WSIS forum kicks off in Geneva

ITRealms:

The four-day World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) forum 2016, today, May 2, kicked off in Geneva, Switzerland, reports ITRealms.

The forum expected to last till Friday this week is being hosted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNDP) and UN Development Programme (UNDP) at the  ITU Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland.

ITRealms also reports that the WSIS Forum serves the UN as a mechanism for coordination of multi-stakeholder implementation activities, information exchange, creation of knowledge, sharing of best practices and continues to provide assistance in developing multi-stakeholder and public and private partnerships to advance development goal, building on the UN General Assembly Overall Review of the implementation of the WSIS outcomes which recognized the necessity of holding this Forum on an annual basis.

In addition, the forum calls for a close alignment between WSIS and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) processes.

The chairman of the WSIS Forum 2016 High-Level Track, Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda (USA) said the Policy Sessions will be moderated by High-Level Track Facilitators (HLTF) nominated and identified by Civil Society, Private Sector, Technical Community and Academia stakeholders. Remote participation is available through both Adobe Connect and live webcast. Geneva time is CEST, 6 hours ahead of NYC.

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Ringier Africa, Asia Pacific get new leadership structure

ITRealms:

… As Stiegeler leads African operation

The Zurich, Switzerland-based entity Ringier with footprint across Africa and Asia Pacific has restructured its leadership with Mr. Leonard Stiegeler as the new General Manager Ringier Africa, even as the former Head, Digital Marketing Agency RDM in Nigeria, Mr. Mark Slade, was elevated to General Manager Ringier Nigeria, reports ITRealms.

Ringier Africa with four dedicated teams each of its business models, namely classifieds, content, e-Commerce and digital marketing said the new leadership took effect from January 1, 2016 in order to further strengthen the implementation of various changes to support the strong growth of its international markets, with additional personnel and international support.

Ringier AG, Corporate Communications, Celine Krapf, in a press statement made available to ITRealms, noted that this new leadership structure follows a successful 2015 with strong growth across all core businesses and countries on both continents of Africa and Asia Pacific.

“The accomplishment of important milestones, including the new market entry in Myanmar, Ringier introduced a new international setup which will ensure further growth in quality and efficiency for future expansions, she said.

To facilitate this, Krapf said, the former General Manager Ringier Nigeria & Head of Ringier West Africa, Mr. Leonard Stiegeler, has been appointed to the new position of General Manager Ringier Africa. While former Head of New Business Implementation Ringier AG, Florent de Rocca-Serra will take the new position of General Manager Ringier Asia Pacific. 

Jessica List, formerly part of Ringiers M&A and Business Development team will take the new position of CFO Africa. Jessica Stiles, former Head of Marketing International Markets becomes CMO Africa & Asia. All of these positions will be reporting into the current CEO Asia & Africa, headed by Robin Lingg, who was elected to the Group Executive Board of Ringier AG in December. 

Julian Artopé, current Director Ringier Africa will pursue an MBA by the end of March after four years of building Ringiers African business on the continent, whereas Mark Slade, former Head of the Digital Marketing Agency RDM in Nigeria, will take over the position as General Manager Ringier Nigeria.

To further support the risen complexity in Ringier’s fast-scaling operations, four dedicated teams were established for each of the African business models Classifieds, Content, E-Commerce and Digital Marketing. Each will consist of a dedicated team supporting their field in Marketing, Business & Operations and Product Development.

Robin Lingg, CEO Ringier Africa and Asia: “With the high speed and growth of our digital business in Africa and Asia, we were in need of stronger support structures to facilitate further aggressive scaling of our business. 

Through this evolution of the organisation I’m convinced we’ll be able to further boost and expand our leading market positions in Classifieds, Content, E-Commerce and Digital Marketing across all our markets. We have a proven and highly experienced team of which I’m very happy to see so much internally promoted leadership emerge. I also would like to thank Julian Artopé, who has been essential for building this organisation on the ground and has been a key part for the success of Ringier”.

 
+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +ITRealms DSA  
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WRC elects Nigerian Daudu as chairman, commendation galore

ITRealms:

 

The election of Nigerian, Engr. Festus Daudu as Chairman 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in Geneva, Switzerland has continued to attracted commendations from across the globe, ITRealms reports.

