22052019 - F U L A N I S AT I O N A G E N D A : Obasanjo seeks to divide Nigeria in his old age —FG

More documents

Recommendations

Info

24— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 FINTECH FOUNDRY: How emerging technologies redefine banking operations By Juliet Umeh anking industry is one of the Bsectors of the economy that has seen huge innovations in recent years. With the emerging new technology in the sector, the traditional banking landscape is rapidly giving way to a new one engendered by technology. For instance, about 30 to 40 years ago, bank tellers used adding machines to calculate bank deposits. They used ledger cards, posted nightly, to keep track of •As bankers boast of leading sustainable Nigerian e-economy account transactions and balances. In those days, if one needed to make a deposit or withdraw cash, a visit to the bank was inevitable. However, today, technology has made almost everything possible, and most interestingly, at the convenience of bank customers. Deposits are done electronically as well as through the Automated Teller Machines, ATMs. Financial transactions between business people are done at the touch of the button, thanks to rapid technological advancements. Evaluating the transformations that have happened in the banking sector following the technology revolution in Nigeria in the past two decades, Head, African Fintech Foundry, Mr. Segun Adeniyi, at an event in Lagos recently, said the evolution of technology and the 4th industrial revolution is just about opportunity. Adeniyi who spoke at African Fintech Foundry Disrupt 2019, organised by Access Bank Nigeria, said the evolution is about using the power of technology to harness the opportunities in Africa. Also, Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, Nigeria, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, said technology has changed everything and not only is this continuing, the rate of development and evolution is speeding up exponentially. Wigwe recounted: “In the past, it could take a considerable amount of time for the cashier to perform countless calculations and the checking of ledgers to ascertain if the cheques presented were good for payment. The traditional banking environment Continues on Page 25 By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor If about 250 Nigerian engineers versed in robotics, Artificial Intelligence, big data analytics among others, emerge in 2023, the country would have put a strong footing into the 4th industrial revolution, 4IR. That is the feat Microsoft hopes to achieve by 2023 when it targets to have trained about 500 engineers in Nigeria and Kenya, as it launched the Africa Development Centre, ADC. The Africa Development Centre represents Microsoft’s first-ever engineering offices in Africa. With locations in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria, the ADC is a premier centre of Engineering for Microsoft. The centre will afford Nigerian talents the opportunity to work on cutting-edge technology suitable for Nigeria and the rest of the world, reinforcing the country’s position as a leading regional digital innovation hub. Microsoft says it will make an investment of US $100 million over the first five years of operation, across the two markets. By the end of 2019, Microsoft intends to recruit 100 full-time engineers across the two ADC sites, with plans to increase the headcount to more than 500 engineers by the end of 2023. Unveiling the centre in Lagos, weekend, Country Manager for Microsoft Nigeria, Mr Akin Banuso said: “Microsoft recently opened its first hyper-scale datacentres in Africa, and this next milestone is particularly significant for Nigeria. The reason we selected Nigeria as one of the first ADC sites is to better understand a continent that is rapidly adopting cloud technology and innovation at the intelligent edge. We view Nigeria as a leading regional digital innovation hub, and the ADC aims to invest in and accelerate the work being done here.” Corroborating him, technical fellow at Microsoft, Alex Kipman, while inaugurating the first engineering team in Lagos, added that “we have already started work in Nigeria around mixed reality offering and I am very much looking forward to the kind of innovation that will come from the ADC.” With the ADC, Microsoft is seeking engineering talent in Industrial revolution of new techs Over 250 Nigerian AI engineers to emerge in 2023 •Microsoft throws $100m into project, opens first ADC in Nigeria artificial intelligence, AI, machine learning and mixed reality. It is fuelling innovation across numerous domains from healthcare, agriculture, finance, and human-centric automation. The ADC intends to recruit 100 full-time engineers by the end of 2019, expanding to 500 across the two sites by 2023. To support the development of these required skills, Microsoft is also partnering with local universities to create a modern intelligent edge and cloud curriculum, unique to Africa. Graduates from top Nigerian engineering faculties will have access to the ADC to build relevant and meaningful careers in data science, AI, mixed reality, application development and more. It is expected that the ADC will help to empower young talents across the continent to build innovative solutions on the Microsoft platform. The ADC will be unlike any other existing investment on the continent. It will help Africa develop locally, scale up businesses for global impact and make strong showing in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents extraordinary technology advances to those of the first, second and third industrial revolutions. T h e s e advances are It is forecast that investment in this category of service will get to about $933.6B by 2025 merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril. The speed, breadth and depth of this revolution are forcing countries to rethink development, how organisations create value and even what it means to be human. