The average #ITsecurity team must configure, integrate, and manage over 70 products from 35 different security vendors. #Microsoft can show you a simpler way: https://aka.ms/TheUnsung. #theUNSUNG
We are a Microsoft Academic Education Partner (AEP) selling Microsoft Academic licences to accredited academic institutions that qualify as Qualified Educational Users, and a Microsoft Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) managing the entire Microsoft cloud customer lifecycle, including digital transformation.
Tuesday, February 05, 2019
Vanquish the struggle between mobility and security
You no longer have to choose between productivity and #security. Enable both with #Microsoft365: https://aka.ms/TheUnsung. #theUNSUNG
Customer story: Ecolab
Ecolab is the global leader in water, hygiene, and energy technologies and services that provide clean water, safe food, abundant energy, and healthy environments. Changing global populations require companies like Ecolab to address the world's water challenge. But using data to preserve the natural resource can be challenging. That's why it's important to have a team of professionals available to help. At Tabarin Consulting, we have the team you need. With years of experience and industry know-how, we can make your data transformation a reality. Contact us to find out more.
The Unsung: Phase 1
After a mysterious login attempt from the other side of the world, The Unsung spring into action to protect Anyco from attack.
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Microsoft Practice Development Playbook: Security
With the average cost per security breach in the US at $17 million, you can't afford to let a security breach happen to your business. That's why, at Tabarin Consulting, we strive to educate and provide resources to our customers so that you can maximize the Microsoft security tools that will keep your organization protected. This playbook outlines ways that your enterprise can recognize and capitalize on Microsoft security solutions.
Secure your data in the cloud with Azure
Data integrity is everything. That's why #Azure delivers unified security management and advanced threat protection across your customers' hybrid-cloud workloads.
Tuesday, January 29, 2019
How Small Businesses Can Increase Their Digital Capabilities
As an SMB, improving your digital capabilities can be an affordable way to cut costs and reach customers. Few solutions can compete with the simplicity, performance, and cost savings of Microsoft solutions. Modernizing your data platform can be challenging. That's why Tabarin Consulting is here to help. With the right tools and expert know-how, we can help your business integrate and implement these solutions today. Contact us to find out how.
Customer story: Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM)
With the desire to modernize their court system, Abu Dhabi Global Market Courts (ADGM) implemented tech tools to achieve the only free platform for civil and commercial courts in the world. While your goals for modernizing your data platform might not be as lofty, your business can certainly leverage the same tools. It's time for you to create a digital data platform that will enable your business to scale securely. Tabarin Consulting wants to help. Contact us to find out how we can help you adopt Microsoft solutions.
Microsoft Office: Made for Achieving
Any organization that wants to achieve something that matters can't do it alone. In this video, Microsoft describes how it's reinventing productivity around people. Taking collaboration fueled by intelligence and the flexibility to work with anyone, anywhere to a whole new level. It's a premium connected experience grounded in trust, not a collection of products. That's the core Microsoft Office 365 ambition, helping people focus their energy on purpose rather than process, allowing them to achieve what matters most.
Intelligent security for the modern workplace
Microsoft 365 E5 security covers a broad range of functions that work together to produce an easy-to-implement, effective, and cohesive system that is backed by continuous learning through ever expanding data.
The Unsung Volume 1: The Gripping Security Story of Microsoft 365
Explore the story of The Unsung, the security heroes who ensure our data remains safe and secure from "faceless foes," those who steal or corrupt corporate data for their own personal gains.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
InsipredMe campaign aims to train, certify 1 million IT scholars in 5 years
http://www.cio.co.ke/news/top-stories/insipredme-campaign-aims-to-train,-certify-1-million-it-scholars-in-5-years by Lilian Mutegi via CIA East Africa
Certiport, provider of certification exam development, delivery and program management services worldwide, in partnership with Microsoft, Kenya National Library Services, GEMS Cambridge International School and the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology have launched InspiredMe a campaign aiming to train, qualify and certify more than 1 million young technology scholars in the next 5 years.
A major component of the campaign is the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship, which will take place in Dallas Texas, later in the year. The campaign targets youth aged 13 to 22 years old.
Microsoft Corporation, Head Education Business, Sub Saharan Region, Warren La Fleur – commended the move towards upping the IT skills of Kenya’s professionals stating: “It is relevant in that it can help address their goal of ensuring that students are career ready by providing 21st-century technology training and certification; it is innovate and keeps pace with global technology trends; and it is sustainable in that it provides a framework for long-term success to be globally competitive in matters ICT.”
