Glo ProfitMax Plus promotion, Wednesday presented cars and motorcycles to three winners in Lagos.
The presentation of the new Kia Picanto cars on hand was the Second National Operator (SNO) Globacom Limited, and formally marking the end of ProfitMax Plus promotion which was introduced in May to reward call centre operators for the huge success of the product.
A total of 31 persons who won Sterling motorcycles in the promotion in the Lagos region were also presented with their prizes.
These winners completed the 80 users of the product who won motorcycles from different parts of the country. While 11 winners in Ibadan, 16 in Port Harcourt and 22 in Kano had earlier received their motorcycles.
Presenting the Kia Picanto cars and motorcycles at the ceremony, the Chief Operating Officer of Globacom, Mr. Mohamed Jameel, said the promotion was the company’s way of showing appreciation to its subscribers and improving the quality of life of Nigerians.
“ProfitMax Plus creates employment opportunities for Nigerians and increases the income earning capacity of call centre operators the way no other product in its category does. We have through this promotion enabled people who perhaps may not be able to purchase new cars to own them. We have also afforded winners of the motorcycles another means of livelihood as they may use them for commercial transport business,” Jameel stated.
Mr. Jameel also said that the promotion was tied in with Globacom’s commitment to empower Nigerians and contribute to the fight against poverty.
The company said that other schemes on board on Glo network, especially in fighting poverty includes partnership with Shell and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on job creation and youth empowerment in the Niger Delta area as well as the poverty eradication scheme embarked upon with some state governments including Bauchi, Borno, Kwara, Niger and Osun States.
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Friday, July 15, 2005
Vmobile’s SMS competition gets hotter
The Short Messaging Service (SMS) competition promo introduced by a leading Global System for Mobile communications, (GSM) operator, Vmobile Nigeria, otherwise known as the Rolling Out Service Everywhere (ROSE) , has continued to garner momentum.
Vmobile introduced the competition for its subscribers and ITRealms gathered that it has continued to get hotter as subscribers vote through SMS for their choice of location for expansion by the network get more interesting.
ITRealms gathered that the competition, has already witnessed increase voting messages received.
The expansion plan will see Vmobile Nigeria investing a sum of $2 billion over the next 24 months, deploying 3,000 base stations, and the construction of complete transportation backbone across Nigeria.
Head of Division, PR, Events, and Sponsorships, Vmobile Nigeria, Mr. Obinna Ariwodo said the company wants subscribers to influence its decision on the next town that will come alive on the Vmobile network by participating in the on-going ROSE SMS coverage competition.
The expected towns that will be connected to the Vmobile network in the first quarter of the coverage programme have been printed in fliers and national newspapers.
Each of these towns, Mr. Ariwodo noted has a code number attached to it while information on the town code numbers could also be received via SMS once a subscriber sends a SMS with the name of a preferred town to 39800.
To participate, subscribers are expected to send an SMS with the town code of preferred location to 39800, and an automated response confirming entry will be sent to the voter.
Each SMS is equivalent to one vote and every subscriber can vote as many times as he/she wants. This will be charged at the normal SMS tariff of N15 peak period and N10 off peak period.
The vote can also be interactive among friends and families on the Vmobile network. Through this a subscriber is able to increase his/her town’s chances of winning by referring his/her friend by sending their phone numbers and the preferred town code to 39800. But each referral must be contained in a separate SMS as it counts for just one vote.
The first quarter of the competition commenced on 1st of July and will end on 30th September, 2005. At the end of this quarter, votes cast will be counted and the three towns with the highest number of votes will be switched on within 45 days.
The winning towns and cities will also be published in newspapers and a notifying SMS will be sent to subscribers whose towns won.
Project ROSE is a programme of Vee Net works Limited, the company trading as Vmobile. It involves the construction of an additional 4,000 kilometers of microwave transmission backbone and an increase in the number of switches on the Vmobile network.
Once completed, the company’s network capacity will be increased to accommodate a minimum of 10 million subscribers.
The number of its VCare centers and VStores will also be increased to give subscribers greater convenience and access to Vmobile’s offices, products, and services.
ITRealms recalls that the rules of the game specified that subscribers are only allowed to vote for towns listed in brochures/posters and published in newspapers. Even as there will be no voting for areas in Lagos.
Vmobile introduced the competition for its subscribers and ITRealms gathered that it has continued to get hotter as subscribers vote through SMS for their choice of location for expansion by the network get more interesting.
ITRealms gathered that the competition, has already witnessed increase voting messages received.
The expansion plan will see Vmobile Nigeria investing a sum of $2 billion over the next 24 months, deploying 3,000 base stations, and the construction of complete transportation backbone across Nigeria.
Head of Division, PR, Events, and Sponsorships, Vmobile Nigeria, Mr. Obinna Ariwodo said the company wants subscribers to influence its decision on the next town that will come alive on the Vmobile network by participating in the on-going ROSE SMS coverage competition.
The expected towns that will be connected to the Vmobile network in the first quarter of the coverage programme have been printed in fliers and national newspapers.
Each of these towns, Mr. Ariwodo noted has a code number attached to it while information on the town code numbers could also be received via SMS once a subscriber sends a SMS with the name of a preferred town to 39800.
To participate, subscribers are expected to send an SMS with the town code of preferred location to 39800, and an automated response confirming entry will be sent to the voter.
Each SMS is equivalent to one vote and every subscriber can vote as many times as he/she wants. This will be charged at the normal SMS tariff of N15 peak period and N10 off peak period.
The vote can also be interactive among friends and families on the Vmobile network. Through this a subscriber is able to increase his/her town’s chances of winning by referring his/her friend by sending their phone numbers and the preferred town code to 39800. But each referral must be contained in a separate SMS as it counts for just one vote.
The first quarter of the competition commenced on 1st of July and will end on 30th September, 2005. At the end of this quarter, votes cast will be counted and the three towns with the highest number of votes will be switched on within 45 days.
The winning towns and cities will also be published in newspapers and a notifying SMS will be sent to subscribers whose towns won.
Project ROSE is a programme of Vee Net works Limited, the company trading as Vmobile. It involves the construction of an additional 4,000 kilometers of microwave transmission backbone and an increase in the number of switches on the Vmobile network.
Once completed, the company’s network capacity will be increased to accommodate a minimum of 10 million subscribers.
The number of its VCare centers and VStores will also be increased to give subscribers greater convenience and access to Vmobile’s offices, products, and services.
ITRealms recalls that the rules of the game specified that subscribers are only allowed to vote for towns listed in brochures/posters and published in newspapers. Even as there will be no voting for areas in Lagos.
Champion holds two-day workshop for journalists
ABOUT 20 journalists at the weekend concluded a two-day training workshop organized by the management of Champion Newspapers Limited (CNL), with the theme: ‘The Reporter and Trends in Journalism’ in Lagos-Nigeria.
CNL is the publisher of national newspapers, Daily Champion, Saturday Champion and Sporting Champion in the country.
Declaring open the workshop held at the CNL’s Human Resource Centre, the Executive Director Operations, Mr. Emeka Omeihe, who represented the Managing Director, Mr. Emma Agu, said that the workshop is one of the new trends of things being instituted to enthrone a new Champion, through capacity building.
He advised reporters to be sincere and focus in their inputs at the workshop and beyond, especially on their jobs.
This he noted would bring about the much needed repositioning being drummed by the present management.
While wishing participants well, he enjoined them to be part of the revolution currently going on in the organization.
He was joined by some members of the management including the Executive Director, Publications, Mr. Ugo Onuoah, General Manager Finance, Elder Uka Erem, General Manager, Marketing, Mr. Sam Ibemere, Personal and Admin Manager, Mrs. Ijeoma Enekwa and the Workshop Coordinator, Mrs. Ijeoma Okereafor.
While some of the workshop’s outlines included ‘The Reporter as a Businessman, Editorial and Marketing Partnership to attain corporate objectives, Relationship building and development in the workplace, Transforming Champion into a unique brand, Imbibing the culture and traditions of Champion Newspapers’.
