Google certifies RainyLemon on analytics

Google certifies RainyLemon on analytics

Lead Consultant at RainyLemon Ltd, Mr. Abiodun Thorpe disclosed this to DigitalSENSE Business News, saying “we are really excited about this, which means RainyLemon have gone through the rigorous approval process of Google Analytics and have joined the elite group of 320 Analytics specialists in 52 countries across the world and its good to know that RainyLemon is the first company certified by Google in Western and Eastern Africa.”

He explained that Google Analytics generates detailed statistics about a website's traffic and traffic sources and measures conversions and sales, thereby tracking visitors from all referrers, including search engines and social networks, direct visits and referring sites. It also displays advertising, pay-per-click networks, email marketing and digital collaterals. 

Pointing out that digital campaigns and analytics are arguably new in this part, and his company could help clients in identifying the barriers preventing browsers from converting into customers and how best to remove those barriers.

“The result is insights that improve your website conversion rates and sales or metrics that matters most to you,” he said, even as he noted there are some paid services from Google Analytics Certified Partners, which include digital strategy planning and analytics; customised implementations, digital campaign tracking, website and landing page optimizations, customised dashboard development and live onsite training among others.

“We also relaunched our new website,” he declared.

... Making SENSE of digital revolution!

Signal Alliance repositions, elevates Adanma Onuegbu, CEO

DigitalSENSE Business News:

Signal Alliance has repositioned its top management with the elevation of else while Executive Director, Mrs. Adanma Onuegbu to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), reports DigitalSENSE Business News.

This development, DigitalSENSE Business News gathered became necessary following the last quarter changes in 2013, which was formally pronounced in 2014. This saw the moving up of the former CEO, Mr. Collins Onuegbu, who has since assumed office as the new Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of Signal Alliance Group.

Reacting to her new position, Mrs Onuegbu told DigitalSENSE Business News there was a need to keep the public updated on the activities of the company and her determination to take the company to the next level. Stressing that her new job will complement the work done in the company so far and to seek out new areas of opportunities that will be of benefit to the company.

She promised to improve on the service delivery of Signal Alliance toward its numerous customers with renewed vigour ensure customer satisfaction, which is the biggest challenge most companies in the sector are facing at the moment.

“Another area we’ll be focusing on is the area of data security, because of the shift to big data, there is the need to position the company to favourably compete with big players in the industry with regards to cloud computing which is where most organisations are moving into at this time” she said, adding that the company will be engaged in re-engineering as partners with OEMs such as SAP Microsoft, CA technologies, and Cisco.

Mrs. Onuegbu is presently the only woman CEO in the IT services and integration industry, which she says it is rather a challenge than honour as she will be expected to achieve more and carve a niche for herself in the industry.

She is a graduate of Agro-economics and has risen through the ranks in Signal Alliance from inception. In addition to several industry recognitions and trainings garnered over the years, Mrs. Onuegbu is also known to have engineered most of the high-end IT solutions in key sectors of the economy.

These key solutions had also won various local and international awards for Signal Alliance over the years. “I actually see what this company has achieved over the years as a challenge and opportunity to doing more and surpass what the company has been known for” she said.

Signal Alliance is an end to end Information Technology company with specialization in systems integration and has a rank of highly skilled and certified consultants with industry experience cutting across all the sectors of the economy, with core competencies in Business Optimization services, Service Management, Networks & Monitoring, Cloud Computing and Business solutions.

Chuks Egbuna/GEE

... Making SENSE of digital revolution!
Pix: Mrs. Onuegbu, CEO, Signal Alliance.

