every government service will be digitised. Chances are there will be few government offices to provide services as all of these will be accessible from digital devices.
Buildings and public infrastructure
Everything will be connected and embedded with sensors. This will enable things like buses and buildings to talk to each other. Your calendar will enable a health public transport to come to your house for your hospital visit. Before you even arrive, the hospital building will be aware of your visit and will know when you enter the building and arrange everything to your needs. At the end of your consultation the medicine dispenser will know what the doctor has recommended and issue exactly the recommended medicine specifically for you.
Data and Sensors
All of this will be possible because the government would have embraced data. The government will not just store data but will use it for planning and better service delivery. Sensors will form part of the fabric of society as part of data collection and to enable real time decisions.
Some may welcome such a future but some will welcome it with caution and they should. A smart city will expose society to new risks such as cyber attacks and crime. It may also lead to the violation of privacy for its residents. The process of planning and building a smart city will require proper consultation and education. Societal consensus will be key to take care of data access. All of these things will be necessary if the smart city will succeed and enable economic development.
South Africa should go ahead and build the first African Smart city and generate revenue by licensing its smart city platform to other African countries. This however will only be possible if South African tech companies in collaboration with government build the Smart City platform. This approach will ensure that as South Africa builds its Smart cities it also develops the local technology eco-system which is critical for economic development.
The Smart City dream by the President should not be dismissed as just a dream, it should be seen as the Digital Vision and catalyst that will enable South Africa to be relevant during the 4th Industrial Revolution.
WORDPRESS OUTAGE: Lessons for the Digital Media Industry
TechCrunch during the WordPress Outage
If you visited the leading digital media sites between the 11th and 12th June you would have been greeted by the famous WordPress theme plant.
This was due to an outage of the WordPress VIP product. A version of WordPress and service designed for major digital publishers. For several leading sites such as TechCrunch, Quartz and Rolling Stone were down. This incident revealed the extent to which leading digital media companies rely on WordPress for their existence and functioning. It also highlighted a risk faced by digital media companies. What can digital media companies do to cushion themselves against such an occurrence in the future?
There are basically two options that can be considered to mitigate against the risk similar to the WordPress outage. One can be applied in the short term and the second option can be applied in the long run.
(1) Multiple backup versions
The first and immediate option can focus on creation of the same site on two different platform. in this case it seems most digital media companies had their sites built on WordPress VIP platform. Setting up a site on a different platform as a backup may mean setting up a site on a non- WordPress platform such as Squarespace, Joomla and others. Although this approach may prove to be expensive it may save digital media companies the embarrassment of a shutdown caused by problems faced by their tech provider.
(2) Own Content Management System
The second option would involve developing an in-house Content Management System. This is the approach that has been followed by media companies such as Vox Media with their Chorus Content Management System and Washington Post which is another major media company that has created its own Content Management System. These companies are some of the few that have avoided the WordPress VIP outage as they are using in-house developed system.
Media industry reliance on Tech industry
This incident,however, should cause the media industry to reflect about their reliance on the technology industry for their existence. The fact some media companies have managed to create their own platforms indicates that the industry as a whole needs to find a way to develop its own systems.
This may mean a CMS platform developed by the media industry for use the industry widely. Such a system would have to be built in such a way that whenever one is experiencing an outage or an attack the backup version can work while the repair work is conducted.
The time is now for organisations such as WAN-IFRA to develop survival systems for the media industry as a whole.
AUTONOMOUS AIRSHIPS: The Future of Deliveries
Autonomous Airship being tested
Source: CloudLine
Jeff Bezos once announced that Amazon would use Drones for product deliveries. Many thought he was joking. Recently, Rwanda has been trending for delivering medical supplies via a Drone. The problem however is that Drones can’t carry much and they are invisible which creates safety challenges.
Enter Autonomous Airships - which are now seen as the future of deliveries, here’s why. An autonomous airship is an unmanned aerial robotic platform possessing six or more variable-function control inputs. It is a battery powered aircraft that carries at least 5kg and are auto pilot driven and economical as they can carry more products and they are safe since they are more visible. They are baloon like and therefore can be visible to other flying objects. They are about to takeover the South African airskies.