Facilitators were drawn from top management staff of the company, while participants comprises assistant editors, senior reporters and reporters.
CNL is the publisher of national newspapers, Daily Champion, Saturday Champion and Sporting Champion in the country.
Declaring open the workshop held at the CNL’s Human Resource Centre, the Executive Director Operations, Mr. Emeka Omeihe, who represented the Managing Director, Mr. Emma Agu, said that the workshop is one of the new trends of things being instituted to enthrone a new Champion, through capacity building.
He advised reporters to be sincere and focus in their inputs at the workshop and beyond, especially on their jobs.
This he noted would bring about the much needed repositioning being drummed by the present management.
While wishing participants well, he enjoined them to be part of the revolution currently going on in the organization.
He was joined by some members of the management including the Executive Director, Publications, Mr. Ugo Onuoah, General Manager Finance, Elder Uka Erem, General Manager, Marketing, Mr. Sam Ibemere, Personal and Admin Manager, Mrs. Ijeoma Enekwa and the Workshop Coordinator, Mrs. Ijeoma Okereafor.
While some of the workshop’s outlines included ‘The Reporter as a Businessman, Editorial and Marketing Partnership to attain corporate objectives, Relationship building and development in the workplace, Transforming Champion into a unique brand, Imbibing the culture and traditions of Champion Newspapers’.
Facilitators were drawn from top management staff of the company, while participants comprises assistant editors, senior reporters and reporters.
MTN increases access days in Nigeria
LARGEST Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), in the country, MTN Communications Nigeria, has increased its access days for prepaid customers with each recharge from Thursday, July 14, 2005.
The GSM operator said that subscribers who load N6,000 recharge card would enjoy 120 access days instead of the previous 60 days.
The same number of access days (120) would now apply to N3,000 recharge card, a substantial increase from the previous 30 access days.
MTN’s Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Afam Edozie announced that a N1,500 recharge card would entitle the customer to 60 access days, up from the previous 15 days, while N750 recharge will now attract 30 access days, from the current five access days.
He said that the N500 voucher, which is included in some MTN starter packs, now has 10 access days, instead of five days, while N400 voucher now comes with 10 access days, and not four days.
He stressed that this development I in line with the operator’s believe to better place its customers by allowing them to accumulate 365 access days.
ITRealms recalls that until now, the maximum access days allowed was 90 days on the network.
Mr. Edozie further restated the commitment of GSM company in ensuring that the greatest interest of its numerous customers to enjoy the network.
“We want our customers to see us as a listening company, even as we are committed to providing world class telephone services,” he asserted.
MTN Nigeria which is part of the MTN Group, proud itself as a leading cellular telecommunications company on the continent.
ITRealms further recalls that on May 16, 2001, MTN was reported to have made a call following the globally lauded Nigerian GSM auction conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission earlier in the year.
It has since launched full commercial operations in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
MTN paid $285m for one of four GSM licenses in Nigeria in January 2001 and today, operates in excess of US$1.8 billion which has been invested building mobile telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria.
Since launch in August 2001, MTN has steadily deployed its services across Nigeria.
It now claims to have services in 223 cities and towns, more than 10,000 villages and communities and a growing number of highways across the country, spanning the 36 states of the Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Many of these villages and communities are being connected to the world of telecommunications for the first time ever.
In addition, the company’s digital microwave transmission backbone, the 3,400 Kilometre Y’elloBahn was commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo in January 2003 and is reputed to be the most extensive digital microwave transmission infrastructure in all of Africa. The Y’elloBahn has significantly helped to enhance call quality on MTN network.
The GSM operator said that subscribers who load N6,000 recharge card would enjoy 120 access days instead of the previous 60 days.
The same number of access days (120) would now apply to N3,000 recharge card, a substantial increase from the previous 30 access days.
MTN’s Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer, Afam Edozie announced that a N1,500 recharge card would entitle the customer to 60 access days, up from the previous 15 days, while N750 recharge will now attract 30 access days, from the current five access days.
He said that the N500 voucher, which is included in some MTN starter packs, now has 10 access days, instead of five days, while N400 voucher now comes with 10 access days, and not four days.
He stressed that this development I in line with the operator’s believe to better place its customers by allowing them to accumulate 365 access days.
ITRealms recalls that until now, the maximum access days allowed was 90 days on the network.
Mr. Edozie further restated the commitment of GSM company in ensuring that the greatest interest of its numerous customers to enjoy the network.
“We want our customers to see us as a listening company, even as we are committed to providing world class telephone services,” he asserted.
MTN Nigeria which is part of the MTN Group, proud itself as a leading cellular telecommunications company on the continent.
ITRealms further recalls that on May 16, 2001, MTN was reported to have made a call following the globally lauded Nigerian GSM auction conducted by the Nigerian Communications Commission earlier in the year.
It has since launched full commercial operations in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt.
MTN paid $285m for one of four GSM licenses in Nigeria in January 2001 and today, operates in excess of US$1.8 billion which has been invested building mobile telecommunications infrastructure in Nigeria.
Since launch in August 2001, MTN has steadily deployed its services across Nigeria.
It now claims to have services in 223 cities and towns, more than 10,000 villages and communities and a growing number of highways across the country, spanning the 36 states of the Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Many of these villages and communities are being connected to the world of telecommunications for the first time ever.
In addition, the company’s digital microwave transmission backbone, the 3,400 Kilometre Y’elloBahn was commissioned by President Olusegun Obasanjo in January 2003 and is reputed to be the most extensive digital microwave transmission infrastructure in all of Africa. The Y’elloBahn has significantly helped to enhance call quality on MTN network.
Truck driver, security guard, others win ‘Everywhere You Go’ promo
Commercial truck driver, Mr. Moshood Olaide and security guard, Mr. James Ogbole, as well as a call center operator, Ms Sandra Onyedinachi, were among 15 winners that emerged at the latest MTN Everywhere you go promotion.
They were presented with N1m cheque each in a ceremony at MTN’s Ikoyi offices in Lagos.
Presenting the cheques, External Communications Manager at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Okeleke, congratulated the winners.
He advised them to commit their prizes to sustainable projects that would continue to make their lives beautiful.
Mr. Okeleke also said that one of the main objectives of the promotion was to touch the lives of subscribers with significant prizes that would turn their fortunes around.
The presentation was the climax of the Everywhere You Go promotion, which kicked off in April 2005. He pointed out that MTN disbursed a total of N40 million during the promotion with one hundred lucky subscribers winning N100,000 each, and over 200,000 subscribers went home with airtime as prizes in the promo.
According to him, MTN is currently running another promotion that makes every participant a winner.
He said that any subscriber that activates his/her 0806 starter pack and recharges with any denomination of airtime automatically gets N480 airtime credited to his account.
This, he said, was to encourage Nigerians to acquire the 0806 line, which share the same features and functions as the traditional 0803.
“They are both active on MTN network,” he said.
However, speaking after receiving his cheque, Mr. Moshood Olajide gave declared, “Today is a day l will never forget in my life. Today, l have joined the millionaire club. I thank God for using MTN to better my life.”
They were presented with N1m cheque each in a ceremony at MTN’s Ikoyi offices in Lagos.
Presenting the cheques, External Communications Manager at MTN Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Okeleke, congratulated the winners.
He advised them to commit their prizes to sustainable projects that would continue to make their lives beautiful.
Mr. Okeleke also said that one of the main objectives of the promotion was to touch the lives of subscribers with significant prizes that would turn their fortunes around.
The presentation was the climax of the Everywhere You Go promotion, which kicked off in April 2005. He pointed out that MTN disbursed a total of N40 million during the promotion with one hundred lucky subscribers winning N100,000 each, and over 200,000 subscribers went home with airtime as prizes in the promo.
According to him, MTN is currently running another promotion that makes every participant a winner.
He said that any subscriber that activates his/her 0806 starter pack and recharges with any denomination of airtime automatically gets N480 airtime credited to his account.
This, he said, was to encourage Nigerians to acquire the 0806 line, which share the same features and functions as the traditional 0803.
