OSFON, partners train 22 on FOSS model

A two-week training for ‘Future Trainers on “FOSS Business Models” ended in the Western African city of Abuja with 22 participants from the region.

The training was organized by Open Source Foundation for Nigeria (OSFON) in collaboration with Free and Open Source Software Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

The first regional Train the Trainers on FOSS Business Models in Western Africa, was designed to enable interested people, institutions and businesses to act as trainers on the subject of building a business with FOSS.

Vice chairman, OSFON, Mr. Seun Ojedeji told ITRealms Online that the session which commenced on October 24, was a two-week training exercise to empower West African citizens on FOSS innovative models.

Participants, he said, received intensive training on FOSS business models in Africa, learn how ICT enterprises could use FOSS as a business, obtain necessary business skills to establish and operate a FOSS business in Africa, and acquire knowledge and skills to adopt FOSS training as a business.

The main goal of the Training of Trainers, he said, is to share skills and qualifications to equip African ICT companies with the knowledge needed to successfully integrate FOSS into their business.

Those who took part in the exercise, he said, are expected to give trainings on FOSS Business Models a part of their regular business and/or teaching activities.

He hinted that successful applicants will have convincingly demonstrated how they plan to carry out at least two trainings on the subject in their own country in 2012 or earlier, and how they make trainings on FOSS business models a permanent part of their business and/or teaching activities in the future.

ITRealms Online also gathered that some of the topics discussed in the course of the training covered ‘introduction to emerging FOSS business models, African business models: case studies; communicating FOSS, FOSS specific business knowledge and skills, as well as introduction to general business skills and FOSS training.

This, he said, heralds the preparation for Idlelo 5 which Nigeria won the hosting right earlier in the year and is preparing in top gear for the continental event for open source software enthusiasts.

He gave some insights into Idlelo, saying that it’s a Southern African word, which means “Common Grazing Ground.”

Idlelo, according to him captures the essence of FOSSFA’s existence as well as the fundamental objective of the forthcoming conference.

He noted that the original idea of an African conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons was born at about the same time as FOSSFA itself.

Ojedeji further said that programme areas for OSFON include supporting initiatives to entrench policy framework for the National Open Source Software and Standard; National Open Source Software and Standard bureaus; Open Source Software and Standard advocacy, and consultancies.

Additionally, he said, OSFON focus encompasses Open Source Software and Standard solutions for administration, governance and citizen management; training for government and other Information Technology (IT) managers to facilitate the migration from proprietary to Open Standards.

The vision of OSFON, the scribe said, is to promote and advocate the use of FOSS and the FOSS model in the development of Nigeria, stressing that the mission is to promote and educate decision makers in government, education, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), businesses and citizens on the advantages of using the Linux Operating System, Free and Open Source Applications and Open Standard.

The aforementioned, he said, were shared among the recently ended workshop participants.

Remmy Nweke

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

Galaxy set for 5th ICT public sector forum

Galaxy event recently.

Plans have been advanced for the forthcoming Galaxy Backbone Plc organised public sector focused on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Infrastructure and Services Company forum.

Confirming this, the Corporate Communication Manager, Galaxy Backbone Plc, Mr. Franklyn Ginger-Eke said that the 5th edition in the series, would focus on Information Security.

The event scheduled in the coming weeks, he said, would also feature Public Presentation of ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification to Galaxy Backbone Plc by the British Standards Institute (BSI).

He recalled that Galaxy Backbone Plc was recently awarded the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification on Information Security Management System (ISMS).

Eke quoted the Group Head, Customer Operations & Services at Galaxy, Mr. Yusuf Kazaure, as saying “Galaxy Backbone ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification is an independent validation of our ability to protect information assets from all manners of threats. Galaxy Backbone is the first public sector organization in Nigeria to be so certified and the third in Nigeria.”

He explained that the public sector ICT Infrastructure forum is a Stakeholders Awareness Series (SAS) hosted by Galaxy Backbone Plc to engender dialogue on how public institutions and other stakeholders could further leverage the benefits of ICT infrastructure and services to deliver efficient public sector services.

Kazaure said, Galaxy Backbone plans to use the opportunity of the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification to raise stakeholder awareness on information security issues such as cyber security, information security, disaster recovery and business continuity planning and its implications for supporting the role of ICT in governance and national development.