The history of airship starts in 1852 when Henri Giffard built the first powered airship. A non-rigid airship, or blimp, differs from a rigid airship (Zeppelin airship) in that it does not have a rigid structure that holds the airbag in shape. Autonomous airship has many benefits compared to other Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs), such as winged planes and helicopters. It does not require any motor action to maintain a certain altitude and position in the space as it relies on low density gas inside the envelope to balance its own weight. With this feature, airship could conduct a continuous aerial operation with very low energy consumption. Advantages of airship made over the last two decades in upgrading the first human practical air vehicle, have been rather overshadowed by space programs, satellites orbiting the earth, jet mass transport, and supersonic aircrafts. More recently they have received special attention for environmental applications such as research in bio-diversity, ecology, climatology, and agriculture.
Spencer Horne
Co-founder, Cloudline
A South African born entrepreneur, Spencer Horne, has just created an autonomous airship and has plans to use it across the continent.
Spencer is a Harvard graduate who studied Mechanical Engineering. He has participated on several programmes that are aimed at the development of tech startups. Some of these programmes are spearheaded by the LaunchLab. He is currently participating in one of the programmes facilitated by LaunchLab together with Santam and aimed at creating a safer South Africa.
He is also the fellow of the African Leadership Academy which recognises young entrepreneurs who have developed and implemented innovative solutions to social challenges or stated successful businesses with their community.
Spencer believes that Autonomous Airships (AA) are more suitable for economical and safe deliveries. He foresees that AAs will be instrumental in delivering aid materials to remote areas. He founded CloudLine to realise the vision of improving deliveries in remote areas. CloudLine, a tech startup founded by Spencer Horne, is getting ready to revolutionise logistics in South Africa and beyond. This is one tech startup that is worthy of funding. If CloudLine succeeds in its vision of revolutionising logistics, more people (even in remote areas) will have better access to goods and services.
Why eGovernment portfolio for Lesufi matters for South Africa
If you want to know the future of Digital South Africa, driven by data and technology, watch the next 5 years of the Gauteng government. eGovernment department of the Gauteng government now has an executive leader in the form of MEC Phanyaza Lesufi. He has been appointed as the MEC for Finance and eGovernment. Gauteng is the only province with such a progressive role. This appointment signals a major move towards using technology to deliver government services. For now it seems this concept is being tested firstly by merging it with the Finance portfolio. What is eGovernment and why it matters as a government portfolio?
E-government is the use of electronic communications devices, such as computers and the Internet to provide public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. The Gauteng eGovernment department was established in 2015 with the aim of modernising public service and to make Gauteng a Smart Province. Part of its mandate has been to enable government services through technology. If this portfolio is succeeds it will mark the beginning of a Digital South Africa. Mr Phanyaza Lesufi who has been appointed to lead this portfolio has a great track record in implementing government technology services. He has proven himself in the Education sector where he led the implementation of the School Online registration system. Through this system, the Gauteng government is changing how young people access and experience education. Lesufi has been a great advocate for technology innovators. He was one of the leaders who challenged the unfair treatment of Nkosana Makate (the inventor of Please Call Me service) by Vodacom.
The fact that eGovernment department now has a dedicated provincial government leadership can only mean the extension of government services through technology. Small Businesses, Health, Traffic,Transport, and Housing will potentially get some of government technology power. Imagine a doctor calling you for a checkup based on your health information that is enabled the egovernment health paltform. Using technology in health will enable personalised health services in future. The success of this portfolio in Gauteng will probably pave the way for the introduction of the eGovernment Ministry in the 7th administration nationally. It will also influence other provincial governments to adopt a similar portfolio. The eGovernment portfolio will be a game changer for how government delivers services. It will also enable government to begin a process of harvesting data to build artificial intelligence capability and in the process build a data driven country. Technology developed in Gauteng and experience acquired during the process of implementing technology for Gauteng government services can be replicated nationally for broader technology implementation for various government portfolios.
