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Technology • Health • Nov 2020
Epazz DeskFlex desk and room booking software is adding a vaccine management solution that tracks employees' COVID-19 vaccination
Epazz Inc. DeskFlex announced that DeskFlex's vaccine management solution will help organizations plan and develop COVID-19 vaccination programs among its team members when it is released.
Pharmaceutical companies are working double-time to create a vaccine against the Novel 2019 Coronavirus. One of the leading pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer, developed a vaccine with a promising result of 90% effectivity according to the company's clinical results. Over 43,538 volunteers participated and received two injections within 21 days apart. The company claimed that among the 94 evaluable COVID-19 cases, results revealed that more than 90% effectively prevented the Coronavirus infection. This result exceeded the Food and Drug Administration set a 50% minimum effectiveness bar. This promising result will pave the way for mass vaccinations if FDA approves the final stage of testing.
DeskFlex vaccine management software will facilitate the tracking and management of employees' immunization against the Coronavirus. It allows employees to indicate their vaccination history through the health record management service. With the development of approved COVID-19 vaccines on the way, company administrators can monitor which team member has completed their vaccinations and which employees need a reminder to schedule and receive the COVID-19 vaccine through DeskFlex vaccine management solution.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other collaborative health agencies initiated the Immunization Integration Program (IIP) four years ago. After clinicians found it challenging to keep track and improve adult vaccinations, the program started. The program's goal was to help automate immunization-related tasks with an electronic health record and clinic software systems. Thus, with the digitalization of immunization records and schedules, the program aimed to increase vaccination rates within the adult population and secure these immunization records in cloud-based storage.
DeskFlex desk and room scheduling software solutions pride itself on providing organizations with a comprehensive set of COVID-compliant software features. The launching of DeskFlex's vaccine management software will further reinforce the workplace's health and safety measures.
According to Shaun Passley, Ph.D., Chairman, and CEO of Epazz, Inc.: "We are optimistic that adding the vaccine management software feature will further secure the workplace and schools from COVID-19 infections. When administrators identify those who haven't had the vaccine, they can make the appropriate decision to protect the majority." • 11/20
Service • Technology • Ago 2020
Data bias, “black box” risk and lack of human oversight are key concerns
AI will separate winning banks from losers, say 77% of banking executives surveyed during COVID-19; COVID-19 will intensify the use of AI, making effective governance more urgent; The Economist Intelligence Unit report identifies data bias, “black box” risk and lack of human oversight as key concerns; This independent global review consolidates findings from 25 regulatory reports to provide deep insights and guidance on the use of AI in banking.
Data bias, “black box” risk, and lack of human oversight are the main governance issues for banks using AI, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) report “Overseeing AI: Governing artificial intelligence in banking”. The report is based on a review of global regulatory guidance on AI risks and governance in banking carried out by the EIU on behalf of Temenos (www.Temenos.com), the banking software company.
The report trends will be discussed on the webinar “Rules of the game changer – governing AI in banking” on 23 July, with CWB Financial Group, TSB Bank and Temenos.
The report highlights that AI is a top priority for technology investment for banks and reveals that 77% of banking executives believe that AI will separate winning from losing banks. AI is expected to retain its importance after the pandemic as banks look to new technologies to help them adapt to changing customer needs and compete with new market entrants. The EIU report reveals that ensuring ethical, fair and well-documented AI-based decisions will be vital for banks deploying AI technology.
The EIU report highlights key governance challenges and distils regulatory guidance for banks using AI, including:
Ethics and fairness: banks must develop AI models that are ‘ethical by design’. AI use cases and decisions should be monitored and reviewed and data sources regularly evaluated to ensure that data remains representative.
Explainability and traceability: steps taken to develop AI models must be documented in order to fully explain AI-based decisions to the individuals they impact.
Data quality: bank-wide data governance standards must be established and applied to ensure data accuracy and integrity and avoid bias.
Skills: banks must ensure the right level of AI expertise across the business in order to build and maintain AI models, as well as oversee these models.
Prema Varadhan, Chief Product Architect and Head of AI, Temenos, commented: "AI is changing the face of the banking industry. It gives banks the ability to process more data in real time, and learn from customer behaviors, helping them to bring operating costs down and hyper-personalize their services. Banks are using AI to transform their customer experiences and back-office operations so ensuring that the technology is deployed ethically is more important than ever. “White box” models, like Temenos’ Explainable AI (XAI), can explain in simple human language how decisions are made and win the trust of regulators and customers alike. As the custodians of customer data and trusted advisors, banks have a responsibility to adopt transparent, explainable AI technology – those that do stand to gain the competitive advantage in the new normal.”
The EIU review cites data bias that leads to discrimination against individuals or groups of people as among the most prominent risks for banks using AI. Commenting in the EIU review, Prag Sharma, Senior Vice President, Citi Innovation Labs, said: “Bias can creep into AI models in any industry, but banks are better positioned than most types of organizations to combat it. Maximizing algorithms’ explainability helps to reduce bias.”