PHONE ETIQUETTE

A telephonic conversation is all about communicating in the right way, as it is different from a face-to-face conversation, which makes understanding the other person pretty easy for you.
Observing telephone manners is important especially if it is an official call that you are making
or receiving. Being able to speak on the phone with good manners and poise is just as important as communicating face to face.
STEPS TO BETTER PHONE MANNNERS
* ALWAYS INTRODUCE YOURSELF
When you call someone, a friend, family or stranger speak clearly in a modulated voice and introduce yourself, Smile before taking the call, this allows you to be more amicable.
* BE WELL-MANNERED
It would be a better world if we all treated each other the way we wish to be treated? When you are on the telephone with someone, you should treat the caller with the same dignity and respect we expect from them.
* PROPER TONE OF VOICE
Tone of voice is the non-verbal component of your telephone personality. Do not sound anxious, aggressive or pushy. While in public, yelling, rude language and profanity may be inappropriate and offensive to those within earshot.
*BEWARE OF YOUR LANGUAGE
Your use of language can make or break a call. There are certain words and phrases that can quickly turn off a caller. Things like “I don’t know”, “We can’t do that”. On the other hand, there are words and phrases that are music to a caller’s ears, such as “Let me see what I can do for you” or “I’m not sure, but let me check and see” show a caller that you care about them and at least you are trying to help.
PHONE ETIQUETTE
* DEVELOP LISTENING SKILLS
Many people have a tendency to talk incessantly on the phone, while not giving the other person a chance to speak. Do realize that it is important to listen to the other side as well.
*DO NOT HOLD INAPPROPRIATE CONVERSATIONS IN PUBLIC
Use appropriate volume when speaking on the phone, everyone around you does not need to hear your conversation, do not put your phone on speaker your conversations should be discrete.
* DO NOT USE LOUD RINGTONES
Avoid excessively loud or annoying ring-tones they can be very disruptive or aggravating to those around you.
* CALL AT APPROPRIATE TIME
Consider your call timing whether it is your friend, acquaintance, business partner or workplace colleague, you should consider the time of calling a person. Unless it’s very urgent, do not disturb a person when he/she is busy or during the peak working hours.
* DO NOT PUT A CALLER ON HOLD FOR A LONG TIME
If you have to put a caller on hold for a long time, be sure to check back within few minutes, as to whether he/she would like to continue to be on hold or not.
* GIVE YOUR FULL ATTENTION
Do not make calls while Driving, Shopping, banking or doing something else, it puts your life and others in danger and causes distraction.
* KNOW WHERE TO USE YOUR PHONE
If your cell phone rings while you are talking or having a meal with someone, take the call only if it is important and excuse yourself for the duration of the call.
*BENEFITS OF GOOD PHONE MANNERS INCLUDE
Telephone manners are very important because when you speak with others on phone that means you present yourself indirectly. The listener may interpret your body language by your tone of voice and speaking skill.
* A voice on the telephone is often the first impression a future customer, potential client or stakeholder has of a company or organization. The tone, pleasantness and politeness of the individuals in their telephone communications are responsible for the image the company projects to the public.
* Telephone manners are not rules but they help form better relationships with colleagues, clients, family members, friends, neighbors, and even strangers!
* Proper business phone manners can make a positive impression on your callers, keep clients on the telephone satisfied and strengthen a business brand.
For any complaint, contact your service provider, if still dissatisfied, call the NCC (Toll Free)

For Further Information,
Call the NCC Toll Free Number
0800-call-NCC
0800-2255-622
Toll Free Number Available 8:00am - 5:00pm
Monday - Friday, Excluding Public Holidays
For Online Complaints visit: www.ncc.gov.ng/consumer
CONSUMER AFFAIRS BUREAU
NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Plot 432, Aguiyi Ironsi Street,
Maitama Abuja
+234-9-2912274, +234-9-461700, +234-9-4617126
FAX: +234-9-4617514
www.ncc.gov.ng
Email: consumerportal@ncc.gov.ng

Mobile broadband penetration approaches 32% of global population

LATEST figures released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has shown that mobile-broadband penetration is approaching 32 per cent of the global population, just as three billion Internet users will exist by end of this year, 2014, reports ITRealms.

The latest figures contained in its 2014 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Reports made available to ITRealms on Monday indicated that, by end 2014 there would be almost 3 billion Internet users, two-thirds of them coming from the developing world, and that the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions reaching 2.3 billion globally.

ITU Secretary-General, Dr. Hamadoun I. Touré revealed to ITRealms that 55 per cent of these subscriptions are expected to be in the developing world.

“The newly released ICT figures confirm once again that information and communication technologies continue to be the key drivers of the information society,” he said.

Brahima Sanou, the Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, noted that for adequate understanding of the information society, there is need to measure it, stressing that “Without measurement we cannot track progress or identify gaps which require our attention.”

The fixed-telephone subscriptions, the report noted has continued to decline, which result shows that fixed-telephone penetration has been declining for the past five years. By end 2014, there will be about 100 million fewer fixed-telephone subscriptions than in 2009.

Mobile-cellular subscriptions, ITU stated is expected to hit nearly 7 billion, pointing out that 3.6 billion of these will be in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The increase is mostly due to growth in the developing world where mobile-cellular subscriptions will account for 78 per cent of the world’s total,” official said.

Data show that mobile-cellular growth rates have reached their lowest-ever level (2.6% globally), indicating that the market is approaching saturation levels.

Africa and Asia and the Pacific, where penetration will reach 69 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively by end 2014, are the regions with the strongest mobile-cellular growth (and the lowest penetration rates). Penetration rates in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Arab States, the Americas and Europe have reached levels above 100 per cent and are expected to grow at less than two per cent in 2014. The region with the highest mobile-cellular penetration rate is the CIS.

On the growth in fixed-broadband penetration slowing in developing countries, ITU says that by end 2014, fixed-broadband penetration will have reached almost 10 per cent globally.

Forty-four per cent, ITRealms gathered that of all fixed-broadband subscriptions are in Asia and the Pacific, and 25 per cent are in Europe. In contrast, Africa accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of the world’s fixed-broadband subscriptions, and despite double-digit growth over the last four years, penetration in Africa remains very low.

Africa, the Arab States, and CIS are the only regions with double-digit fixed-broadband penetration growth rates. The Americas region stands out with the lowest growth in fixed broadband penetration, estimated at 2.5 per cent and reaching a penetration rate of around 17 per cent by end 2014. Europe’s fixed-broadband penetration is much higher compared with other regions and almost three times as high as the global average.

Mobile-broadband subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally, just as penetration will reach 32 per cent by end 2014; in developed countries, mobile-broadband penetration will reach 84 per cent, a level four times as high as in developing countries (21%). The number of mobile-broadband subscriptions will reach 2.3 billion globally and 55 per cent of all mobile-broadband subscriptions are expected to be in the developing world.

