Spam on agenda @ Telecom World-06

In order to get rid of spam in today’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts took time to deliberate on the way forward at the on-going International Telecommunication Union (ITU)-organised Telecom World 2006, holding in Hong Kong.

"Spam" as related to electronic mails (e-mail) means Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) and a message is Spam only if simply sent in bulk to unsolicited Internet users, most of the time, for commercial purposes.

The one-day session “Towards a Spam-Free Digital Society” ITU said would hold Friday, December 8, on the theme, "Countering Spam Cooperation Agenda."

ITU also said that some key international and regional organizations as well as experts involved in the fight against spam have been summoned in Hong Kong to discuss greater collaborative efforts to battle spam and related threats.

A number of organizations worldwide are actively engaged in the fight against spam, but a solution cannot be found unless these organizations share knowledge of the work they have undertaken to date, pinpoint potential overlaps and cooperate to address the gaps. Unsolicited commercial communications by e-mail represent a major plague threatening the Digital World.

This workshop will consider specific practical next steps that can be taken to work toward a common countering spam cooperation agenda.

The first symptoms of spam were mild irritation to users. Now the disease has progressed to the point where spammers are sending billions of messages per day, choking off the legitimate email correspondence that needs to flow freely within and between organizations and all inhabitants of the Digital World.

Today, spam represents around 90 per cent of all electronic mail (email) messages.

Deputy Head, ITU Strategy and Policy Unit, Mr. Robert Shaw, said "Monty Python's new musical Spamalot might be hot fare in the comedy fan's world, but for the Digital World spam is no laughing matter. Not only is it a nuisance, it is now the primary mechanism to deliver viruses used to hijack millions of home computers which are then used without their owner's know to relay on even more spam.”

In what he also described as "zombie armies" are used to send out "phishing" attacks intended to dupe unwary users to give up personal financial details which are nowadays used to siphon money out of their back accounts.

"Spam has got to be canned. People are losing their life savings and suffering credit problems, and businesses losing vital sales and customer trust because of downtime. Above all, it has seriously undermined user confidence in online activities, hampering the development of the digital economy. The organizations represented in this event have got a message to the world's top spammers: no matter where you are in the world, we are going to work closely together to track you down and put you out of business," he assured.

The event would be an assemble of top experts in the field who would share information on the very latest trends in scams, malware and fraud, just as the meeting would opened by ITU Deputy Secretary-General Roberto Blois, who will emphasize that it represents a reinforcement of ITU's growing focus on cyber security issues.

The event will be chaired by Constance Bommelaer, Manager of Public Policy for the Internet Society (ISOC) and encompasses a series of sessions.

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More students own cars in Glo promo

More students have continued to own cars in the Globacom’s 180 cars in 180 days promo.

The latest were the three students, namely, Demehin Monday Festus of the University of Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State, Modupe Olasumbo Ogunlolu of The Federal Polytechnic, Ilaro and Oduwole Adejumoke Adepeju of the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.

Also, Abdullah Segun, a student of the Babcock University, Ilishan Remo won a 5KVA generator while 19 others from various institutions across the western part of the country emerging with cash prizes of N25,000 each.

Speaking at the presentation at University of Ado Ekiti, the telco received kudos from the Vice Chancellor, Professor Olatunji Orubuloye.

Prof. Orubuloye, who was the special guest of honour commended Globacom for living up to its promise to its subscribers.

He expressed optimism that the draws were in no way stage-managed, he congratulated the company, noting that it had won Nigerians’ confidence with its products and services, which are among the best in the telecommunications industry in Nigeria.

“The fact that you brought per second billing system when others insisted that it was impossible warmed you into the hearts of Nigerians,” he declared.

Prof Orubuloye pointed out that Globacom, within its few years of existence had identified more with Nigerians than all others in the telecommunications market, urging the telco to remain dedicated to the people while appealing to others in the sector to take a cue from the second national operator.

Jumoke Oduwole, one of the winners said she was impressed with the fact that Globacom has in the last three years made its subscribers to be proud of what the company meant to telecommunications in the country.

“Globacom brought several innovations to bear on the industry and has set a trend which others are struggling to meet”, she said.

Modupe Ogunlolu who said she found it hard to believe that she was a car owner, showered encomiums on Globacom for being the vehicle to what she termed her “end of the year gift from God.”

Regional Manager, at Globacom for Ibadan region one, Mr. Lorenzo Gomez, restated the telco’s resolve to compensation as many Nigerians as possible with the promo as well as empower most of them with its products and services.

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ICT Empowerment Network makes a debut

Intercontinental collaboration of partners to support empowerment through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and micro-credit financing for the poor, has made a debut.

The framework to be known as ICT Empowerment Network is a partnership between Grameen Bank, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Cisco Systems, Qualcomm and latest consortium, Enclusion.

The network is part of the partners support to the Connect the World Initiative of ITU.