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about more than just technology-driven change; it is an opportunity to help everyone, including leaders, policy-makers and people from all income groups and nations, to harness converging technologies in order to create an inclusive, humancentred future. Benefits of 4th industrial revolution reults from the services it will introduce. Some of them are: Smart Internet of Things, IoT, which will create connected enterprises, increase reliability and efficiency in services offering. It is forecast that investment in this category of service will get to about $933.6B by 2025. Connected car services: This will bring about mobility of goods and people, ensure smooth navigation, telematics and infotainment. Industry estimates revealed are that the connected car services will rake in $96.4 billion investment by 2022. Insurance Telematics will measure driver behaviour and improve crash management. It will reduce coverage costs, reduce infrastructure and maintenance costs while offering better customer and fleet services. Investment here, is expected to hit $2.2 billion by 2020. 4th data revolution Although some Nigerian ICT professionals still do not believe in the concept of fourth industrial revolution considering that Nigeria has massive Continues on Page 24 C M Y K
Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019—25 How emerging technologies redefine... Continues on Page 23 did not provide opportunities for scalability. The processes were manual and in-branch, creating the need for brick and mortar branches with related expensive overheads, and low level of financial inclusion.” Why banks must leverage technology However, Wigwe challenged commercial banks in Nigeria on leveraging technology to improve their services to customers. He said banks can maximise opportunities offered by technology to remain competitive in the global market. In his speech titled: The future of the intelligent bank, Wigwe said becoming an intelligent bank is no longer an option in today’s financial services, but a necessity. He noted that banks in Nigeria have done well so far but the future holds a lot more than what has been experienced. He said: “Today, we are experiencing the fourth industrial revolution which uses the Internet of Things, and Cloud Technology to automate processes. This has enabled financial services providers to increase their digital offerings for customers so they can conduct banking transactions on mobile phones, the internet and at the ATM. “The only waiting time today is how fast your internet connection is, but 5G, which has a faster connection, is already here. "These technologies that brought about automation in the system, enable banks and Fintechs to now, grant credit in seconds." According to Wigwe, “Artificial Intelligence reviews legal documents. Before now, a manual review of 12,000 documents used to take up to 360,000 hours. Today, it is done in seconds, using Artificial Intelligence. “Block chain can be used to execute smart contracts, By Prince Osuagwu martphone maker, iTel has Sofficially announced the introduction of an Artificial Intelligence, AI, camera smartphone, P33, which battery lasts up to 80 hours before running down. Introducing the smartphone recently, Marketing Communications manager of iTel, Oke Umurhohwo, said since smartphones are still predominantly communications devices, his company found it imperative to design one that can enable users make calls and send text messages, all day, without having to worry about a low battery. He said the phone’s 4000mAh battery controlled by artificial intelligence, AI power master, keeps power consumption on the device highly reduced. The device enables users go up to 80 hours with normal use, 22 hours continual 3G phone call, and 350 hours standby time with a sim card. Furthermore, the power-saving mode intelligently adjusts the phone's performance to WLAN, Bluetooth, data, display brightness and other apps to extend battery life by 35 per cent at most. According to him: “Nigeria deserves the best and that is why we introduced the phone in Nigeria. When there is a seamless interplay between hardware and software as well as affordable pricing, you get a smartphone worth talking about. One of such is the new power hero in the market – itel P33. It is fully equipped with innovative technology features like AI-powered big battery, big screen, and many more. Interestingly, these features are available at a shockingly affordable price.” Other features of the device include a 5.5" HD+ IPS full screen display and a eliminating m a n u a l costs of transactions w h i l e robotics technology is used to s e r v e customers in banks. "Only one decade ago, we could not h a v e imagined s u c h advances. •Digital banking “There is so much that can be done with data. behaviour and needs. Big data analytics helps an "Such understanding improves intelligent bank understand its product development and enables customers. Big data categorises effective cross and up-selling. customers and analyses their “Cloud Technology has also Over 250 Nigerian AI engineers to emerge... Continues on Page 23 dysfunctional data management history, one of the vocal Nigerian ICT experts and former President of Institute of Software Providers of Nigeria, ISPON, Mr Chris Uwaje says 4th Industrial Revolution for Nigeria without good data governance is preposterous. Uwaje who is currently the Director-General of Delta State Innovation hub, prefers that Nigeria pursues 4th data revolution, instead. His argument is that “Nigeria appears ignorant