“They are both active on MTN network,” he said.
However, speaking after receiving his cheque, Mr. Moshood Olajide gave declared, “Today is a day l will never forget in my life. Today, l have joined the millionaire club. I thank God for using MTN to better my life.”
NACOSS’ ICT4NEED shifts to north central
THE on-going zonal workshops on the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for the National Economic Empowerment and Development (NEED) for NACOSS members would next month shift to Ilorin, in the North Central zone.
The workshop is being organised by the Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS) is the second in the series. The first was held recently at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu, Enugu State, last month.
This is coming as Microsoft Nigeria has given consent to assist NACOSS achieve its operation 500 software project.
National President of NACOSS, Mr. Olusegun Cyprus Olutayo, disclosed this to Business Champion, exclusively and said that it is the continuation of the present executive’s plan to involve the students into the mainstream of ICT in the country and how they could benefit from the project.
This, he said, would also empower the membership in being globally competitive.
Already, Mr. Olutayo said the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has accepted to give the keynote address at the North Central convention, which has been slated to hold at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
Business Champion recals that few weeks ago, the train was at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State.
He also revealed that Microsoft Nigeria has agreed to support the operation 500 software of NACOSS.
The operation according to him, entails any student software developer that emerges and meets the standards of the NACOSS software group, would be supported 100 per cent.
In addition, it would avail such student the chance of earning some income from such endeavour as NACOSS would not only patent it, but ensure the students’ interest while certain amount would also go the purse of association.
He said that this way, the dream of young developers would not die, even as they would be encouraged to exploit and finetune their software solutions to meet the global standards.
This, he further said, is NACOSS’ support for the recently inaugurated software taskforce committee of the federal government and Software Development Initiative (SDI), which has since received the blessing of the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, following the donation of a wing of the old Ikoyi Federal Secretariat to be used as a software park.
The workshop is being organised by the Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS) is the second in the series. The first was held recently at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu, Enugu State, last month.
This is coming as Microsoft Nigeria has given consent to assist NACOSS achieve its operation 500 software project.
National President of NACOSS, Mr. Olusegun Cyprus Olutayo, disclosed this to Business Champion, exclusively and said that it is the continuation of the present executive’s plan to involve the students into the mainstream of ICT in the country and how they could benefit from the project.
This, he said, would also empower the membership in being globally competitive.
Already, Mr. Olutayo said the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas, has accepted to give the keynote address at the North Central convention, which has been slated to hold at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
Business Champion recals that few weeks ago, the train was at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Enugu State.
He also revealed that Microsoft Nigeria has agreed to support the operation 500 software of NACOSS.
The operation according to him, entails any student software developer that emerges and meets the standards of the NACOSS software group, would be supported 100 per cent.
In addition, it would avail such student the chance of earning some income from such endeavour as NACOSS would not only patent it, but ensure the students’ interest while certain amount would also go the purse of association.
He said that this way, the dream of young developers would not die, even as they would be encouraged to exploit and finetune their software solutions to meet the global standards.
This, he further said, is NACOSS’ support for the recently inaugurated software taskforce committee of the federal government and Software Development Initiative (SDI), which has since received the blessing of the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, following the donation of a wing of the old Ikoyi Federal Secretariat to be used as a software park.
Thursday, July 14, 2005
Reinventing NACOSS with ICT4NEED
The need to reposition the Nigerian computer science students came to the fore recently at the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for National Economic Empowerment Development (NEED) workshop held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). Reports Remmy Nweke.
THE first-ever South-Eastern zonal workshop on the Information and Communications Technology for the National Economic Empowerment and Development (ICT4NEED), recently ended in Nsukka, Enugu-Enugu State, with 52 higher institutions in attendance.
ICT4NEED is the child brain of the present national executive of the Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS). Founded as an umbrella body of all students schooling in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education nationwide, who major on computer science and related courses.
NACOSS has a two-tier administration path including registered local chapters operational in schools located in all the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, with the headquarters in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
Also, NACOSS is the student body of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), an umbrella association of Information Technology professionals in the country, which is on the tenth tenure.
With over 70,000 students membership nationwide, NACOSS is repositioning itself with ICT4NEED project and with its two-day workshop at the South Eastern city of Nsukka, between June 9 and 10, routes to reinvent the youthful group for the 21st century.
The workshop statistics indicated that participants were drawn from the seven higher institutions across four states in the Southeast with a total number of 484 students in attendance.
Some of these schools include the host, UNN topping the list with 374, Abia State Polytechnic - 10, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu - 30, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka - 64, Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri - 2, Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri - 3 and Federal Polytechnic Oko, Atani Campus, Anambra - 1.
Welcoming participants, the local President of NACOSS, UNN chapter, Mr. John Okeme expressed gratitude for the privilege given them to host the workshop by the national executive of the association.
Enthused National President, NACOSS, Mr. Olusegun Cyprus Olutayo, explained the significance of the workshop based on the group’s vision to enthrone skills among its members.
“It is one of our cardinal points to reinvent NACOSS in the new Nigerian project into a strong student professional body, driven by the knowledge and skills of its members that will lay the Information Technology capacity building foundation, towards sustainable development in our country and all of Africa,” he declared.
Conducting self-examination of his leadership since November last year, Mr. Olutayo, told Champion Infotel that the road towards this visionary destination has not been easy but yet fulfilling.
He said that in order to ensure enduring legacies, the leadership has conceived two-phased initiative with phase one, a tripod initiative.
These include the acquisition of current account for the association, purchasing and deployment of the web domain for the association: www.nacossnational.com, which came live on March 12, 2005 and the establishment of partnership with NACOSS patrons.
Stressing on the web domain, he said, that it was targeted at ensuring global access to the involvements, activities and events of the association, thus making NACOSS access for its members, any time and anywhere.
“Presently, work is ongoing on implementing a content management system that would act as a repository of all the documents, articles, journals and reports of major activities of the association, even as it would act as an online journal of the association,” he asserted.
For the ICT4NEED, which forms the crop of phase two, the president said, that in order to ensure that its membership are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for a successful career, a double edge strategy was unbundled.
This strategy includes the IT curriculum review in the tertiary institutions of learning and the capacity building campaign with ICT4NEED, which he noted are the current focus in this quarter.
“Leading to an entire session being dedicated to this issue at this year’s NCS conference,” he pointed.
In the opening remark, Mr. Adejube O.I., head of technical services at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), who represented the then acting Director-General, Dr. Moses Ubaru, lauded NACOSS for the initiative to put up the workshop.
He said it came at the nick of time and identified the fact that ICT is the most vital for the National Economic Empowerment for Development and Strageies (NEEDS) document of the federal government. He assured that NITDA would soon commence steps to correct the seeming obvious inadequacy of enough policy input to be reflected in the NEEDS document.
First session of the event saw Miss Onaolamipo Oladipo of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), deliberating on “Leveraging Open Source to Reduce Information Technology Capital Spending in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions,” recognized that some scarce resources in the nations universities are retarding development in this sector.
According to her, benefits of open source in cost saving and freedom of distribution are gains over the proprietary software. Thus, it could be leveraged upon to reduce the cost of capital spending in the tertiary institutions nationwide.
She further recommended Open Source as a veritable option to be deployed by the nation’s higher institutions.
President, Nigerian Information Technology Professionals in the Americas (NITPA), Prof. Manny Aniebonam, in his paper at the occasion entitled ‘Emerging Nigerian Economy, NEEDS and the Nigerian Youth,’ he led participants on the job opportunities available to them as students majoring in computer science, probably on graduation.
This includes the chance of emerging as notable programmers, network engineers, database administrators and system integrators to name a few.
According to him, there is hope for the nation based on level of what he saw at the venue, mostly if NACOSS members remain steadfast and face their studies diligently.
He stressed that the federal government’s NEEDS project is a policy embedded opportunities that are now opened for those willing to find positions in IT-driven society.
This, he said, is where the nation is heading to, especially with the support of the private sector-led initiatives, most of who are interested in bringing skills and knowledge into the country from diaspora.