A dedicated leader and a department for eGovernment implementation is one step towards building technologies that can deliver government services. Success with this process however will require a more practical approach which may require a dedicated Government Lab for Innovation and Technology implementation. Such a government lab would have to be a platform for attracting young computer sciences and information systems talent from local academic institutions to innovate based on their understanding of government challenges. The former President of the United States of America applied this approach with great success. He attracted young people from various local tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Twitter to solve the eHealth challenge in the US. How they solved a government challenge in the US during Obamas administration remains a great case study for how governments can use technology to enable the delivery of government services.
Ministry of Artificial Intelligence: The Missing Link Towards 4IR In South Africa
In 2017 the United Arab Emirates (UAE) appointed a 27 year old Omar Bin Sultan Al Olama as the country’s first Minister for Artificial Intelligence (AI). This appointment was announced via Twitter by the UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. This appointment signalled that the UAE is serious about technology and using it to advance its society. It highlighted UAE’s ambition to be at the forefront of the global technological revolution. The appointment of the Minister of Artificial Intelligence by the UAE should trigger other countries to ask themselves the following question – does every country need a minister for AI?
The appointment of an AI Minister is critical if countries are to remain relevant in the future. Other countries have embraced AI by setting up institutions that drive their own AI initiatives. Countries such as Canada and China are leading in this regard.
CANADA
Canada’s charge in becoming a world leader in AI research have been taken up by the Canadian PM Justin Trudeau who has spoken publicly about the country’s ambitions at forums. Currently, Canada’s efforts are mostly concentrated in Montreal, home to Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) and world-renowned AI researchers like Yoshua Bengio and Aaron Courville. The Prime Minister has taken up the mantle of investing in “quantum, AI, robotics and high-value, innovative, groundbreaking areas”.
It can be argued that Prime Minister himself has taken up the responsibility of leading the countries AI efforts.
CHINA
China has outstripped all nations in investment in technology, creating AI talent, issuing supportive government policies and is home to the world’s biggest AI companies. Today, the country has a rapidly growing pool of AI talent, publishes the most frequently cited research papers and has the best universities (Tsinghua University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology) that can compete on a global level. Currently China has the data, the talent, the money, the regulatory environment and the government vision to become an AI superpower.
South Africa has also shown some signs of preparing itself for the future. Recently President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed the Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution consisting of 30 members sourced from academia, business and other sectors in society.
South Africa has established the Commission on 4IR to ensure the country effectively harnesses rapid advances in ICT for inclusive growth and social development. This is a great start towards preparing for the future. This step however is not enough to practically prepare for the future.
The approach by UAE of appointing a Ministry dedicated to AI is by far the best approach to ensure that AI vision is developed and implemented across government. The age of the Minister of AI in UAE is also another important factor about the Minister of this important portfolio. Appointment of a Minister for such an important field ensures that there’s necessary focus for implementation as opposed to just talking. The youthfulness of the leader in this portfolio also ensures that solutions are developed with future in mind and based on latest understanding of technology.
As South Africa makes bold decisions about the future, the type of Ministries that are put in place are more important than the individuals. The Ministry of Artificial Intelligence is one Ministry that can propel South Africa into the future.
TECH WAR: Google Mutes Huawei
The US and China trade war has just affected the tech world. Last week the US government added Huawei to the trade blacklist as part of the ongoing trade war between China and the US.
In response Google has suspended business with Huawei. This brings an end to transfer of hardware, software, and technical services between the two companies. This is a major blow for Huawei as the company relies on Google operating system for its main functionality.
In the long run this will affect users of Huawei devices. For now anyone who currently owns a Huawei handset will still be able to download app updates provided by Google. This however will not be the case for future Huawei handsets. All proprietary apps and services from Google—for example YouTube, Maps, or Gmail will be removed.
This development will however inspire Huawei to speed up the development of its own Operating System which is currently under development. In response to these latest developments the embattled Chinese technology giant has indicated that they’ve been working on their own Operating System which may be used when the need arise.
*This is a developing story, more details will be added as more information becomes available.
The New Free Labour: How Tech users (workers) work for free
Worker issues across the world have been under the spotlight this since May 1. There’s however one group of workers that has not yet received attention, the New Free Labourers. They are technology users who in the process of getting their services are offering data to technology companies. These companies have mastered the art of getting work done for them for free and without the cost burden. They have in effect changed the nature of work. It is now possible to do work for a tech company whilst you’re are using a tech tool for your own needs. Since the user is getting a benefit for sharing information and using the tool the assumption is that there’s no need to pay the user when the shared information is commercialised. Are tech users not deserving of few dollars for their work and information?