The initiative dubbed InspiredMe is a multi-sectored collaboration between public and private sector actors that has birthed an ambitious, yet phenomenal program which it is expected will propel the lives of millions of young Kenyans towards more specialized fields in technology.
Tabarin Consulting, Managing Director, George Kiptalam – announced that Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development is a member of the Global Digital Literacy Council (GDLC), a group of experts from academia, government, and industry who determine the standard for training and certification in digital literacy. The GDLC is in the process of developing the Global Standard 5 (GS5) for digital literacy that comes into effect from 2016.
GEMS Cambridge International School, Principal, Anthony Millward – Here at GEMS we believe in blended learning styles where a variety of teaching methods and technology are combined to support interactive and engaging learning session between teachers and students. This may be in the form or structure formal ICT lessons or laptops and iPads in class and around school to support an inquiry approach for students. This allows them to become architects of their own learning and explore different mediums of capturing data, analyzing information and presenting their views on what they have learned. What is most exciting is that the evolving digitized world is progressing at such a pace, tomorrow’s dreams are todays reality and are quickly passed into yesterday obsolesce.
The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT echoed this when he said ‘the nature of acquiring knowledge is changing and, in this digital age, our definition of basic literacy urgently needs expanding. With an estimated 80 per cent of jobs in Europe for example requiring some level of IT competency, the notion of digital skills – those capabilities that equip an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society – is one that needs to be taken seriously by colleges and universities. Kenyan learning institutions have a responsibility to develop students into individuals who can thrive in an era of digital information and communication – those who are digitally literate are more likely to be economically secure.’
InspiredMe seeks to train scholars through the program’s components, which include; Microsoft IT Academies, Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship, IT Boot camps (Held during school holidays at GEMS Cambridge International School), GEMS Cambridge International School will give a Scholarships to top IT performers from disadvantaged backgrounds and Internship opportunities for certified scholars at leading institutions to give youth work experience.
It is apparent that for sustainable development to take place, both the public and private sectors need to complement each other. This consortium will see Certiport being the authenticator of the training that will be dispensed by Microsoft’s IT Academies. The Kenya National Library services will in the first phase make available 27 Library Centers around the country. The KNLS has recently made considerable investment’s to upgrade and equip its libraries with support from Microsoft. The aim is to have these libraries across the entire country, and so ensure every county participates in the programme.
With the first ever Kenyan chapter of Microsoft Office Specialist Championship set for May 29, 2015, aspiring scholars have 3 months to have their academic institutions enroll for a rousing competition season that will also see counties recognize their local champions in Microsoft Word 2010 & 2013, Microsoft Excel 2010 & 2013 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 & 2013.
The World Championship in Dallas, Texas will seek to recognize students who demonstrate a mastery of Microsoft Office products. For the first time, Kenya will have an opportunity to field four candidates to face more than 400,000 students from 130 countries across the globe that will participate in the competition.
The partners welcomed more institutions to join their consortium to ensure that the initiative is available to more Kenyan young scholars.
A major component of the campaign is the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship, which will take place in Dallas Texas, later in the year. The campaign targets youth aged 13 to 22 years old.
Microsoft Corporation, Head Education Business, Sub Saharan Region, Warren La Fleur – commended the move towards upping the IT skills of Kenya’s professionals stating: “It is relevant in that it can help address their goal of ensuring that students are career ready by providing 21st-century technology training and certification; it is innovate and keeps pace with global technology trends; and it is sustainable in that it provides a framework for long-term success to be globally competitive in matters ICT.”
The initiative dubbed InspiredMe is a multi-sectored collaboration between public and private sector actors that has birthed an ambitious, yet phenomenal program which it is expected will propel the lives of millions of young Kenyans towards more specialized fields in technology.
Tabarin Consulting, Managing Director, George Kiptalam – announced that Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development is a member of the Global Digital Literacy Council (GDLC), a group of experts from academia, government, and industry who determine the standard for training and certification in digital literacy. The GDLC is in the process of developing the Global Standard 5 (GS5) for digital literacy that comes into effect from 2016.
GEMS Cambridge International School, Principal, Anthony Millward – Here at GEMS we believe in blended learning styles where a variety of teaching methods and technology are combined to support interactive and engaging learning session between teachers and students. This may be in the form or structure formal ICT lessons or laptops and iPads in class and around school to support an inquiry approach for students. This allows them to become architects of their own learning and explore different mediums of capturing data, analyzing information and presenting their views on what they have learned. What is most exciting is that the evolving digitized world is progressing at such a pace, tomorrow’s dreams are todays reality and are quickly passed into yesterday obsolesce.
The Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT echoed this when he said ‘the nature of acquiring knowledge is changing and, in this digital age, our definition of basic literacy urgently needs expanding. With an estimated 80 per cent of jobs in Europe for example requiring some level of IT competency, the notion of digital skills – those capabilities that equip an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society – is one that needs to be taken seriously by colleges and universities. Kenyan learning institutions have a responsibility to develop students into individuals who can thrive in an era of digital information and communication – those who are digitally literate are more likely to be economically secure.’
InspiredMe seeks to train scholars through the program’s components, which include; Microsoft IT Academies, Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship, IT Boot camps (Held during school holidays at GEMS Cambridge International School), GEMS Cambridge International School will give a Scholarships to top IT performers from disadvantaged backgrounds and Internship opportunities for certified scholars at leading institutions to give youth work experience.
It is apparent that for sustainable development to take place, both the public and private sectors need to complement each other. This consortium will see Certiport being the authenticator of the training that will be dispensed by Microsoft’s IT Academies. The Kenya National Library services will in the first phase make available 27 Library Centers around the country. The KNLS has recently made considerable investment’s to upgrade and equip its libraries with support from Microsoft. The aim is to have these libraries across the entire country, and so ensure every county participates in the programme.
With the first ever Kenyan chapter of Microsoft Office Specialist Championship set for May 29, 2015, aspiring scholars have 3 months to have their academic institutions enroll for a rousing competition season that will also see counties recognize their local champions in Microsoft Word 2010 & 2013, Microsoft Excel 2010 & 2013 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 & 2013.
The World Championship in Dallas, Texas will seek to recognize students who demonstrate a mastery of Microsoft Office products. For the first time, Kenya will have an opportunity to field four candidates to face more than 400,000 students from 130 countries across the globe that will participate in the competition.
The partners welcomed more institutions to join their consortium to ensure that the initiative is available to more Kenyan young scholars.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Microsoft & Kenya National Library Service to train 1 Million IT scholars
http://goo.gl/RmOk0N
A new campaign dubbed InspiredMe has been launched to train, qualify and certify more than 1 Million young technology scholars in the next 5 years in a move expected to propel the lives of millions of young Kenyans towards more specialized fields in technology.
#InspiredMe is an initiative of certification exam development, delivery and program management firm Certiport has partnered with Microsoft, Kenya National Library Services, GEMS Cambridge International School and the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology.
#InspiredMe will take scholars through programs such as;
Impact Africa will manage the 5 year programme while Certiport will be the authenticator of the training sourced from Microsoft’s IT Academies. KNLS will in the first phase make available 27 Library Centers around the country.
With the first ever Kenyan chapter of Microsoft Office Specialist Championship set for 29th May, 2015, aspiring scholars have 3 months to have their academic institutions enroll for a rousing competition season that will also see counties recognize their local champions in Microsoft Word 2010 & 2013, Microsoft Excel 2010 & 2013 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 & 2013.
The World Championship in Dallas, Texas will seek to recognize students who demonstrate a mastery of Microsoft Office products. For the first time, Kenya will have an opportunity to field four candidates to face more than 400,000 students from 130 countries across the globe that will participate in the competition.
A new campaign dubbed InspiredMe has been launched to train, qualify and certify more than 1 Million young technology scholars in the next 5 years in a move expected to propel the lives of millions of young Kenyans towards more specialized fields in technology.
#InspiredMe is an initiative of certification exam development, delivery and program management firm Certiport has partnered with Microsoft, Kenya National Library Services, GEMS Cambridge International School and the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology.
#InspiredMe will take scholars through programs such as;
- Microsoft IT Academies – Institutions that will offer the training and testing for certification. KNLS centers will host members of the public whose academic institutions do not have IT the requisite infrastructure.
- Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship; Kenya’s top 4 performers represent Kenya at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Dallas Texas. This is the first year Kenya will participate at the championships.
- IT Boot camps (Held during school holidays at GEMS Cambridge International School)
- GEMS Cambridge International School will give a Scholarships to top IT performers from disadvantaged backgrounds
- Internship opportunities for certified scholars at leading institutions to give youth work experience.
Impact Africa will manage the 5 year programme while Certiport will be the authenticator of the training sourced from Microsoft’s IT Academies. KNLS will in the first phase make available 27 Library Centers around the country.
