NCS says NITMA’13 on course

DigitalSENSE Business News:

The Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) has said that plans for the 2013 National Information Technology Merit Awards (NITMA) is on course and would hold on December 13 in Ikeja-Lagos as planned.

Chairman, Publicity, Events and Trade Services Committee at NCS, Mr. Jide Awe confided in DigitalSENSE Business News that NITMA, the acclaimed IT community’s most prestigious and widely recognized award ceremony promotes excellence and innovation by honouring top contributors in the IT profession and industry.

According to him, through NITMA NCS, the nation’s foremost and largest network of Information Technology (IT) professionals, with varying interest groups and stakeholders, celebrates the impact of these exceptional achievers and visionaries.

“This year the NITMA ceremony will be held on December 13, 2013 in Lagos,” he declared, noting that NITMA sets a standard that all can strive and work towards for accelerated IT development in Nigeria, in addition to reflecting on the values of NCS by developing a culture that values hard work, dedication, merit and outstanding accomplishments.

“NITMA awards are uncommon incentives and goals serve to inspire and motivate practitioners, organizations and members of Nigeria’s IT community,” he said.

This, he further said, is recognized through professional fellowships and awards.

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Pix: Jide Awe

NCC: Pioneering telecom regulation with consumer focus

 Preamble:THE two-day conference of African Telecommunication Regulators on Consumer Affairs (CATCO 2013) recently ended in Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of the nation with a sigh of satisfaction for most participants.
This is notable due to the fact that it’s the first-ever of such conference to be convened and invariably hosted in Nigeria under the watchful and supporting eyes of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) led by Dr. Eugene Juwah.
It is no doubt that Nigeria’s telecom apex body, the NCC is leading the way for other regulators on the continent of Africa to follow, especially in de-emphasising attention on licensing by channeling its contemporary energy on consumer affairs and how telecom consumers could adapt and absorb the exploration of the already licensed services by their respective providers.

Strengthening consumers trust:With increased presence of regulatory organs across the continent of Africa in the telecommunications sector, numbering over 44, it was very apt for such assemblage in order to strengthen consumers trust and behavour towards the infrastructure deployed thereof.
ITRealms gathered that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in the discharge of its mandate to protect and promote the interests of telecoms consumers, and in a determined effort to synergize with other telecom regulators in Africa, organized this first annual conference of African Telecom Regulators on Consumer Affairs, between October 17 and 18, 2013, at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
With the theme “Harnessing Regulatory Policies to Protect Telecom Consumers in Africa,” the conference provided a platform for policy makers, regulators, consumers, legislators, operators, and other key stakeholders to discuss the very important issues and problems affecting telecom consumers in Africa.
As expected at the end of the conference, a roadmap to resolving consumer-related issues in Africa was put forward for every regulator to come up with somewhat design that could best serve the interest of their respective country-based telecom consumers considering the uniqueness of every country.
Handful of challenges:There is no gain saying that regulation of telecommunications in Africa has grown faster than most industry watchers expected, hence leaving regulators with handful of challenges to battle with in the terms of regulatory policies parallel to the various interests of stakeholders.
Exploring the theme “Harnessing regulatory policies to protect telecoms consumers in Africa,” stakeholders on the continent took advantage of that to strategise on the roles consumers play in the success of telecoms business on the continent. Just as it is not disputable that continuous growth of the telecom industry has its umbilical cord tied to the loyalty of telecom consumers, so, the interest of consumers should be seen as very significant to the success of telecom business and sector entirely.
In his address to the occasion, the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigeria Communications Commission, Dr. Eugene Juwah, noted that in Nigeria, the regulator had taken the general direction that clearly showed the steps of consumer affairs.
He told ITRealms that in Nigeria, there had always been some well-thought out policies and intervention mechanisms deliberately instituted to grow the industry while protecting, informing and educating the consumers.
Fulfilling CAB objectives:The EVC, ably represented by the Executive Commissioner for Stakeholders Management at NCC, Dr. Okechukwu Itanyi, said the establishment of the Consumer Affairs Bureau (CAB) of the NCC in September 2001 was a unique approach in regulation.
According to him, CAB had been effectively serving as the industry’s watchdog, fulfilling its objectives, stressing that specific programmes embarked upon by CAB include the Telecoms Consumer Parliaments, Consumer Outreach Programmes and Town Hall Meetings.
In addition, he noted that there are other numerous initiatives designed to deepen telecoms services penetration, including the establishment of the Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), the Digital Appreciation Project, Emergency Communication Centre, Advanced Digital Access Programme for Tertiary Institutions, Wireless Cloud Programme and School Access Programme to name but a few.
“As expected, there are a number of regulatory risks that are encountered from time to time. The mindset in dealing with the risks, however, has always been to strike a balance among various, sometimes conflicting interests of affected stakeholders,” he said, describing the demand for bandwidth resources as one of the challenges on the table currently.
As said by him, the demand for broadband has often exposed regulators to huge challenges, specifically in the area of extending the few single submarine cable landing points across the surrounding areas of the country.
Developing implementation strategies from broadband plan:He said that NCC has been developing a parallel broadband implementation strategy derived from the National Broadband Plan. Pointing out that the strategy is envisioned to encourage investment in infrastructure as well as offer consumers access to digital information as part of their fundamental human rights.
The NCC boss equally noted that the allocation of scarce resources and increasing need for collaboration with other regulatory agencies as some of the emerging challenges cannot be over-emphasised.
On dispute resolution, he disclosed to ITRealms that dealing with conflicts among stakeholders often poses serious regulatory challenges, citing for instance in the cases of the conflict between service providers and the consumers. Adding that for these type of cases, NCC provides second level support to the consumers, which facilitates complaint resolution with service providers.
“However, in situations where resolutions of conflict are not easily achieved, NCC provides further options for consumers to redress their cases. Apart from training workshops organised for judges handling Information and Communications Technology cases, there is also alternative dispute resolution option open to the consumers,” he said.
Elucidating that the growth NCC envisaged for the sector could only come upon successful deliberations on how to bring better regulation for the benefits of the consumers. He urged stakeholders for closer examination of some consumer-related concerns in peculiar African countries. Just as he further outlined some of these issues as customer care and quality of service; physically challenged persons and services provisioning, promotion and lottery, dispute resolution, monitoring compliances, enhancing consumer awareness through information dissemination and education, consumer data protection and consumer rights among others.
For the Director, Legal and Regulatory Services Department at NCC, Ms. Josephine Amuwa, the ICT industry remains one of the most vibrant and dynamic global markets and regulation as always is required as a tool for social and economic development.
Contribution to telecoms:
 “In Nigeria, with the liberalisation and privatisation of the telecommunications sector, the contribution of telecoms to the society is felt in all areas of the economy. Regulation is a necessary mechanism in the industry to prevent market failure, foster effective competition, protect consumer interests and increase access to technology and services,” she said, observing that regulators must balance public interest of consumers, states and federal governments, ministries of government, legislators, operators, so as to effectively play their roles.
Regulation, she said, is absolutely necessary to make certain that there is orderliness in the sector and that services are rendered to consumers in the most efficient and equitable manner. Ms Amuwa described an effective regulator, as one that ensures credible market entry, compliance with and enforcement of existing regulations and order in the industry.
“To carry out its mandate, the regulator must be structurally and financially independent. This will help to avoid market failure, foster effective competition, protect consumer interests and increase access to technology and services,” she submitted, noting that regulators main headache within Africa should be to adopt the most suitable regulatory approach to serve the interests of the people and economy of their respective countries, maintaining that adopted approach should be seen as promoting the long-term interests of consumers and the efficiency as well as competitiveness of services within the region.
South Africa experience:
The General Manager, Consumer Affairs, Independent Communications Authority of South Africa, Mr. Phosa Mashangoane, in a presentation entitled, “The Regulation in the Public Interest – A Pan African Perspective,” stated that the theory of public interest was rooted in the perception that the government must step in to regulate markets in instances, where markets were unable to regulate themselves.
Consumer affairs, Mr. Mashangoane told ITRealms, must been seen as a coordinated structure among many telecoms regulators, providing a crucial service to the consumers. Declaring, “The function of consumer affairs in the telecom regulators is to protect consumers, including persons with disabilities and the elderly citizens. Consumer affairs unit uses the regulator’s consumer protection regulations to ensure that the operators in the ICT industry provide quality service that is accessible, available, reliable and affordable.”
Stakeholder voices:
There were remarks from chairman, House Committee on Communications, chairman, Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria, Mr. Lanre Ajayi, while the Head of CAB at NCC Dr. J.O. Atoyebi gave the vote of thanks, even as the President of the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA) Mrs. Mrs. Mary Uduma shared her views on ‘Striking a balance between regulating services and technologies - a populist view.
As part of the event, there was a roundtable discussion on “How multiple regulation impacts telecom expansion and penetration with discussants drawn from regulators from Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroun, Algeria, Zambia, whereas the chief executive of OpenMedia, Dr. Ernest Ndukwe dwelt on Consumer-centric regulation for the benefit of the Africa Telecom Consumers to wrap-up the first day followed with the African night for all participants.
The second day, however began with paper presented by the Director, Policy Competition and Economic Analysis, Mrs. Lolia Emakpore, on “Promos, quality of service and the interest of the consumer in a deregulated industry.” in addition to a presented on “Regulating for the good of the consumer; the legal imperatives” by Paul Usoro, SAN, before the communiqué and follow-up announcement were taken by Dr. Atoyebi.
NATCOMS thumbs up for NCC:
National President, National Association of Telecom Subscribers (NATCOMS) Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo told DigitalSENSE Business News that the first annual conference of African Telecommunications Regulators on Consumers was quite commendable as Nigeria, as usual took the first step in organizing African Regulators to realise the fact that Consumer is King.
The Nigerian Communications Commission has again taken the initiative to lead other African nations in bringing to focus the importance of consumers and regulation through this conference.

