Do we need another ICT University?

Editorial@ITRealms: 

Recent times, the media has been awash with the news of advanced plans by the Federal Government (FG) to enthrone an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) University, probably in the first quarter of 2017.

According to DigitalSENSE Business News findings, the Minister of Communications Technology, Adebayo Shittu, emphatically revealed this at the first annual workshop of the Nigeria Computer Society (NCS), Abuja chapter, saying that the global technology establishments in Nigeria, like Ericsson, Microsoft, Motorola among others, will be part of the management.

The key plan is to convert the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) headquarters in Abuja to the ICT University and establish campuses in the six geopolitical zones across the country, with a bottom-line argument that Nigeria loses approximately $2.8 billion annually from the importation of ICT goods and services, including $1 billion spent annually on software imports, even as it will boost indigenous capacity of Nigerians to perform outsourcing in most of the areas that Nigerians spend huge money on importation.

The question arising thereof is whether Nigeria in the first instance needs another ICT University?

Records available to DigitalSENSE Business News from the National Universities Commission (NUC) shows Nigeria currently has some 152 universities, across the federal - 40; states - 44 and private - 68, as at time of filing this report. Among the 152 universities, there are four federal universities of technology, namely, the Federal University of Technology, Akure; Federal University of Technology, Minna; Federal University of Technology, Owerri; and University of Technology, Yola.

Also, out of 152, there are three states-owned universities of science and technology; comprising Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu; Ondo State University of Science and Technology Okitipupa; and River State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.

Just as there are three privately-owned universities of science and technology, precisely the African University of Science & Technology, Abuja and Wesley University of Science & Technology, Ondo, both established same year, 2007, while the third is Bells University of Technology, Otta-Ogun State, founded since 2005. Thus, the Nigerian state has some 10 universities of technology despite the nomenclature.

In the same vein, Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) was established in May 2004 by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to change the narratives of dearth of trained and suitably qualified human resources in ICT sector, and to continuously foster rapid development and growth of the Nigerian telecommunications marketplace. Currently, DBI prides itself as a Centre of Excellence in ICT training and education with campuses in Abuja, Lagos and Kano, which could pass for some geo-zones.

DBI academic courses run under four principles; within the accreditation of National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), professional courses, International Telecommunications Union (ITU) accredited courses and Electronic Learning (e-Learning).

Whatever is the shortcoming of DBI in achieving its original mandate is not farfetched, including lack of local patronage by those telecommunications and ICT companies which Minister is anticipating to run the ‘ICT University’ with as Public Private Partnership (PPP). So, what stops the Ministry of Communication taking a second look at DBI in terms of existing infrastructure, syllabus and patronage, in order to make the needed change required in DBI effective, rather than starting a new capital venture, if at all in the geozones in the name of making a record of six campuses nationwide?

If the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari since inception has been lamenting lack of finance to build infrastructure will now go into establishing another set of universities with campuses in six-geozones, what will be the fate of existing DBI, which already has campuses in some zones?

If the argument of the Minister is anything to go-by, is the fact that the current 10 universities of technology and the entire university system in Nigeria have failed to produce indigenous capacity capable of salvaging the whole ICT eco-system and nation at large. It is worrisome too since building indigenous capacity has been ordinarily DBI sole mandate in ICT sector.

That Nigeria loses an estimated $2.8bn annually on ICT imports, cannot be attributed to lack of manpower in Nigeria no matter how feeble the Nigerian university systems, may be, but largely for lack of patronage and craze for anything foreign even from the Government, across all tiers and private sector.

So, instead of creating ICT University, one expected this Buhari cum Adebayo Shittu administration to prevail on the private sector players to assist the existing higher institutions including the 152 universities and DBI to have endowment of chairs in all faculties and departments, but not limited to Computer Sciences or Science and Technology, even as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme.