The company, he said, commenced the journey to ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification in 2009, stressing that over this period, the company focused on the key objective of putting in place a globally accepted standard of information security management process that would guarantee the trustworthiness of its Data Centre services and Network Operations Centre. The certification has increased the confidence of our customers and key stakeholders to our commitment to benchmark international best practices in our business processes.

He pointed out that the certification process involved auditing and verification of Galaxy’s Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) practices by the British Standards Institute (BSI).

“Passing a rigorous audit of this nature conducted by such a world-renowned standards body establishes Galaxy as a Nigerian company with processes at par with global standards,” he said.

This certification is also a positive milestone for the Federal Government as it resonates with the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan and underscores Government’s commitment to achieving the National Vision 20:2020.

More significantly, the certification further reinforces the important role of ICT as a major tool towards the attainment of a 21st century economy and society. With the certification, Galaxy Backbone is well positioned to support Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the delivery of efficient and cost-effective services to Nigerians.

He said, this event would also feature the formal presentation of ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certificate to the honourable Minster for Communication Technology.

Remmy Nweke

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

MTN apologizes,explains internet outage

Leading telecom operator in the country, MTN Nigeria, has apologized for some internet outage last weekend, adducing measures to remedy the situation.

ITRealms Online recalls that some data customers on MTN recently experienced slow internet speed and difficulty with accessing the internet due an outage from third party provider.

Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck, attributed the intermittent internet experience to a technical challenge from one of the company’s third party service providers.

According to him, the disruption was as a result of sub marine cable failure which caused challenges with internet access and slow speed.

“Unfortunately, some of our customers have been affected. We have, however, successfully migrated to another provider, and we expect gradual improvements across board in the internet experience over the next few days,” he explained. 

Goodluck further said that as a customer-focused organization, MTN is not unaware of the inconveniences that some of its customers must have suffered during the outage.

“We are truly sorry, and we can only assure Nigerians that MTN remains committed to ensuring the provision of outstanding service quality everywhere you go,” he reassured.

Remmy Nweke

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

ETSI publishes energy saving standard

The European Telecommunication Standard Institute (ETSI) has published a Technical Specification on a standardized measurement method for energy efficiency of wireless access network equipment.

The standard, they said, would help mobile network operators improve the energy efficiency of their networks.

Telecommunications network operators, ETSI noted, are very interested in improving the energy efficiency of their networks.

A press statement made available to ITRealms Online, ETSI pointed out that besides the obvious environmental benefits, reducing energy consumption makes good business sense, noteworthy is that in a mobile telecoms network, the access network and in particular the Radio Base Station (RBS) is the largest consumer of energy, and this is where most energy efficiency improvements are focused.

ETSI explained that in order to improve energy efficiency, one must be able to measure and compare levels of efficiency.

“This requires standardized measurement methods used across the industry,” part of the statement read, adding that for this purpose, ETSI has recently published the second edition of its technical specification TS 102 706 on the measurement method for energy efficiency of wireless access network equipment.

This specification, developed by ETSI’s Technical Committee for Environmental Engineering (TC EE), standardizes the measurement method for energy efficiency for multiple mobile network technologies: GSM/EDGE, W-CDMA/HSPA, LTE and WiMAX networks.

Also, ETSI said, the initial version of the specification considered energy efficiency at three different static load levels (low, medium and busy-hour traffic).

While the second version of this specification, ESTI indicated, added the consideration of the dynamic behaviour of equipment in operation with a realistic load level.

ETSI further identified two energy efficiency indicators for wireless system, saying that one is based on the level of throughput compared with energy consumed and the other is based on the coverage area compared with energy consumed.

“This reflects the different demands placed on mobile network operators: higher performance networks and increased wide-area coverage,” the press statement read in part.

Remmy Nweke

ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D

UN insists on affordable broadband access by 2015

The United Nations (UN) may have insisted on affordability of broadband access to the citizens of the world before the end of the next four years, that is, 2015, not exceeding 5 per cent of average monthly income.

This thought formed part of the outcome of the just concluded fourth meeting of the Broadband Commission which endorsed new broadband targets accompanied with global ‘Broadband Challenge’.