Managing Director of Grameen Bank and Nobel Prize laureate, Prof. Muhammad Yunus, disclosed this at a session at the on-going ITU-organised Telecom World 2006 in Hong Kong.
Prof. Yunus noted that there is need to urge the international community into action, hence the network and expressed gratitude to ITU for facilitating the dream.

"This is just the beginning of an exciting, new, open collaboration and I encourage others to join us in this global effort," he said.

He explained that the network represents the first concrete area of collaboration flowing from a broader agreement signed by Professor Yunus and out-going ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi, earlier on Monday this week.

He stressed that this agreement opens the door to broader cooperation between the two organizations, with the aim of combining Grameen's micro-credit expertise with ITU's experience in implementing ICT development programmes and partnerships.

Emphasising that ICT Empowerment Network seeks to implement the vision outlined by Prof. Yunus when he received the ITU World Information Society Award on 17 May 2006.

During his acceptance speech, Prof. Yunus invited global ICT companies to take part in a worldwide effort in combining their strengths to support ICTs with micro-credit financing to assist the poor in earning sustainable incomes.

He pointed out that in order to ensure the success of the initiative, Grameen would reach out to more than 3,000 micro-finance organizations and 100 million borrowers globally, while ITU will use the support and participation of its 191 member states and some 650 private sector members from around the world.

"This is a truly powerful partnership that will yield benefits for years to come," ITU Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi noted following the signing of the agreement.

"From the moment we heard him speak last May, the entire ITU team was motivated to work with Grameen to help make Professor Yunus' vision of empowering the underprivileged with ICTs and micro-credit a reality," he added.

ITU further said that the network would consist of numerous independent, self-financed groups of partners that collaborate either in physical centres or virtually.

Each group will focus on at least one of three work streams, namely, ICT solutions, sustainable business models, and capacity building.

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UNESCO conducts survey on IFAP

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has commenced a survey on its inter-agency entity, the Information For All Programme (IFAP).

The survey UNESCO said would enable it to review IFAP activities and acceptance to the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) community globally.

According to the Project Leader at the Information Society Institute (TISI) of Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Cape Town in South Africa, Dr. Michael Gurstein, the project is being supervised by TISI.

He also informed that the survey could be located at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?A=163227117E81962 would to give the organisers some information concerning stakeholders’ perspective on IFAP and other related activities.

Dr. Gurstein also said that the questionnaire should not take more than 15 minutes and should be seen as help to UNESCO in determining how best to position IFAP for future development toward an Information Society for All.

He also revealed that the survey would end Friday, December 8, this year.

It would be recalled that IFAP prides itself as the only intergovernmental programme within UNESCO, that is, exclusively dedicated to promoting universal access to information and knowledge for development, even as they sees its implementation process as a key in building knowledge societies.

The uniqueness of this mandate and its intergovernmental nature invest the Intergovernmental Council for the Information for All Programme with the authority to speak on strategic priorities and to lobby and create awareness about issues pertaining to the use of information and ICT for development at the international level.

IFAP is currently led by award winning chairman, Laurence Zwimpfer.

Historically, various activities led to what is today known as IFAP, beginning with the UNESCO discovery of the need to define its place in the information society, precisely within the framework of the former General Information Programme (PGI) and the Intergovernmental Informatics Programme (IIP).

Hitherto, experts said that information revolution resulted in an overlap of the two programmes, which have been increasingly concentrating their activities in two main areas; first, on content for the information society, and second on actions necessary to build "infostructure" for this evolving society through training, the establishment of information policies and the promotion of networking.

And as at January 1, 2001, when IFAP replaced the PGI and IIP based on the resolution passed at Decision 3.6.1 and taken at the 160th session of UNESCO's executive board.

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ATMC targets 1,000 ATMs in 3 years

Pioneer off-site independent Automated Teller Machines (ATM) deployer in the country, ATM Consortium (ATMC) Limited, has concluded plans to live up to its goal of deploying estimated 1,000 ATMs, within three years of its operations.

Managing Director of ATMC, Mr. Noble Ekajeh, who disclosed this to our correspondent, said that his firm has ordered for 200 ATMs to boost the number of its systems on the ground from its current 146 to 346 before the end of April next year.

This, he said, was facilitated by the Export-Import Bank of America (EX-IM Bank), $5 million advance, basically for its deployment of QuickCash brands of ATMs in the country.

Mr. Ekajeh also said that ATMC, which is in its one and half years of operation has installed QuickCash ATMs in seven cities nationwide, including Abuja, Benin, Enugu, Ibadan, Kaduna, Lagos and Port-Harcourt.

He equally said disclosing that one key challenge facing the emerging electronic payment solution is lack of logistics, infrastructure and capital.

According to him, ATM business is a capital-intensive investment, noting that lack of core human resources for the industry is another obstacle for the growth of the industry.

He further said that ATMC plan is that average Nigeria coming home at this seasons, should be able to use their electronic payment cards locally in the country.Additionally to operate and manage a network of ATMs under the trademark QuickCash, ATMC provides operations and management services for third-party machines.

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