This has become imperative, given that the world has not only become a global village but has since been knitted with ICTs, which means every faculty if not departments must as matter of urgency have distinct computer laboratory with requisite software developed locally for education purposes, installed and maintained by local software companies, who can confidently take-in undergraduates as interns and eventually take-in graduates as employees, without spending another round of annual year budget on retraining of such candidates.

If all things were well with Nigerian universities, they should be producing turn-key students that are trained as complete package for employment or innovation. Definitely not another university is required but maintaining that which we currently have coupled with adequate patronage above board will make the difference.

Except for the sake of nomenclature, DBI is already serving the purpose of which Minister Adebayo wanted Nigeria to have an ICT University. A change of name and accreditation from NUC will get this done. He needs to conduct ‘unofficial visits’ to the existing campuses to basically know the challenges facing the likes of DBI, and computer science departments of 152 Nigerian universities. 

This could lead to perhaps a dialogue with stakeholders championed by the Nigerian Computer Society (NCS), Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN), and Nigeria Technology Impact Group (NITIG) among others.

For instance, its heart-breaking to see lately some Federal Government’s agencies and departments tender, requesting foreign computer brands when Nigeria has the likes of Zinox, Omatek, Veda, SpeedStar, Brain to name a few, who have their Completely Knock-Down (CKD) factories locally in the country, thereby creating jobs and reducing the gap in technological transfer.

Maybe as a government that reputed with “change mantra,” the Federal Government under President Buhari should lead by example, when it comes to patronizing locally made ICT facilities including educational institutions like DBI.

If Nigeria and the ICT sector are searching for a solution, already DBI is the solution with a little improvement across board, especially using typical workable PPP model.

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Dalung, rebuke 2016

SportReview @ITRealms:

One must frankly confess that there was serious mental battle deciding an apt headline for this story at this inventory-taking season of the year, especially as it relates to sports in Nigeria. Finally, however, I made up my mind to title the review as you see above.

Meanwhile, we have chosen to begin the review exercise from the self-review of the big man himself, the minister of sport Solomon Dalung who has posited that the Nigerian sports recorded significant achievements in the outgoing year and assured that things would get better in 2017. He also hinted that the repositioning of sports in 2017 would start with election of new helmsmen and women with proven love and passion for the different sports to run the federations in 2017.

He even went ahead assuring Nigerians of government non-interference in the process. The Minister who made the statement while appearing live on a television programme recently cited the unprecedented feat of the Nigeria’s Paralympic Team in RIO, the re-launching of Nigeria to the medals Table at the RIO Olympics through the Bronze medals won in Football, the nation’s posting of the best African record performances in Table Tennis and Rowing at the same Olympics and the improvement in the international ranking of its Basket Ball team following the team’s good outing at the Olympics even though they didn’t win a medal.

The Minister who praised the success recorded by the Super Eagles in its effort to pick qualification ticket to Russia 2018 World Cup observed that Nigeria’s victory over Zambia in their backyard was in itself a record; and that the Super Falcons’ ultimate reinforcement of Nigeria’s position as the powerhouse of female soccer in Africa.

Dalung used the occasion to refute the accusation of bias against female national teams compared to their male counterparts and assured of continued support for all sports. The Minister once again debunked the news that the country was not keen in participating in 2018 World Cup; insisting that he was quoted out of contest.

He assured that he and the NFF are on the same page in their determination to secure qualification for the next Mudial; assuring that everything necessary was being done to achieve the set objective the Minister acknowledged some ups and downs in 2016 sports score card but said over all, there are many positives and dropped a hint that a critical assessment of the nation’s performance in the outgoing year is underway.

He also optimised that with the prospect of improved funding in 2017 budget, Nigerian sport would fare better in 2017. What a lofty dream from our ‘honourable’ minister. Meanwhile we are yet to see his denial of his outburst on the “unrewarded’ victory of Super Falcons in which he said that as a matter of fact, the nation and his ministry never anticipated nor prepared for the success posted by the female national team!