A member Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Daudu’selection which many perceived asgreat achievement for Nigeria, would see him superintend over 3,800 delegates from 162 member states and many international organisations, including the Commonwealth Telecommunications  Organisation (CTO), that are taking part in the WRC which starts today.

ITRealms gathered that the election of Daudu, who is Director, Spectrum Management at the Federal Ministry of Communication Technology (FMCT) is the first time for an African to be elected to this position in 150 years history of the Geneva-based International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

 Among those that have expressed their overwhelming joy atDaudu’s election, ITRealms gathered, include the Secretary-General, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, Shola Taylor who extended his congratulatory message to the Government of Nigeria,said:

“I am delighted at the election of a Commonwealth candidate to chair this important Conference, and having known EngrDaudu for many years, I have full confidence in his ability to steer the Conference successfully, especially when considering his calm and professional disposition. This is a pride to Nigeria, Africa and the Commonwealth,” Taylor added.

The Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Houlin Zhao, also shared his satisfaction at EngrDaudu’s election.“Let me congratulate Festus Daudu for his nomination as chairman of WRC-15, as well as the vice-chairmen. MrDaudu, I have every confidence in your abilities to ensure a smooth and efficient running of the conference over the four coming weeks.”

“I am confident that Festus Daudu will lead us successfully at this Conference,” added Director of the ITU’s Radiocommunication Bureau, Francois Rancy.

The Commonwealth countries will be meeting once a week during the Conference to continue to coordinate the views of Commonwealth countries during the Conference. All leaders of the 6 regional groups – the Arab Group, CITEL, APT, ATU, RCC and CEPT all expressed individually their congratulations and confidence in Engr. Daudu to lead the Conference to a successful end.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE

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Pix: Engr. Festus Daudu

Oracle partners MTN to train 2,000 MTNF Scholars in ICT

ITRealms:

In a bid to bridge Information and Communication Technology skills acquisition gap in Nigeria, technology solution company, Oracle Corporation and MTN Foundation (MTNF) have planned to train up to 2,000 MTNF scholars in database design, SQL and Java programming skills, as well, fund one student to attend the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) open-lab Summer School in Switzerland reports ITRealms.

Speaking on the collaboration, ITRealms gathered that, Mr. Adebayo Sanni, Country Manager, Oracle Nigeria, said the initiative focuses on teaching database design, SQL and Java programming skills to MTN Foundation Scholars, using Oracle Academy curriculum and hosted online learning materials. “Students will be taught by two trained faculty from the Ajayi Crowther University and Aived International who have attended and passed the formal Oracle Academy faculty training courses.” He said. 

Sanni also added that, “With the rapid adoption of technology in Nigeria, it is imperative that students are equipped with the right skills to take advantage of career and entrepreneurial opportunities.”

On the MTNF Scholarship Scheme, Corporate Services Executive, MTN Nigeria, Mr. Akinwale Goodluck said it’s a corporate social responsibility which covers students’ tuition, books and pocket allowance helping to reduce poverty as well as foster sustainable development in Nigeria.

According to Goodluck, it is renewable provided recipients maintain a minimum of 3.5 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) in their course of study and an overall 2.5 CGPA.

Equally, ITRealms learnt that MTN in collaboration with its partner, have selected to fund Mufutau Akuruyejo, a computer science student of the University of Lagos, who emerged the best student from Africa, at a global academic competition, organized by CERN, for a nine week training programme on ICT in Switzerland.

The highly competitive student programme, ITRealms gathered is a cornerstone of CERN open-lab and recieved over 1,500 applications from all over the globe this year.

Sanni, who confirmed this, ITRealms learnt, said that the support from Oracle in funding Akuruyejo to Switzerland for ICT training would assist Nigeria in bridging ICT skills gap in the country. He said Oracle has been involved in several partnerships with state governments to further drive technology development across the country.

CERN open-lab was created more than 10 years ago to tackle computing, data, and infrastructure challenges, with summer school which also focuses on research and development activities in the ICT space.