Quick Fix Solutions to Your Marketing on Social Media

IT’Sa common error for many businesses to often see marketing their product or services on social media as a likely quick fix to their otherwise struggling business ventures. It is naively assumed that getting their Facebook fans to give them some quick ‘Likes’, or maybe even opting to buy themselves some fake followers on Twitter, and going full throttle ahead in their blog articles to impress their customers with what a great business they are able to run, is nothing short of a crucial blunder.

In real truth, the saviour cavalry on their white horses is an enigma that is least likely to turn into a reality. If you have an earnest desire to save your day, there’s a lot more to marketing your product or services on social media than just that simple method. Then, what does it essentially take? The plain fact is, it takes persistence, effort and above all time!

The true social media premise is adding real time value through content which helps to engage your audience, and furthermore also has the latent ingredients to inform, educate, inspire and perhaps even offer them some form of entertainment. This implies doing away with ‘you’ as the central focus and concentrating on ‘them’ as the prime objective of your business. To be precise, that requires adding extra value by offering solutions to the problems of your customers through content which needs to include some ‘How To’ information in your articles, ebooks and white papers that are posted on your website and blog posts.

Small business owners are now beginning to see the enormous potential offered by Social Media and its marketing prospective. They approach with varied expectations, predominantly built upon the premise of conventional marketing practices that primarily includes one track email blasts or conversations with simple sales messages, least willing to pay adequate attention to the negative comments or response encountered.

Three mistakes commonly made by many businesses in their marketing efforts on social media generally include:

• Deleting unwanted comments

• Same message Auto-Posted on every social media network

• Policy of blasting first, and then controlling the damage

Deleting Unwanted Comments

It is commonly taken for granted by some business owners that social media is for broadcasting their commercial messages that will then automatically go viral in a matter of seconds. However, quite a few of them are slow in embracing this media on account of a major apprehension – the horrifying fear of encountering negative comments. Being constantly aware of the fact that this very channel may also be used for spreading less desired comments regarding their brands by online users actually dims their spirits.

Hence, in place of designing better strategies to engage with their audience, business owners opt for special standby policing mechanisms that are constantly ready to delete any undesired queries or comments posted on their social media pages, which is neither warranted nor desired. Having a social media presence is chiefly about initiating connections which can then lead to reciprocal actions. This process involves familiarisation with their online guests and paying proper attention to views expressed by them. It is close observation of what their market shares, comments upon and likes which provides them with useful knowledge of what things are on the minds of their guests. In fact, it is these very insights which assist business owners in adapting their products or services to their respective needs and business demands.

Businesses solely interested in receiving positive comments are seldom prepared to enter into in-depth relationships with their audiences. Brands of such businesses are thus perceived to reflect narrow mindedness or defensiveness and conversion normally fails to transpire. In consequence, such fear-oriented mentality rarely succeeds in attracting a loyal or raving customer base. Rather, engaging with and responding in a timely and positive manner to their client comments will help them in converting every available opportunity into a conversion that is assured to build further trust and harmony.

Same Message Auto-Posting on Every Social Media Network

Small business owners understandably tend to have lesser time for paying appropriate attention to their respective accounts on social media. They need a magical button which would be helpful in posting their business messages across diverse social media platforms; providing them with limitless coverage. The sad part is that no such magical button is known to exist in real terms.

Instead, business owners ought to lay their entire emphasis on a single or at most on two social media platforms, taking time out to genuinely show up and build a positive connection to their respective markets. People generally tend to hang around different social networks, searching to have a meaningful conversation, as they shun having to respond to robots auto posting messages originating from various other channels associated with the social media. Since one generally abstains from using the same terms in social parties as one would at board meetings, why would one then insist on auto posting the same old message across various social networks? That is certainly more sensible.

Policy of Blasting First, and Then Controlling the Damage

This is among the most common mistakes made by business owners. They casually venture to broadcast email messages of a commercial nature to their contacts, without bothering to obtain their prior consent. Some even happily exchange or buy email lists, facilitating them to reach a greater number of people, in a far lesser time frame.

While many business owners may even be conscious of the fact that the normal response rate can be expected to be much lower in such cases, some are still determined to give it a try. Why is that so? The simple explanation is that it’s seen as a cheaper and somewhat quicker method of getting their business messages through to the inboxes of many thousand online web users.

Business owners need to be awakened to the hard reality that unsolicited emails can adversely affect both their reputation as well as long term relationships. To be absolutely to the point, its impossible for anyone to deny the relevance that permission-based mode of marketing has to prospective customers on your social media sites.

Bring Back Our Girls: NASRDA versus GPS

Prelude:
DUE to the inability of the National Space and Research Development Agency (NASRDA) to measure up with demands of most Nigerians in the ongoing search for the over 200 missing secondary school girls, a cross session of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) stakeholders in the efforts to bring back the Chibok girls in Borno State; are calling for heads to roll in the agency, reports ITRealms.

NASRDA, according to ITRealms investigations is a Federal Government agency in-charge of development and application of space science and technology, otherwise known as satellite technologies, for the socio-economic benefits of the nation.