Athletes don’t need training to win medals – Dalung

WHILE we as patriotic and sport-loving Nigerians boiled with anger over the poor preparation Team Nigeria athletes had which resulted in their woeful outing at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil, Minister of Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung further bruised our already injured psyche with his tragic- comedy (though innocently ignorant) claim that athletes don’t need too much preparation to excel in competitions!

Speaking as a personality guest on a sport radio monitored in Lagos while the sterling performances of Team Nigeria athletes were on at the 2016  Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Learned man, whose vast knowledge ideally should not have taken him beyond a front seat at the spectators’ arena of a standard stadium, buttressed his deep ignorance in the area of sport by noting that though the Paralympic athletes also had bad preparations like their able bodied athletes but the former were faring impressively better in Brazil as at the time of the radio chat.

Dalung noted then that “the disabled athletes have shown that all you need is a winning mentality and not too much preparation, they trained under the same condition with their able bodied counterparts but they are winning medals now.”

However, Commonwealth champion, Odunayo Adekuruoye also speaking on the same programme countered the minister, saying that there is no way an athlete who trained for a month or two could do well or think of winning a medal as she apologised to her fans for failing them at the Olympics.

“It is not possible to win a medal with one or two months training. We had looked forward to good training and hoped to do well at the Olympics. I want to apologise to Nigerians who had looked up to me for a medal,” she said. The publicity-seeking sports minister who had kept sealed lips following the poor outing at the Rio Olympics jerked back to his usual self ostensibly because of the performance of the Paralympic athletes who have garnered a total of nine medals consisting six gold, two silver and one bronze.

Given the judgement hammer, I personally strongly feel that Dalungl deserves all the knocks he can ever get for the manner in which he has superintended over the nation’s sport sector and he has been getting a lot of it particularly lately, since the end of the 2016 Olympics Games in Rio where our ill-prepared contingent could only win a face-saving bronze medal in the football event.

Dalung needs a real sober reflection on his innocuous role in reigniting the power tussle in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) when Nigerians thought the steam had simmered in the battle between Amaju Pinnick and Chris Giwa for the NFF leadership. Dalung's intrusion only gigered Giwa to become more rebellious, resulting in escalating disruptions to the game, the most recent of which was a purported court order suspending the Nigeria Professional Football League.

 Oga Dalung should also feel at least inwardly sorry over his behaviour towards Coach Samson Siasia and the U23 Olympic football team in the run up to the Rio Games, wherein the minister tactically turned his back on the team during their preparations in Atlanta, USA even as he publicly disowned the coach, only to embark on a face-saving technical embrace of the poor lucky coach when the team started performing well in Brazil.

Mr. Win Berret should also take the blame for whatever circumstance that led to forcing the nation’s athletes to appear in track suits at the opening ceremony in Rio, only for their ceremonial uniforms to arrive three days to the end of Olympics! What a scandal! What an embarrassment! In short, It was a national shame of international altitude.

The foregoing among others, are strong reasons why Dalung is unpopular with most sport-loving Nigerians; thereby deserving the sledge of the hammer should the nation expect any appciaable progress in the area of sport in the in-coming year.

Where are things are done right without the admixture of sentiment, Dalung has committed more than enough punishable offences to have warranted his removal from office but alas! How did he get there in the first instance? (Abi that one na JAMB question? Anyway, we recognize that this is Nigeria where anything goes despite the fact that we claim that such things happen NOT IN OUR COUNTRY.

Though some passion-laden school of thought has insisted that Daung was not responsible for our overall failure at the 2016 Olympics on the ground that he was only appointed in November 2015, less than a year to the games, and he couldn't have performed any magic with our athletes within such a short time. Gladly, however, the same school agreed that surely, the minister could have handled the games management, logistics and athletes welfare much better. Thank God for the honest admittance of this fact.