With the first ever Kenyan chapter of Microsoft Office Specialist Championship set for 29th May, 2015, aspiring scholars have 3 months to have their academic institutions enroll for a rousing competition season that will also see counties recognize their local champions in Microsoft Word 2010 & 2013, Microsoft Excel 2010 & 2013 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 & 2013.
The World Championship in Dallas, Texas will seek to recognize students who demonstrate a mastery of Microsoft Office products. For the first time, Kenya will have an opportunity to field four candidates to face more than 400,000 students from 130 countries across the globe that will participate in the competition.
Monday, February 23, 2015
Announcing the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship
ICT Authority: http://www.icta.go.ke/announcing-2015-microsoft-office-specialist-world-championship/
In its 13th year, the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship attracted more than 400,000 unique candidates from 130 countries who competed to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products. 123 student finalists participated in the final round of competition.
Qualify for a chance to represent your country at the World Championships in August 9-12 in Dallas, Texas!
Prove your skills in Microsoft Word, Excel® and PowerPoint® and you could win an invitation to compete in the World Championship finals in Dallas, Texas, USA!
The Certiport Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship is an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint skills, have some fun, impress student colleagues and gain recognition.
What is Certiport’s Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship?
The 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship presented by Certiport, Inc. is a global competition that tests students’ skills on Microsoft Office Word, Excel® and PowerPoint. Top students are invited to represent their respective countries at the World Championship. At the World Championship Event, each student competes for World Champion in his or her category (Microsoft Word 2010, Microsoft Word 2013, Microsoft Excel® 2010, Microsoft Excel® 2013, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2010). In some countries or regions, students are required to participate in a regional test event as well, and the winners of that event continue on to the World Championship.
Who can participate in the Championship?
Anyone may participate in the qualification round of testing, but to participate in the World Championship, candidates must be students that are enrolled in an approved academic institution recognized by the state or country in which it operates. Students must also be between the ages of 13 and 22 (as of June 15, 2015). Students participating in the World Championship must be able to provide proof of age and student status upon request.
How do I participate in the Championship?
Participating competitors may enter the Championship (Qualifying Round) in either of two ways:
- Register Eligible Exam Immediately Prior to Testing: If the eligible Exam is taken at an ACADEMIC Certiport Authorized Testing Centre, the exam delivery tool will prompt the student to register his/her score into the Championship immediately prior to taking the exam. If the candidate chooses to submit his/her score to the Championship, the results of that exam will be automatically entered into the Championship.
- Register Eligible Exam(s) Following Testing: Students may also register any eligible Exam(s) after taking the exam(s) by logging onto their Candidate Home Page at www.certiport.com, clicking on the Championship link, and following the registration instructions. Eligible Exams registered using this tool must be registered during the official Championship dates of the country in which the eligible Exam(s) was taken. Eligible Exams taken by students at any COMMERCIAL Certiport Authorized Testing Centre may also be registered using this tool.
What versions of Microsoft Office will the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship cover?
The 2014 World Championship will include the following six (6) tracks:
- Microsoft Office Specialist Word 2010
- Microsoft Office Specialist Excel® 2010
- Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint® 2010
- Microsoft Office Specialist Word 2013
- Microsoft Office Specialist Excel® 2013
- Microsoft Office Specialist PowerPoint® 2013
When is the Championship taking place in my country?
The Kenya Microsoft Office Specialist national championships will take place on May 29, 2015.
How are the Word, Excel and PowerPoint Country Champions selected?
Country Champions will be selected in one of two ways by the Certiport competition operator:
- Top Score Method: Competition Operator reviews the competition results for the country and selects the student with the top score for Word, the student with the top score for Excel® per track and the student with the top score for PowerPoint per track (version 2010 or 2013). These students represent the country at the World Championship Event. Certiport retains the right to review local Competition Operator selections.
- Country Final Method: Competition Operator reviews the competition results for the country and invites several top students, to compete at a country finals event. The winners of the country finals event (in Word, Excel® and PowerPoint) represent the country at the World Championship Event. Certiport retains the right to review Competition Operator selections.
In the event two participants in the same country have the same high Exam score, the participant who completed the Exam in the least amount of time will be the winner. Decisions of Competition Operators and judges are final.
How are the World Champions in Word, Excel® and PowerPoint selected?