Unfortunately NASRDA at this critical time is practically down on the World Wide Web and offline in the real sense of it, as ITRealms exclusively reports that none of its telephone lines are going through but rather recognized by voice prompter as incorrect phone numbers.

Investigations by ITRealms also showed that the first global contact of the agency, which is the www.nasrda.gov.ng is not accessible and all the supposed official telephone lines are not working, in spite of the fact that Nigeria has cooperation in space technology with the United Kingdom, China, Ukraine and Russia to name a few.

Efforts to reach the spokesman of NASRDA, Mr. Felix Ale, was not fruitful, as he refused to pick his call and reply Short Messaging Service (SMS) queries sent to his telephone, just as the space agency is yet to migrate to official electronic mailing (email) address of all the public sector agencies and departments by the National Council on Communication, last year, as its acclaimed official email is ‘nasrda_nig@yahoo.co.uk.’
In addition, ITRealms gathered that efforts to access the official website of NASRDA was marred by an internal server error, which experts attributed to misconfiguration hence unable to complete the request.
Definition of Satellites

Satellite comes in various shades and shapes depending on the need by the proponents, as such, there is a mere classification of satellite, which in its right context is a spaceflight. A satellite is an artificial object which has been intentionally placed into orbit .

ITRealms gathered that as at February 2014, 64 Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation satellites have been launched.

Other satellite build-out include that for television, used for television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna; Natural satellite is a natural satellite, or moon, and seen as a celestial body that orbits another body, for example, a planet , which is called its primary.

Also, there is reconnaissance satellite commonly referred to as a spy satellite categories as an earth observation satellite or communications satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications.

The first generation type (i.e. Corona [1] [2] and Zenith) took photographs, then ejected canisters of photographic film which would descend to earth. Corona capsules were retrieved in mid-air as they floated down on parachutes. Later spacecraft had digital imaging systems and downloaded the images via encrypted radio links.

Satellite internet access:
Equally, satellite internet access is internet access provided through communications satellites. Modern satellite Internet service is typically provided to users through geostationary satellites that could offer high data speeds, with newer satellites achieving downstream data speeds up to 15 Mega Byte per second (Mbps).
 :
Weather satellite
This is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the earth.
Global Positioning System.

The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The system provides critical capabilities to military, civil and commercial users around the world. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite:Globalstar is a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, somewhat similar to the Iridium satellite constellation and Orbcomm satellite systems.

Telstar:
Telstar is the name of various communications satellites. The first two Telstar satellites were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 was launched on top of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962. It successfully relayed through space the first television pictures, telephone calls, fax images and provided the first live transatlantic television feed. Telstar 2 was launched May 7, 1963. Telstar 1 and 2, though no longer functional, are still in orbit as of October 2013.

NigComSAT:
This invariably is where the likes of the Nigerian Communication Satellite (NigComSAT1 and 2) took its similarity.

Assistant General Manager, Corporate Affairs, NigComSAT Limited, Mr. Sonny Aragba-Akpore, told ITRealms that those trying to bring in or link NigComSAT to the inability of NASRDA to deliver on its mandate of covering Nigeria’s earth observation services are either ignorant or just mischief makers.
NigComSAT, he explained is simply a communication satellite.

NASRDA versus GPS:
However, the failure of NASRDA to prove its worth of tax payers, in effect could be the gain of the Global Positioning System (GPS) industry with her resolutions and technologies.

Additionally, ITRealms gathered that the Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites housed in the orbit by the United States Department of Defense. Originally streamlined for military purposes, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. GPS works in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.

How GPS works:
GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal information to earth. GPS receivers take this information and use triangulation to calculate the user’s exact location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements from a few more satellites, the receiver could determine the user’s position and display it on the unit’s electronic map.

NASRDA explains why SatX, Sat2 failed Nigerians
Rising in defense of NASRDA, the obviously ailing agency consoled itself that satellite images from the Nigeria SatX and Sat 2 could not trace the location of over 200 girls abducted by Boko Haram insurgents in Chibok, Borno State, over a month.

Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agencies (NASRDA) Prof. Seidu Mohammed told newsmen penultimate Friday that although many Nigerians expected the satellite to do astonishing things by tracing the girls, he said, the nation’s satellites only possessed 2.5 meters resolution, which is not sufficient to do such tracking.

He said that even some developed countries of the world with advanced satellites that have three meters resolutions still find it difficult to trace terrorists, but only help in providing useful information on the possible locations of the hide outs.

Mohammed said, Nigeria Sat X and Sat 2 are working perfectly but they have 2.5 meter resolutions, which means that they do not have the capacity to trace individuals movement but only give maps of some locations at some particular times.

“People thought satellites are video cameras. They are not. Satellite moves from one location to another and some times before they come back to a particular spot it takes up to four days. An earth observation satellite is not a video machine that can capture people anywhere therefore cannot track a migrant militants who are moving every 15 minutes or so,” he said.

NASRDA boss further elucidated that is why America with hundreds of active satellite could not be able to track Taliban and other militants, “but that is not to say it has no relevance. It has in updating maps to know how many routes are available for terrorist to escape.”

Just as he insisted that NASRDA is liaising with other relevant agencies in giving useful information available in the efforts to rescue the abducted Chibok schools girls.