One kudo we must not fail to give Dalung anyway, is his quick realization of the rot  in the Nigerian sports management structure which prompted him to set up a 13-member Sports Reform Committee led by veteran tennis player and Coach Godwin Kienka in April 2016, five months into his tenure. Dalung saw the need to reform our sport structure even before the failure in Brazil. 

The committee finally submitted its report and recommendations just recently.. Apart from Kienka who is known for his thoroughness, other members of the committee such as Segun Odegbami (football), Sam Ahmedu (basketball) and Mary Onyali (athletics) are credible people with deep knowledge and insight about what Nigerian sport needs to do to rise again. There must be something promising coming from this committee.

We have also agreed to give to  Dalung who has publicly admitted that the scrapping of the National Sports Commission (NSC) during President Buhari's merger of Federal Ministries was a mistake and that the commission is needed to play a pivotal role in our sports development.

The minister also declared a State of Emergency in Nigerian sport in order to arrest the speedy and dangerous decline even as he has promised to review and implement the recommendations of the Godwin Kienka Committee in the process.

Perhaps in the new year at hand, we should be expecting a resuscitated National Sport Commission NSC  that is more empowered and independent of the Ministry of Sport and headed by a sport-learned  Director-General who will professionally run the commission as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) without fear or favour. 

The sport minister should, ideally, not double as chairman of the NSC as was the case before the NSC was scrapped. The sport minister should remain a political appointee while the DG of the NSC should be an expert in sport and management. The minister will oversee government policies while the DG remains responsible for implementation and performance.

Such an arrangement, we hope, will engender long term planning, proper goal-setting and improved stability in our policy formulation and management which are the basic ingredients that we need to prepare properly for events such as the Olympic Games and other international competitions. 

Dalung is a lawyer by training. If he is able to push the NSC resuscitation agenda through by getting presidential approval, and also securing legislative support and passage, he would have done Nigerian sport a big favour.

Then, we can wish our nation a Happy New Year in sport affair.

Banji Boye/GEE

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ITU’s ICT Development Index 2016

NDSF Educational Series @ITRealms:

At the 14th Global Symposium on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) indicators held in Gaborone, Botswana, between November 21 and 23, 2016, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) released this year’s report. Excerpts:

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU's) flagship annual Measuring the Information Society Report​, was recently released, showing that the world is getting more and more connected and reveals that there are still huge investment opportunities for the private sector to connect the unconnected. 

This is coming as Nigeria was ranked the 137th out of its 175 members under review for this year, just as the Korea Republic topped the ranking chat, reports DigitalREALMS. This is coming as Nigeria’s economic value within the ICT for Development Index was 2.72, whereas it was 2.48 in 2015, while the ranking was stagnant.

The Measuring the Information Society Report is widely recognized as the repository of the world's most reliable and impartial global data and analysis on the state of global ICT development and is extensively relied upon by governments, international organizations, development banks and private sector analysts and investors worldwide. 

"To bring more people online, it is important to focus on reducing overall socio-economic inequalities," said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. "Education and income levels are strong determinants of whether or not people use the Internet. ICTs will be essential in meeting each and every one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and this report plays an important role in the SDG process. Without measurement and reporting, we cannot track the progress being made and identify areas that require action, and this is why ITU gathers data and publishes this important report every year." 

The Republic of Korea tops the IDI rankings in 2016 for the second consecutive year. The top 10 countries of the IDI 2016 also include two other economies in the Asia-Pacific region, and seven European countries. Three island countries in the Caribbean – St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, and Grenada – featured among the most dynamic countries with strong improvements in their IDI value and rank.

"This year's results show that nearly all of the 175 countries covered by the index improved their IDI values between 2015 and 2016," said Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, which produces the report each year. "During the same period, stronger improvements have been made on ICT use than access, mainly as a result of strong growth in mobile-broadband uptake globally. This has allowed an increasing number of people, in particular from the developing world, to join the information society and benefit from the many services and applications provided through the Internet."