He advised them to tow the path of mental renovation while working towards positive personal development, which he described as the only competence required of them. He also reminded them that the future of the nation lay in their hands.
The National Secretary General of NACOSS, Mr. Olugboji Tolulope Morayo, in a communiqué issued at the end of the workshop noted that the association is more resolved than ever towards meeting its chosen goals to ensure that the group is relevant in the scheme of things at this era.
Undoubtedly, NACOSS remains the largest assembly of the nation’s IT youths platform across all the geopolitical zones, hence this platform rather than deplete, should be encouraged in all ramifications, for a greater tomorrow based on knowledge and skill.
THE first-ever South-Eastern zonal workshop on the Information and Communications Technology for the National Economic Empowerment and Development (ICT4NEED), recently ended in Nsukka, Enugu-Enugu State, with 52 higher institutions in attendance.
ICT4NEED is the child brain of the present national executive of the Nigerian Association of Computer Science Students (NACOSS). Founded as an umbrella body of all students schooling in universities, polytechnics and colleges of education nationwide, who major on computer science and related courses.
NACOSS has a two-tier administration path including registered local chapters operational in schools located in all the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, with the headquarters in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife.
Also, NACOSS is the student body of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), an umbrella association of Information Technology professionals in the country, which is on the tenth tenure.
With over 70,000 students membership nationwide, NACOSS is repositioning itself with ICT4NEED project and with its two-day workshop at the South Eastern city of Nsukka, between June 9 and 10, routes to reinvent the youthful group for the 21st century.
The workshop statistics indicated that participants were drawn from the seven higher institutions across four states in the Southeast with a total number of 484 students in attendance.
Some of these schools include the host, UNN topping the list with 374, Abia State Polytechnic - 10, Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) Enugu - 30, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka - 64, Federal Polytechnic Nekede Owerri - 2, Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri - 3 and Federal Polytechnic Oko, Atani Campus, Anambra - 1.
Welcoming participants, the local President of NACOSS, UNN chapter, Mr. John Okeme expressed gratitude for the privilege given them to host the workshop by the national executive of the association.
Enthused National President, NACOSS, Mr. Olusegun Cyprus Olutayo, explained the significance of the workshop based on the group’s vision to enthrone skills among its members.
“It is one of our cardinal points to reinvent NACOSS in the new Nigerian project into a strong student professional body, driven by the knowledge and skills of its members that will lay the Information Technology capacity building foundation, towards sustainable development in our country and all of Africa,” he declared.
Conducting self-examination of his leadership since November last year, Mr. Olutayo, told Champion Infotel that the road towards this visionary destination has not been easy but yet fulfilling.
He said that in order to ensure enduring legacies, the leadership has conceived two-phased initiative with phase one, a tripod initiative.
These include the acquisition of current account for the association, purchasing and deployment of the web domain for the association: www.nacossnational.com, which came live on March 12, 2005 and the establishment of partnership with NACOSS patrons.
Stressing on the web domain, he said, that it was targeted at ensuring global access to the involvements, activities and events of the association, thus making NACOSS access for its members, any time and anywhere.
“Presently, work is ongoing on implementing a content management system that would act as a repository of all the documents, articles, journals and reports of major activities of the association, even as it would act as an online journal of the association,” he asserted.
For the ICT4NEED, which forms the crop of phase two, the president said, that in order to ensure that its membership are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills needed for a successful career, a double edge strategy was unbundled.
This strategy includes the IT curriculum review in the tertiary institutions of learning and the capacity building campaign with ICT4NEED, which he noted are the current focus in this quarter.
“Leading to an entire session being dedicated to this issue at this year’s NCS conference,” he pointed.
In the opening remark, Mr. Adejube O.I., head of technical services at the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), who represented the then acting Director-General, Dr. Moses Ubaru, lauded NACOSS for the initiative to put up the workshop.
He said it came at the nick of time and identified the fact that ICT is the most vital for the National Economic Empowerment for Development and Strageies (NEEDS) document of the federal government. He assured that NITDA would soon commence steps to correct the seeming obvious inadequacy of enough policy input to be reflected in the NEEDS document.
First session of the event saw Miss Onaolamipo Oladipo of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), deliberating on “Leveraging Open Source to Reduce Information Technology Capital Spending in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions,” recognized that some scarce resources in the nations universities are retarding development in this sector.
According to her, benefits of open source in cost saving and freedom of distribution are gains over the proprietary software. Thus, it could be leveraged upon to reduce the cost of capital spending in the tertiary institutions nationwide.
She further recommended Open Source as a veritable option to be deployed by the nation’s higher institutions.
President, Nigerian Information Technology Professionals in the Americas (NITPA), Prof. Manny Aniebonam, in his paper at the occasion entitled ‘Emerging Nigerian Economy, NEEDS and the Nigerian Youth,’ he led participants on the job opportunities available to them as students majoring in computer science, probably on graduation.
This includes the chance of emerging as notable programmers, network engineers, database administrators and system integrators to name a few.
According to him, there is hope for the nation based on level of what he saw at the venue, mostly if NACOSS members remain steadfast and face their studies diligently.
He stressed that the federal government’s NEEDS project is a policy embedded opportunities that are now opened for those willing to find positions in IT-driven society.
This, he said, is where the nation is heading to, especially with the support of the private sector-led initiatives, most of who are interested in bringing skills and knowledge into the country from diaspora.
He advised them to tow the path of mental renovation while working towards positive personal development, which he described as the only competence required of them. He also reminded them that the future of the nation lay in their hands.
The National Secretary General of NACOSS, Mr. Olugboji Tolulope Morayo, in a communiqué issued at the end of the workshop noted that the association is more resolved than ever towards meeting its chosen goals to ensure that the group is relevant in the scheme of things at this era.
Undoubtedly, NACOSS remains the largest assembly of the nation’s IT youths platform across all the geopolitical zones, hence this platform rather than deplete, should be encouraged in all ramifications, for a greater tomorrow based on knowledge and skill.
Siemens, Airbus in joint GSM solution for aircraft
GERMAN telecommunications giant, Siemens, has signed an exclusive contract with Airbus to jointly develop a solution to be used as in-flight communication via the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).
Siemens said it would provide the technology, while Airbus takes charge of the integration in the existing electronics systems.
Additionally, Airbus would be responsible for marketing the new solution to other airlines and for maintenance.
The commercial launch of this new customer service, a press statement from Siemens said, is planned for mid 2006.
This entails that Airbus will now be able to offer the customers of the airlines full-time availability while in the air.
President of the business segment Mobile Networks at Siemens Communications, Mr. Christoph Caselitz, said, a decisive factor in Airbus’s choice of Siemens as its partner in implementing this service was the expertise of the company in realizing complex projects and innovative, customer-oriented technologies.
“With the integration of GSM, airline passengers will in future be able to use their own mobile devices for in-flight phone calls or Internet surfing. During business flights in particular, but on private journeys too, continuous availability is a decisive quality factor for many passengers,” he said.
The GSM solution, he explained, is implemented via a Siemens nano-GSM/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) base station on the airplane attached behind the ceiling panel, which allows reception for a mobile phone, Personal Computer (PC) or organizer from any seat on the plane.
The Siemens nano-GSM base station, he noted, is the smallest and lightest base station in the world currently.
Stressing that the product is based on Internet Protocol (IP) and is linked to the terrestrial GSM mobile network with the aid of satellite technology.
Pointing out that an important prerequisite for implementing the solution is the integration of channel selector technology, which is a technology that prevents the end devices from establishing contact with terrestrial networks and hence interfering with the avionics.
“It therefore ensures that radio communication from the airplane is conducted solely via satellite. The new solution will be modular in structure so that it could be expanded to accommodate more GSM capacity and other technologies such as Wide Local Area Network (WLAN),” he said.
Emphasising that people being able to use their mobile phones “onboard aircraft has long been the wish of many passengers who often travel on business flights and depend on mobile communication solutions”, explained Mr. Caselitz.
“We at Siemens are working hard on mobile enterprise solutions that carriers and service providers could make available to their customers through wireless technology.
