E-Business
Deloitte’s 2014 Report Identifies Tech Trends Disruptors, Enablers
Deloitte, a professional services firm, at the launch of its fifth annual Tech Trends report in Lagos on Wednesday, identified 10 technological trends that could have an impact on African companies across industry sectors over the coming 18 to 24 months.
By Disruptors Deloitte cited opportunities that can create sustainable positive impact in IT capabilities, business operations and sometimes even business models, while enablers are technologies in which many Chief Information Officers (CIOs) have already invested time and effort, but which warrant another look because of new developments or opportunities.
The identifiable disruptors include CIOs as Venture Capitalist; Cognitive analytics; Industrial crowdsourcing; Digital engagement and Wearbles, while the enablers are technical debt reversal; social activation; cloud orchestration; in-memory revolution and real-time DevOps.
“At their core, these trends inspire disruption by having the potential to reshape organisations, business models, and even entire industries in South Africa and beyond. While some of these technologies might seem far-fetched for some, the reality is that the evolving competitive landscape means they can provide companies with a distinct business advantage,” said Kamal Ramsingh, Technology Leader for Africa at Deloitte.
Ramsingh said the disruptive technologies highlighted in the report can challenge CIOs to anticipate the impacts that these forces may have on their organisation.
“This year, we look at how technology forces offer CIOs the opportunity to shape tomorrow, to inspire, to create, and to transform business as usual.”
According to Mark White, the global chief technology officer of Deloitte, “the trends identified in the report have to adhere to very strict criteria which include having to be business-led and technology-enabled, as well as have at least three real world instances of adoption.”
“It is clear that organisations need to be forward-thinking to develop strategies that are cognisant of the pace of technological change. However, trends that are too future-focused are of very little practical value for decision-makers wanting to get a competitive edge in the market in the short-term. As such, the Tech Trends report is focused on those emerging technologies that can provide measurable returns in the next 18 to 24 months,” said White.
“This year’s report reflects the reality of the connected world. Data, mobile, social, cyber security, and the cloud are all key drivers in what businesses do online. Even South African organisations are starting to realise the business benefits that leveraging developments in this area can provide them,” said Ramsingh.
While advising the Nigerian indigenous companies to embrace new ways of using skills in information technology for enterprise value and business growth, he said, “Nigerians need to be more conscious on their security and environment by adopting application of wearable technology which support video and audio solution for personal security.”
On Technical Debt, he said that Nigeria companies could reverse its huge debt consequent, technical deficiencies by adopting the global standard design for technical operation in multinational companies.
Ramsingh disclosed that “Global Technical debt is estimated at $500billon”.
He also charged Nigerians to adopt in-memory storage system, stressing that In-memory computing aid processing of big-data.
He said “In-memory helps to create business value on big data.”
On Cloud Orchestration, the Director said that 100% big data management with efficient cloud solution is possible in Nigeria public and private sector, while there are likely potential pitfall for business using the social media and other e-commerce platform especially as African countries are open to embrace any technology.
“The ability to understand what digital means to any striving business means in Nigeria is essential to leverage global practices,” he said.
Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has commenced a forensic investigation into the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lotus Bank and Hackerbella Ltd over alleged violations of data protection laws involving students’ personal information.
The investigation follows public complaints alleging that students’ personal data were used to open bank accounts without a lawful basis.
Dr Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner and chief executive officer of the NDPC, directed the investigation team to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the circumstances surrounding the collection, processing, use and disclosure of the affected students’ personal data.
The investigation will also determine the respective roles and responsibilities of UNILAG, Lotus Bank and Hackerbella in the alleged processing of the data.
According to the Commission, the investigation will assess the data protection compliance obligations of the parties under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act), as well as potential risks posed to the rights and freedoms of the affected data subjects.
The NDPC said the probe would cover several areas, including Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs), the lawfulness and transparency of credit scoring or profiling activities, and the use of automated decision-making systems.
It will also examine the adequacy of privacy notices, data-sharing arrangements, lawful bases for processing, data minimisation and purpose limitation.
Other areas include data retention policies and the adequacy of technical and organisational measures put in place to safeguard the rights and personal data of affected students.
The Commission reiterated that institutions entrusted with the personal data of students, staff and other members of their communities have a heightened responsibility to ensure that such information is processed lawfully, fairly, transparently and securely.
The NDPC therefore warned educational institutions that are yet to comply with its existing data protection compliance directives to take immediate steps to achieve compliance.
The Commission said it would continue to exercise its regulatory mandate to protect the privacy rights of Nigerians and ensure that organisations processing personal data comply with the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023.
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
X has announced plans to discontinue its Revenue Sharing programme and introduce a new Original Content Rewards programme to reward creators for producing original content on the platform.
The social media company announced the changes at the weekend in a post on its X Creators handle, saying the new programme would reward creators who contribute original content.
“Today, we’re introducing the Original Content Rewards Program, a new way to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X,” the company said.
X said it would stop accepting new enrolments into the Revenue Sharing programme from Friday, while existing participants would continue earning until September 7, 2026.
“Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new enrollments into Revenue Sharing,” it said.
According to the company, existing Revenue Sharing participants will receive three final payouts, with two scheduled for August 14 and August 28, while the final payment for earnings accrued through September 7 is expected around September 11.
X said existing Revenue Sharing participants would begin getting access to apply for the new programme from September 8, subject to meeting its eligibility requirements.
The first payout under the Original Content Rewards programme will be made on August 28, 2026, while existing Revenue Sharing creators who enrol in the new programme from September 8 will receive their first payment on September 25.
Under the new programme, eligible creators will earn from qualified impressions generated by their original content, with payments made every two weeks.
X defined qualified impressions as unique impressions from Premium users on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50 per cent of a post is visible.
On the other hand, “The following are excluded from qualified impressions: impressions from the same account counted more than once per post; paid, promoted, or artificially generated impressions; and fraudulent impressions,” it said.
To qualify, creators must be at least 18 years old, live in a country where the programme is available, maintain an account in good standing and have either a personal or vusiness account.
They must also subscribe to X Premium, Premium+ or Premium Business, have at least 500 verified followers and record at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within the previous 90 days.
X said creators must also regularly post original content to remain eligible.
“We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment, and contribute meaningful perspectives to the conversation,” the company said.
The platform said original content could include threads, videos, memes, graphics, illustrations, reporting, analysis, commentary and reactions that add meaningful value to existing conversations.
It said creators who use content produced by others would need to add meaningful commentary, context, analysis, humour or creative transformation for such posts to qualify.
“Building on existing conversations is a core part of X, but simply reposting someone else’s content is not enough,” it said.
X said minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments or simple text overlays would generally not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.
It also warned that content copied or substantially reproduced from another creator, content downloaded and re-uploaded from X or another platform without being the original author’s, automated content, disinformation and misleading content would be ineligible.
The company said accounts that violate the programme’s requirements could be temporarily or permanently removed from it, depending on the severity of the violation.
It added that creators would be responsible for ensuring they had the necessary rights, permissions or licences to use content created by others.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” X said.
The company said the new programme was intended to reward creators who make the platform more valuable by bringing original ideas and perspectives to its conversations.
“The Original Content Rewards Program is designed to reward the creators who start them, shape them, and move them forward,” it said.
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