Special Forces and GPS:
Barely 24 hours after claims by the Director-General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Prof. Seidu Mohammed, on the inability of satellite technology by Nigeria to really aid the search and rescue mission of the abducted over 200 Chibok school girls, a glint of light has shown that they are still being kept at the notorious Sambisa forest in Borno State, DigitalSENSE Business News reveals.

DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that the Special Forces led by the United States Marines invariably deploying the Global Positioning System (GPS), have located these girls in Sambisa Forest, using satellites and what some industry observers tagged as advanced tracking equipment.

This is against earlier reports that most of the abducted school girls were being sold into earlier marriages into neighboring countries for $12, about N1,900 only.

DigitalSENSE Business News gathered that aside locating the girls in Sambisa forest, a combined team of the Marines and Nigerian forces, is said to have arrested a leader of the terrorist group who reportedly aided in the abduction of Chibok girls.

According to sources close to the joint special forces the Boko Haram leader arrest was facilitated through an advanced interceptor equipment used to track him during his exchange of “information with his colleagues in Sambisa Forest” on the movements of Special Forces in Maiduguri and its environ.

He has since been handed over to the Nigerian security forces for further interrogation.

Infuriated Nigerians take to social media:
Based on the unseeingly no result, infuriated Nigerians took to social media to register their displeasure over the abduction of over 200 school girls, whilst government organs trade blames, even as the state of insecurity continue.

This brought followership from the global community including the first lady of United States, Mrs. Mitchell Obama and Angelina Jolie to name a few as well as US lawmakers canvassing for global war against terrorism.

For this school of thought the investment made in Nigeria Satellites coupled with its recent deorbiting of one due to alleged backup battery failure, these industry watchers say has not been very helpful in terms positioning Nigeria as a serious satellite country.

For many Nigerians the abduction and continued hostage taking of over 200 school girls from Federal Government Secondary School Chibok in Borno State till date, that is four weeks after is suffocating.

Many industry stakeholders, especially within the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) cum Science Technologies, were recently ignited when during the search for the Malaysian Airline MH 370 some section of the media allegedly reported the Nigeria Satellite via NASRDA spotted the missing plane and it was not long, thereafter, the Chibok girls in their hundreds went missing and four weeks after there has not been any satellite imagery of those girls or their location, but a declaration of the kind of satellite’s inability to be among the advanced technologies.

Whether NASRDA?
It was not surprising that several infuriated stakeholders are wondering what exactly NASRDA is doing if it cannot actively cover the aerials of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which should be its primary area of concern.

For some industry followers, it has become shocking how clueless the entire apparatus of our collective existence continues to be even in spite of the huge investment made in buying technology, services and experts, especially on satellites.

Yet for some, NASRDA do not have an idea how the satellite really works, hence dazed on what to do.
Reacting to seeming inability of NASRDA to respond promptly almost one month after, Rotimi Oyetunji from University of Lagos, lamented what he called government reversal and subsequent crash of the satellite built by the Chinese on contract from Obasanjo’s government may not have helped the situation, which investigations shows he may be referring to just NigComSAT.

Anjorin James Sunday, Chairman at Sunyprofit International Ltd guessed the satellites were not working, “since we have not heard of anything it does before.”

And for Victor Ozurumba, a Concept Artist, NASRDA simply may not know how to use the satellite at their disposal. Hence, Nigerians may not expect much.

It wasn’t raining when Noah built the Ark:
However, a cyber security expert, Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola, in his reaction told ITRealms that the information is incomplete on the state of the Nigeria observation satellites based on the fact that they do not have the requisite resolution.

He explained that 2.5 meters implies they – satellites - will only register items larger than 2.5m thus a truck will seem like a blur while a house will be seen as an outline.

Ajijola went on to suggest that the like of Ikonos satellite provides commercial resolution of 0.8 metres and anybody can pay via credit card.

“I don’t know if this was done. Modern high resolution Arial cameras can read a vehicle number plate from at least 4,000m (approx 12,000 feet). They all work in tandem. Low resolution satellite quickly cover a broad area to discern areas of probable interest; the high resolution satellites increase focus to confirm which areas of probable should be further investigated; and ultra high resolution Ariel cameras can get ground proofing details,” he said.

He submitted that proactiveness on the part of the authorities is encouraged, wondering if we must wait to have crisis before taking right steps like investing in appropriate technologies.
“After all, it was not raining when Noah built the Ark,” he declared.

Conclusion:
Above all, it’s crucial Nigeria rethinks about its satellite investment as the abduction of Chibok school girls has not only exposed Nigeria’s ignorant attitude to satellite business and usage and loss of such an investment.