The partnership between Siemens and Airbus will ensure that this modern service is up and running soon and will open up new sources of revenue for the airlines,” he said.
Siemens said it would provide the technology, while Airbus takes charge of the integration in the existing electronics systems.
Additionally, Airbus would be responsible for marketing the new solution to other airlines and for maintenance.
The commercial launch of this new customer service, a press statement from Siemens said, is planned for mid 2006.
This entails that Airbus will now be able to offer the customers of the airlines full-time availability while in the air.
President of the business segment Mobile Networks at Siemens Communications, Mr. Christoph Caselitz, said, a decisive factor in Airbus’s choice of Siemens as its partner in implementing this service was the expertise of the company in realizing complex projects and innovative, customer-oriented technologies.
“With the integration of GSM, airline passengers will in future be able to use their own mobile devices for in-flight phone calls or Internet surfing. During business flights in particular, but on private journeys too, continuous availability is a decisive quality factor for many passengers,” he said.
The GSM solution, he explained, is implemented via a Siemens nano-GSM/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) base station on the airplane attached behind the ceiling panel, which allows reception for a mobile phone, Personal Computer (PC) or organizer from any seat on the plane.
The Siemens nano-GSM base station, he noted, is the smallest and lightest base station in the world currently.
Stressing that the product is based on Internet Protocol (IP) and is linked to the terrestrial GSM mobile network with the aid of satellite technology.
Pointing out that an important prerequisite for implementing the solution is the integration of channel selector technology, which is a technology that prevents the end devices from establishing contact with terrestrial networks and hence interfering with the avionics.
“It therefore ensures that radio communication from the airplane is conducted solely via satellite. The new solution will be modular in structure so that it could be expanded to accommodate more GSM capacity and other technologies such as Wide Local Area Network (WLAN),” he said.
Emphasising that people being able to use their mobile phones “onboard aircraft has long been the wish of many passengers who often travel on business flights and depend on mobile communication solutions”, explained Mr. Caselitz.
“We at Siemens are working hard on mobile enterprise solutions that carriers and service providers could make available to their customers through wireless technology.
The partnership between Siemens and Airbus will ensure that this modern service is up and running soon and will open up new sources of revenue for the airlines,” he said.
ChamsAccess service makes a debut
Chams Nigeria Limited was unveiled a transactional and information platform, known as ChamsAccess service in Lagos.
Corporate Affairs executive Mr. Yemi Akinleye said the unveiling was in response to market demands and in support of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) technology penetration in the country.
He quoted the General Manager, Chams Nigeria Limited, Mr. Eniola Bolarin, as saying “the services would soon be deployed to strategic locations throughout the country so that Nigerians could enjoy and appreciate a self service platform that offers unparallel convenience and efficiency on routine business transaction as the service offers a one -stop multi application and multi-function cashless transaction”.
Mr. Bolarin said that ChamsAccess would complement the dreams of the Federal Government in setting up the National e- payment forum as a tool to leap-frogging the nation towards a cashless society.
According to him, also said the company is already on ground to support the initiative with its ChamsAccess service terminals.
Also speaking, Chairman Entertainment Committee of Ikoyi Club, Mr. Femi Numa, posited that Nigeria is long over due for a cashless society as been championed by the likes of Chams through the ChamsAccess service terminal.
He said with the coming of the service, Nigerians would be exposed to international practice of doing business and help build a culture of electronic solutions.
Offering on the ChamsAccess includes bill payments, online banking services, fund transfer, recharge card vending, Internet access, airline ticketing and reservation, telephony, multi media e-mail, information portal, games and advertisement.
Corporate Affairs executive Mr. Yemi Akinleye said the unveiling was in response to market demands and in support of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) technology penetration in the country.
He quoted the General Manager, Chams Nigeria Limited, Mr. Eniola Bolarin, as saying “the services would soon be deployed to strategic locations throughout the country so that Nigerians could enjoy and appreciate a self service platform that offers unparallel convenience and efficiency on routine business transaction as the service offers a one -stop multi application and multi-function cashless transaction”.
Mr. Bolarin said that ChamsAccess would complement the dreams of the Federal Government in setting up the National e- payment forum as a tool to leap-frogging the nation towards a cashless society.
According to him, also said the company is already on ground to support the initiative with its ChamsAccess service terminals.
Also speaking, Chairman Entertainment Committee of Ikoyi Club, Mr. Femi Numa, posited that Nigeria is long over due for a cashless society as been championed by the likes of Chams through the ChamsAccess service terminal.
He said with the coming of the service, Nigerians would be exposed to international practice of doing business and help build a culture of electronic solutions.
Offering on the ChamsAccess includes bill payments, online banking services, fund transfer, recharge card vending, Internet access, airline ticketing and reservation, telephony, multi media e-mail, information portal, games and advertisement.
Lawal makes case for e-payment
MANAGING Director of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc, Mr. Paul O. Lawal, has said that the adoption of electronic payment system would reduce the huge amount of money outside the financial sector otherwise known as Currency Outside Banks (COB).
Speaking at the fifth edition of West Africa’s Card Technology Conference and exhibition held in Lagos at the weekend, Mr. Lawal, said in his keynote address that over N500 billion in circulation in the country are outside the banking system.
According to him, equals more than 20 per cent of the total monetary liabilities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that are in currency outside the banking system.
“Electronic payment is the order of the day in all industrialized economies. Nigeria, and indeed all emerging economies, must deploy all appropriate resources to develop their respective payment systems,” he asserted.
In his paper entitled “Discover the Changing World of Payment” Mr. Lawal examined the state of the nation’s payment system, and said that the N500b represents about 90 per cent of the money supplied into the system as at the first quarter of this year.
Champion Infotel recalls that in the country’s COB has hovered between N300 billion and N400 billion.
He, however, pointed out that this figure amounts to 20 per cent the total monetary liabilities of the CBN, against 4 per cent in the United Kingdom and 9 per cent in the United States.
He stressed that the nation’s payment system is generally characterized by high cash payments volume and high resistance to new initiatives, resulting therefore, “in adequate data for planning”.
This in effect causes the missing of economic development opportunities, even as low depth of financial intermediation also pervades the banking industry and the nation as well.
He said that this amounted to critical reduction in the efficiency of monetary policy, coupled with rife in corruption, which have contributed to the decay of the nation’s payment system.
Emphasising that cost of banking business is high, “so much investment in cash handling machines, insurance, cash storage among others,” stand as obstacle to the growth of the system too.
According to him, duplication of payment structures and lack of infrastructure were not helpful at all and add to high underutilization of installed capacity.
But then, there are potentials of an efficient payment system in the country, that is, until customers embrace electronic payment solution fully.
This, he said, would bring about drastic reduction in the amount of currency outside the banking system as more funds would be available for banks to support credit demands.
He further said that the nation has potentials to earn foreign exchange due to export of new payment process, personnel and technology. He also lauded the recent payment solution initiatives in the country, including the implementation of the Nigeria Automated Clearing System (NACS), which he said, reduces the clearing days for local cheques, just as the introduction of Electronic Funds Transfer by NIBSS has been very helpful.
Pointing out that the establishment of Electronic Payment schemes such as Valucard, Smartpay, eTranzact, Interswitch, Mastercard, GloMobile among others into the system, as well as the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network have been on the increase and is very encouraging for the system growth.
Speaking at the fifth edition of West Africa’s Card Technology Conference and exhibition held in Lagos at the weekend, Mr. Lawal, said in his keynote address that over N500 billion in circulation in the country are outside the banking system.
According to him, equals more than 20 per cent of the total monetary liabilities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that are in currency outside the banking system.
“Electronic payment is the order of the day in all industrialized economies. Nigeria, and indeed all emerging economies, must deploy all appropriate resources to develop their respective payment systems,” he asserted.
In his paper entitled “Discover the Changing World of Payment” Mr. Lawal examined the state of the nation’s payment system, and said that the N500b represents about 90 per cent of the money supplied into the system as at the first quarter of this year.