Summary:
As stakeholders look forward to the 2014 edition of CATCO, the role of NCC as a leading light among African Telecom Regulators cannot be overlooked, therefore, its commendable that Nigeria, through the NCC could successfully pioneer this event, which most stakeholders agreed encourages even development of regulatory policies and sharing of knowledge to make the continent better despite all the odds.


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DSN Lens: West Africa ICT Congress'13 and Naza weds Uche

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‘Nigeria needs human-ware embedded in TVE’

 The German Alumni Association of Nigeria (GAAN), in Abuja, recently held its annual conference on ‘Nigeria’s Industrialisation and Vocational Training: The Impact on youths’ with experts proffering solutions based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) entrenched in Technical and Vocational Education (TVE) skills. REMMY NWEKE was there for DigitalSENSE Business News.

 Preamble
EXPERTS in the education sector have described it as a process of training designed to give knowledge, develop skills and abilities that could lead to the development of mental alertness and the right attitude to life.
This, they said, implies that if education is adequately inculcated in human-kind, individuals would meaningfully help themselves and positively contribute to the growth and welfare of their immediate community.
In essence, education remains the single factor that guarantees both individual growth, community development, industrial development and national development, hence, if an individual acquires skills and the right attitude, and realistically applies the skills and right attitude for the benefit of the society, it means that education has helped to change or better still, transform, the individual for better and pragmatically too.
According to Encarta dictionary, a skill acquisition, on the other hand, involves the development of a new skill, practice or a way of doing things usually gained through training or experience. Broadly, technical skill cannot be discussed without inculcating Vocational and Technical Education (VTE) or Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), according to A university don on industrial and technology education at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, Prof. Abdullahi Shehu Maaji.
He also defined entrepreneurship simply as meaning self-employment, and in the private sector of the economy, whose key operator is mostly associated with the word entrepreneurship; he is called the coordinator, decision maker, risk bearer, manger, innovator, organizer, initiator, and so on.
The entrepreneur, he said, ranges from the ordinary peasant farmer, palm wine taper, oil miller to the high altitude business men and women engaged in small, medium and large scale industrial, commercial and agricultural enterprises with modern and sophisticated technologies. In order words, there is not a particular type of person who becomes an entrepreneur.

TVE, key to ICT delivery:
Prof. Ma’aji has said that Nigeria’s economy needs human-ware embedded in Technical and Vocational Education (TVE), which is the real key to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in the delivery of technical skills which hold the key to the nation’s lingering economic crisis.
Prof. Ma’aji told ITRealms at the 2013 conference of the German Alumni Association of Nigeria (GAAN) in Abuja recently, asserting that vocational and technical education (VTE) skills hold the axis of the country’s economy, which cut across the extractive, manufacturing and commercial sectors of the economy in order to create more entrepreneurs.
He also said that technical skills acquisition and entrepreneurship are viable tools for coping with the global economic crisis in Nigeria, describing these as cardinal to any economic development of a country and Nigeria precisely.
Training in general, he noted, has potential benefits which accrue to the individual, an organization and to the country as a whole, stressing that to an individual, training enhances future earning potential, career, progression and employability and to unemployed, training offers capacities to find ways of earning a livelihood, which could be through self-employment or setting up of a business.
At organizational level, the don pointed out that training results in company productivity and high profits, just as the company is expected to contribute to the wealth of the country through taxes, insisting that TVE and human degradation could be truly said that a country’s development and progress based on the ability to combat global economic crisis, largely depends on the availability and quality of its human resources, people with the right skills and the right attitude embedded in TVE skills.

Imperative of ICT in TVE
In a world being radically transformed by ICTs, Prof. Ma’aji pointed out the imperativeness to include ICT training in TVE, arguing that acquiring skills and knowledge on ICT is important for educators to teach their students, as such, a successful policy in ICT in TVE must provide a vision and medium-term strategic framework for the expected use of ICTs in Nigeria schools.
The implementation of such a policy, Ma’aji said, must embrace all key ICT components; hardware, software, electronic content, teacher professional development, promotion of learner-centred instruction, assessment, technical support, investment and recurrent financing needs.
In addition, he said, the policy should tap the respective comparative advantages of different players in public and private sectors, so that all knowledge and resources could be brought to bear in the integration.
“However, it must be remembered that the real key to ICTs in Technical skill TVE training is the ‘human-ware’, not the hardware of software, because it is extent and nature of the use or non-use of ICTs by  teachers and students will determine the success of investing in ICTs in TVE,” he declared.
Underlining the recent statement by the World Bank which hinges on ensuring that focus of technology-induced education remains on students learning and skill development, rather than on procurement and installation of thousands of computers in school.

Historical perspective to technical skill acquisition in Nigeria
Prof. Ma’aji in giving historical background to technical skill acquisition, noted that around 14th century, during the pre-colonial era skill acquisition in vocational and technical education was still an informal way, where the learner lives with his master throughout the period of training.
“The instructional method was through observation and imitation of the master. Non-indigenous companies like the Shell BP and the UAC started training artisans among their employee’s but the training acquired was to save the skill needed by that particular company at that particular time. There was no arrangement for examination neither issuances of any certificate or any means to improve the learners ability to accomplish more complex task,” he said.
The don further explained that the first technical institute established in Nigeria was the Hope Waddell institute in Calabar in 1885; with the aim of providing education in rudiments training in the technical trades and teacher education. The first vocational and technical institute to be established in Nigeria was the Yaba Higher College in 1948, with the motive to train artisans, craftsmen and technicians, together with teachers of technical education to teach in the trade centres. Skills acquired during the pre independent period should have gone beyond technician’s level.
In Nigeria today, he said, there are over 40 federal polytechnics, state polytechnics, federal colleges of education, state University of Technology and a number of Colleges of Agriculture and Forestry.
Various skills have been acquired at various levels and in various fields from these institutions, thousands of students graduate annually with vast technical knowledge as to man different sectors of our economy.