of the digital future-of-Things by adopting the 4th industrial revolution at this stage. We are really about to experience the bang of the 4th data revolution and not industrial As AI camera smartphones soar: P33 battery lasts up to 80 hours —iTel fashionable gradation blue colour. Despite having a plastic back cover, the itel P33 comes in a svelt and slim package which makes it easy to hold. At the back is a multi-functional fingerprint sensor that guarantees security against prying eyes. In situations where your fingers are not accessible, there’s a face unlock for more secure access. Camera The itel P33 features a dual rear camera setup with 8.0MP + revolution as we are made to believe. Data had always been there and comes before industry. It is time to build local cloud, domicile all source codes in Nigeria and make a rigorous push for Open source.” He also sounded a note of warning: “Beware, our data vulnerability is huge and capable of leading us into the dark tunnel of a digital colony. After Venezuela, we might be next with power, financial, Aviation sectors SQL injection. A stich in time, they say, saves nine. Industrial revolution is preposterous, data revolution is reality,” he added. However, Professor Kayode Alese, professor of Computer Science, Federal University of Technology, Akure, FUTA says: an assistant camera and a 5.0MP selfie camera. The camera certainly takes good photos in both well-lit and poor lighting settings. The portrait mode allows users to take an artistic portrait with bokeh effects. The customised feature - Face Beauty V2.0, which is created for the chocolate skin colour, makes user’s face look slimmer, ruddy and smooth in real-time. Storage and security Complementing the fingerprint sensor is a facial identification scanner. This combination means been a game-changer for banks. It reduces server and infrastructure costs which is most appreciated in a country like Nigeria, where power generation is expensive and its availability is not usually guaranteed. Cloud technology enables the delivery of work from any location where programmers can be based in multiple countries even while working on the same project. “Intelligent Banks are able to consider the impact of having an active online presence and social media for their business. Banks can target social media for specific advertising ensuring they provide the right product and content to the right customer instead of marketing all products to all customers. "In this sense, banking has become much more tailored and personal. Intelligent Banks partner with critical stakeholders to expand the improved security. With all the videos, pictures, screenshots, movies and documents you love right at your fingertips, itel P33 enables the user do much more with its 16GB ROM that is expandable up to 32GB with a memory card. This is a 140 per frontiers of their business. “At Access Bank, we are acutely aware that Artificial Intelligence is the new cool in banking offering ongoing opportunities to enhance convenience for our customers. "We are in constant pursuit of being the best possible Intelligent Bank. Our applications of intelligent banking range from the review of legal documents, to conversing digitally with our customers. Our TAMADA system presents a single chatbot experience for all our customers. The services are countless. "Imagine getting weather forecasts and sports updates without human intervention. Or applying for a loan and receiving disbursement instantly? What about paying bills from the comfort of your sofa,” he added. *From left: United States Ambassador to Nigeria, Stuart Symington; Country Manager, Microsoft Nigeria & Ghana, Akin Banuso; Technical Fellow, AI & Mixed Reality, Microsoft, Alex Kipman; Lagos State Governorelect, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Executive VP, Gaming, Microsoft, Phil Spencer, at the Microsoft Africa Development Centre, ADC launch in Lagos recently. “For more than 20 years, I have taught computer science to enthusiastic African students, but still, Africa has been referred to as the last technology frontier. The fact that Microsoft has taken the giant step of setting up its first development centre in Nigeria is a testament to the huge talent base that exists in our academic institutions. It is a great time to be a Nigerian.” cent increase compared to its predecessor, itel P32. The device is also powered by Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition). This OS comes with app platform optimisations designed to reduce mobile data usage and sustain the battery life for a longer period of time. Immersive display The itel P33 has a distinctly sharper and more saturated display, which gives users comfort when watching videos, playing games or reading e- books. It dons a 5.5" HD+ IPS full screen while its twin, the itel P33 Plus comes with a 6.0" IPS FullScreenDisplay and a fashionable gradation blue colour.
Page 1 and 2: No Yoruba president in 30 Nigeria f
Page 3 and 4: Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
Page 5 and 6: vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguar
Page 17 and 18: OUR economic discourse obsessively
Page 19 and 20: Purchasing Managers Index inches up
Page 23: Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
Page 29 and 30: Raging storm over Kokori's replacem
Page 31 and 32: Obasanjo’s ‘disappointment’,
Page 33 and 34: Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 , 2019
Page 35 and 36: Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 22 , 2019
Page 41 and 42: vanguardnews @vanguardnews Vanguard
Page 45 and 46: Ghana's all-time leading goal-score

22052019 - F U L A N I S AT I O N A G E N D A : Obasanjo seeks to divide Nigeria in his old age —FG

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?