Uber is a unique example of a tech company that has managed to get stuff done for free. Uber has managed to build a billion dollar business without a single car of their own. They rely on the driver network to carry the cost burden of moving people around. In doing this, they’ve managed to avoid the cost that comes with employing drivers who form a core part of their service. Are Uber drivers not entitled to employment benefits?
Google has mastered the art of pursuing their business of collecting the world’s information by capitalising on searches by their users. Whenever you use a Google Maps you are essentially doing (free) work for Google. Based on your search, Google makes money. Should Google consider paying users for the data they share?
Facebook has also proven to be the grand master of getting their work done for free. Whenever you post on Facebook you are giving Facebook information that they in turn sell and make billions. Should the users not be paid for money earned based on their data?
The problem with this practice by tech companies is that the real workers earn nothing whilst they are earning billions based on free labour. Currently users of technology platforms are not considered labourers however their contribution is key to the existence of some tech companies. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) needs to recognise the fact that tech users are in a sense labourers for tech platforms. The ILO should also consider ways of getting users paid for work conducted for tech companies.It is important that users of tech platforms begin a process that will allow them to earn money for their own data and contribution on tech platforms. Acting alone users will have a challenge to move tech companies to act by rewarding owners and creators of data. As organisations such as ILO were created pre-digital years, they may not have the capacity to effectively develop policies that will acknowledge work done by tech users as worthy of a financial reward. The ILO may at least be instrumental in the creation of a new global entity to recognise creators of data and ensure that they are financially rewarded for their work.
It’s time to remove drivers behind the wheel
People died over the last few days on South African roads. No one can blame the invisibility of traffic cops as they were all over the roads. No one can blame only taxi drivers for war zone like situation on South African roads. The Minister of Transport, Bonginkosi (Blade) Nzimande, refers to them as among the best roads in the world. The sad reality is that drivers on these roads may be the worst and the main reason for high rate of road accidents.
While people were dying on these roads a South African born technologist and entrepreneur ,Elon Musk, unveiled one the best computer chips to enable cars to drive themselves fully. The chip is called for now a “full self-driving computer,” or FSD Computer. It is a high-performance, special-purpose chip built solely with autonomy and safety in mind. This is an important step for self driving cars which brings us closer to a future where cars will drive themselves.
On the other hand, the Chinese are also mapping the way forward for fully automated cars. China is in the process of building dedicated highways for self driving cars. A new 62-mile stretch of freeway will have two lanes dedicated to autonomous vehicles. According to recent media reports, the new highway is expected to be one of many that will run between Beijing and the Xiongan New Area in the Hebei province.
The road building project undertaken by the Chinese is one of the best efforts to jumpstart functional and useful automated vehicles.
These key technological developments should inspire South Africans to embrace a future where cars will drive themselves to deal with road carnage. It’s time to work towards removing the driver behind the steering wheel and allow the computer to take charge. The aviation industry for air transport has embraced automation for safety reasons, it’s about time for the road transport sector to embrace automation.
In view of high accidents rate on SA roads, it’s necessary to act swiftly with action in this regard. This is not a matter that needs long lasting debates but requires action in the form of investments.
Uber has dedicated billions for self driving cars to take care of driver costs. South Africa has far more better reasons to invest in the self driving industry than Uber. Enabling self driving cars in South Africa is a matter of life or death.
Nedbank launches Africas 1st API Marketplace to enable FinTech Innovation
For some time now, the main stream banking sector has been disrupted by the financial technology (fintech) start-ups and the industry has been trying to find a way of staying relevant and innovative. None have managed to come up with a strategy that can keep themselves as relevant and as innovative as start-ups. In the quest for innovative financial services traditional banks have tried to bring themselves closer to the fintech start-up ecosystem through acquisitions, sponsorships and other support programmes, but with limited success.
But Nedbank has finally nailed it with the open banking concept by releasing data for innovation. Earlier this week, Nedbank launched its version of open banking platform through a self-service portal that enables companies outside of Nedbank to create financial products based on the Nedbank platform.