Pete Swabey, Editorial Director EMEA – Thought Leadership, The Economist Intelligence Unit, said: “AI is seen as a key competitive differentiator in the sector. Our new study, drawing on the guidance given by regulators around the world, highlights the key governance challenges banks must address if they are to capitalise on the AI opportunity safely and ethically.”
About the review
The EIU conducted a structured review of 25 reports, discussion papers and articles, and summarized the main issues raised by regulators on the topic of managing AI risks in banking. These documents were published in the last three years by banking and financial sector supervisory authorities, central banks and supranational institutions, universities and consultancies.
The AI regulatory review follows a global research survey released by the EIU and Temenos, entitled “Forging new frontiers: advanced technologies will revolutionize banking,” released in June 2020. • 8/20
Entertainment • Technology • Oct 2020
With the subscription-based service, JumiaPay consumers will have full access to Jumia Games with thousands of high quality games
In its first phase, the fully branded gaming portal is available in five African countries including Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya and Ghana with plans to expand the service to Jumia customers in Tunisia and Côte d'Ivoire over the next few months.
With the subscription-based service, JumiaPay consumers will have full access to Jumia Games with thousands of high quality games such as CR7, Ben10, Tom and Jerry and Cartoon Network games.
"The gaming industry is expected to grow at a CGAR of 12% until 2025 and with more than 200 million Africans who are below the age of 35, the continent has tremendous potential in the mobile gaming segment," said Dr Amadeo Rahmann, CEO of Mondia.
"This deal with Jumia further reinforces our reputation for delivering the best and latest digital entertainment to consumers. Our extensive expertise in the digital space puts us in a unique position to help brands transform their online customer experience and thereby help with customer retention and acquiring new customers," he added.
Sami Louali - EVP Financial Services at Jumia Group said, "We have always been at the forefront of providing our consumers with the latest and best products and services. With the launch of this new category on JumiaPay Apps, we are providing our consumers with an exciting digital gaming and entertainment experience. With the help of our partner, Mondia, consumers can enjoy entertainment services through our JumiaPay App in addition to other digital and financial services".
The partnership with Jumia falls under Mondia's enterprise vertical which aims to help companies capitalise on the digital relationships they have with their customers.
Subscriptions to Jumia Games gives customers unlimited access to all games with prices starting from €1.5 per month.• 10/20
Service • Ghana • Ago 2020
In Ghana, African Development Bank-funded training builds skills for the economy of the future • The programme of study for skills-focused training was developed in three areas: mechanical engineering, welding and manufacturing, and electronics
A six-year project to develop industrial skills among Ghana’s workforce has improved the engineering and manufacturing skills of young people, promoted economic competitiveness and contributed to an improvement in the quality of life of beneficiaries and a reduction in poverty, according to an African Development Bankreport issued on 15 July 2020.
The Development of Skills for Industry Project (DSIP) was implemented between 2013 and 2019 with $95.2 million in financing from the African Development Fund of the African Development Bank. Its goal was to support the Ghanaian government’s efforts to reform the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) sector and enhance technical and professional schools’ capacity at the intermediate level.
The project achieved significant results. Over the period, 2,010 students enrolled in two technical universities and 10 technical institutes (40.7 percent of whom were women) were aided by scholarships, with the goal of increasing the participation of disadvantaged groups. In addition, 2,500 apprentices, more than half of them women, benefited from this scholarship programme. In total, scholarships were granted to 4,510 people, including 2,173 disadvantaged students,” according to the Project Completion Report prepared by a team led by Efua Amissah-Arthur, social development specialist at the African Development Bank.
“The project improved access to 13 public technical institutions in 38 districts of Ghana’s 10 former regions, through the development of new infrastructure such as laboratories, workshops, classrooms, dormitories, and housing for instructors.
The project strengthened TVET capacity by training 149 instructors (20 percent of them women) and 800 master craftspeople in 38 districts to support the traditional apprenticeship programme. Twenty masters-level degree-training sessions that focused on a Competency Based Training (CBT) approach to skills training were provided, as were five doctoral programmes for personnel at the College of Technology Education, Kumasi (CoLTEK). Furnishings, workshop equipment, ICT tools, and training manuals were also provided.
The report emphasises that production units and entrepreneurial operational models for student use were successfully piloted in each of the 10 technical institutes that developed and strengthened students’ entrepreneurial and professional skills.
The programme of study for skills-focused training was developed in three areas: mechanical engineering, welding and manufacturing, and electronics. The associated training manuals were prepared and printed for distribution. Another area of interest was the hospitality and tourism sector, which received a boost from the project.
“The project was beneficial for students and for the entire country as it aligned with the government’s TVET reform agenda. Women, girls in particular, benefited from increased access to high-quality training, especially skills training, at the diploma, masters and doctoral levels,” the report concludes. • 8/20