May be, Nigeria should invest recovered loot in our own Global Positioning System.

by: Remmy Nweke

Chibok school girls: UN Security Council angry with Boko Haram

THE U.N. Security Council has expressed outrage at the abduction of hundreds of Nigerian school girls in two attacks by Islamist militants, Reuters reports.
The world body demanded their immediate release and threatened to take action against the insurgents.
Boko Haram kidnapped more than 250 girls from a secondary school in Chibok in remote northeastern Nigeria on April 14 and has threatened to sell them into slavery, prompting a U.N. warning that the perpetrators would be liable for war crimes.
Suspected Boko Haram gunmen kidnapped eight more girls from a village near one of the Islamists’ strongholds in northeastern Nigeria, police and residents said on Tuesday.
“The members of the Security Council expressed their intention to actively follow the situation of the abducted girls and to consider appropriate measures against Boko Haram,” the 15-member council, which includes Nigeria, said in a statement.
The council “demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all abducted girls still in captivity and further expressed their deep concern at statements made by the alleged leader of Boko Haram threatening to sell these girls as slaves.”
The Security Council could blacklist Boko Haram and impose targeted sanctions on members of the group, diplomats said.
It also condemned the latest big Islamist attack in Nigeria, the killing of 125 people on Monday when gunmen rampaged through a town in the northeast near the Cameroon border.
Boko Haram’s five-year-old insurgency is aimed at reviving a medieval Islamic caliphate in modern Nigeria, whose 170 million people are split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims, and it is becoming by far the biggest security threat to Africa’s top oil producer.
Several countries, including the United States, Britain, France and China, have offered support to Nigeria to help find the girls. British experts including diplomats, aid workers and Ministry of Defence officials arrived in Nigeria on Friday to advise the government on the search.
“The members of the Security Council welcomed the ongoing efforts of the Government of Nigeria to ensure the safe return of the abducted girls to their families, as well as international efforts to provide assistance to the Nigerian authorities in this regard and bring the perpetrators to justice,” the statement said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan had accepted his offer to send a high-level U.N. envoy “to discuss how the United Nations can better support the government’s efforts to tackle the internal challenges.”
Ban said in a statement that he was deeply concerned about the fate of the school girls and that “the targeting of children and schools is against international law and cannot be justified under any circumstances

4 Nigerians top grades at Dillard University

Four Nigerian graduates from the Dillard University made the nation proud at the weekend as they emerged top in their grades, reports DigitalSENSE Campus Pavilion.
These four are Victor Ogburie (Abia State, Nigeria) who majored in Computer Science with minors in Physics and Mathematics. Academic award: Salutatorian - Summa Cum Laude; Merrilyn Akpapuna (Delta State, Nigeria) took another major in Psychology with the academic award valedictorian - Summa Cum Laude; Stephen Ogidi Igwe (Abia State, Nigeria) - Biology Major. Academic Award: Salutatorian - Summa Cum Laude, and Emole Anya Dimgba (Abia State, Nigeria) - Computer Science Major with minors in Physics and Mathematics. Academic Award: Salutatorian - Summa Cum Laude.
Addressing the students among other graduating students, at Dillard University, the first lady of United States, Mrs. Mitchelle Obama, described the 226 graduates of the historically black college as a “sea of young geniuses” and told them they have opportunities and skills that their parents and grandparents never could have imagined.
AP reports made available to DigitalSENSE Campus also quoted Mrs Obama as noting that education continues beyond graduation and should be used to guide and inspire “the next generation of geniuses.”
“Imagine the impact you will make,” she said, stressing that graduates have no excuses to stand on the sidelines, because education is still the key to real and lasting freedom. It’s up to us to cultivate that hunger for education in those coming after us.
Mrs. Obama noted how people “scrape and claw” their way to an education, acknowledging the parents who work three jobs to give their children a shot at a better life.
She pointed the more than 200 Nigerian girls who were recently kidnapped “for wanting an education and wanting to go to school,” and 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani girl who survived a gunshot to the head by a Taliban gunman

Obafemi Awolowo University to host EduNet 2014

THE ICT Centre of Obafemi Awolowo University and the Institute for Entrepreneurship Studies (IFEDS)of Obafemi Awolowo University Nigeria in collaboration with Tel Aviv University Entrepreneurship Centre (StarTAU), Israel are to play host to EduNet 2014.
The 2014 edition of EduNet, with the theme ‘ Fostering Technology Entrepreneurship in Nigerian Universities’ is scheduled to hold on May 20-22, 2014 at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
The three day event will look at issues around building Technology Entrepreneurship Ecosystem within the Nigerian University Community with key examples from the Israel Technology and Innovation Ecosystem.
Some of the focus of presentations and panel discussions of the event include:
-Accessing the state of Technology Entrepreneurship in Nigerian universities with a view of proffering strategies and solutions for Technnovation in Nigeria.
Obafemi Awolowo University to host EduNet 2014
-Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: The Israeli “Start Up Nation” story,
-The role of government in fostering Technology Entrepreneurship in Nigerian Universities.
-Private sector support in Building Technology Entrepreneurship Centres in Nigeria
-The World Bank as a strategic partner in Entrepreneurship Development
-Funding as key to the success of Technology Entrepreneurship.
-The concept of Technology Incubation and acceleration as major ingredient in growing entrepreneurship
-How to Create an Entrepreneurial University.
-Tech transfer and commercialization: Tel Aviv University case studies
-Developing partnership and collaboration as key to the success of Entrepreneurship.
-Success stories of leading Technology Entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
-Start Up Nigeria: From the Pitch to Turning Ideas into profitable Ventures: What does it take.