Nedbanks’ Application Programming Interface (API) platform, API_Marketplace, is the first in Africa to provide a variety of APIs that meet the technical standards for open banking. This move by the bank makes it the first financial institution in Africa to release data for the purpose of enabling innovation and serving bank users. This is a master-stroke for Nedbank as it can access the fintech innovation eco-system to innovate for the benefit of the bank. It allows the bank to not only rely on its internal staff for innovation, but the eco-system beyond the institution
Local fintech start-ups now have an opportunity to build products that are guaranteed to be used by Nedbank clients if one gets accepted into the banks API Marketplace.
This also partly means that Nedbank clients will now have an opportunity to control their data, which is rare in the African banking environment. Consumers will be in a position to give or deny consent to companies whenever necessary. It will also enable better access to financial services based on integration and products developed by e- commerce companies as well as fintech companies.
The open banking concept has already been implemented in Europe and other parts of the world. Open banking requires financial institutions to open their data for third parties to access and develop financial tools.This is a big deal for local fintech companies,consumers as well the banking sector.
Data is the key ingredient for enabling innovation in any sector. Open banking makes it possible for tech start-ups to access data and develop services that could have never been imagined by traditional banks.
As for the African banking sector, this marks the beginning of a new era. More banks will need to follow suit and release data for innovation. Open banking across the banking sector in the African continent would be a huge boost for the fintech start-up sector and a great enabler for local innovation.
For more information about the Nedbank API_Marketplace visit: https://apim.nedbank.co.za/
Google+ Shutdown: A Case Study in Tech Product Failure
This week marks the end of a social network that was built by Google as an answer to Facebook and Twitter known as Google+. The Google social network has been struggling to get committed users however data breaches appear to have sped up the decision to shutdown. Very few people are surprised about this decision, in fact, it has been widely welcomed. In tech circles it’s normal to close down products that are not performing. Google is known for creating new products in response to competition only to shut them down when they are not producing the desired results. Acknowledging failure is something that is rare in some business and government circles. In the tech sector, the innovation process involves trying a lot of things and adopt those that work. Google is not alone in shutting down products that don’t work.
In 2015, Apple introduced what was considered then a social network for musicians, Apple Music Connect. The Apple product was designed to link musicians and their fans. Jimmy Iovine, an American producer, had this to say about the social network, “This is going to be very powerful for musician, can you imagine being an up and coming artist and being able to share your music on the biggest platform in the world that people already have?”.
Connect never really caught momentum. A few high-profile artists posted to it in the beginning, but activity slowed down after that initial curiosity wore off. On 29th May 2018, everything related to the social network was stopped by Apple. There’s still great music products within the Apple ecosystem,however, they lack the ability to connect musicians with fans as promised.
Another lesser known social network, Path, started with fanfare. The social network was designed to bring together close friends and became a serious challenger to Facebook with 50 million users at some point. After several attempts to keep the social network afloat it closed down in October 2018.
Failure is part and parcel of the Silicon Valley model. The history of technology is filled with stories of products that failed. Governments, organisations, businesses ought to learn from this approach by tech companies. The process of creating great products that deliver exceptional services involves lots of failures. Little however is reported about products and services that failed. There’s a need to shine a spotlight on these products and services to learn what worked and what did not work. This is particularly important for technology entrepreneurs who are building new tech products and services.
The South African tech eco-system has unique set of failed tech products. Mxit is the poster child of failed social networks in the African continent. Understanding what went wrong with Mxit will be important for creators of new tech products in future. The shutdown of Google+ and some of its products should serve as a lesson to leaders that sometimes it’s fine and acceptable to shutdown a product and learn from it. The key is to keep improving based on lessons learnt from previous attempts. Google+ will never be missed but should be a case study for future technology and business leaders.
Gaming is about to get serious
The gaming industry will never be the same again as leading tech giant, Apple, begins to take the industry seriously. Apple has announced new services that will disrupt video streaming industry with Apple+, media industry with Apple News, payments industry with Apple Card and the Gaming industry with Apple Arcade. It will not be the first time Apple attempts to disrupt these industries, in fact, it’s previous attempts in these industries have failed. This time around however, the announcement of a gaming platform has everything that should make everyone pay attention, here’s why.