Champion Infotel recalls that in the country’s COB has hovered between N300 billion and N400 billion.
He, however, pointed out that this figure amounts to 20 per cent the total monetary liabilities of the CBN, against 4 per cent in the United Kingdom and 9 per cent in the United States.
He stressed that the nation’s payment system is generally characterized by high cash payments volume and high resistance to new initiatives, resulting therefore, “in adequate data for planning”.
This in effect causes the missing of economic development opportunities, even as low depth of financial intermediation also pervades the banking industry and the nation as well.
He said that this amounted to critical reduction in the efficiency of monetary policy, coupled with rife in corruption, which have contributed to the decay of the nation’s payment system.
Emphasising that cost of banking business is high, “so much investment in cash handling machines, insurance, cash storage among others,” stand as obstacle to the growth of the system too.
According to him, duplication of payment structures and lack of infrastructure were not helpful at all and add to high underutilization of installed capacity.
But then, there are potentials of an efficient payment system in the country, that is, until customers embrace electronic payment solution fully.
This, he said, would bring about drastic reduction in the amount of currency outside the banking system as more funds would be available for banks to support credit demands.
He further said that the nation has potentials to earn foreign exchange due to export of new payment process, personnel and technology. He also lauded the recent payment solution initiatives in the country, including the implementation of the Nigeria Automated Clearing System (NACS), which he said, reduces the clearing days for local cheques, just as the introduction of Electronic Funds Transfer by NIBSS has been very helpful.
Pointing out that the establishment of Electronic Payment schemes such as Valucard, Smartpay, eTranzact, Interswitch, Mastercard, GloMobile among others into the system, as well as the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network have been on the increase and is very encouraging for the system growth.
‘Collaboration, communication key to adding value’
Microsoft Nigeria has identified collaboration and communication as a joint avenues for business growth and keys to adding value to businesses.
Speaking through its Technology Specialists, Mrs. June Anasiudu, in Lagos at a one-day seminar, Microsoft said by collaborating with that adequate communications that business targets would be met.
“Collaboration is at the core of business. Communication is key to being able to meet your targets and achieve customer satisfaction,” she declared.
Mrs. Anasiudu also advised that customers should see technology as a tool for collaboration, emphasizing that being able to communicate effectively is key to business success.
She pointed out that organizations have a duty to enhance their businesses through improved communication and collaboration by utilizing a plethora of cost effective, low risk Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft Exchange 2003, Microsoft Sharepoint Server, Windows Sharepoint Services, and the Microsoft Office Applications.
The technology specialist enumerated four pillars of collaboration that Microsoft sees as challenges and is investing in.
These include integrated communication, collaborative workspaces, access to information and people, and people-driven processes.
Most of these, she said results in easier ways of finding and sharing information, as well as improving team effectiveness, accelerate the time to results and ultimately reduce costs.
Talking about access to information and people, June noted that customers must be able to have access to people by building large networks of knowledge of others.
She also charged organizations to enhance the quality of shared information within the company so that employees can act faster, leading to better and more informed business decisions.
Earlier, Mrs. Yinka David West, Lecturer at the Lagos Business School, informed participants, that as the nature of work today is fast changing, workplaces are fast disappearing and information system is now used to create new businesses, find new customers and expand the business horizon.
“The form of business has changed, business borders have been eliminated and role of information in business has changed. One organization does not do the business alone. It engages groups with core competencies,” she said.
Emphasizing that the office is no more a physical spot, she said the challenge is for the customers to know how to do their businesses with resources dispersed across the globe, and move information through the value chain.
Microsoft’s Financial Services Industry Manager for West, East and Central Africa (WECA) Mr. Adefolu Majekodunmi, said, as the organization gets bigger, the personnel need to communicate more as to be able to increase their productivity and boost the business of the organization.
He described collaboration as a way of ensuring the organization becomes effective and reactive, adding that as a global software leader, Microsoft is trying to assist organizations to use communication to increase productivity and add value to their investments within the global market place.
The seminar was targeted at technical decision makers, and business decision makers from IT and business community was to create the awareness that customers could start with the applications in their disposal to begin to apply collaboration initiatives in order to enhance business utility.
“They would go back and see how to tackle their collaboration challenges with the familiar tools they probably already have. We want to work with our customers to enhance their productivity,” June said.
Speaking through its Technology Specialists, Mrs. June Anasiudu, in Lagos at a one-day seminar, Microsoft said by collaborating with that adequate communications that business targets would be met.
“Collaboration is at the core of business. Communication is key to being able to meet your targets and achieve customer satisfaction,” she declared.
Mrs. Anasiudu also advised that customers should see technology as a tool for collaboration, emphasizing that being able to communicate effectively is key to business success.
She pointed out that organizations have a duty to enhance their businesses through improved communication and collaboration by utilizing a plethora of cost effective, low risk Microsoft technologies such as Microsoft Exchange 2003, Microsoft Sharepoint Server, Windows Sharepoint Services, and the Microsoft Office Applications.
The technology specialist enumerated four pillars of collaboration that Microsoft sees as challenges and is investing in.
These include integrated communication, collaborative workspaces, access to information and people, and people-driven processes.
Most of these, she said results in easier ways of finding and sharing information, as well as improving team effectiveness, accelerate the time to results and ultimately reduce costs.
Talking about access to information and people, June noted that customers must be able to have access to people by building large networks of knowledge of others.
She also charged organizations to enhance the quality of shared information within the company so that employees can act faster, leading to better and more informed business decisions.
Earlier, Mrs. Yinka David West, Lecturer at the Lagos Business School, informed participants, that as the nature of work today is fast changing, workplaces are fast disappearing and information system is now used to create new businesses, find new customers and expand the business horizon.
“The form of business has changed, business borders have been eliminated and role of information in business has changed. One organization does not do the business alone. It engages groups with core competencies,” she said.
Emphasizing that the office is no more a physical spot, she said the challenge is for the customers to know how to do their businesses with resources dispersed across the globe, and move information through the value chain.
Microsoft’s Financial Services Industry Manager for West, East and Central Africa (WECA) Mr. Adefolu Majekodunmi, said, as the organization gets bigger, the personnel need to communicate more as to be able to increase their productivity and boost the business of the organization.
He described collaboration as a way of ensuring the organization becomes effective and reactive, adding that as a global software leader, Microsoft is trying to assist organizations to use communication to increase productivity and add value to their investments within the global market place.
The seminar was targeted at technical decision makers, and business decision makers from IT and business community was to create the awareness that customers could start with the applications in their disposal to begin to apply collaboration initiatives in order to enhance business utility.
“They would go back and see how to tackle their collaboration challenges with the familiar tools they probably already have. We want to work with our customers to enhance their productivity,” June said.
Lagos lotto, no go area for hackers - Orion
ORION Technologies Nigeria Limited, operators of the Lagos State Lottery, has said there is no room for fraudsters, otherwise call hackers, in the electronic game.
Hacker is a term used to describe different types of computer experts. The media and the general population typically use the term to mean “computer criminal” according to online Wikipedia.
General Manager, Business Development and Special Projects at Orion Nigeria, Mr. Dominic Dempers, gave this assurance in Lagos recently in a chat with newsmen.
He said that the lottery which rolled out yesterday, Wednesday, July 13, would not be penetrated by hackers among other electronic fraudsters.
The lottery, which is powered by Intralot, known as the second largest lottery technology supplier globally, has records of uncompromised security system.
“The system is highly secured and prevents hacking from hackers anywhere they might be operating from around the world,” he declared.
Assuring on the safety of the lottery, he said, the public has nothing to worry about of its operations as its central system has peculiar security mechanisms that effectively protect it from all forms of ticket fraudsters or hackers.
With 30 subsidiaries, seven business offices in 26 countries, Intralot, he said, is an experienced lottery technology supplier with operations in such countries as Malta, Turkey, Greece, and Serbia.
It would also have onsight technical manager for the Lagos operations as well as round-the-clock online support from Greece, which the Lagos system is linked to for replication, he said.