Akuruyejo, an MTNF scholar, ITRealms gathered will be the first Nigerian student to participate in the annual CERN open-lab nine week programme.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE

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ITU celebrates 150th anniversary, sets May 17 as WTIS Day

ITRealms

International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in line with its role as the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs, celebrates its 150^th anniversary award on 17 May in Geneva, Switzerland, with the theme “Telecommunications and ICTs: drivers of innovation”, and sets to annually observed May 17 as World Telecommunication and Information Society (WTIS) Day, ITRealms reports.

ITRealms gathered that forward-looking movers and shakers in the ICT industry, like Bill Gates, Robert E. Kahn, Thomas Wiegand, Mark I. Krivocheev, Martin Cooper and Ken Sakamura amongst others, would be honoured by  will be honoured with ITU’s 150^th Anniversary Award. As well recognition will be accorded to ITU’s Founding Member States and to its long-standing industry members.

The event is also to feature Panel discussion on “ICT’s Driving a Sustainable Future” with Luis Von Ahn, CEO & founder, DuoLingo; Philip Walton, COO, BRCK; Jian Wang, CTO, Alibaba; Ulf Ewaldsson, CTO, Ericsson; and Gabriela Styf Sjöman, CTO, Telecom Italia Group.

ITU has been interwoven with landmark inventions and innovations in communications over the past 150 years. In the 1850s, soon after Samuel Morse started a service in the United States, ITRealms learnt that telegraph lines crossed national borders and new international agreements had to be forged.

On 17 May 1865, twenty nations gathered in Paris to sign an international framework and formed the International Telegraph Union; the signing of the International Telegraph Convention in Paris in 1865 today culminates into a memorable day, as ITU annually marks May 17 as World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

Daniel Nsolibe/Ed, Ops.

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Nnenna rebuffs WEF’s NetMundial invite

ITRealms:

Internet Citizen and key lead of the global Civil Society, Nnenna Nwakanma has rebuffed the invitation extended to her for the World Economic Forum (WEF)-organized NetMundial in Geneva, Switzerland, reports ITRealms.

The World Economic Forum, ITRealms recalls was rooting for its own NetMundial on August 28, 2014, which has been characterised by alleged misplaced consideration on the kind of participants invited for the event.

This is coming after the popular Brazilian government hosted the initial NetMundial a few months ago which attracted global stakeholder excitement.

Nnenna in an exclusive chat with ITRealms noted that her name was first on the leaked list on Civil Society on her personal recognition, but has since decided she will not be in Geneva.

“I will not be in Geneva. First because I do not have the time and energy to go through the humiliating 10-weeks Schengen visa process and secondly because I am already booked elsewhere,” she told ITRealms.

According to Nnenna, her reply to the invite was "I will be absent, but I will contribute."

ITRealms further gathered that participants in excess of 104 are expected to grace the WEF’s version of NetMundial.

Remmy Nweke:

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Pix: Nnenna Nwakanma

ITU to host workshop on ‘Internet of Things’ trends

ITRealms:

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has advanced plans to host a full-day workshop on Internet of Things (IoT) – Trends and Challenges in Standardization, to be held on 18 February at its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, reports ITRealms.

The event, ITRealms gathered will be audio cast; live and archived for media unable to attend in person, with spotlight on emerging next steps for standards developers.

According to Chief, Media Relations and Public Information at ITU, Ms Sarah Parkes affirmed to ITRealms that the event aims to facilitate the global expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) through a better understanding of trends, including standardization needs.

“Results will inform the drafting of the future technical standards (ITU-T Recommendations) that will be fundamental to the smooth operation of networks potentially supporting billions of interconnected devices,” she said.

In addition to examining the status of IoT and machine-to-machine communication (M2M) standardization initiatives across other Standards Developing Organizations (SDOs), ITU says, the event will report on progress of related standards and protocol development in the research and open-source communities.

Also, ITRealms learnt that the event will incorporate exhibits from industry, government, research institutes and academia. STMicroelectronics will showcase its Smart Home concept, and EPFL its OpenIOT project.

Further, ITRealms gathered that Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications (NICT) will display its medical body area network, as well as Yokosuka Telecom Research Park (YRP).

In addition, Daniel Faulk, representing new ITU-T member SAP, will deliver a keynote presentation on Internet of Things, Creating new Opportunities for the Enterprise.

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Pix; Dr. Hamadoun Toure, ITU Secretary General