Apple is replicating everything it has done with the Apps economy. It’s now applying the same model to the gaming industry. When Apple introduced an App Store, it created a market and a career field. Businesses that are worth billions today were created because of the App store, App development became a serious career field. The same will happen with the gaming industry.
GAMING BUSINESS
Now that Apple has introduced its own gaming platform, Apple Arcade, we will see the rise of gaming businesses. Apple has already collected $54 million for the iOS release of Fortnite, a gaming product that can be accessible via Apple. The tech giant has seen that there’s money to be made in the gaming industry. Apple is not alone, Google has also identified the business opportunity as a result this tech giant has also launched its own gaming streaming platform known as Stadia. Gaming is the new battleground for tech giants. Apple Arcade is a subscription service that gets users access to a large library of games for a monthly fee, playable across iOS, Mac, and Apple TV. Apple Arcade will feature games you can’t play elsewhere. Apple boasts that the service will offer over 100 new and exclusive games. This will be a huge opportunity for businesses in the gaming industry.
GAMING CAREER
The new Apple gaming platform will not only benefit businesses but also professional game developers. In the same way that the App store propelled App Developers, the new Apple gaming platform will be followed by professional game developers. Apple will be on the lookout for game developers who can create quality games. Developers of games will now have a share of the gaming market that will be created by Apple.
GAMING OPPORTUNITY
Playing of games will adopt a new meaning. Gaming stars will be created in the same way that the movie industry brought us stars. Now,however, is the time to not only be excited about playing games, it’s time to be serious about developing games. Gaming startups are rare to find in the African continent, this is an opportunity for local gaming startups to rise. This is also an opportunity for schools to take gaming seriously. Games will become a major sport and professional game developers will be highly sought after by industry. Game development should be a serious field that is taught in local schools and academic institutions.
Lessons from the First African Unicorn
The imminent listing of Africas first tech unicorn, Jumia, is a major milestone for the African tech eco-system for a number of reasons. Jumia filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on the 12th March 2019. Founded in Lagos in 2012 with Rocket Internet backing, Jumia now operates multiple online verticals in 14 African countries, spanning Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Egypt. Goods and services lines include Jumia Food (an online takeout service), Jumia Flights (for travel bookings) and Jumia Deals (for classifieds). Jumia processed more than 13 million packages in 2018, according to company data. Jumia offers lessons on what it takes for an African tech startup to become a global player.
There are three key pillars that enabled Jumia to be a leader in the continent and those include amongst others:
Africa focus
Mobile
Data
AFRICA FOCUS
Most tech startups in the African continent make the mistake of trying to be a Silicon Valley startup. These startups create products that address the needs of just a few, products that are ideal for more advanced markets. They also do this by serving local markets by using channels that are only accessible to a few.
Jumia was not confused about who they wanted to serve. Although the companies Africanness is disputed, no one can argue about who Jumia is serving. Jumia is serving the African market period. Jumia understands that Africa’s GDP is expected to grow by 6.0% in 2019 and at a 5.9% compound annual growth rate from 2018 to 2023, compared to 3.5% for major advanced economies (G7) and 5.6% globally. The first African unicorn understands that half of the world’s population growth towards 2050 is projected to be driven by Africa. Jumia understands the African market very well as a result they have tailored their products and services to address local needs.
MOBILE
The understanding of the African market is also seen in the manner in which Jumia serves its market. Jumia was built to be a mobile centric company that serves its market through mobile devices. Africa has emerged as a “mobile-first” market, in which consumers access the internet for the first time using mobile devices. Jumia leadership understands that investment in global information and communications technology infrastructure in Africa totalled over $1.6 billion in recent years and telecommunications operators across the continent are committed to making additional significant investments in cellular network infrastructure in order to meet the rising demands. Mobile broadband in African, is expected to increase to 73% by 2022. This increase represents approximately 600 million new subscribers, bringing the total number of Africans with 3G or 4G connections to over 1 billion. This is a greatest opportunity that has been identified by Jumia that should be understood by local technology startups.