Demystifying Nigerian ATM experience

THE ATM in Nigeria has gone from a mysterious machine of very high distrust to a basic essential. Understandably, being at the perceived epicentre of online fraud and Internet scams has made Nigerians exceedingly weary of this machine which spits cash at the punch of just four digits. My personal take though, is that there exist more advanced hacking centres outside of Nigeria. Common knowledge seems to suggest that parts of Eastern Europe and Asia top Nigeria by a country mile.
My wife and many others like her, who have vowed never to test the efficacy of the banks’ assurances on the safety and security of their ATM systems against the increasing ingenuity of fraudsters have now become unwilling converts due to the higher risk of being unceremoniously shut out of modern day transactions. Regulatory pressures a-la the Cashless Nigeria initiative by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has also played their part in this conspiracy against the conservatives. Hefty penalties have now being instituted on cash transactions beyond a certain threshold. Thankfully, she has broken ranks and acquired an ATM card just only last year.
The CBN has tried to allay the fears of Nigerians by enforcing on the banks additional security measures such as the installation of anti-skimming devices, and two camera systems on all ATMs. The rational being that a fraudster who covers both cameras with his hands to avoid detection will have no spare to conduct his nefarious activities.
The average customer experience of the ATM user in Nigeria is still a tale of woes, mostly self-inflicted, and inadvertently by the same banks in whose major interest it should be to drive adoption to cut the relatively high cost of serving customers within the branch.
Two very glaring examples; it is reported that on the eve of Christmas last year, customers looking for ATMs to withdraw cash for their festivities in the Gbagada area found to their dismay after visiting many ATMs and being greeted with the now familiar ‘temporary out of service’or‘Unable to dispense Cash’messages, that the only ATMs that seemed to be working on the whole axis were the UBA ATMs at the Charlie Boy Bus stop.
Of course the queue had built up to the extent that faint hearted customers rather opted to go without cash than risk the possible consequences of a stampede. Similarly, on December 14, 2013 there were reports that virtually no ATM was working in the Badagry area.
These experiences are exacerbated majorly by the following factors; firstly, stagnation in the ATM population in spite of significant adoption rate by Nigerians. The ATM population in Nigeria has been stuck at the 11,000 mark for the past six years, resulting in an average of 11.39 ATMs per 100k adult population (adult population in Nigeria being about 56% or 95.2m according to a World Bank report on population). This is not unconnected to the Central Bank’s misadventure with the Independent ATM Deployers (IAD) experiment of 2008 that barred banks from deploying ATMs outside their branches. This resulted in the abrupt halt in the momentum of ATM deployment by Banks. This was largely due to the hasty conduct of the CBN in trying to swallow an elephant at one go. Noble as the intention was, a pilot scheme would have uncovered the soft underbelly of the strategy, the major shortcoming being the fact that the cash in the offsite ATMs would have been too expensive for the IADs to carry, and therefore compel them to charge customers very exorbitant rates or render them totally unprofitable at the flat rate of N100 per withdrawal,then allowed by the CBN.
Six years later we have less than the 11,800 achieved at the highpoint, because many banks had to abandon the long term rents secured for their offsite ATMs and wheeled the ATMs into warehouses and parking lots because the IADs could not afford the book value to take on the sites and ATMs. The operational lives of those ATMs, about a third of the total volume were cut short, as they were subsequently unusable two years later when the CBN rescinded her decision.
Comparatively, Indonesia with an adult population of about 90m, more than doubled their ATM installed base from 16.7k in 2011 to 36.5k in 2012, resulting in 37 ATMs per 100k adult population, about three time the ATM per adult capita in Nigeria. South Africa has 60 ATMs per 100k adult population, while the UK has 124 ATMs per 100k adult population. Nigeria clearly has a lot to do as the largest economy in Africa.
Secondly, the quality of notes in the ATM are a far cry from standard. In the early days, the ATM was where to go if you wanted crisp notes. Today, the notes in the ATM are sometimes worse that the change you receive at the flea market. This is underscored by the fact that the security features and the general quality of the naira could do with some enhancements. Dirty notes generally cause paper dirt to be lodged in sensitive parts of the ATM when it is dispensing cash, therefore resulting in more frequent system faults or currency jams. A telling revelation when we compare the work rate of the ATM in Nigeria to say the UK is that the Nigerian ATM has to dispense on the average five notes to one in the UK, if it is dispensing N1,000 notes and the UK one is dispensing £20 notes (£20 is approximately N5,000). This coupled with the low ATM density and challenged note quality contributes a lot to the frequent breakdowns and ‘unable to dispense cash’ notices.
Thirdly and very importantly, most ATMs in Nigeria are not under any guaranteed service level supportprogram. This is very shocking, and a serious anomaly by any stretch of the imagination. Banks inadvertently encourage this malaise. There is a notion that appraisal and compensation for ATM support heads in the E-banking departments seem to be heavily skewed on how much they can save in the ATM support costs. So they devise all means necessary to achieve this, even at the detriment of customer experience and the banks’ brand erosion. There is a blatant refusal to sign any Service Level Agreements (SLA) support for the ATMs in the first year of purchase under the illusion that warranty on the systems equates to SLA support. This results in fallacious claims of reduction in support costs.
This alluded cost efficiency cannot be further from the truth. Warranty and SLA support are quite different from each other as any owner of a car under warranty well knows. While SLA defines the time within which an ATM should be fixed or replaced in the event of a fault (usually two hours within urban areas and six hours in remote areas), warranty relies on a best effort basis for the replacement of factory defective parts.