On Nigeria’s efforts towards entrepreneurship development:
Prof. Ma’aji quoted Ebiring T, as declaring in Perspective: Entrepreneurship Development and Growth of Enterprises in Nigeria, that economic growth rates are often attributed to the role of the duo of government and entrepreneurs which is complementary and not mutually exclusive.
In Nigeria, as found in some other economies, the government helps to encourage entrepreneurship development, by providing security to safeguard life and property’ maintaining law and order and the freedom to do business and acquire technical skills.
The role of government, therefore, he said, in entrepreneurship development in Nigeria became significant only after the Nigeria civil war and particularly since the mid-1980s there has been an increased commitment of government to entrepreneurship development especially after the introduction of the Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in 1986. Added to this is the establishment of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), National Open Apprenticeship Scheme (NOAS) and, the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Association of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
Fundamentally, Prof. Ma’aji said, the Nigeria government promotes entrepreneurial culture through initiatives that build technical skills, business confidence, positive attitude, pride in success, support and encouragement of new ideas, social responsibility, providing technological supports, encouraging inter-firm linkages and promotion of research and development.

We need functional TVE:
In order to provide the needed technical skills acquisition with regards to entrepreneurship and TVE training, Prof. Ma’aji advocated for the establishment of functional technical and vocational educational institutions for the training of skilled technicians by the government.
He also recommended that Oil and Gas companies should partner with government in the business of development of entrepreneurial skills for professionals in the economy; inviting those in authority in Nigeria to wake up and provide uninterrupted electrical power if entrepreneurial skills development and employment amongst the citizenry is to be achieved.
While calling for further investment in the area of the development of oil and gas fields vigorously to enhance this sector of the economy, Prof. Ma’aji emphasised the need for government and oil companies to integrate their host communities in poverty reduction programmes to reduce hostility.

Nigeria in dire need of TVE:
Earlier, the National President, German Alumni Association of Nigeria (GAAN), Sir Anthony Uko-Akpulu at the second national conference of GAAN, which held at the conference centre, National Bureau of Statistics, Abuja, presided over by Dr. Boniface Amobi, President, Nigeria Statistics Association, said Nigeria requires badly vocational education, which he is certain that with collaboration between the German government and federal government, the state government could establish vocational schools in all the states of the federation.
“Such schools are doing wonders in Germany and Nigeria will benefit greatly from such help,” he said, stressing that about 10 per cent of Nigerian youths are admitted into higher institutions annually and wondered what becomes of the remaining 90 per cent that are left unattended to.
Akpulu cited for instance, that the Metallurgical Training Institute (MTI) in Onitsha which was built with the help of the German Government over 20 years ago is doing well in Nigeria.
“We need more of such schools all over Nigeria,” he appealed, specifically to GIZ and other affiliate German organizations in Nigeria to assist GAAN by sponsoring some five members to Germany on facility tour of technical institutions in order to boost the desired upgrade of GAAN proposals to the national assembly recently on the establishment of Vocational Education as the bedrock of the economy in Nigeria.
GAAN he explained are made up of Nigerians who have graduated from German universities, vocational schools or worked in Germany so as collectively synergise on how to help Nigeria to improve positively, economically, socially and politically among others.
He applauded German embassy in Nigeria and GIZ for their aid and corporation so far, while soliciting for continued support for GAAN to enable it show the German literary light in Nigeria.
In his remarks, a representative of GIZ SEDIN Abuja, sponsors of the conference, Mr. Raymond Dangana commended GAAN for the conference, mostly on the theme for this year: Nigeria’s industrialization and vocational training: the impact on youths.
He also assured GAAN of GIZ continued support as part of the partnership to develop Nigeria in line with the international corporation agenda of the German government and its affiliates.

ITRealms recalls that since the formation of GAAN in Abuja some two years ago, efforts were made to form strong branches throughout the federation and as at the time of filing this report, Anambra State branch was formed in 1992, while other branches are gradually springing up in Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Niger, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja branches.


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What’s the Mobile Readiness of Your Business

Time and time again, I have made persistent efforts to state that responsive design is the lifeblood of your website; how trends in design are now beginning to take a shape, dominated by your mobile customer; and how in 2012 mobiles have already started to become key players.
While browsing the web, you will undoubtedly encounter countless presentations and articles that many reasons why experts are overwhelmingly persuaded to believe that mobile is the imminent future. What’s more, they will be happy to demonstrate proven methods by which you can initialise and track your mobile advertising and marketing campaigns. Yes, mobile is without any doubt really big; and in every sense of the word.
Still, there will always be a few of those unwavering business owners who are perfectly at ease with their total reliance on desktop interactions; irrespective of their customer preferences, I can safely assert that this is a potentially dangerous game and trend of mind which you should avoid.
A recent Google study also helps to elucidate this contention point further. As many as nine varying verticals were covered by this Google study, which included Food and Cuisine, Restaurants, Travel, Finance, Homes and Gardens, Beauty and Apparel, Nutrition and Health, Electronics, and Automotive. With 950 individuals as participants, each candidate was to be over 18 years and needed to have made a minimum of one purchase within his/her selected vertical during a period of last 30 days.
1. Research Stage and the Mobile
Gaining a firm grasp over the whereabouts of your customer on the life cycle of a purchasing phase is pivotal to perceiving the exact message that you need to send out to that customer; other than a manner in which you opt to deliver that message. Predictably, with mobile browsing on the uptake, the key action is research where your mobile customers are concerned, as:
• overall, mobile customers tend to spend over 15 hours in a week to research products, services, special deals, and a lot more besides
• business websites are visited by about 59% of them
• on average, roughly 5 to 6 visits of the mobile customer are needed to a specific website, before a purchase is finally made
• browsing the web via the mobile is almost at par with usage of mobile apps (that’s 7.3 hours in a week and 8 hours in a week, respectively)
Looked upon from a research stage; these comprise just a fractional part of the ground statistics that cover mobile browsing. While studying the figures closely, you will also find that more than 50 per cent of your mobile audience commonly visit websites, by bringing their phones into use. Additionally, they also generally tend to re-visit in order to validate/confirm their search for the product, related to the brand offered by you, on other available sites.
If for any perceivable reason you should tend to show even the slightest indecision in making it reasonably easier for your esteemed customers to execute these actions, you will have simply turned these customers away to some waiting rival who will be more than happy to oblige them.
2. Search Process and the Mobile
Search action involves naturally tying in with mobile usage for research. In spite of the reality that web browsing via mobile and the usage of app accounts for an appreciable percentage of customer habits related to your brand, mobile search is still an uncontested leader where research is concerned. Simply because:
• in an overall process of shopping, as much as 74 per cent customers prefer using a search engine for mobiles
• while breaking down mobile search against branded properties (both, app or site), mobile search comes up with a 48 per cent lead, in comparison with a 33 per cent lead for business websites, and a 26 per cent lead for mobile apps, in general.
Not only does this help brands in answering the prickly issue of whether they ought to opt for the mobile optimised app or site, it also helps them in drawing out effective plans for their marketing campaigns and mobile ads. This is particularly so when confronted with the wearisome obstacle of raising the awareness of their brand at a search point.
3. Benefits of GeoLocation and the Mobile
Over the last twelve months or thereabouts, geolocation marketing has received more than what could be said to be its fair share of an ongoing backlash. Platforms that include Facebook Places and Foursquare too have not been spared the rapid fire blasts; with several questions being asked about any real-time benefits driven by check-ins on mobile at a physical location.
While a few likely merits of such a geolocation can probably not be denied outright, today’s informed mobile customer would rightfully demand to know if a location he/she has researched is authentically local, before an actual purchase is made. As noted:
• more than 69 per cent or two-third customers normally expect an enterprise to be ideally located in an under 5 mile radius, while searching the web
• there are those of course, actually a big 10 per cent, who would be more than happy if the concerned enterprise was actually under a mile distance from them
• details of store locators on a website as well as a search are definite key factors; what with as much as 71 per cent customers making use of this special feature to pinpoint a location that’s closest to them
While Facebook and Foursquare have both earned fixed reviews for their respective geolocation services, what matters most is that customers tend to look for businesses based upon proximity and location. Tying Foursquare ads into a geographical search could be one method that would prove beneficial to owners of local businesses.
With Google continuing to evolve its algorithm for searches, the site’s own business solutions on Google Places is anticipated to act out a much bigger role for apps users who are logged into Google during the period when mobile searches are being used by them.
4. Urgency of Purchase and the Mobile
What’s even more interesting about this study, and perhaps a part that should be considered by every endeavouring business owner, is the manner in which a large number of customers are now beginning to adapt their major purchasing choices and decisions, primarily based upon the usage of mobiles.
Given that validation through peer reviews on various leading social networks and research are only the thickness of a hair away from every potential consumer, customers now show a far greater urgency when it concerns a purchase that’s instigated via mobile search, in comparison to browsing on your desktop. As a consequence:
• in less than an hour after their validation (peer recommendation, research, or search), as much as 55 per cent customers will now want to or be absolutely prepared to go for the final purchase of a product or service desired
• for those with a real-time urgency, as much as 83 per cent will want to or be absolutely prepared to go for the final purchase of a product or service desired in less than 24 hours of first initiating the purchase
As such, more than a good half among your target potential customers will want to reach your store in under an hour; with another 30 per cent customers who will be anxious to stop over by your store and shop the following day by the latest. If you are a business that’s keen to progress and achieve a name on the marketplace, would you really have the nerve to turn this wonderful opportunity away, for nix? You should now be beginning to give that a real thought.
5. Purchase Point and the Mobile
If these statistics are still unable to project a fabulous graphic presentation of the manner in that mobile is starting to manoeuvre the behaviour of your customer, then I suppose you would do well by simply ignoring the data that follows, since you and your business are clearly oblivious of the larger (but also the somewhat smaller) picture frame of why it is pertinent for your future business strategy to include the mobile too.
On the other hand, if you’ve already started taking notes on how you plan to put together just the perfect team for due implementation of your future mobile strategy, we are definitely on the same wavelength, because:
• in spite of growing mobile browsing for majority of validation and research accounts; stores still continue to make fantastic sales; with mobiles helping to drive up pedestal traffic for businesses that have managed to place a healthy mobile strategy as their shop front
• as high as 93 per cent research and searches on mobiles result in product purchases
• when making their physical purchase, 82 per cent customers went for a direct storefront purchase, while others who waited till being online via their tablet or desktop scored at 45 per cent, and 17 per cent customers chose to make on-the-spot purchases, using handsets
The gist of it all is – mobiles give businesses the trust they need and drive traffic. That’s how it is now and that’s how it is going to remain for a long while