DATA
Lastly, Jumia has embraced data which they use to serve their business client base. They offer sellers in their eco-system a range of data and analytic services, helping them to be more effective by tailoring and customizing their offerings and marketing efforts and in the process improve their pricing and inventory management processes, leading to increased sales. This is one unique advantage that Jumia has over its competitors.
NEXT AFRICAN TECH UNICORN
Jumia has not yet turned a profit. The company generated €93.8 million in revenues in 2017, up 11 percent from 2016, though its losses widened (with a negative EBITDA of €120 million). The company however has great prospects if you consider the fact that it intends to benefit from the expected growth of e-commerce in Africa through the investments that they have made and the extensive local expertise that they have developed since its founding in 2012.
The fact that Jumia has reached a point of listing on the NYSE should serve as a lesson to local tech startups on how to build a company worthy of global markets. Local tech companies should not strive to be Silicon Valley type startups. They should master the local market and serve it well. This approach is important if African tech startups are to play in the global tech eco-system
Coding will not future-proof our kids
South Africa hosted the greatest gathering of worlds CEOs at the YPO Edge conference in Cape Townwhere business leaders discussed amongst other topics the future of work. This topic was addressed by the leading thinker in the artificial intelligence space, Dr. Vivien Ming, who shared a unique view about preparing for the future.
Dr. Ming is a theoretical neuroscientist and technologist. She co-founded Socos, where machine learning and cognitive neuroscience combine to maximize students’ life outcomes.
According to Dr. Ming the world has got it all wrong about preparing for the future especially around the dominant thinking about preparing young people. The popular view right now is that young people should study coding. According to Dr. Ming this is not how society should prepare its young for the future.
There was a time when it was necessary to study coding in order to get the best jobs. That time is slowly getting behind us now. The future of todays youth will be different. In future, it will not be necessary for human beings to code. Those that will code will be equivalent to bricklayers today.
In view of this future, it is unwise at this stage to encourage young people to consider coding as a career as by the time they will be ready to work there will limited work or not so meaningful work in the coding space.
Instead of focusing on coding, Dr Ming suggested that there should be more focus on creativity within the education sector. This is partly the case because creativity will allow young people to deal with any situation that arise. Such a skill will allow them to create under any circumstances. The chances of them being irrelevant would also be less as they can be able to adapt.
In addition to creativity, Ming also highlighted the need for the education system to create a curriculum that will allow young people to learn about resilience, the ability to withstand challenges. She noted that resilience is key for the success of entrepreneurs who built the Silicon Valley.
According to Dr. Ming the success of tech leading companies today has little to do with coding but more to do with creativity and the ability of its CEOs to be resilient.
Speaking on the sidelines of the YPO Edge, Dr. Vivien Ming indicated that if South Africa is to withstand the changes that will come with the future it will have to start now to get its young people to be explorers and people who are hopeful.
This message will be the hardest to swallow for many leaders in South Africa as many believe coding is the next big thing to learn.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was one of the key speakers at the Young Presidents Organisation event. This organisation is the premier leadership organization for chief executives in the world. The insights shared in this event fell on the ears of more 3000 CEOs around the world. As the President and his government is planning to introduce coding in schools it is hoped that he also got the message from Dr. Vivien Ming on what should be done in preparing young people for the future. Coding yes, but creativity and resilience should be chief among the focus areas if South Africa is to create future explorers and founders of leading businesses.
#UNICORPSTARTS: An Innovation Engine that builds unique startups
MyLifeline product developed with the support of LaunchLab and Santam
Globally startups are considered to be innovation engines where innovative products and solutions are hatched. The truth, however, is that there’s more to innovative products and solutions than just startups. One good example from LaunchLab is MyLifeline, a startup that developed an innovative wearable product that has transformed the panic button as we know it. MyLifeline is making it possible for you to walk around with a panic button in the form of a wearable watch that you can press and call for help whenever your life is threatened.
What made MyLifeline’s wearable watch a possibility is a combination of three entities working together: the Stellenbosch University LaunchLab, Santam and MyLifeline. This collaboration produced opportunities for MyLifeline that would have been very hard for the startup to find on its own and created new business opportunities for Santam as well.
