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Cybersecurity • Service • Nov 2020
Vertiv, a global provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions, announced a distribution partnership with Cyber Security South Africa (CSSA), an industry-leading cyber security technology distributor
While Africa expands its focus on fast tracking digital transformation and upscale cloud migration, Vertiv continues to expand its footprint in the region. The partnership will address the current data center challenges being faced in the country, by enabling availability through Vertiv's premium infrastructure technologies and speed of delivery through CSSA's developed distribution capabilities.
The timing of this partnership is particularly opportune. Remote workforces have escalated demand for connectivity, and South Africa has not been exempt from this trend. This has placed pressure on data centres and seen an increase of, and urgent need for, back-up power solutions due to extensive load shedding, rolling black-outs, and power-cuts across all South African borders.
Telecom Service Providers have also reported a 40% jump in data usage , and with no signs of this upsurge subsiding, mechanisms have to be in place to safeguard against overloads with a focus on back-up power sources.
Despite the pandemic, Vertiv's commitment to offering a full spectrum of IT solutions is shown by their latest product releases as well as existing flagship products. This includes the Vertiv™ Lieber GXT5 UPS, and the Vertiv™ Edge 500 to 3000VA. With output power factors of up to 1.0 and 0.9 respectively, both products are state-of-the-art, flexible, and highly-efficient UPS solutions that offer reliable protection for a diverse range of use cases.
"We are excited to add the Vertiv product range to our extensive offering, utilising our existing distribution footprint as well as engaging with new partners on our offering as an aggregator of products and services," said Martin Britz, CEO of Cyber Security South Africa. He added: "We look forward to a successful relationship, not only between our two companies, but across our reseller network and customer base."
"When Vertiv seeks out channel partners, the backbone of our distribution strategy in Africa, we look for game changers who can help us continue to innovate and disrupt new markets with industry-leading infrastructure", said Pierre Havenga, managing director of Vertiv in the Middle East and Africa region. "What sets CSSA apart for us, is not just their extensive knowledge of the market, or their network of relationships and people, but ultimately their ability to leverage those networks and work with their channel partners to help meet customer demands fast."
Through the award-winning Vertiv Partner Program (VPP), the company has been able to give partners full knowledge and confidence about Vertiv's IT infrastructure solutions and pass on new skills to the wider IT community in the process.
A cornerstone of the VPP is the Vertiv Incentive Program (VIP) that is being rolled out across Africa in 2020. Through the VIP, Vertiv partners are rewarded for buying Vertiv products, earning cash back when purchasing from the Vertiv channel portfolio. An enhanced program known as VIP+ has brought even more benefits to resellers through the silver, gold and platinum level of membership, including lower entry barriers, additional incentives upon registering and higher returns. These additions will enable even more partners to take advantage of the program while developing key skills and knowledge at their own pace. • 11/20
Entrepreneurship • Africa • Aug 2020
Finalists will compete for the top crown on August 21 and be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship to pursue commercial partnerships in Ecobank's 33 markets across Africa • The challenge, in its third edition, is designed to deepen collaboration between Ecobank and Fintechs with Africa focused products
Always In-Touch Real-time ( South Africa), Fluid AI (India), Franc Group (South Africa), Growth Factor (Ghana), Leaf Global Corporation (Rwanda), Moja Ride (Ivory Coast), Nokwary Technologies Limited (Ghana), Papersoft S.A (Mozambique), Ukheshe Payment Solutions (South Africa), PayChap Technologies (Tanzania).
The Finalists will pitch their products to a jury for the cash prizes for the top 3, worth US$10,000, US$7,000, and US$5,000. All the finalists will be enrolled into Ecobank's Fintech Fellowship where they will spend the next 6 months exploring partnership opportunities which includes :
Multinational product roll out: An opportunity to pursue collaboration with Ecobank and possibly launch products in Ecobank's 33 African markets.
Service provider partnerships: A chance to become a pan-African service partner to Ecobank for Fintechs with the qualities to become product partners and offer joint services with Ecobank
Mentoring and networking support: Access to networking and mentoring opportunities within the Ecobank Group and its vast network of global and African partners
Integration with existing Ecobank digital offerings: An opportunity to potentially integrate with Ecobank's existing digital offerings.