STATISTICS overpoweringly portray a stance which is fundamentally contradictory to the norm that relates to the role played by mobile solutions for the customers of a business. And sad as it may appear, there are still many businesses that have chosen to neglect this awesome modern day digital marketing resource.

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50yrs: AU partner EU on Internet/ICT Week’13

The 2013 Africa Union (AU) and European Union (EU) Forum on Internet, Information and Communication (Internet/ICT) has been concluded to take place between December 2 and 6, 2013 at the African Union Conference Centre (AUCC) and Office Complex in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The event is organised by the EuroAfrica-ICT/P8 EU/FP7 in the framework of the AUC Internet/ICT Week holding in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) which later rebranded to African Union (AU).

The ‘2013 Africa-EU Cooperation Forum on Internet/ICT’ is the sixth of a series organised by the EuroAfrica-ICT Initiative under the aegis of the European Commission (EC, DG CONNECT) and the African Union Commissions (AUC, Information Society Division) and in the framework of the Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership (JAES).

The African Union (AU) on September 9,1999, came as a pronouncement of the Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity issued a Declaration calling for the establishment of an African Union, with a view, to accelerate the process of integration in the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy, while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems compounded as they are by certain negative aspects of globalisation.

NIRA would be represented by the Board Committee Chairman on Communications, Mr Remmy Nweke, other ICT/Internet stakeholders in Nigeria are encouraged to attend.

Nenye Dom
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Fish Center, WFO sign MoU on food security

The WFO, NaijaAgroNet gathers is an assemblage of national farmers’ organisations and agricultural cooperatives in 44 countries in order to represent and safeguard global food security, the environment as well as the socio-economic wealth of rural communities.
On the other hand, the WFC, an international scientific research center part of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) involved in promoting sustainable fishing and safeguarding water resources.
NaijaAgroNet reports that WFO Executive Director, Marco Marzano de Marinis,described the MoU between WFO and WFC as efforts at supporting agricultural organisations, with the firm belief that farmers and fishermen are a fundamental resource for global food security, rural development, and, in general, for global development.
“Farmers are the main investors in their sector, thus they have to be involved in any strategy aimed at raising their incomes and promoting this sector. Thus, farmers need better policies and a normative framework which includes economic incentives,” Marco Marzano said.
NaijaAgroNet notes that farmers and fishermen are fundamental resources for global food security and rural development. A 10-year agreement has been signed to strengthen their partnership as well as cooperate to develop projects and programs aimed at supporting farmers through learning and development initiatives. The activities will consist of mutual planning and support in research, promotion through conferences, seminars, workshops, but especially the development of common policies and advocacy strategies.

THE World Fish Center (WFC) and World Farmer’s Organisation (WFO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote food security and rural development, reports NaijaAgroNet.

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2013 Web Index ranks Nigeria 67th

 NIGERIA has been ranked 67th out of the 81 countries ranked in a web index made available to ITRealms.
Taking the format of an 81 country ranking, the Web Index is the world’s first measure of the World Wide Web’s contribution to development and human rights globally. Scores are given in the areas of access; freedom and openness; relevant content; and empowerment. First released in 2012, the 2013 Index has been expanded and refined to include 20 new countries and features an enhanced data set, particularly in the areas of gender, Open Data, privacy rights and security.
As it were, Nigeria scored 20.2 with universal access score at 29.0, relevant content 13.6 and freedom and openness was 37.1, just as the impact and empowerment was scored 13.1.
In Africa, leading the pack in this index is South Africa with a score of 35, following vy Mauritus 40 among others.
Meanwhile the Scandinavian countries top the global annual Web Index rankings, just as the United States and United Kingdom were criticised for inadequate privacy protections.
“We’re launching the second edition of the Web Index - the world’s first multi-dimensional measure of the World Wide Web’s contribution to development and human rights globally,” official statement read.
ITRealms reports that Sweden tops the table for the second year running, with Norway in second. The UK and US come third and fourth respectively, but both come in for criticism for surveillance practices. New Zealand rounds out the top five.
The 2013 Index also reports that targeted censorship of Web content by governments is widespread across the globe. Moderate to extensive blocking or filtering of politically sensitive content was reported in over 30 percent of Web Index countries during the past year.
Legal limits on government snooping online urgently need review. 94% of countries in the Web Index do not meet best practice standards for checks and balances on government interception of electronic communications.
The Web and social media are leading to real-world change.  In 80 percent of the countries studied, the Web and social media had played a role in public mobilisation in the past year, and in half of these cases, had been a major catalyst.
Rich countries do not necessarily rank highly in the Web Index. The Philippines, with a per capita income of $4,410 per year, is more than 10 places ahead of Qatar, the world’s richest country, with an average income over 20 times greater than the Philippines. Saudi Arabia is outperformed by 10 of the sub-Saharan African countries in the Index. Switzerland, the world’s third wealthiest nation, is only one place ahead of Estonia. The study shows that once countries surpass a GDP threshold of US$12,000 per capita, the link between wealth and Web Index rank weakens significantly.
The rights and priorities of women are poorly served by the Web in the majority of countries researched.  Locally relevant information on topics such as sexual and reproductive health, domestic violence, and inheritance remain largely absent from the Web in most countries. Only 56 percent of Web Index countries were assessed as allocating ‘significant’ resources to ICT training programmes targeting women and men equally.