According to the CEO of MyLifeline, Herman Bester, the company had limited experience with building a tech startup. Herman said "when we joined LaunchLab we had no testing support, validation support, marketing capability and no form of legal support”. He said LaunchLab was instrumental in the growth of MyLifeline. Before joining LaunchLab they had no actual sales but through LaunchLab connections their first sales were achieved, and now they have sold hundreds of devices.
One of these connections was with Santam through the Santam Innovation Challenge that is run by LaunchLab. Herman indicated it would have been impossible for MyLifeline to have access to Santam without facilitation by LaunchLab. According to Herman, through interaction with Santam, MyLifeline was able to build a product that is well aligned with the market need. Santam was also great for market accessibility.
Santam connections opened the door to a courier company becoming a MyLifeline customer. MyLifeline is currently part of the Santam development pipeline for new products to offer to their customers and has the potential to add value to Santam’s SOS service. Santam sees potential for the product to drive revenue in other markets like the tourist industry, animal tracking and goods tracking as well. These are extra benefits for Santam after initially seeing the personal safety benefit of the product for their clients.
“This programme accentuates Santam’s commitment to keeping South Africans safe while providing insurance good and proper. We are not only there for our clients when something goes wrong, we are also committed to help prevent things from going wrong in the first place,” said Mokaedi Dilotsotlhe, Chief Marketing Officer at Santam.
The role played by these three entities has created a security system that is already protecting lives. To illustrate how the product has been used, Herman, who is one of MyLifeline co-founders, cites a life-saving experience of one girl who had an asthma attack but managed to be saved by using the MyLifeline wearable watch.
The development of this innovative product by MyLifeline through the support from LaunchLab and Santam illustrates the kind of support required for innovation in South Africa. Innovation does not happen in a vacuum and in silos. Corporates do not innovate easily on their own, universities do not produce groundbreaking commercial products without entrepreneurs. When all of these entities work together innovation happens.
Branchless banking is here
When Tyme Bank launched the first digital bank in South Africa, it did not just launch a bank. It launched an innovative banking business model, branchless banking, that would have been impossible without technology. Branchless banking is a banking innovation that includes providing financial services to customers without going through the physical building of the bank but only utilizing information and communication technology. This model will have a far reaching impact for the unbanked and the economy in South Africa.
Branchless banking for the people
The introduction of a branchless bank will be greatly appreciated by rural communities who currently have limited access to banks. Due to costs associated with establishing a branch, traditional banks avoid setting up branches where banking services are needed by most people. As a result of this challenge rural communities have to travel long distances to access banking services.
A branchless bank will enable most people who live in rural areas to access banking. The Tyme bank has been setup in such a way that it works with existing retail stores in rural areas such as Boxers where Tyme bank kiosks will be accessible. Cashiers will also serve as tellers to a certain extent as Tyme bank clients can deposit and withdraw funds from them.
Tyme Bank is just the first, more banks will follow starting with another bank in the pipeline, Xero Bank. Traditional banks are also applying innovative methods of reaching their clients via branchless means. ABSA bank recently introduced banking via WhatsApp, this is one way of enabling access to banking without visiting the branch.
Will Branchless model work?
South Africans have responded well to the branchless banking model. It was recently reported that when Tyme Bank was still in its soft launch phase the bank was signing up 5,000 new customers each week.
Time will tell whether more South Africans will adopt this method of banking. There’s a potential that some bank clients will prefer banking with the help of a human being. Such a preference by bank clients will probably be the only saviour for traditional banks. It may also be an advantage for traditional banks and allow them to charge higher fees for human contact and service.
The branchless banking should be closely watched by other sectors of the economy aswell. If the model works for banking in South Africa, we may see more industries using technology as their main infrastructure and not establishing branches to offer services. This will have a massive impact in the employment of people. As businesses adopt the branchless business model, it’s high time that property industry takes note of this development.
As businesses cut costs by eliminating branches, the nature of jobs will also change and society better be ready. Tyme Bank is probably the first case study of what some South Africans have been talking about for sometime, the effects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. South Africans must pay attention to the Tyme Bank model to understand the future impact of technology not just in banking but in other sectors of the economy.