Eddy Ogbogu, Group Executive, Operations & Technology said, "we congratulate the 10 Fintechs that have made it to the 2020 Finals. This is an impressive cast of innovators and we look forward to the Final event where we will honour them and potentially build productive collaborations."
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is designed in partnership with the advisory firm Konfidants and is supported by partners across Africa and globally. • 8/20
AI • Health • May 2021
Malmö based gaming studio Massive Entertainment – a Ubisoft Studio, has started a collaboration with PainDrainer AB, a start-up in Medicon Village, Lund. PainDrainer has developed a unique CE-cleared app powered by artificial intelligence (AI). In a clinical study in the US, the app demonstrated its ability to increase quality of life and reduce pain level in people living with chronic pain.
"What we at Massive love about PainDrainer® is the ability to bring an efficient solution to people suffering from chronic pain. We saw a great opportunity to leverage our knowledge of gaming mechanics and player motivation to support the daily use of PainDrainer® in an engaging way.”, says Pierre Escaich, Development Director at Massive Entertainment.
When living with pain, it can be challenging to plan day-to-day activities and still have energy left for other activities that are highly valued and beneficial. PainDrainer® is digital pain coach powered by artificial intelligence which adapts to each patient’s individual needs.
“We know from clinical studies that PainDrainer® improves the quality of life and reduces the level of pain. We are now working to make PainDrainer® more engaging and motivating to use outside pain clinics. By combining Massive’s expertise in engagement and game design with our expertise in health and clinical trials, we see an abundance of unique opportunities to help millions of people living with chronic pain,” says Ann-Christin Malmborg Hager, CEO of PainDrainer AB.
One in five individuals lives with chronic pain. When in pain, it is natural to need rest; however, physical activity can also have a positive effect for pain relief. Physical activities produce hormones which provide pain relief and increase well-being. It is therefore important for every person to find their balance when it comes to physical activities, and PainDrainer® provides this on an individual level.
“PainDrainer® offers personal advice, using artificial intelligence, that will help chronic pain patients to plan the day without exceeding their desired level of pain and to still have enough energy for valuable activities. Thanks to the unique design of PainDrainer®, we can make the clinical praxis available to everyone,” Ann-Christin continues.
“As one of the largest game developers in Sweden, we want to take our responsibility, and we believe that games and game design is an important tool that can positively affects people’s lives in various ways. The collaboration between PainDrainer and Massive is an illustration of how innovation in Skåne can fuel large scale positive transformations,” Pierre concludes. • 5/21
Technology • SME • Sep 2020
Building on the successful format of our image FORMULA DR-S150, the new image FORMULA DR-S130 answers the call for a robust and high-performance digitisation solution for any small or home office
Designed to support small businesses and office teams as they continue adapting to new working environments, the imageFORMULA DR-S130 desktop scanner provides much needed flexibility, offering both WiFi and USB connectivity. For added ease-of-use, the device is equipped with CaptureOnTouch Pro software which boasts a user-friendly interface with a simple icon-based operation. Effective shortcuts can be configured for frequently performed tasks to save and send documents to different destinations, including cloud services, such as OneDrive and Dropbox.
Perfect for on-the-go, at-home and small-office usage, the new device can be activated from a smartphone or directly from PC or MacBook. Files can then be automatically scanned and sorted using zonal OCR, barcode and 2D code recognition, helping businesses process information and sort it into existing workflows and document management systems. This supports easier collaboration between teams and relieves the administrative burden on employees, saving on valuable business time and resource. The compact desktop footprint offers flexibility for your office environment without compromising on space – or productivity.
The DR-S130 performs both reliably and simply, offering anyone without an IT team the ideal out-of-the-box solution. Its robust design ensures reliable, productive performance for busy workloads of up to 3,500 scans a day and scanning 60 images per minute. Through its PUSH scan functionality you can send scanned files directly from the device to an output destination and avoid rerouting via a PC, saving resources and time.