Although tagged ‘four ambitious but achievable’ new targets, the Broadband Commission for Digital Development (BCDD) ended its meeting in the city of Geneva, Switzerland, tasking countries globally to make every effort to meet up with target of ensuring their populations fully participate in tomorrow’s emerging knowledge societies anchored on broadband.

The new targets, BCDD noted would focus on broadband policy, affordability and uptake while cutting across the processes of making broadband policy universal.

“By 2015, all countries should have a national broadband plan or strategy or include broadband in their universal access cum service definitions,” part of the recommendation read. The head, Communications and Partnership Promotion, Mr. Paul Conneally and Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, Ms. Sarah Parkes both of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), informed that BCDD urged countries to make broadband affordable by 2015.

The Commission maintained that entry-level broadband services should be made affordable in developing countries through adequate regulation and market forces, which must be less than 5 per cent of average monthly income.

Also, Broadband Commission listed connecting homes to broadband by 2015, which entails that 40 per cent of households in developing countries should have Internet access. Equally, the Commission predicted that by getting people online before December 31, 2015, Internet user penetration should reach 60 per cent worldwide, and 50 per cent in developing countries and 15 per cent in Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

ITU Secretary-General, Dr Hamadoun Touré, who serves as co-Vice Chair of the Commission alongside UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, was quoted as saying that these targets are ambitious but achievable, given the political will and commitment on the part of governments, working in partnership with the private sector.

ITRealms Online recalls that the Commission is co-chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Carlos Slim Helú, Chairman and CEO of Telmex and América Movíl. Further, Toure assured that ITU will undertake responsibility for measuring each country’s progress towards the targets, producing an annual broadband report with rankings of nations worldwide in terms of broadband policy, affordability and uptake.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it’s preparing grounds for a solid broadband plans for the country, insisting that Africa needs a unified broadband strategy.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah made this revelation at the recently ended West African ICT Congress in Lagos, where he was represented by the Director, Public Affairs, Mr. Tony Ojobo.

The Commission, he said, has commenced preliminary studies and appraisals that would usher NCC on solid ground for full implementation of a broadband marshal plan for Nigeria.

“What we would stress today is the desire for the industry, especially the policy makers, investors, service providers, vendors and policy makers to begin to examine how these would affect the future of our telecommunications environment, and prepare themselves for the roles they will need to play for us to realize a collective success,” he said.

The success being envisaged by NCC in the sector, he said, is not such that only one institution would be expected to deliver.

“When we put broadband in the perspective of cross border implementation, it calls for harmonization of policies across the states or nations involved at regional or continental levels,” he said.

Therefore, he said, Africa and Nigeria need to evolve a uniform inter-regional policy framework such that when broadband is fully implemented in any of the nations, the benefits could easily spread to sister nations in the continent.

“A careful appraisal of the growth of broadband in developed countries can be traced to a semblance of policies accentuated by uniform level of development in terms of telecommunications and ICT infrastructures,” he noted.

Lamenting that the same could not be said of Africa where huge telephone traffic are not exchanged between neighbouring countries on the continent, when compared with the traffic that such countries exchange with countries in Europe, America, Asia and the Middle east countries.

“Most African countries are yet to be directly interconnected, which is the reason why it costs higher to make calls across the continent than it is to make calls to and from outside the continent,” he said, stressing that as Africans must collectively pursue a deliberate policy of liberalization that will attract service providers to go beyond their immediate environments and also allow interconnection within and among African countries.

Nigeria, he cited as an instance, has witnessed impressive investments in the area of submarine optics fibre cable along the coastlines, yet, there are about four major cables currently.

Ordinarily, Juwah pointed out that if Nigeria taps into the full potentials of these cables, with its direct connection to the international super-highway, the country would have achieved a lot in broadband penetration.

Decrying the fact that these cables have only reached the coastlines, while majority of the geographical land mass are yet to be connected because they are mostly landlocked, Juwah urged investors to take advantage of this by going extra mile to ensure that the rest of the countries’ are connected.

“It could be that such investors may need to be incentivized, but in what ways? This is where we hope the experts and stakeholders would come up with the appropriate recommendations that will guide regulatory actions and policies,” he said.

Juwah emphasized that service providers in Africa appear to have backed down from an earlier pursuit of deploying to as many African countries as possible.

Remmy Nweke
ITREALMS Online ... delivering news for ICT4D