MEASURING MOBILE ADOPTION 

Mobile phone adoption has largely been monitored based on mobile-cellular subscription data since these are widely available and regularly collected and disseminated by regulators and operators. At the end of 2016, there are almost as many mobile-cellular subscriptions as people on earth and 95% of the global population lives in an area that is covered by a mobile-cellular signal. However, since many people have multiple subscriptions or devices, other metrics need to be produced to accurately assess mobile uptake, such as the number of mobile phone users or mobile phone owners. 

INTERNET POTENTIAL UNDERUSED

An increasingly ubiquitous, open, fast and content-rich Internet has changed the way many people live, communicate, and do business, delivering great benefits for people, governments, organizations and the private sector. However, many people are still not using the Internet, and many users do not fully benefit from its potential. 

Most people have access to Internet services but many do not actually use them. The spread of 3G and 4G networks across the world make the Internet increasingly available to more and more people. In 2016, mobile-broadband networks covered 84% of the world's population, yet with 47.1% Internet user penetration, the number of Internet users remain well below the number of people with network access. While infrastructure deployment is crucial, high prices and other barriers remain important challenges to getting more people to enter the digital world. 

The full potential of the Internet remains untapped. Internet users with higher levels of education use more advanced services, such as e-commerce and online financial and government services to a higher degree than Internet users with lower levels of education and income levels, who predominantly use the Internet for communication and entertainment purposes. This suggests that many people are yet to benefit fully from the opportunities brought by the Internet. 

Access to the Internet is not enough; policy-makers must address broader socio-economic inequalities and help people acquire the necessary skills to take full advantage of the Internet. This is in line with a more integrated development approach, like that adopted in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which highlights that development challenges are linked and cannot be achieved in isolation. 

Many people still do not own or use a mobile phone. Household data from developing countries show that a significant part of the population does not use mobile-cellular services at all. In developing economies where recent household data is available, close to 20% of the population, on average, are still not using a mobile phone. 

Most people who do not own or use a mobile phone are among the youngest (5-14 years old) and those more than 74 years old segments of the population. Usage and ownership penetration rates amongst these age groups are much lower than amongst the rest of the population. Among the 15-74 age group, 85% or more of the population owns or uses a mobile phone in the countries where data are available. But this is changing. 

 Progress in Least Developed Countries - Mobile-cellular prices continued to decrease in 2015, and the price drop was steeper than in previous years. For the first time, the average cost of the mobile-cellular basket (which includes 100 SMS and 30 mobile calls per month) in developing countries accounted for less than 5% of GNI per capita. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) saw a 20% fall in mobile-cellular prices, the strongest decrease in five years. The price drop is linked to the increasing availability of prepaid packages that bundle SMS and local calls. 

Affordability is the main barrier to mobile-phone ownership. It is the cost of the handset, rather than the cost of the service itself, which is often reported as the main barrier to owning a mobile phone. Another important barrier is the lack of perceived benefits. In communities where overall mobile uptake is low, mobile phone use is perceived to have fewer benefits since fewer community members are also using this mode of communication. Other barriers include lack of ICT skills necessary for accessing the Internet through a mobile phone.     

Asia and the Pacific has the lowest average purchasing power parity (PPP) $ price for mobile-cellular services of all regions. The region is home to countries with the lowest mobile-cellular price baskets worldwide: Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, where prices stand out at PPP$ 2.45 and PPP$ 4.14 per month. 

Fixed-broadband prices continued to drop significantly in 2015 but remain high – and clearly unaffordable - in a number of LDCs. Globally, the price of a basic fixed-broadband connection has fallen from around USD 80 per month in 2008, to USD 25 in 2015, corresponding to a drop in the ratio of price to average GNI p.c. from over 90% to 14%. In LDCs, a fixed-broadband plan with a minimum of 1GB of data per month still corresponds to over 60% of GNI per capita. 

