12062019 - How Lawan, Gbaja, others emerged winners

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42— Vanguard, Wednesday, JUNE 12, 2019 African firms should see future in Cloud Marketing, advanced Analytics, says Terragon By Prince Osuagwu ENTERPRISE marketing solutions provider, Terragon has challenged African companies to leverage on Data Analytics revolutionising modern-day businesses to boost sales performance through datadriven insights. CEO of Terragon Group, Elo Umeh said that “it is extremely important for companies to be data-centric, as the understanding and utilisation of consumer insights in business will help drive sales performance.” He added that companies are also faced with the problem of collecting valuable data and being unable to fully apply or gain insights from it. He however, said that Terragon Group has developed a proprietary mobile advertising technology known as Adrenaline, that utilises consumer data and delivers targeted messaging via web & non-web channels. “At Terragon, data has proven its worth and earned its place, as we have been able to gain real business value from all the records collected,” Umeh stated. “Executives need to adopt a new system of decision-making based on big data,” he added. Terragon Group has also successfully completed certification to the ISO 27001:2013 standard, serving global enterprises across all sectors who have benefited from unparalleled security and protection of their data. Umeh said that working with leading African telcos, financial institutions and consumer brands to unlock personalised digital experiences for mobile users in Africa, Terragon Group helps to improve bottomline for businesses by leveraging its cloud marketing technology, algorithms, artificial intelligence and difficult-to-source African consumer data. BY JULIET UMEH TECHNOLOGY has become an integral part of the 21 st Century workplace that any business without some level of technical savvy will likely play catch-up. It does not only help companies to be more productive, it allows them to be efficient, faster and achieve tasks easily. For instance, a technological device such as artificial intelligence, AI, is a boom to modern work places. It can handle mundane and repetitive tasks across organisations, freeing up people in human resources, HR, information technology, IT, marketing, and more to exercise creativity, solve complex problems, and otherwise focus on getting impactful work done. However, this revolution comes with a price; particularly in the area of displacement of workers by machines. There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about the future of work, and how emerging technologies will change the nature and availability of jobs in the coming years. This is because while emerging technologies enable business owners to reduce overhead by downsizing their workforce, individuals whose skill sets are now obsolete have limited options for employment if their current jobs end. It also means that without adequate measure, job losses could outweigh job creation in the coming years. This situation appears to have created fear, and challenged the millennial generation who are changing their approach to education and learning from classroom academic exercises to tech hands-on in the laboratories. However, if the report of World Economic Forum, WEF, is to be believed, there is no cause for alarm. It predicted that emerging Tech will create more jobs than it kills by 2022. According to the report, advancement of robotics and AI will make 75 million jobs obsolete by the year 2022 but will create 133 million jobs over the same period, for a net increase of 58 million jobs. The general belief is that this swing in jobs will pose a challenge to both employers and workers. For employers, experts said it means making the right investments in technology and for workers, it means acquiring the right skills which they refer to as soft skills. They believe that millennials with soft skills sets have no reason to panic because machines cannot replace them. Soft skills are the personal attributes, personality traits, inherent social cues and communication abilities needed for success on the job. It characterises how a person interacts in his or her relationships with others. Unlike hard skills that are learned, soft skills are similar to emotions or insights that allow people to “read” others. These are much harder to learn, at least in a traditional classroom. They are also much harder to measure and evaluate. Soft skills include attitude: communication, creative TECHNOLOGY AND WORKPLACE: *Why the tech millennials should retool thinking, work ethic, teamwork, networking, decision-making, positivity, time management, motivation, problem-solving, critical thinking and conflict resolution, among others. Speaking at an Information and Communications Technology, ICT event in Lagos recently, Executive Director at a Payment Solution provider, SystemSpecs, Mr. Deremi Atanda, said despite all that technology is doing, there is always a place for humans in the workplace because knowledge will keep birthing opportunities for work. He said although AI device is solving problems with robots but robots didn’t create themselves but because work has to be done differently, they came into place. Atanda said: “So if you are thinking about the problem that robots are solving today, some people think that robots didn’t create themselves but because work has to be done differently. Before now, if anybody tells you he is a driver, it could be demeaning but today, a graduate can proudly tell you he is an Uber driver even though that could be his side job. “Technology will continue to create opportunities for a lot more work to be done. Man will always have a role to play no matter how pervasive technology is. We need to keep adjusting and adapting and taking advantage of the things that