All Regional/Country Champions will be invited to the World Championship Event to compete for the title of the World Champion in Word 2010 or 2013, Excel® 2010 or 2013 and PowerPoint 2010 or 2013. At the World Championship Event, all Regional/Country Champions will be tested in a proctored lab on their respective exams. Generally, students will only be asked to complete their exams one time, however, in rare instances Certiport may require a second round of testing.
All participants in the World Championship will be responsible for preparing themselves to compete in their respective exams. Certiport and/or Certiport’s partners may provide students with preparation materials to help facilitate each student’s training on the software.
How many different types of eligible exams can I submit into the Competition?
During the Qualifying Round, a Student can participate in MULTIPLE Exam tracks. For example, they can submit an Excel 2010 and Excel 2013 Exam. However, if they qualify to participate in a Regional/Country Round or the Final Round in Dallas, Texas, USA, they can only compete in only ONE Exam track.
Where can I take an eligible exam?
Eligible exams can be taken at any Academic Certiport Authorized Testing Centre.
For more details contact:
Mr George Kiptalam
Tabarin Consulting
P.O. Box 38104
00623 Nairobi
Kenya
Cell: +254 (0) 731 433 904
Email: george.kiptalam@tabarinconsulting.com
Monday, December 29, 2014
10 African startups that rocked 2014
2014 has been another amazing year for startups in Africa.
More and more entrepreneurs turned their attention to building businesses that can solve the continent's problems and provide services it has long awaited.
Enterprises emerged to fix problems in payments, traffic and talent, while more entrepreneurs raised more money from investors than ever before.
Here, in no particular order are 10 of the most exciting young companies of the year.
The list includes the startups I consider to have the most potential, to be the most viable -- not necessarily the most popular or hyped.
Sendy
Where: Kenya
In a nutshell: Uber-style motorbike delivery service.
What's unique: Africa has delivery services and courier services but never before Uber-style so you can track exactly where the deliver rider is via your phone app.
Sending packages is usually expensive and difficult in big, congested African cities like Nairobi and Lagos. Many people use motorbikes to get to work to avoid getting stuck in traffic, so using motorbikes for deliveries is a smart, cheap, local solution.
Future moves: Sendy is in a very strong position because e-commerce is growing and at some point those kinds of sites could integrate with companies like Sendy. It could also potentially be acquired by a foreign company, perhaps Amazon, if they decide to expand to Kenya or South Africa and want to invest in a delivery service that understands the terrain.
Angani
Where: Kenya, East Africa region
In a nutshell: Pay-as-you-go cloud computing
What's unique: This is nothing new internationally, but the cloud computing space in Kenya is nascent. Angani are coming into the market trying to make prices affordable.
What makes it cool is that you pay for what you use. You choose a plan and go.
Future moves: It may be difficult for Angani to scale in a short time, given that all of their competitors in this new and growing market are established players. It remains to be seen whether their tactic of driving competition with low prices will attract enough customers.
Irofit
Where: Nigeria
In a nutshell: Mobile payments without internet
What's unique: Their offering -- mobile payments over mobile networks -- is unique. It's something that hasn't been done before. Making mobile payments over the internet can often be an issue in Africa, so Irofit are leveraging more widespread mobile networks.
Future moves: They launched very recently, and no one has used the app yet. But Irofit raised $600,000 in just six months earlier this year, showing that there are big players who think the startup has real potential.
Wyzetalk
Where: South Africa
In a nutshell: Invite-only social platform for business
What's unique: A business platform for companies to help their employees to more effectively communicate. Staff can use the platform to collaborate on projects, set up meetings, instant message, share files and more.
Future moves: Wyzetalk has been around since 2011, but they have built the company steadily, winning round after round of funding, which shows they must be doing something right. It is currently used by companies from a variety of industries including travel and tourism, tech and food and drink. They have a very solid model and are likely to keep growing.
Gamsole
Where: Nigeria, Global
In a nutshell: Gaming company
What's unique: Celebrated as the biggest success story of any African game developers, this startup has been developing games in the Windows phone market for a couple of years. Gamsole was incubated in the 88mph accelerator and since then their games have seen 9 million downloads globally.
Future moves: Gamsole recently received an innovation grant from Microsoft and are looking for new talent with a recently launched competition for illustrators and designers that offers $4,000 to the winner. They are also yet to launch a global smash hit game.
Snapscan
Where: South Africa
In a nutshell: Make payments via your mobile phone
What's unique: A service, not dissimilar to Apple Pay, which allows people to make payments with their mobile phone by simply taking a photo of a QR code and punching in the amount they want to pay.