Mobile-broadband is cheaper and more widely available than fixed-broadband, but still not deployed in the majority of LDCs. Globally, handset-based mobile-broadband prices have fallen from an average of PPP$ 29 per month in 2013 to PPP$ 18 in 2015. Mobile-broadband services are only offered in 38% of the LDCs; however, in those countries where the service is offered, handset-based prices have more than halved in PPP terms during the period 2012-2015 and prices now account for 11% of GNI per capita. Still, mobile-broadband cannot always replace fixed-broadband Internet access, especially the business sector and a growing number of applications require higher speeds and better connection quality.

REGIONAL COMPARISONS 

Europe continues to lead the way in ICT development. It had the highest average IDI value among world regions (7.35).  Countries in Europe generally have liberalised communications markets with high levels of ICT access, use and skills. 

A number of countries in the Americas significantly improved their performance in the IDI. Several countries in Latin America, notably Bolivia and Mexico, also made noticeable progress in their IDI performance. Similar to other regions, the growth of mobile-broadband subscriptions was particularly influential on these outcomes. 

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region is the most homogeneous in terms of ICT development. Nearly all countries in the CIS region have IDI values above the global average. All countries also improved their IDI values as a result of improvements in mobile-cellular and mobile-broadband penetration. 

The Asia-Pacific region is, by contrast, the most heterogeneous. The top seven economies in the Asia-Pacific region have IDI values above 7.50 and rank within the highest quartile of IDI 2016.  The region also includes a number of countries which significantly increased their IDI value and rank over the year, including Bhutan, Myanmar and Malaysia. However, nine out of 34 countries in the region, including several with large populations, are least connected countries (LCCs). 

There is great diversity in ICT development across the Arab States. The five highest performing countries in the Arab States region are oil-rich high-income economies, but the region also includes a number of low-income countries, three of which are LCCs. This illustrates that the digital divide between the LCCs and the more prosperous countries in the region may be growing. 

Africa is working on pushing up its IDI performance. The average IDI 2016 value for the Africa region was 2.48 points, just over half the global average of 4.94. The majority of the 39 African countries in IDI 2016 are LDCs. This reflects the lower level of economic development in the region, which inhibits ICT development. The highest growth achieved was in the number of mobile-cellular subscriptions, in contrast to other regions, in which the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions experienced the highest growth​.

ITU's Africa region does not include the North African Arab States.​

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Hannu offers 3 predictions for mobile advertising in 2017

ITRealms:

Over the past few decades, industry groups like the ARF (the Advertising Research Foundation) have led active discussions around the effectiveness and impact of TV advertising, print and radio advertising. More recently, those discussions have expanded to include social, search, and web advertising. But one area has been left without adequate coverage: mobile advertising.

Today, we are developing a new framework and methodology to advance the sophistication and maturity of mobile advertising. In fact, Verto Analytics has developed the Verto Retention Report, a new approach to measuring the value of a mobile app user. A full explanation is included in our recent webinar, presented in cooperation with the ARF (you can watch the webinar replay here: The True Value of a Loyal Mobile App User). Below, we highlight some of our major predictions for mobile advertisers to keep in mind as we move into 2017.

Prediction #1: Mobile advertising will triple in value

Through our work with leading brands, advertisers, and publishers in the U.S., Asia, and Europe, we’ve found that most traditional brands and advertisers are not fully satisfied or confident with existing mobile advertising options—and that’s reflected in their limited spending in this category. Instead, they continue to spend their ad dollars on mature advertising mediums, such as television, print, social media, and display. Those who actively use mobile as an advertising medium tend to be mobile app publishers. These companies not only understand mobile, but also their business models directly benefits from the infrastructure of mobile advertising. For example, mobile app companies can directly track which ad-backed downloads lead to new users. This is an advantage that’s not readily available to most other brands.