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‘Booming mobile apps, booming security risks’

 Global leader in the provision of security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world, Symantec, has raise an alarm over looming danger in unsecured mobile applications. Correspondent NENYE DOM, examines the latest white paper on mobile apps and attendant risks.

Foreword:
 A white paper on ‘Securing the Mobile App Market’ made available to ITRealms, Symantec says that a new industry is born, which is booming at this stage, but expressed worries over equally booming aspect of the security risks.
Officials of Symantec confided in ITRealms that definitely the emergence of mobile applications has fundamentally changed the way that millions of people around the world work, play, and communicate. Noting that nowadays, users could now download every type of application imaginable: from games, to maps, to movie and television show tie–ins, to apps that will turn a device into a flashlight, and more directly to their smart phones and other mobile devices.
They pointed out in the white paper that though the market for mobile apps is still relatively young, it has grown exponentially over the past several years and will continue to expand rapidly. Fueled by millions of consumers and business users looking for innovative applications, Symantec noted that this explosive growth presents a tremendous opportunity for software developers looking to create and monetize the next hit app to help people be more productive, or simply have fun.
“But developers aren’t the only ones looking to profit from the surge in apps – cybercriminals want to infect and exploit as many mobile devices as they can to steal confidential information. Infected apps are not only a threat to mobile device users, but also to network and platform providers, device manufacturers, and the reputation of the industry as a whole ,” part of the white paper reports.
Symantec further said that fortunately, developers could protect their code and their customers with a straightforward and easy to-manage technology: code signing certificates. Hence, this white paper detailed the rise of mobile applications and why code signing certificates are essential to protecting the entire mobile apps ecosystem.
A dawn for the Mobile Application Market:According to experts at Symantec, mobile device apps have been around for years, but some analysts have picked July 11, 2008; the day Apple launched its iPhone App Store – to mark the birth of the market for mobile applications. Apple customers downloaded more than three billion applications in just the first 18 months of the App Store’s existence, making it the largest applications store in the world with Apple’s App Store downloads topping Three Billion as at January 5, 2010.
Symantec posited that even though Apple was hailed as a mobile apps pioneer, mobile device users had already been downloading apps from online application stores for many years. Noting for instance, that mobile device users have also been able to download apps from numerous “off-store” sources, including popular websites such as Download.com, and directly from application developers themselves. Even as some cellular network carriers have tested the waters with their own mobile app sites.
While the Apple App Store wasn’t the first to offer apps, it was the first to prove that consumers would flock to mobile applications and integrated “on-device” storefronts if they were easy to download, install, and use. So, by lowering technical and financial entry barriers, Apple’s innovative storefront also succeeded in attracting hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic app developers.
Experts at Symantec argued that these changes have drastically changed the mobile apps landscape. Pointing out that now, network and platform providers, as well as some device manufacturers, offer development kits to help software vendors create innovative applications. In turn, developers who work with storefronts get marketing help and ready access to millions of eager customers ready to pay for the next killer app.
Mobile applications, therefore, have become big business, a fact that has led to more opportunities for developers, a deluge of new apps for customers, and fierce competition among device manufacturers, network providers, and platform providers racing to stake out their piece of the mobile applications market.
Booming mobile apps, booms security risks:
Noteworthy, according to investigations by DigitalSENSE Business News and reaffirmed by Symantec latest report, at the inception of the App Store, many other companies have since joined the field and opened their own app stores, the most notable being Google’s Android Market and Nokia App, Samsung and even MTN Apps to name a few.
Additionally, to selling apps through storefronts, developers have to work with network providers and device manufacturers, whose portals typically do not contain dedicated storefronts to create apps across a range of mobile operating systems and devices.
Experts at Symantec cited for example, the AT&T which built a strong developer programme that allows app vendors to reach 80 million AT&T customers, while LG has created its own Applications Store to offer apps that are compatible with LG devices sold under a variety of brands.
The Symantec report further stated that even though storefronts currently generate the most buzz, users can still download apps through a variety of different independent off-store websites. In fact, off-store downloads account for the majority of application downloads and revenue worldwide. The number of off-store downloads will decrease as storefronts become more popular, but they will likely remain an important distribution channel.
With tens of thousands of apps to choose from, customers are spending billions of dollars on applications every year. By 2014, consumer spending on apps is estimated to grow to 25.5 billion dollars. To put that in perspective, that’s more than the revenue generated by professional football, baseball, basketball, and hockey in the United States – combined.
For mobile device users, apps are just a quick tap or click away. Unfortunately, more apps and software downloads mean that there’s a greater chance that malicious code will slip through. In fact, rogue apps are already sneaking into storefronts: In January of 2010, two credit unions discovered a “banking” app in Google’s Android Market that fooled customers into sending sensitive financial information to cybercriminals. Google quickly removed the app – along with 50 others written by the same hacker3.
Apps for Everyone:
A steep rise in the number of app downloads will continue to fuel the rapid growth in the mobile apps market. How sharp will the increase be? By 2014, it is estimated that there will be 19.5 billion app downloads. That averages out to just under three apps downloaded by every person on the planet.
It was not unanticipated for industry watchers that as mobile apps become more popular, malware attacks on these devices will rise exponentially. Part of what makes malicious apps so dangerous is that they can be next to impossible to spot.
Malware apps can be easily assembled using parts from standard developer toolkits, and many of these apps exploit information – such as location and contact lists – to which many users will grant access when they believe an app is safe and legitimate. Even if users aren’t sure if an app is safe, many don’t read permissions notices closely, or may grant access out of habit. It takes just a quick click to give an application access to highly sensitive information.
Any choice for end-users?
Even if users don’t allow an app to discover their location or other personal information, many are designed to collect this type of information anyway. In fact, the App Genome Project discovered that nearly one third of apps track a user’s location, and about 10 percent try to access contact and address lists. Apps, they noted are built to gather personal information are an ideal target for hackers.
If apps like these are left unsecured, hackers can alter just a few lines of code and turn them into dangerous, information-stealing malware. Instead of creating a malware program from scratch, hackers can simply hijack an existing application, a fact that makes it even harder to ferret out malicious programmes.
Despite growing awareness, and the fact that end users are more careful and take more precautions to prevent infections, malware is here to stay. Given these trends, securing your mobile applications is absolutely essential to protect your customers, your products, your business reputation, and the overall mobile apps ecosystem.
Security is key to successful app development:
The Symantec report showed that along with smooth game play or an appealing, easy-to-use interface, application developers also need to consider how to deliver their apps safely to customers. Despite that most malware may seem like more of a nuisance than a true danger, a malware infection of any kind could be potentially disastrous. And if consumers are too fearful to download an app, it can not only damage the reputation of a developer or network provider, but also drive away revenue as users switch to apps, networks, and devices they believe are safe.
Based on the aforesaid revelation, experts argued that many app storefronts and websites recognize this danger and have developed security protocols that require the use of digital signatures to identify the software developer. However, some stores require only self-signed digital certificates that do not validate the developer’s identity, a practice that could expose storefronts and consequently the customers to malicious apps.
Even if most app stores and websites outline some security standards, DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that these are often not as strong as they could be. Code signing certificates from a trusted third-party provider could help ensure secure distribution and bolster trust that your apps are safe to download.
Are Self-Signed Certificates Really Safe?
While commonly used, self-signed certificates are not the best option for developers. While self-signing confirms that code comes from a particular publisher and that it hasn’t been tampered with, it can’t prove that the publisher is trustworthy. In other words, anyone can self-sign a certificate, including a cybercriminal. Working with a trusted third party helps ensure that your code is safe, demonstrates that your business is authentic, and keeps cybercriminals from masquerading as legitimate developers.
Code signing certificates mitigate security risks unique to mobile apps:
Although driven by business objectives that are substantially different, mobile device manufacturers, network and platform providers, and app developers are closely related and depend on each other to maintain a thriving mobile apps marketplace. Given the shared risks to their revenue and reputation, each of these key players has a vested interest in ensuring the safety and integrity of the entire mobile apps environment. Code signing certificates, particularly those from a trusted third-party provider, are critical to protecting mobile apps and the technologies that support them.
The report highlighted the fact that for developers, the benefits of code signing certificates are obvious. Many storefronts and network providers require digital signatures to allow apps to access phone functionality, and code signing certificates not only help ensure that your code has not been altered since it was signed, but can also demonstrate to customers and business partners that you are a legitimate, trusted developer.
Network providers, on the other hand, face a different challenge. Facing declining revenue from voice services, network providers need to attract more subscribers and sell more network services. To make this new, services-focused business model a success, network providers are turning to apps, either by working with developers to create cross-device and cross-platform apps (such as AT&T), or by supporting the mobile devices that feature the latest popular apps. By helping to ensure the integrity of application code as well as providing a mechanism to control which applications are deployed on their networks, code signing certificates can help providers keep their networks malware free.
How Code Signing Works
According to the report, code signing certificates from a third-party provider could authenticate the identity of the publisher and the integrity of each piece of signed code. Here is how the process works in general.
Some of the steps include: 1. A Certificate Authority (CA) validates a developer’s identity and legitimacy as a software or content publisher. 2. The CA then issues the developer a specific developer ID that is used to authenticate the developer when they want to sign code. 3. The developer then uses their specific developer ID to sign the files of their application that they send to the CA. 4. The “re-signed,” or authenticated, content is now ready for trusted distribution.
Challenge for device manufacturers:
For device manufacturers, the challenge is also two fold: These companies need to appeal to developers while being mindful of the requirements of network providers. To attract the most buyers, mobile devices need to offer the apps that consumers want.
So, manufacturers also need their app-enabled devices to be accepted by network providers, a situation that may involve a patchwork of security requirements. Thus code signing certificates can help ensure the integrity of the apps on mobile devices regardless of which network carries it.
In other words, platform providers also need to ensure the integrity of apps on their networks, but for slightly different reasons. Providers like these license their platforms to device manufacturers, so the more licenses they sell, the more successful the platform provider becomes. In turn, device manufacturers that use these platforms want their devices to be carried on as many networks as possible.
Protecting end-users:
However, to protect end users, as well as the reputation of every player in this chain, testing and code signing security are essential for platform providers.
From initial development to final download on an end user’s mobile device, code signing certificates can be used to effectively safeguard the entire mobile apps ecosystem, protecting consumers and companies alike.
Conclusion:
Although mobile apps have been around for more than a decade, innovative new mobile devices and easy-to-use storefronts have made apps mainstream and pushed demand higher than ever before. Developers, network and platform providers, and device manufacturers have teamed up to create a thriving – and highly profitable – market for mobile apps.
Unfortunately, cybercriminals are also looking to capitalize on the explosive growth of mobile apps. They are already hard at work creating malicious software designed to steal users’ information and wreak havoc on the larger apps ecosystem.
However, there is a relatively simple yet highly effective solution to protect mobile apps. By using code signing certificates from a trusted third-party provider like Symantec, developers can safeguard their code and prove that their business is legitimate.
By the same token, network and platform providers, as well as device manufacturers, can require code signing certificates in their security protocols to help ensure safety across the mobile apps environment. When consumers are sure that apps are safe, they will download more, boosting distribution volume and revenue for developers and the businesses that carry and market their software.
By making code signing certificates an integral part of the application development process, companies as well as their customers can continue to benefit from the unexpected and exciting rise of the marketplace for mobile apps.