Future moves: Less than a year after launch, the system was being used by 12,000 small businesses. There is huge potential for this service: There is an appetite for convenience in payments and there is an opportunity to leverage on Africa being mobile first. They have the potential to expand into other markets and maybe even compete with Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Delivery Science
Where: Nigeria
In a nutshell: Delivering smarter using big data
What's unique: This startup is all about using big data and analytics to help companies in Africa's emerging e-commerce sector manage inventory and deliver more efficiently. Delivery Science offer to completely manage a company's logistics from what's in the warehouse to innovative ideas like verification codes for deliveries to ensure the right person gets a package.
Future moves: The company was started this year by a team who have successfully launched other startups and who are knowledgeable in delivery and logistics. They have the right idea and the knowledge to serve the market in Nigeria.
Paysail
Where: Ghana
In a nutshell: Out-of-the-box payroll management application.
What's unique: Right now, many companies in Ghana still use spreadsheets to organize employee pay. Paysail offers an all-in-one service that comes with Ghanian tax codes programmed in to make company accountants' jobs easier.
Future moves: It's a new idea. It's different. Most of the companies -- like this one -- that are incubated in the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology in Ghana try to reach other markets. Right now, no one is doing anything like this in next-door Nigeria, which means the Paysail application has opportunity to offer an incredible change.
Andela
Where: Nigeria, pan-Africa
In a nutshell: Training graduates as developers, matching them with employers
What's unique: Andela is focused on helping employers from all over the world find talent from Africa. They take it a step further by identifying raw talent and paying them to learn to become developers, then matching them with global employers looking for talent. The company currently has a local office in Nigeria and a company in the United States.
Future moves: This company's approach is very smart. In Africa there is a desperate need for talent -- we don't have enough developers, let alone quality developers, because universities don't qualify graduates in technologies for the future. There is also a huge market globally, so this company has a massive opportunity.
BRCK
Where: Kenya, all of Africa.
In a nutshell: A self-powered, mobile WiFi device.
What's unique: BRCK is a blackbox described by its makers as "a backup generator for the internet," with the aim of solving Africa's connectivity issues. In Africa, there are power outages on a daily basis so getting online and staying online anywhere and anytime in these parts as well as other parts of the world requires a device that can seamlessly switch between multiple networks to provide access, even in remote areas. That's where BRCK comes in.
Future moves: This product is quite ingenious. The potential impact and scale of this company is the reason it closed a $1.2 million seed funding round, after initially raising $172,000 in a Kickstarter campaign last year. BRCK has the potential to provide internet connectivity to rural areas across the world, where Internet access can be unstable.
By Loy Okezie, Special to CNN
More and more entrepreneurs turned their attention to building businesses that can solve the continent's problems and provide services it has long awaited.
Enterprises emerged to fix problems in payments, traffic and talent, while more entrepreneurs raised more money from investors than ever before.
Here, in no particular order are 10 of the most exciting young companies of the year.
The list includes the startups I consider to have the most potential, to be the most viable -- not necessarily the most popular or hyped.
Sendy
Where: Kenya
In a nutshell: Uber-style motorbike delivery service.
What's unique: Africa has delivery services and courier services but never before Uber-style so you can track exactly where the deliver rider is via your phone app.
Sending packages is usually expensive and difficult in big, congested African cities like Nairobi and Lagos. Many people use motorbikes to get to work to avoid getting stuck in traffic, so using motorbikes for deliveries is a smart, cheap, local solution.
Future moves: Sendy is in a very strong position because e-commerce is growing and at some point those kinds of sites could integrate with companies like Sendy. It could also potentially be acquired by a foreign company, perhaps Amazon, if they decide to expand to Kenya or South Africa and want to invest in a delivery service that understands the terrain.
Angani
Where: Kenya, East Africa region
In a nutshell: Pay-as-you-go cloud computing
What's unique: This is nothing new internationally, but the cloud computing space in Kenya is nascent. Angani are coming into the market trying to make prices affordable.
What makes it cool is that you pay for what you use. You choose a plan and go.
Future moves: It may be difficult for Angani to scale in a short time, given that all of their competitors in this new and growing market are established players. It remains to be seen whether their tactic of driving competition with low prices will attract enough customers.
Irofit
Where: Nigeria
In a nutshell: Mobile payments without internet
What's unique: Their offering -- mobile payments over mobile networks -- is unique. It's something that hasn't been done before. Making mobile payments over the internet can often be an issue in Africa, so Irofit are leveraging more widespread mobile networks.