However, as discussed in our webinar, the advertising ecosystem as we know it is about to change. The market expects that mobile in-app advertising will surpass search advertising on desktop PC as the biggest revenue driver of online advertising. Advertising revenue streams for PC search advertising are expected to remain flat over the next two years, while all key domains of mobile advertising will triple in value. And out of those mobile advertising domains, native mobile in-app advertising is expected to be the largest.

Prediction #2: Expect seamless mobile usage experiences to emerge in the mobile apps market

While there is room for advertising to grow in mobile, there are clear differences between mobile and other platforms. After all, mobile is a very personal channel and is often the “hub” or focal point of a consumer’s decision making. Mobile is contextual, location-based, pervasive; and already integrated within powerful payment channels. Today’s advertising solutions incorporate some of these dimensions, but there is room for more innovation that could offer significant benefits to brands.

For example, instead of simply targeting high-income females in New York City, a brand could specifically target females who have purchased premium facial products and only recently moved to New York. Or rather than serving an ad to a user located in Times Square about a steakhouse because he ate at a steakhouse last week, an advertiser could use historical data to see that this consumer ate a late lunch and is more interested in seeing a musical. Instead of serving up an ad for the closest Starbucks, an ad could prompt a user to order their favorite drink via Starbucks’ own ordering and payment app. Thea user would have to do is walk down the block to find their hot drink awaiting them, already paid for. Clearly, there are vast implications for seamless user experiences and increased revenues for advertisers.

Prediction #3: When it comes to metrics for mobile apps, engagement and usage will become more valuable than number of downloads

Verto’s premise is simple: connect investment to the return on that investment. Having better visibility into your costs and how that spend links to any revenue that partially or fully results from the investment will enable you to better assess what will be profitable in the long-term.

Our webinar includes insights from the new Verto Retention Report framework. For example, while consumers in the U.S. have an average of 71 apps installed on their mobile devices, only 20-30 of them are used monthly, 15-20 of them weekly, and only 5-10 are used on a daily basis. Mobile app publishers shouldn’t measure success based on the number of app downloads; instead, it is engagement and usage that matters. We also revealed research that shows that up to one-third of app downloads in the U.S. result from referral or advertising traffic, which is a remarkably high number. Organic growth increasingly is linked, or is even dominated by, paid downloads.

Throughout the webinar, we also addressed the importance of understanding retention. Apps retain anywhere from 2%-25% of their user base 30 days after download. At Verto, we link retention numbers, the average share of paid downloads versus all downloads, and the attribution model between downloads and long-term valuable loyal users, to show how to assesses one’s profitability in the mobile app install advertising business, as per the example below.

Dr. Hannu Verkasalo has founded, built and sold several companies in the digital space. He has also advised more than twenty ventures across the U.S. and Europe and has had two successful exits (Menudata, Zokem). He led the mobile and online research arm for Arbitron acquired by Nielsen in 2011. Hannu holds a Ph.D in mobile analytics and holds master’s degrees in social science, engineering and economics.

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Big Brother former housemate Tayo Faniran, returns as PayPorte’s brand ambassador

ITRealms:

The Nigeria’s e-commerce company of the Year 2016, PayPorte.com, has said the former Big Brother Africa housemate, Tayo Faniran, is its Brand Ambassador, reports ITRealms.
 

Disclosing this, the Chief Executive Officer, PayPorte Global Systems, Bassey Eyo, said Tayo will play a role in enhancing PayPorte’s brand aspirations and values through his association with the brand’s products and promotional activities.

“PayPorte stands for its commitment towards offering the highest quality products and services to its customers with the aim of adding value to their needs. With this association we at PayPorte are reaffirming our commitment to providing wide range of products that meets the lifestyles of our target customers - young people who choose smarter and modern ways of living and desire quality products to meet their everyday needs" he said.

As said by Mr. Eyo, Tayo has huge acceptance among our target market here in Nigeria and outside the country, hence, they are confident that this partnership will further strengthen the brand’s image and help to reach out to more consumers.