Parts that are rendered unusable due to wear and tear, or as a result of exogenous effects such as power surges cannot be claimed under warranty (as sometimes the bank officials are wont to ferociously argue). For simplicity, warranty on ATMs is very similar to that on automobiles. If you drive your new car which carries a three year or 100,000km warranty to the dealer for a part replacement. Firstly they check that it is not normal wear and tear, and that it is not due to abnormal circumstances such as the wrong type of fuel or an accident. Then they take in the car and order the part. They call you when the part arrives, which takes an average of three months, and then slap you with a labour bill. This is the type of service that the Bank is hoodwinked to render to their hapless customers. It is worthy to note that warranty does not cover periodic maintenance of the machines. Imagine driving your warranty car for three years straight or 100,000km without any service or Oil change! Not opting even for the bare bones labour-only quarterlypreventive maintenance service does drastically shorten the lifespan of the ATMs. It is therefore not surprising that some relatively new ATMs needlessly break down and cause customers to spend eternity looking for a working one, or in an endless queue.
The average annual supports spend on an ATM in Nigeria is $2,500, about half of what obtains in Indonesia and South Africa, both spending about $4,500 per ATM per annum. By investing the right amount to keep their systems properly maintained, they prolong the lives of their ATMs and ensure better customer experiences, which we readily testify to when we visit those countries.
Thirdly, we now know that most ATMs work with the windows operating system. Many are currently on the windows XP platform which has recently been announced by Microsoft as de-supported, and a new operating system, windows 7, announced to replace it. This means that any ATM that is not upgraded to the windows 7 operating system shall be vulnerable to viruses and fraud attacks, since the new security patches shall not work on them. Worldwide, 2.2m ATMs are vulnerable. In Nigeria a significant number of the installed base shall be affected. The solution is a simple upgrade of the operating system if the ATM is upgradable. This is free if the bank has been paying their software maintenance fee. They will otherwise have to incur huge capital costs to repurchase the new software licenses. Available data suggests that many banks have not kept up with the software support fees. A further complication is that certain category of ATMs cannot be upgraded because of non USB Interfaces. These have to be replaced, and will further deplete the already stretched ATM density.
Lastly, there are serious challenges in stable and consistent power supply, and network connectivity, both of which the ATM cannot operate without. There are also infrastructure challenges in access roads to ATMs in rural areas which cause support engineers to spend significantly more ‘travel time’ than ‘dwell time’ to fix machines. A possible solution will be for service providers to have enough support offices across the country than depend on engineers being dispatched only from the three commercial centers of Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja. Cross training support engineers on ATMs, inverters and network connectivity will ensure
that the first engineer to arrive at the ATM can fix the fault and does not have to call another specialist. A monitoring system if installed by the provider would ensure that the ATM correctly diagnoses itself and advices on the correct spare part to be carried to site. A monitoring system will however, require client licenses on the ATMs for which maintenance fees are due to be paid, and which many banks shy away from.
Banks are by no means the only clog in the wheel of good ATM customer experience. Some of the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the service providers. In a bid to win business at all costs they are ready to accept terms that tempt them to cut corners in quality of products and service delivery. For example, there is a need to install monitoring systems and a call centre to aid support efficacy. There is also a need to ensure that the custodians are sufficiently trained to provide the crucial first level support. The negligence of these will make the support process expensive, unwieldy and ineffective. This drives the proverbial ‘race to the bottom’ for all stakeholders. A decimation in the number of service providers or their replacement by uncertified operators willing to collect the cutthroat rates offered by the banks will not bode any good tidings for the banks nor their customers.
Another emerging class in the clog of ATM availability is the gang of Marauders who attempt to blow-up the ATMs to gain access to the cash in the safes. For this group, Banknote staining could be an effective prevention technique, in which the anticipated reward of the crime is removed by denying the benefits, by marking the cash stolen with special security ink. Of course the ink should be machine detectable to ensure that deposit machines reject stained notes.
Surprisingly, some customers are also culpable. Furiously banging the ATM when ‘it swallows your card’ or does not dispense the money on your transaction will not solve any problem. If anything at all, it will only compound the problem by taking that ATM out of service. In the rare instance of this anomaly, the right thing to do is to call the number on the ATM body or visit the bank. There are usually journal entries and time stamps that will prove that you were not paid what you have been inadvertently debited, and a routine for redress and refund instituted.
While acknowledging the significant progress that we have recorded in payment systems, underpinned by the opportunity for the average Nigerian to be availed of having access to the global installed base of ATMs, courtesy of his local bank ATM card, and without recourse to a foreign bank account and ATM card, there is still the need to ensure that charity truly begins at home. The above is not intended as an exercise in ATM service indictments, but rather a discourse that will help in the appreciation, and management of the root cause of the below average ATM customer experience in Nigeria from which we are all groaning.

-Austin Okere
Group CEO, CWG PLC & Entrepreneur