Chief executive of Orion Technologies, Mr. Humphrey Khoza also maintained that the infrastructure would be characterized by high-availability design as all key components are duplicated with no single points of failure; industry-leading equipment; highly-secure communications network; electronic access control in data centre, automatic fire detection and suppression systems in data centre and resilient under averse weather conditions.
Hacker is a term used to describe different types of computer experts. The media and the general population typically use the term to mean “computer criminal” according to online Wikipedia.
General Manager, Business Development and Special Projects at Orion Nigeria, Mr. Dominic Dempers, gave this assurance in Lagos recently in a chat with newsmen.
He said that the lottery which rolled out yesterday, Wednesday, July 13, would not be penetrated by hackers among other electronic fraudsters.
The lottery, which is powered by Intralot, known as the second largest lottery technology supplier globally, has records of uncompromised security system.
“The system is highly secured and prevents hacking from hackers anywhere they might be operating from around the world,” he declared.
Assuring on the safety of the lottery, he said, the public has nothing to worry about of its operations as its central system has peculiar security mechanisms that effectively protect it from all forms of ticket fraudsters or hackers.
With 30 subsidiaries, seven business offices in 26 countries, Intralot, he said, is an experienced lottery technology supplier with operations in such countries as Malta, Turkey, Greece, and Serbia.
It would also have onsight technical manager for the Lagos operations as well as round-the-clock online support from Greece, which the Lagos system is linked to for replication, he said.
Chief executive of Orion Technologies, Mr. Humphrey Khoza also maintained that the infrastructure would be characterized by high-availability design as all key components are duplicated with no single points of failure; industry-leading equipment; highly-secure communications network; electronic access control in data centre, automatic fire detection and suppression systems in data centre and resilient under averse weather conditions.
We’re third largest IT distributor in Nigeria – Shankar
Director, Redington Gulf FZE, United Arab Emirate, Dubai, and covering Africa Mr. Raj Shankar, was in Lagos to mark one year of Redington’s partnership with Hewlett Packard (HP) Nigeria, recently. He spoke to newsmen on the firm’s plans for Nigeria. REMMY NWEKE was there. Excerpts:
Tell us about Redington?
We have operations in over 25 countries, in the India sub-continent, Asia Pacific, Middle East and now Africa.
The company in terms of establishment in India is about 1000 years young, the establishment in the middle east is about seven years young, in Singapore, its about two decades ago and in Africa its about just getting one.
This is broadly about Redington, and for your consumption, Redington has consolidated turn-over in excess over $1 billion.
This includes India, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. One point I might just have to tell you at this stage is that Redington is a global company which is the third largest IT distributor in the country - Nigeria.
Redington also a company, third largest IT distributor in the world today, which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange and Taiwan Stock Exchange, they have taken 36 per cent stake in Redington, thereby Redington is now poised from being a regional player across Asia Pacific, India sub-continent, Middle East and Africa. We’re now set for the global stage. I hope I have gladly given you a flavour of what Redington is all about.
What’s the name of this company that took a stake in Redington?
This third IT distributor in the world is called SYNNEX. The reason why I mentioned it is because there is capital infusion into the company that has made the financial standing of Redington of a very high order.
Now, let me quickly come down to some specifics. The entire region of Africa is managed by my colleague, Mr. Sumant Saran. He is the Vice President for the entire African operation. He comes with a very rich experience in the IT business and has worked with companies of good repute like Jambo Electronics in the middle east with over 28 retail outlets and he used to be the General Manager heading the IT division. He joined Redington a little over two and half years ago and has since assumed total responsibility for the African operation.
He is also going to work with Mr. Vikas Virama, the country manager for the Nigeria operation. Vikas, again comes from a very rich experience in IT distribution. He used to work with a company, Techpacific. Techpacific was until recently the number one IT distributor in India, Redington was the number two. He has come on board, for almost one year. He manages and takes responsibilities for the entire Nigeria operation.
Can you elaborate on your relationship or partnership with HP?
HP, a lot of us know is one of the leading IT companies. We have signed up with them which is of the reason to celebrate the one year of that partnership.
How rewarding has the partnership been in the past one year?
Well, very rewarding as you must have known, HP is one of the leading brands in Africa and definitely this relationship has been very rewarding and we have been able to do some businesses, most of which was with HP. That has really shown that Redington adds value to HP and it has been good for us.
Your company has been here for over a year now, can you tell us what your views were before you venture into the country and now?
The operation is about two-year old. So our HP relationship is for about a year now. Africa as a whole in my opinion is a land of opportunities and that is the reason we came into Africa and today, if you look at the European market, the market is growing. Two years before this, middle east had brought in at least 20 per cent, so the budget is coming down as the market matures.
Africa in our scheme of things is a market with a very great market potentials, hence we decided to come to Africa and look at Africa very seriously by investing and setting up local offices in East and Central Africa. This office here in Nigeria caters for our West African operations.
Yes, I can tell you there are challenges and a lot needed to be addressed, but yet, I can tell you that in two years, we have found our foot and we’re just about to get the benefit of what we have done in two years.
And in terms of our expansion plans, don’t forget, we’re distribution organization., for as we talk, we have other brands in our portfolio other than HP. It would be our endeavour to get as many brands as possible, into four-main segments of what we would like to call Personal Computers (PCs), printers and image products, PC components and other products.
There seem to be a steady increase in the number of channels for hardware, printers and PCs and even now the GSM handsets, but there is no corresponding service centres, is Redington planning to open one in the country?
Thank for asking that question. If there was one key differentiating factor between Redington as a distributor and any other IT distributor, is the fact that we provide support services for the products we distribute. This is unlike the world number one and number two IT distributors, they are not into services business.
What makes Redington unique is the fact that we would be providing services. And to answer your question, yes, Redington has received from HP, the authorization to be their service provider in Nigeria for the entire range of products. We already have some service engineers on board.
Can you give detail on the authorization given to Redington by HP in terms of your partnership?
If that question is very specific to services, let me tell you, there is HP partners called ASDP, it stands for Authorised Service Delivery Partner. This is a status that is given to companies that have the capability in the terms of doing repair level, which is of a very high order. When we talk about support services, it encompasses two areas; one is what we call services during the warranty period and those services which include sale of spare parts.
HP has a system that offers extended warranty programme and we would be offering that to our customers in Nigeria.
What is the level of your investment in the country currently?
In terms of investment, I told you that Redington is a distribution organisation for HP. For any distributor, that is, a very significant portfolio and for any distributor that is, in terms of revenue, because HP is not a mere IT company, but a conglomerate. You have right from PCs down to servers, printers, scanners and a whole lot of HP services.
So, obviously this would be very important of anybody’s portfolio. Having said that, we have plans as distributor to invest and we normally would invest in two areas. Investment in terms of capital would go into essentially stocking, stepping up infrastructure, like to rent houses and service centres and so on.
And the second area for investment for us is people investment. As we talk today, we have over 10 people with completely brand new sale offices which is now set up, a brand new service centres which is in the offing and a brand new warehouse which has been established. So these are our two forms of investment.
Beyond HP, what other products …
(Cuts in) It’s Redington endeavour to look at four categories , although it is very difficult to talk about brand specific. So number one is that we have HP, ACER. The number two is that as we talk, we have imaging and printing; we have HP and at the moment that is all we have for Nigeria. But for others we also have Canon, Epson and other brands.
The third phase, I mentioned to you earlier, was the PC components, there are Intel PC unit (PCU), whether it is harddisk drive from Seagate, Western Digital or some motherboard from Intel, Gigabyte and even Microsoft operating system for that, all of which are not yet here, but there is another focus area.
Beyond the field of IT as one major, shall we say segment, we’re also looking at another segment which is telecommunications, not as a service provider but a distributor at this point in time for handsets for one of the largest mobile company in the world.
This is something the contract is being sealed and the heat is getting dry.
What’s the connection between Afprint and Redington, their log looks the same and Redington Nigeria is located at the Afprint premises in Lagos from what your card is reading?