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Moving courtrooms into our handsets (1)

 Meaning of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)
ODR can be defined as the deployment of applications and computer networks to resolve disputes using the conventional Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods. Both electronic (e)-disputes that gave rise to ODR in the first place and brick and mortar (Businesses that do not operate on the internet, traditional business style) disputes can be resolved using ODR. Alternatively, ODR can be said to be the end product of the synergy between ADR and ICT as a method for resolving disputes that were arising online, and for which traditional means of dispute resolution were inefficient or unavailable.
It should be noted that ODR does not only settles some disputes, but also used as complements to traditional mediation and arbitration means of settling disputes.  There are a lot of cases that do not require the degree of intervention offered by a Mediator or Arbitrator. Similarly, there are complex or impasse claims that may not settle without the assistance of a third party.
Accordingly, ODR allows Users to resolve straightforward cases faster, more cost effective and help them identify the cases that require a Neutral. In fact, some ODR providers like the Cyber settle has exclusive alliance with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) which allows both service providers and Users to move claims and cases seamlessly between each other in order to provide the fastest and most efficient resolution process for the parties.
The only requirement to have access to ODR is access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices. With the availability of the internet on most handsets, sometimes with free internet bundle, ODR could be used to grant swift, cheap and transparent justice to the ordinary man at least in commercial dispute for now. This should be considered to be among the deliverables to be made available by the Nigerian Judiciary in its bid to transform and ensure quick dispensation of justice.

The evolution and historical development of ODR
ODR is fallout of increased acceptance, usage and relevance of the internet in all aspect of human endeavour. The internet with its cheap, simple, flexible and modern method of doing things has permeated the entire activity of man. Therefore, the evolution and historical development of ODR would be examined under the following sub-heads:
• ODR during the period of limited internet access;
• ODR during the period of liberalized internet access; and
• ODR Today (2012/13)

ODR during the period of limited internet access
The origin of the internet can be traced to organized and co-ordinated transmission of information among four institutions in 1969. The pioneers of the Internet at that time were concerned and focused on creating new capabilities for communicating. This means, they did not focus on possible long-term social consequences that their invention would have on the World nor did they envisage that it would subsequently reduce it to Global village. Thus, for the first twenty years of its existence, the Internet did not need formal controls, because it had sufficient informal     controls for the limited number of users at that time.
The population using the Internet during this period of time was    relatively small and principally in the military or academia.  For each of these entities, problems or difficulties experienced by users would be resolved by the group.  Thus, while the Internet was founded in 1969,  there were relatively few users and few disputes for more than half of its life . If any disputes did occur, peer pressure and informal mechanisms were sufficient to respond to such    problems.
However, in the early 1990s, two developments changed the status quo and people realized that more organized systems of dispute    resolution would be needed:
First, university students with personal computer skills in the United States were granted access to their respective university’s networks; and secondly, the National Science Foundation removed long standing restrictions on commercial use of the Internet. These developments increased the use and patronage of the internet dramatically. The increased activity on the latter was to give birth to ODR.
Consequently, the growth in the commercial sector brought with it increased concern regarding the standard’s process itself. Starting in the early 1980’s and continuing to this day, the Internet grew beyond it’s primarily research roots to include both a broad user community and increased commercial activity. Increased attention was paid to making the process open and fair. These, coupled with a recognized need for community support for the Internet eventually led to the formation of the Internet Society in 1991, under the auspices of Kahn’s Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI).
By August, 1995, the National Science Foundation had removed the ban on commercial activity on the Internet, thereby increasing internet activity exponentially. Therefore, it need not be stated that ODR at this stage was neither standardized nor formalized as a concept for wide application.