Future moves: They launched very recently, and no one has used the app yet. But Irofit raised $600,000 in just six months earlier this year, showing that there are big players who think the startup has real potential.
Wyzetalk
Where: South Africa
In a nutshell: Invite-only social platform for business
What's unique: A business platform for companies to help their employees to more effectively communicate. Staff can use the platform to collaborate on projects, set up meetings, instant message, share files and more.
Future moves: Wyzetalk has been around since 2011, but they have built the company steadily, winning round after round of funding, which shows they must be doing something right. It is currently used by companies from a variety of industries including travel and tourism, tech and food and drink. They have a very solid model and are likely to keep growing.
Gamsole
Where: Nigeria, Global
In a nutshell: Gaming company
What's unique: Celebrated as the biggest success story of any African game developers, this startup has been developing games in the Windows phone market for a couple of years. Gamsole was incubated in the 88mph accelerator and since then their games have seen 9 million downloads globally.
Future moves: Gamsole recently received an innovation grant from Microsoft and are looking for new talent with a recently launched competition for illustrators and designers that offers $4,000 to the winner. They are also yet to launch a global smash hit game.
Snapscan
Where: South Africa
In a nutshell: Make payments via your mobile phone
What's unique: A service, not dissimilar to Apple Pay, which allows people to make payments with their mobile phone by simply taking a photo of a QR code and punching in the amount they want to pay.
Future moves: Less than a year after launch, the system was being used by 12,000 small businesses. There is huge potential for this service: There is an appetite for convenience in payments and there is an opportunity to leverage on Africa being mobile first. They have the potential to expand into other markets and maybe even compete with Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Delivery Science
Where: Nigeria
In a nutshell: Delivering smarter using big data
What's unique: This startup is all about using big data and analytics to help companies in Africa's emerging e-commerce sector manage inventory and deliver more efficiently. Delivery Science offer to completely manage a company's logistics from what's in the warehouse to innovative ideas like verification codes for deliveries to ensure the right person gets a package.
Future moves: The company was started this year by a team who have successfully launched other startups and who are knowledgeable in delivery and logistics. They have the right idea and the knowledge to serve the market in Nigeria.
Paysail
Where: Ghana
In a nutshell: Out-of-the-box payroll management application.
What's unique: Right now, many companies in Ghana still use spreadsheets to organize employee pay. Paysail offers an all-in-one service that comes with Ghanian tax codes programmed in to make company accountants' jobs easier.
Future moves: It's a new idea. It's different. Most of the companies -- like this one -- that are incubated in the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology in Ghana try to reach other markets. Right now, no one is doing anything like this in next-door Nigeria, which means the Paysail application has opportunity to offer an incredible change.
Andela
Where: Nigeria, pan-Africa
In a nutshell: Training graduates as developers, matching them with employers
What's unique: Andela is focused on helping employers from all over the world find talent from Africa. They take it a step further by identifying raw talent and paying them to learn to become developers, then matching them with global employers looking for talent. The company currently has a local office in Nigeria and a company in the United States.
Future moves: This company's approach is very smart. In Africa there is a desperate need for talent -- we don't have enough developers, let alone quality developers, because universities don't qualify graduates in technologies for the future. There is also a huge market globally, so this company has a massive opportunity.
BRCK
Where: Kenya, all of Africa.
In a nutshell: A self-powered, mobile WiFi device.
What's unique: BRCK is a blackbox described by its makers as "a backup generator for the internet," with the aim of solving Africa's connectivity issues. In Africa, there are power outages on a daily basis so getting online and staying online anywhere and anytime in these parts as well as other parts of the world requires a device that can seamlessly switch between multiple networks to provide access, even in remote areas. That's where BRCK comes in.
Future moves: This product is quite ingenious. The potential impact and scale of this company is the reason it closed a $1.2 million seed funding round, after initially raising $172,000 in a Kickstarter campaign last year. BRCK has the potential to provide internet connectivity to rural areas across the world, where Internet access can be unstable.
By Loy Okezie, Special to CNN
Saturday, November 08, 2014
Announcing Certiport's 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship from August 9-12 in Dallas, Texas!
Certiport, a Pearson VUE business, the leading test delivery solution provider for the global workforce and academic markets, today announces the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Champions in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint, culminating the most popular technology skills competition on Microsoft Office since its inception in 2002.
In its 13th year, the 2014 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship attracted more than 400,000 unique candidates from 130 countries who competed to demonstrate their mastery of Microsoft Office products. 123 student finalists participated in the final round of competition.