will be required,” he explained. To avoid disconnect between employers and millennials, Atanda advised that organisations need to reinvent their businesses in order to remain connected with the tech savvy millennials if they are to build sustainable businesses. He said his company considers individuals with soft skills like right attitude, self confidence, outlook on the future and integrity. Government’s role However, Atanda believes that government or the civil service is not outside the influence of technology. Therefore any government or country that does not adjust to the influence of technology as defined in work place, can never be competitive. On how the Nigerian civil •Tech tools in workplace How soft skills can save human workforce service has performed using technology, he said: “If you want to look at the performance of the government, if we were to put Nigerian civil service against others who are beginning to adapt to technology and leverage it and populate the key positions based on competency driven by technology, the answer is going to be very obvious. So the decision is not all about whether we know there is a challenge but the willingness to address it. “If you want to be a successful private sector business, you will only be doing yourself some harm if you don’t rightly equip the roles with the right set of skills,” Atanda said. Other experts’ perspectives Head of communications at Uber, Francesca Uriri said technology is expressing itself in different sectors in different ways. She said: “Technology is enabling the way we live, in terms of transportation. It helps people to live more effective and productive life. As for her, soft skills that Uber considers include: resilience, capacity, vision and value system. Uriri said government must exercise political will to carry out some of the policies favourable to the future of technology. As for the Head of Dangote Academy, Juliet Oshagbemi, millennial that wants to be employers' choice must be equipped with soft skills. She believes individuals with business acumen, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, ability to collaborate and negotiating skills will always have a place in Dangote companies no matter the advancement of machines. On government part, Oshagbemi believes that government must invest in education and research. Also, Chief People Officer at Reinmoni, Elizabeth Okonji, said there is a need for everybody to be dynamic in their way of thinking. Okonji said millennials with technical competency, ownership mindset, ability to adapt and adopt collaborative spirit will always excel in work places. C M Y K
Vanguard, Wednesday, JUNE 12, 2019 — 43 Photo NEWS *From left: Prof. Francis Idachaba, Director Academics Planning, Covenant University; Mr. Ephraim Nwokonneya, Director, Research and Development, Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC; Mrs. Yetunde Akinloye, Director, Legal and Regulatory Services, NCC; Prof. Oluwole Familoni, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics and Research, University of Lagos; Funke Opeke, Chief Executive Officer, Mainone Nigeria Limited; Prof. Aderounmu Adesola, Dean, Faculty of Technology, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, during the forum on Emerging Technologies Research and ICT Innovation Forum on Monday, 10th June, 2019 at the University of Lagos. Global shipment of wearable devices hits 49.6m units in Q1 2019 By Emmanuel Elebeke Global shipments of wearable devices reached 49.6 million units during the first quarter of 2019 (1Q19). This represents an increase of up to 55.2% from the previous year. According to recent data from the International Data Corporation, IDC worldwide quarterly device tracker report, the growth was fuelled by ongoing demand for wearable devices making wrist-worn and ear-worn devices leading the market. While wrist-worn wearable accounted for the majority of the market with 63.2% share, earworn devices experienced the fastest growth (135.1% yearover-year) and accounted for 34.6% of all wearables shipped. The research manager for IDC, Mobile Device Tracker, Jitesh Ubrani said: “The elimination of headphone jacks and the increased usage of smart assistants both inside and outside the home have been driving factors in the growth of ear-worn •Wearable devices wearables. “Looking ahead, this will become an increasingly important category as major platform and device makers use ear-worn devices as an on-ramp to entice consumers into an ecosystem of wearable devices that complement the smartphone but also offer the ability to leave the phone behind when necessary.” According to Research Director for Wearables, Ramon Llamas: “Shipments of wristwear, including watches and wristbands grew 31.6% year-over- year, and continue to dominate the wearables landscape. While the functionalities and capabilities have grown and changed, the one common thread is the relentless focus on health and fitness. This has resonated strongly with users and health insurance companies alike, and new health and fitness insights attract a larger audience.” Vodacom exposes school kids to tech innovation, through inter-school robotics training By Prince Osuagwu VODACOM Business Nigeria, recently organised the second annual Inter-School Robotics Training Workshop for students across nine Lagos secondary schools, saying it was to reiterate its commitment to ensuring that Nigeria keeps pace with the evolution of telecommunications technologies. Managing Director for Vodacom Business Nigeria, Wale Odeyemi said: “As an organisation, our aim is to help empower the next generation with relevant technical skills in order to drive positive change in the Nigerian economy through the use of communications technologies. “As the world progresses further into the fourth industrial revolution, there has never been a better time to infuse some much needed STEM training