Interestingly, Redington, is a part of what is known as Kewalram Chanrai group, which has historic presence of over one and half century. You may not even find a single held company today in the business, whether is in Asia Pacific or Middle East and Africa, which is becoming a household name. Today, you talk about Afprint, it is a household name I am sure in Nigeria.
Now you have Aplot, it is also of the same group, but that was till December 2004. That is when a company called Synnex stepped in and invested 36 per cent in Redington. Thereby today, its not one shareholder but two shareholders and that was why I did not talk too much about Kewalram Chanrai group.
Founded in 1993, Redington is a leading provider of IT products, Logistics Management and serves more than 6700 IT resellers in India covering over 450 cities.
What is your market share in Nigeria as of today and what do you look up to?
In Redington, it is one of our philosophies that in any market we engage in, we’re either the number one, or a very good number two.
The reason why I said that is that in any region where Redington is today, that’s one of the edge that we enjoy.
Yes, Redington would aspire to be the No 1 in the geography on the product group or a very good No 2. Also remember that I mentioned to you, that for HP in Nigeria, we are the No 3, within one year. So, we’re just warming up.
Tell us about Redington?
We have operations in over 25 countries, in the India sub-continent, Asia Pacific, Middle East and now Africa.
The company in terms of establishment in India is about 1000 years young, the establishment in the middle east is about seven years young, in Singapore, its about two decades ago and in Africa its about just getting one.
This is broadly about Redington, and for your consumption, Redington has consolidated turn-over in excess over $1 billion.
This includes India, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. One point I might just have to tell you at this stage is that Redington is a global company which is the third largest IT distributor in the country - Nigeria.
Redington also a company, third largest IT distributor in the world today, which is listed in the New York Stock Exchange and Taiwan Stock Exchange, they have taken 36 per cent stake in Redington, thereby Redington is now poised from being a regional player across Asia Pacific, India sub-continent, Middle East and Africa. We’re now set for the global stage. I hope I have gladly given you a flavour of what Redington is all about.
What’s the name of this company that took a stake in Redington?
This third IT distributor in the world is called SYNNEX. The reason why I mentioned it is because there is capital infusion into the company that has made the financial standing of Redington of a very high order.
Now, let me quickly come down to some specifics. The entire region of Africa is managed by my colleague, Mr. Sumant Saran. He is the Vice President for the entire African operation. He comes with a very rich experience in the IT business and has worked with companies of good repute like Jambo Electronics in the middle east with over 28 retail outlets and he used to be the General Manager heading the IT division. He joined Redington a little over two and half years ago and has since assumed total responsibility for the African operation.
He is also going to work with Mr. Vikas Virama, the country manager for the Nigeria operation. Vikas, again comes from a very rich experience in IT distribution. He used to work with a company, Techpacific. Techpacific was until recently the number one IT distributor in India, Redington was the number two. He has come on board, for almost one year. He manages and takes responsibilities for the entire Nigeria operation.
Can you elaborate on your relationship or partnership with HP?
HP, a lot of us know is one of the leading IT companies. We have signed up with them which is of the reason to celebrate the one year of that partnership.
How rewarding has the partnership been in the past one year?
Well, very rewarding as you must have known, HP is one of the leading brands in Africa and definitely this relationship has been very rewarding and we have been able to do some businesses, most of which was with HP. That has really shown that Redington adds value to HP and it has been good for us.
Your company has been here for over a year now, can you tell us what your views were before you venture into the country and now?
The operation is about two-year old. So our HP relationship is for about a year now. Africa as a whole in my opinion is a land of opportunities and that is the reason we came into Africa and today, if you look at the European market, the market is growing. Two years before this, middle east had brought in at least 20 per cent, so the budget is coming down as the market matures.
Africa in our scheme of things is a market with a very great market potentials, hence we decided to come to Africa and look at Africa very seriously by investing and setting up local offices in East and Central Africa. This office here in Nigeria caters for our West African operations.
Yes, I can tell you there are challenges and a lot needed to be addressed, but yet, I can tell you that in two years, we have found our foot and we’re just about to get the benefit of what we have done in two years.
And in terms of our expansion plans, don’t forget, we’re distribution organization., for as we talk, we have other brands in our portfolio other than HP. It would be our endeavour to get as many brands as possible, into four-main segments of what we would like to call Personal Computers (PCs), printers and image products, PC components and other products.
There seem to be a steady increase in the number of channels for hardware, printers and PCs and even now the GSM handsets, but there is no corresponding service centres, is Redington planning to open one in the country?
Thank for asking that question. If there was one key differentiating factor between Redington as a distributor and any other IT distributor, is the fact that we provide support services for the products we distribute. This is unlike the world number one and number two IT distributors, they are not into services business.
What makes Redington unique is the fact that we would be providing services. And to answer your question, yes, Redington has received from HP, the authorization to be their service provider in Nigeria for the entire range of products. We already have some service engineers on board.
Can you give detail on the authorization given to Redington by HP in terms of your partnership?
If that question is very specific to services, let me tell you, there is HP partners called ASDP, it stands for Authorised Service Delivery Partner. This is a status that is given to companies that have the capability in the terms of doing repair level, which is of a very high order. When we talk about support services, it encompasses two areas; one is what we call services during the warranty period and those services which include sale of spare parts.
HP has a system that offers extended warranty programme and we would be offering that to our customers in Nigeria.
What is the level of your investment in the country currently?
In terms of investment, I told you that Redington is a distribution organisation for HP. For any distributor, that is, a very significant portfolio and for any distributor that is, in terms of revenue, because HP is not a mere IT company, but a conglomerate. You have right from PCs down to servers, printers, scanners and a whole lot of HP services.
So, obviously this would be very important of anybody’s portfolio. Having said that, we have plans as distributor to invest and we normally would invest in two areas. Investment in terms of capital would go into essentially stocking, stepping up infrastructure, like to rent houses and service centres and so on.
And the second area for investment for us is people investment. As we talk today, we have over 10 people with completely brand new sale offices which is now set up, a brand new service centres which is in the offing and a brand new warehouse which has been established. So these are our two forms of investment.
Beyond HP, what other products …
(Cuts in) It’s Redington endeavour to look at four categories , although it is very difficult to talk about brand specific. So number one is that we have HP, ACER. The number two is that as we talk, we have imaging and printing; we have HP and at the moment that is all we have for Nigeria. But for others we also have Canon, Epson and other brands.
The third phase, I mentioned to you earlier, was the PC components, there are Intel PC unit (PCU), whether it is harddisk drive from Seagate, Western Digital or some motherboard from Intel, Gigabyte and even Microsoft operating system for that, all of which are not yet here, but there is another focus area.
Beyond the field of IT as one major, shall we say segment, we’re also looking at another segment which is telecommunications, not as a service provider but a distributor at this point in time for handsets for one of the largest mobile company in the world.
This is something the contract is being sealed and the heat is getting dry.
What’s the connection between Afprint and Redington, their log looks the same and Redington Nigeria is located at the Afprint premises in Lagos from what your card is reading?
Interestingly, Redington, is a part of what is known as Kewalram Chanrai group, which has historic presence of over one and half century. You may not even find a single held company today in the business, whether is in Asia Pacific or Middle East and Africa, which is becoming a household name. Today, you talk about Afprint, it is a household name I am sure in Nigeria.
Now you have Aplot, it is also of the same group, but that was till December 2004. That is when a company called Synnex stepped in and invested 36 per cent in Redington. Thereby today, its not one shareholder but two shareholders and that was why I did not talk too much about Kewalram Chanrai group.
Founded in 1993, Redington is a leading provider of IT products, Logistics Management and serves more than 6700 IT resellers in India covering over 450 cities.
What is your market share in Nigeria as of today and what do you look up to?
In Redington, it is one of our philosophies that in any market we engage in, we’re either the number one, or a very good number two.
The reason why I said that is that in any region where Redington is today, that’s one of the edge that we enjoy.
Yes, Redington would aspire to be the No 1 in the geography on the product group or a very good No 2. Also remember that I mentioned to you, that for HP in Nigeria, we are the No 3, within one year. So, we’re just warming up.
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