Certiport recognized the top six student competitors at the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship Student Awards Ceremony at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort, and presented each with a $5,000 scholarship.
“Microsoft Office Specialist certification gives students a way to become tangibly prepared for college or a career,” said Margo Day, vice president of US education at Microsoft. “Today’s job market requires computer proficiency and all individuals who earn certification have a valuable credential proving their skills. We congratulate the top winners for their extra efforts and look forward to seeing how they put their superior Microsoft Office skills to use in their future endeavors.”
In the concluding round, competitors participated in unique project-based tests to demonstrate their ability to create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations for the information presented in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
“More than 740,000 exams were uploaded as part of this competition, and the MOS World Champions are tops in an elite group of individuals who know how to use Microsoft Office tools effectively,” said Bob Whelan, president and chief executive officer for Pearson VUE. “Microsoft Office Specialist certification continues to grow in popularity all over the world, allowing more students to prove they have the academic and workforce skills to succeed.”
Next year, Certiport will host the 2015 Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship in Dallas, Texas.
Monday, September 15, 2014
First African Computer anti-virus software developed in Baringo,Kenya
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Bunifu Sniper, the antivirus software was developed locally by that clearly indicates the exponential potential that Africa has. The anti-virus has an in-built console panel that will help users recover infected files safely. The Sniper anti-virus, which took the group more than a year and a half to develop, also features a wireless and Local Area Network (LAN) scanner that can scan devices within your WiFi range or over your LAN, a document, file and folder repair and restore, file and folder unlock sensor, wireless and LAN sensor as well as piracy protection. The anti-virus is a software too tough for even hackers to crack, and better than others available in the market according to the firm. There will be continuous online upgrades of the antivirus software although the company is also working on ways to enable offline upgrades. The Sniper antivirus product has dominant features such as fast engine, over 17 million virus database definitions, heuristic engine, shared protection, directory navigation guard (watchdog) and proactive real-time surveillance.
Bunifu Technologies has also provided technology-based services and products that range from Android mobile apps, desktop applications, web applications and engineering solutions. Other products that have been developed by the firm include accounting software that provides real-time analyses and record keeping of day to day transactions and Light Bolt SMS – a mass message sending utility that has the ability to send customized personalized messages to many from a single message. Bunifu’s other product is an exam management system that provides an easy interface for exams processing and analysis as well as the Bunifu mini-commander, a handy automated software that can process and respond to SMS commands and also process more than one command at a time.
The firm also runs the only innovation hub in Kenya outside Nairobi.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/lifestyle/article/2000122666/it-brains-develop-first-african-anti-virus-software
Friday, August 08, 2014
Top IT skills and certifications revealed
ActiveTechPros released their latest IT Salary and Skills Report recently, allowing IT professionals to compare their salary and skills against fellow IT professionals globally.
The ActiveTechPros report which is published annually and is based on aggregated data from their users for the period of January 1 – December 31 2011.
According to the report the most popular IT skills in South Africa are Operating Systems, Desktops/Software and Servers/Networking.
It is telling that the top skills (hence the skills which most IT professionals possess) corresponds with the lowest salaries in the market.
When it comes to the top certifications the ever popular A+ reigns supreme, followed by Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) and Network +.
Read more here.
Friday, July 18, 2014
Investment potential of Kenya's education sector
The first thing a visitor to the Fanisi Capital boardroom in Nairobi notices when he walks in is a big black television and, below the television, a picture. It is an interesting one to look at: the people in it – students and teachers, presumably – are of every race, skin and hair colour, all smiling. The lawn in the foreground is lush and well manicured. Palm trees rise above the smiling faces, flanking seven thatched roof peaks. It could be a picture of a “Young United Nations” conference on a tropical island. The only thing that shows it is not the UN is a school crest. Hillcrest Investments Limited (HIL) currently owns the school in the photo, as well as its sister schools on the same campus.
HIL was established in 2011. Its principal shareholders are Kenya-based Fanisi Capital, a US$50-million venture capital fund represented byAyisi Makatiani; and Anthony Wahome, an investor whose principal ventures include the Linksoft Group of companies and the Rose of Sharon Academy. Hillcrest is a source of great pride for Makatiani. His office nametag and keys hang on a Hillcrest-branded lanyard. So how did Makatiani, who built Africa Online, one of Africa’s first Internet service providers, end up owning a school? “It was an opportunistic move for Fanisi,” he says. “The school was put up for sale and we bought it at the cost of land.”
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