Also speaking, Head of Strategy and Planning, PayPorte, Irene Kayoma, said, “We are happy to welcome Tayo Faniran back to the PayPorte family. We believe he represents the hip, classic urban lifestyle and vibes that our customers are known for, along with his personality and talent. He has been a fantastic partner and member of the PayPorte family and we believe his coming will help us as a brand in moving to the new level.” 

Head of Operations, PayPorte, Boma Igah, noted that both Tayo Faniran and the PayPorte brand are committed to adding value to customers and prospects by providing them with quality products that meets their every need at the most competitive prices. We believe that the fuse of Tayo and PayPorte, together with other members of the PayPorte family would help add value to the brand”.

Speaking about the new deal with PayPorte, Tayo said, “It is a matter of great pride for me to be associated with a brand like PayPorte, Nigeria’s preferred online store once again. The quality of their products and commitment to providing top quality at best prices is a perfect match with my idea of the ideal online shopping brand in the country. I am delighted and very excited to be a part of the family.”

ITRealms recalls that Payporte.com was launched in 2012, as acclaimed preferred online store where people could find the highest quality products ranging from fashion wears, accessories, shoes, electronics, smart phones, perfumes, home appliances, to name a few, for the best prices. 

PayPorte says it prides self in timely delivery, innovative services, highly skilled and friendly customer care representatives and delivers to your doorstep, anywhere in Nigeria.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Pix: Irene, Tayo and Eyo

Jamie Hedlund replaces Allen Grogan @ICANN, heads Consumer Safeguards

ITRealms:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has named Jamie Hedlund, its Vice President for Strategic Programmes for ICANN's Global Domains Division, reports ITRealms.

Hedlund, ITRealms gathered, takes over Mr. Allen Grogan's role as Senior Vice President (SVP), Contractual Compliance and Consumer Safeguards, following Grogan's planned departure from ICANN.

ITRealms recalls that ICANN had in May 2016 proclaimed that then Chief Contract Compliance Officer, Allen R. Grogan, and Nora Abusitta, Senior Vice President of Development and Public Responsibility Programmes (DPRD), have notified the organization of their intent to leave ICANN later last year.

Specifically, Grogan will transitioned to a part-time role on 1 August, 2016 and continued to oversee Contractual Compliance and Consumer Safeguards until his departure at the end of December 2016.

For ICANN chief executive officer, Mr. Göran Marby, the contractual compliance, consumer safeguards and public responsibility are areas of central importance to ICANN. 

"Jamie has years of ICANN and legal experience, which he will be using to build upon the great work already done by Allen and the rest of the global Contractual Compliance team. Jamie was central to this organization's work on the IANA Stewardship Transition, and I'm delighted to have him contribute further to ICANN's mission," he said.

Also, he said, the Senior Vice President (SVP), Global Communications, Duncan Burns, will take on Hedlund's former responsibilities overseeing the United States (US) government relations and management of ICANN's Washington D.C. office.

ITRealms also gathered that as part of this change, Hedlund will become a member of the Executive Team and report to Göran Marby, the CEO.

"I am excited to take on this new challenge. Contractual compliance and consumer safeguards are critical to the credibility of ICANN's multistakeholder model. I look forward to working with the whole community to uphold the integrity of our mission and our agreements," said Jamie.

Noteworhty is that Jamie Hedlund is a senior executive with over 20 years of experience in public policy and business development in the communications industry. He joined ICANN in 2010 as Vice President for Government Affairs for the Americas. In his recent role as Vice President of Strategic Programmes for ICANN's Global Domain Division, he worked at the intersection of ICANN's contracts with registries, registrars and global public policy. He was also responsible for ICANN's relationships with North American governments and played a crucial role during the Stewardship Transition of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).


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Pix: Jamie Hedlund @ICANN