ODR during the period of liberalized internet access
Following the liberalization of the internet both in terms of relaxed rule guiding usage and availability of its infrastructure thereby ensuring ease of access, all types of activities started happening on the internet. According to Katsh, who is the acclaimed founder of ODR, “Cyberspace is an active place, a creative place and, for some, a lucrative place. It is not, however, a harmonious    place. The more relationships that are formed online and the more transactions that take place, the more disputes are likely to occur. The broadening range of online activities, their increasing complexity, and the expanding information processing capabilities of computers linked to the network accelerates the pace of change.  This contributes to an environment that is valuable but not stable, and where, as a result, there is a need for systems that can manage change. With existing legal institutions either slow to respond, ineffective, costly or challenged by jurisdictional issues, efforts have been made to design dispute resolution systems that employ resources and tools that can be found online. This... has been a successful effort, albeit one proceeding at a moderate pace, since it has depended on support from the private sector and on the development of software that must be targeted to particular kinds of problems. It is also an effort that is relevant to the “Law and Borders” controversy since ODR is a process out of which legal needs might be identified and from which some rules and even some rule making processes for cyberspace may emerge”. At this juncture, it is important to emphasize that online dispute resolution (ODR) emerged not to displace or challenge an existing legal regime but to fill a vacuum where law’s authority was absent or inadequate. It began, rather simply, as a response to growing numbers of disputes arising out of online activities. However, due to its immense benefits, ODR has expanded to include settlement of disputes arising off-line.
By 1996, the landscape of disputes on the Internet had changed and many of the problems we are still grappling with today had begun to be of concern even then. In response, the National Centre for Automated Information Research (NCAIR) in the USA organized the 1996 conference on online dispute resolution and provided funding for three ODR experiments.
The Virtual Magistrate project conceived by Johnson was the first ODR provider, while several others followed, all aimed at resolving disputes between Internet Service Providers and users. It must be conceded that some of these Providers have been able to evolve very simple, user friendly and innovative techniques. The University of Massachusetts Online Ombuds Office for instance, hoped to facilitate dispute resolution on the Internet generally. In the same vein, the University of Maryland proposed to see if ODR     could be employed in family disputes where parents were located at a distance.
There was novelty to these efforts in that, they handled conflicts either originating in cyberspace or related to cyberspace. There was also a second novelty in that the network was used to allow a human third party to interact with the disputants in lieu of face–to–face meetings. Yet, these efforts essentially copied offline models of mediation and arbitration; and, as a result, were as labour intensive as the offline versions.
A lot of Observers continue to marvel at the fact that, the Computer Internet which was employed to communicate over    great distances,    with information processing and information management capabilities linked to the network, could as well provide novel approaches for assisting in both dispute prevention and dispute resolution. As a result, all of these projects supported the paradigm shift of traditional ADR. These are where two parties are negotiating or a human third party mediating or arbitrating to where the computer assists parties in negotiating to automated ODR methods and even enforcements.
However, as stated above, starting from 1999, ODR began to take advantage of tools that did more than communicate online. In the process, it began to differentiate itself from its offline relatives. One of the principal catalysts for this change was a pilot project in online mediation that the University Of Massachusetts Centre for Information Technology and Dispute Resolution conducted for eBay. It should be recalled that eBay’s terms of service, both then and now, did not require it to provide resources in the event some dispute arose over a transaction.
In the main, eBay had, quite creatively, set up a feedback rating     system to allow parties to indicate whether a sale went smoothly. The information when aggregated was found to be valuable in assessing whether a seller was trustworthy. Even with this resource, however, as eBay grew, disputes also continued to grow.
The pilot project ended up involving two hundred complaints that were filed in a two–week period. Its success prompted eBay to select an Internet start–up, SquareTrade.com, to be its preferred dispute resolution provider.
Consequently, the disputes that were handled within a two-week period were by far, the largest number of disputes mediated online to that point. Thereafter, eBay established ODR as a feature of its site and by 2010; it was handling over sixty million disputes each year.
The success recorded in resolving such disputes online led to efforts to use online resources to help resolve more traditional offline disputes. The field has changed greatly since then and the site was redesigned and enhanced in September 2011.

ODR today (2012/13)
Today, ODR is no longer solely focused on disputes related to online activities but is now employed in some offline disputes. In the same vein, rather than finding disputes that can utilize ODR, the new challenge is finding tools that can deliver trust, convenience, and expertise for many different kinds of conflicts.
While previously the focus was on e-commerce, the paradigm is    now shifting to mobile commerce. Regulators have generally, adopted different approaches to mobile commerce oversight. Some have maintained a flexible role in order to allow the market to develop, others have been more prescriptive.  However, the challenge for the Justice Sector is: How fast can justice delivery move from e-ADR to ODR and then to Mobile Dispute Resolution (MDR), since the locus in quo which is the online cyberspace is tilting to mobile environment. The emergence of smart-phone technologies is accelerating the movement from ODR to MDR. It is only when the gap between the law (justice system) and the society is not so wide that real justice and not Court victory would be dispensed to the ordinary man. To this end, the quest of the Nigerian Judiciary for an ICT enhanced adjudicatory system is achievable, if the right things are done as at when due. Already, the front-loading system has been adopted. The appellate courts have reduced all appeals to briefs. These developments have reduced the physical appearance of Counsel at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to ceremonial outings; since the entire filing and arguments on the brief can be reduced into writing without the necessity of physical appearance of counsel at the court premises. What remains are substitution of the hard copies with soft copies; getting the necessary software and programs; training of staff as is being done and the payments of the monetary requirements online in accordance with best practices.
Therefore, the lamentation of the former CJN, to the effect that there are over 10, 000 cases currently pending in the Nation’s High Courts is a small fraction compared to over sixty million settled by eBay through ODR mechanism in 2010. Without quibbling, the CJN has indeed captured one of the fundamental problems rendering the Nigerian justice delivery system ineffective.
On the other hand, at the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) level, law firms in Nigeria are being urged to embrace globalization as a factor to be considered in efficient practice. At a forum recently, Ewing noted that with 5% growth per annum recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, the potential for growth (and naturally increased    disputes) could no longer be ignored. He therefore suggested that ICT would help law firms to cope with the growing challenges of globalization.
In any context, levels of disputing today are influenced by measures, which are created to anticipate and prevent possible disputes. No ODR system will be used or be successful unless it is convenient to use, provides a sense of trust and confidence in its use, and also delivers expertise. See specimen ODR application form attached as Annexure ii for full illustration of how the process is initiated. Described a little differently, such systems need to facilitate access and participation, have legitimacy, and provide value to its Providers and Users alike. According to Noveck, “this technology is enabling people to engage in complex, socially contextualized activities in ways not possible before. While it used to be that geography determined the boundaries of a group and the possibilities for collective action (I had to be near you to join you). Now technology is revolutionizing our capacity for purposive collective action with geographically remote actors ... New social and visual technologies are emerging to facilitate the work of groups. What was an ‘information revolution’ is becoming a social revolution. As a result, groups will increasingly be able to go beyond social capital building to lawmaking.” Historic Milestone for the Internet’s Domain Name System and invariably ODR has been made. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has released the list of generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) names, in what, is expected to become the largest expansion in the history of the Internet’s Domain Name System.
A total of 1,930 new gTLD applications were received during the application period of the new generic Top-Level Domain program. According to Rod Beckstron, “We are standing at the cusp of a new era of online innovation...that means new businesses, new marketing tools, new jobs, and new ways to link communities and share information.” I must add that, this also means new areas of disputes as well as new ways of resolving them.



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CROPP: ICANN’s promise kept?