in the education sector through such initiatives as the annual Inter- School Robotics Training initiative. This initiative further demonstrates Vodacom’s support for education at the grassroots level to encourage budding aspiring youths who are interested in participating in the digital revolution. Among the schools that participated in the one-day workshop are Dansol High School, Avi-Cenna, Holy Child College, Edgewood College and Adrao International School. Others are Rainbow College, Greensprings International School, D-Ivy College, Halifield College and Chrisland College. The participating students, aged 12 to 15, were exposed to the complexities surrounding the Internet of Things (IoT) and how these will shape society in the near future. As part of the programme, students were taught how to build, program and control various kinds of robots that can perform numerous functions in today’s world. This demonstrated the essential use of such technologies in everyday life, ranging from manufacturing to transportation, as far as even securing lives and property. The inter-School Robotics Training Workshop provided participants the opportunity to explore various ways in which technology is shaping the world around them. The training covered areas such as Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, AI, the Internet of Things, IOT and Virtual Reality, V.R.. The students were also equipped with useful mechanical and programming skills which can be honed and developed as they progress through the various levels of education. *From left: Josephine Aghedo; student, Edgewood College, Managing Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, Wale Odeyemi; Olamipo Aderigbe, Chika Nwokobia, both from Edgewood College, Commercial Director, Vodacom Business Nigeria, Solomon Ogufere and Fiyinfoluwa Afolayan, student, Edgewood College, at the Vodacom Inter-School Robotics Training/Competition held in Lago recently. Instagram introduces new data saving features STORIES BY JULIET UMEH SOCIAL media platform, Instagram, has introduced new features to help its customers enjoy contents on the platform on a reduced amount of data. It said with the opt-in mode, users can view their favourite contents on Instagram with reduced image loading time, by reducing the amount of data consumed on the mobile phone. According to the platform, users will now have three customizable options when viewing high-resolution media and pre-loading videos. It said: “Go to “Settings,” then “Account,” then “Cellular Data Use” and then you will be able to turn this setting on, which will prevent the loading of videos and high-resolution media in advance. Once this setting is enabled, you’ll be able to choose among three options for how Instagram will show you high-resolution media including “Never,” “Wi-Fi Only,” and “Cellular + Wi-Fi. “We know that people have different data usage patterns and plans, so our hope with this new feature is to give more people the ability to connect with others and interests while we provide an uninterrupted browsing experience . This feature will be globally available on Android in the coming days,” it explained. MTN searches for tech solution providers through Hackathon Challenge M TN has launched 2019 Hackathon challenge aimed at fishing out technological solution providers that can build practical tool to address any of the United Nations Development Goals. The challenge with theme: Creating a Brighter Future for our Youth, will focus on areas that will impact young people. It said: “2019 Y’ello Care Hackathon is a part of the larger Y’ello Care event and it’s designed to produce a technological solution that addresses up to five of the United Nation’s Development Programme’s Sustainable Development Goals which are No Hunger, Zero Poverty, Quality Education, Good Health and Well-being, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. “It is part of its 21 Days Yello care campaign and during the campaign, MTN staff show care for and give back to the communities in which they operate.” According to MTN, the contestants can compete solo or as a team. The projects can have a combination of digital and conventional data sources for each project also, projects that build practical tools to address one or more of the United Nations Development Goals are highly welcomed. It said: “Submissions of projects and ideas are from Saturday the 1st of June 2019 - June 10th, 2019 after which 10 entries will be shortlisted and be given 10 days to develop and deploy their applications. It said special prizes will be awarded to the winners and consolation prizes to the final shortlisted hackers. SMEs see business growth in Jumia’s partnership Some small and micro business owners across the country have expressed confidence that Jumia's partnership will continue to help their businesses grow significantly. The sellers expressed this sentiment at the quarterly vendor board meeting with key leaders of the e-commerce company recently in Lagos. The meeting was organised to brainstorm and identify untapped growth potential that sellers on the platform could leverage to grow their businesses. In her opening remark, the Chief Executive Officer of Jumia Nigeria, Mrs Juliet Anammah urged the sellers to constantly ensure they list top quality products and manage their inventory to avoid out of stock and automatic cancellation which affects their “seller score”. She noted that sellers with the highest scores attract more orders from customers. The Chief Operating Officer of Jumia Nigeria, Susan Chen urged the sellers to leverage some of the big sales event organised by the company. She cited Jumia Anniversary, Black Friday and Mobile Week as some of the commercial events that can aid the sellers in growing three times more, if they enthusiastically take advantage of these sales events.
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