For easy document filing, editing and distribution, the imageFORMULA DR-S130 offers reliable versatile feeding, to allow you to scan a variety of documents from thin to thick, including plastic ID cards, embossed cards and passports. Its heavy-duty feed and separation rollers make batch scanning of mixed documents simple and intuitive. With ultrasonic double-feed detection, you can be assured all documents are scanned and no information goes missing. Using Active Threshold mode, features like auto colour detection, text orientation recognition, automatic paper size detection and deskew can save you valuable time without the need to adjust settings, while delivering consistently high-quality results. • 9/20
Banking • Africa • Aug 2020
The leading pan-African banking group, Ecobank, is delighted to announce that it has won the Award for Innovation in Financial Services at the 2020 edition of the prestigious African Banker magazine Awards. The Awards, which reward banking excellence in Africa, were announced at a virtual ceremony held on 26th August
The African Banker's judging process sought to recognise the African banks that have demonstrated original and practical uses of technology to provide customer convenience, improved and more affordable services and greater access to the financial services sector in Africa.
Ade Ayeyemi, Group Chief Executive Officer said: "Winning the Award for Innovation in Financial Services from the African Banker magazine is such an honour. It provides public recognition of our pioneering role in harnessing technology to complement our pan-African presence and partnerships, to deliver accessible, convenient, affordable and innovative banking products which are making a difference to millions of lives and businesses across sub-Saharan Africa. Five years ago, we commenced a digital transformation journey to transform our banking products and services. This award attests to the success of that journey and we are delighted that our significant investment in technology is yielding the desired results."
"Our one bank model, powered by our robust pan-African banking digital platform provides diverse products and services to governments and corporate clients using our digital platforms including Ecobank Omni Plus amongst others, Ecobank Omni Lite for our SMEs and commercial bank clients as well as our Ecobank Mobile App and Ecobank Online for our consumer clients. These are in addition to the highly effective cash management, transaction banking solutions and our cross-border Rapidtransfer remittance solution - a few of the headline-grabbing innovations that we have delivered to meet and exceed the evolving needs and expectations of our customers. I applaud all my Ecobank colleagues for their continued commitment and dedication to serving our customers especially during these challenging COVID-19 times."
Other African banking awards won by Ecobank so far in 2020 include amongst others, Most Innovative Bank in Africa, Best Bank for Payments& Collections, Best Integrated Corporate Banking Site in Africa (Global Finance) and the Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility (Euromoney Awards for Excellence). • 8/20
Cloud Comms • Africa • Ago 2020
RingCentral and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise will jointly develop programs enabling both companies to lead the cloud communications services for the enterprise market
The strategic partnership will introduce a new co-branded cloud solution – Rainbow Office powered by RingCentral – making it unique and exclusive for Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. RingCentral and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise will jointly develop programs enabling both companies to lead the cloud communications services for the enterprise market.
We are excited to partner with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and to bring our industry-leading cloud communications solutions to their customers and partners,” said Vlad Shmunis, founder, chairman and CEO. “Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise’s strong presence in Europe and beyond will enhance our ability to jointly enable customers and partners accelerate their migration to cloud communication solutions in these markets.”
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise’s mission is to deliver customized technology experiences to enterprises with a verticalized business approach in networking, communications, and cloud. Rainbow Office powered by RingCentral will enrich the company’s cloud portfolio enabling customers to accelerate their digital transformation with public Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS).
“Customers demand agile, robust and secured cloud communication and collaboration solutions in today’s high-speed technology world,” said Jack Chen, CEO of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. “For our customers and partners, this strategic partnership enables us to offer them a wider choice of technology-leading cloud solutions, to comprehensively cover their business needs. This partnership will also enable Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise to accelerate the development and transformation of our cloud business to become the number one player in cloud solutions in Europe and beyond focusing on vertical solutions and services to make everything connect. It will bring significant opportunities for our well-established business partner ecosystem and strong values for our customers.”
Rainbow Office powered by RingCentral will be available in the first quarter of 2021. • 8/20