DigitalSENSE Business News reports that the ICANN Board and Senior Staff no doubt recognized in the financial year 2014 (FY14) operations that, while organization-wide efforts to develop a comprehensive ICANN outreach strategy, this cannot be over-emphasised at this time of development in the global coordinating body for the Internet.
Flexible support for communities:
Also, DigitalSENSE Business News had it on good note that ICANN plans to give individual communities some immediate flexible support to start or continue targeted outreach efforts that support specific community outreach or recruitment strategies.
So, in an effort to provide that support as soon as possible and to test whether such a resource could be effectively and consistently managed on an organization-wide basis, staff was directed to develop - as a pilot programme; a regional community-based outreach trip programme to be made available to regional At-Large organizations and non-contract Generic Name Supporting Organisation (GNSO) constituencies.
Equally gathered by DigitalSENSE Business News was that based on the foregoing, ICANN recognized that the formal FY14 OPP was approved almost two months into the fiscal year, staff reportedly worked hard over the last several weeks to develop a pilot programme framework that is “implementable” in the short term and “assessable” over the long term.
To this extend, DigitalSENSE Business News reveals that a detailed overview of this new Community Regional Outreach Pilot Program (CROPP) showed that ICANN has created a new wiki workspace in addition to administer the programme.
Involving 5 RALOS:
Further, DigitalSENSE Business News reports that in according with the FY14 OPP directive to CROPP provides a framework in which each of the 5 At Large Regional Organisations (RALOS) and each of the 5 GNSO non-contract Constituencies will have available 5 “regional” (three-day) outreach trips in FY14.
The specific processes for how these resources are to be made available are set forth in the attached overview document and in the wiki workspace.
Three critical components of the programme include specific pre-trip approval standards such as flexibly administered by community-based leadership and ICANN Regional Vice Presidents; post-trip reviews and assessments and finally an overall spirit of transparency by which all ICANN community members could observe the implementation of the programme.
Advancing Multi-Stakeholder Model:
Vice President for Policy Development Support, David Olive, described this development is advancing ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model through community engagement.
He noted that community leaders had outlined several key benefits that could be achieved through a programmed approach to global outreach including building local and regional awareness and recruitment of new community members; engaging more effectively with current members and/or ‘reactivating’ previously engaged community members; and communicating ICANN’s mission and objectives to new audiences.
According to Mr. Olive, the programme would be implemented collaboratively thereby involving community leaders and key staff members in the Policy Development, Global Stakeholder Engagement, Constituency Travel, and Finance teams—and transparently.
He pointed out that some of the criteria, would comprise applications and assessments will be available on a dedicated community Wiki workspace.

Understanding ICANN’s community outreach:
In order to further grow understanding on the community outreach, he said, ICANN in view of other policy development issues, encouraged the global internet community participation in the Policy Update Webinar which took place on November 7 with two sessions, namely at 12:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC, covering topics such as Privacy and Proxy Services Accreditation, Thick Whois, Protections of IGO/INGO Identifiers in gTLDs, a briefing on SSAC advisories, an update from the ASO Addressing Council, and much more.
Additionally, the VP Policy Development Support stated that community participation remain the core of policy development in ICANN even as the body reiterates commitment to providing the tools and services to contribute. Maintaining that through an enhanced engagement function, ICANN has continued to advance the multi-stakeholder model.

RECENTLY the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) leadership approved its operation plans and budget for the Financial Year 2014 (FY14 OPP), invariably attractive to most members of the Internet community was the inclusion of the plans to expand resources for outreach, otherwise known as the Community Regional Outreach Pilot Programme (CROPP) as part of capacity-building efforts by internet communities.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Unquantifiable damage to agriculture

 Prelude:
THE first casualty of the recent Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines that comes to mind on hearing about incident was the likelihood of the damages on agriculture.
Agriculture is a science with a broad multidisciplinary field that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture, The multidisciplinary aspect of agriculture cuts across the science, art, or practice of cultivating the soil, producing crops, and raising livestock and in varying degrees, the preparation and marketing of the resulting products, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
It was not surprising that soon after, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) came out lamenting the livelihoods and food security at risk following the effect of typhoon Haiyan as well as calling for $24 million, about N3,807,601,877 billion, for immediate interventions.
This marked the commencement of the mobilizing support for the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, which tore through the country causing severe damage to the fisheries and agriculture sectors in addition to massive loss of life.
“I want to express the solidarity of FAO and myself personally with the people and the Government of the Philippines,” says FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva, noting that the super typhoon Haiyan has left a trail of destruction and thousands of lives have been lost.
He said that the devastation caused in the country, including in the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, puts the lives and livelihoods of many more at risk and can have a wider effect on the food supply chain and food security.”
FAO, Graziano da Silva said, will do everything it could to support the government of the Philippines in the reconstruction process and to build resilience. Just as he called for $24 million for immediate interventions, in fisheries and agriculture as part of the United Nations (UN)-coordinated humanitarian Flash Appeal launched on November 12, 2013.
He disclosed that FAO has already mobilized more than $1 million from its own resources.

Untold damage:
Reacting to the typhoon Haiyan, Director of FAO’s Emergency and Rehabilitation Division, Dominique Burgeon, declared to NaijaAgroNet, “Although there is not a clear picture yet of the impact on the agriculture sector, it is evident that the damage is extensive.”
Recalling that the typhoon hit just at the beginning of the main rice-planting season, and FAO estimates that over one million farmers have been affected and hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice destroyed.
Severe impacts on coconut production in affected areas are expected, and there has also been wide-scale destruction to storage facilities and rural infrastructure.
Along the coast, NaijaAgroNet gathered, the storm surge wiped out many fishing communities, demolishing boats and gear.

Remedy efforts:
As part of FAO’s immediate response to the crisis, the Organization has deployed emergency response staff and will use the $1 million already mobilized to cover immediate needs such as seeds and fertilizers.
An initial total of $24 million will be needed for emergency and rehabilitation efforts including rehabilitation of storage and irrigation facilities and support to fishing communities.
Also, the organization says it will carry out a full assessment of the damage caused to the agriculture and fisheries sectors as soon as the situation on the ground allows. Claiming that on the first account, some 9.5 million people have been affected by the typhoon, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

One-third of rice produce affected:
In furtherance of FAO’s calls for assistance for the region’s most severely affected by the recent Typhoon Haiyan which accounts for one-third of the total rice production in the country of Philippines, some hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Philippines whose crops were destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan need urgent assistance to sow new seeds before the end of the current planting season, otherwise they may be hit by food insecurity.
FAO also warned that the typhoon caused damage in the central part of the country to the 2013 main season rice crop, harvesting of which was well advanced. “It also badly disrupted planting of the current 2013-2014 secondary season, which ends in late December,” FAO declared in a press statement made available to NaijaAgroNet by Fiona Winward, stressing concern that many storage facilities may have been destroyed, along with their contents.
For instance, FAO informed NaijaAgroNet that damage to the main season paddy crop both by Typhoon Haiyan and by Typhoon Nari, which hit northern parts of the country in October, as well as disruption to the planting of the second season is expected to result in lower rice production than anticipated for 2013.

Downgrading global forecast for 2013:
FAO, it was gathered has downgraded its forecast for the 2013 rice production in the country to 18 million tonnes from the expectation of a bumper crop of 18.9 million tonnes at the beginning of the season, FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS).
The rice production shortfall of 900,000 tonnes will be felt disproportionally in the five most affected regions. While rice production at the national level is likely to remain close to last year’s level, the damage at the regional level is more severe. FAO warned that farmers in areas hit by the typhoon could face severe food security and livelihood problems if they do not succeed in planting the next crop in the weeks ahead.
The five regions most severely affected by the typhoon in terms of cereal crop losses accounted for one-third of the total rice production in 2012.

Playing for Philippinos:
As efforts are advanced to assist Philippines, it is also important to consider greatly the management of relief support in order to save more lives and encourage sustainability of the aid from the international community.
NaijaAgroNet observed that the proceeds from last Monday’s Italy-Nigeria friendly in London was to be used in assisting victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
The Italian Federation announced, in conjunction with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that the proceeds from the game will be donated to help the recovery process in the Philippines.
However, how well the relief among others is managed will go a long way in alleviating the suffering of the people of Philippines, especially the farmers.


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