Connect with us

E-Business

ISPON Urged to Seek Relevance in New Economic Order

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) has been urged to be united in articulating its vision in the ever-changing economic order which does not have boundaries.

Chinenye Mba-uzochukwu, immediate past president of ISPON stated this in his remark at this year’s Extraordinary General Meeting of the Institute held in Lagos recently.

He said: “we have not achieved our full potential and our full potential rest on what all of us in ISPON do together.

“We may have different opinion in terms of what our priorities are. We may have areas of our specific interest we wish to pursue, at the end of the day it is only when we pull together that we can actually make things happen.

“Taken up single items sometimes works but as you know all systems people know, a system is a system the parts have to work together, we must find a way of creating that synergy. The energy is transferred from one gear to the other and so on. Or in programming you don’t have to get a retrogressive lope where it says same thing over and over again.

“In the past 5 to 10 years we have seen a quite number of movements in the industry and the end result has been that we have established certain franchise within the system and some level of respectability within the area that seem to be our greatest challenge which is the regulatory system.

“We will continue to fight those battles, even as we speak there are a number of bills that are still in view that represent to a very large extent a threat to the overall system itself unless we respond together as one we may find ourselves unable to achieve what we are looking for.

“This conference and EGM are extremely important in that respect. It is critical that we understand the challenges that we face as the system itself is changing as it is accelerating and expanding, what is happening is that as it is expanding there is the tendency that the elements will start to lose touch with each other.

Technology especially software is in the hands of a generation that has more hairs than I do. That generation does not have connection with people like ourselves. The generation that seems to want to go it alone.

“A generation that wants to make and break and move on. Not to build big enterprise system that takes may be 5 to 10 years to put together.

“It is a generation that wants immediate result, a generation that is completely entuned with the fact that they are global citizen and their capacity and creativity can take them anywhere in the world”.

He noted that Nigeria and indeed Africa is facing the speed challenge and as people try to shut the door, and advocate policies that close the door, they cannot close the door because it is globalized world.

“It is a world where there is infinite movement across all dimensions. What we answer today is the call of the market primarily and it is the aspiration of every individual to be the best they can possibly be.

“How do we create an environment that is fertile, rewarding, exciting for anyone who wants to participate in our industry?

“Artificial intelligent world is a world that should excite us and not frighten us. We need to understand that a child of tomorrow is a child that is enabled by his/her capacity to use AI.

“We were told when calculator came we should not take it to the exam hall, we had to work with the slide rule. We have gone from the slide rule to the calculator, we thought the calculator will end all knowledge and make our children dumb.

“We have gone beyond that now, we tell them now not to take the computer to the room. But, today AI is an intrinsic part of our world.

“We must expand not only our minds but also our hearts. We have to accept that the world which we are living in have huge challenges as well as huge potential that is ours, and we have a right to participate in it and our children, children also have a right to participate in it”.

Also speaking, Mr. Bimbo Abioye, the newly elected president of ISPON, reiterated his resolve to ensure active participation in the Nigerian software dream.

“We will encourage Ministries, Departments and Agencies of governments (MDAs), including the private sector to embrace software Nigeria, and patronise it in order to support its growth.

“We will also ensue that Nigeria produces quality software that will meet the needs of Nigerians as well as the needs of multinational companies operating in Nigeria.

“Today we have local software that performs optimally better than most foreign software imported into the country. Software business is about trust, because the software codes are not tangible, but embedded into the computer system to perform certain operations via commands.

“It is for this reason that ISPON must ensure that software developed in Nigeria, must be tested and trusted for use”, he added.

 


Kindly share this post

Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Comments

E-Business

Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands

Published

on

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO
Kindly share this post

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO has expressed concerns about the extreme risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI) falling into the hands of terrorists or rogue states.

Schmidt, Ex Google Chief Says AI Risky in Terrorist Hands

Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO

He warned that nations such as North Korea, Iran, and Russia could adopt AI technologies to develop weapons capable of causing significant harm, including biological weapons.

Schmidt urged governments to oversee private tech companies, emphasising, “The real fears I have are not the ones most people discuss about AI, I talk about extreme risk.”

“I’m always worried about an ‘Osama Bin Laden’ scenario, where truly evil individuals take control of some aspect of modern life to harm innocent people,” he added.

With private companies driving AI advancements, he stressed the need for careful government monitoring and regulation. “It’s really important that governments understand what we’re doing and keep their eye on us,” he said.

His remarks followed a two-day AI summit in Paris, where the UK and the U.S. declined to sign a communiqué outlining the future direction of AI. The declaration on “inclusive and sustainable artificial intelligence for people and the planet” was endorsed by 57 countries, including India, China, the Vatican, the EU, and the African Union Commission.

The UK justified its decision, stating that the agreement lacked “practical clarity” on global AI governance and national security concerns.

Schmidt supports U.S. export controls restricting the sale of advanced AI microchips to certain countries, aiming to slow adversaries’ progress in AI research.

He also highlights the importance of international collaboration on AI safety, suggesting that cooperation with nations like China is essential to addressing global AI challenges.

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk

Published

on

Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI
Kindly share this post

Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-owner OpenAI, has firmly declared the company “not for sale” following a $97.4bn (£78.4bn) takeover bid from a consortium led by Elon Musk.

OpenAI CEO Rejects $97.4Bn Takeover Bid from Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Speaking at the AI Action Summit in Paris, Altman emphasised OpenAI’s mission to develop AGI (artificial general intelligence) for the benefit of humanity.

Marc Toberoff, attorney for Elon Musk, confirmed the bid submission on Monday.

In response, Altman humorously offered to buy Twitter for $9.74 billion on Musk’s platform.

Unlike many tech giants, OpenAI is not publicly traded but operates through a complex partnership between non-profit and for-profit entities.

Musk aims to return OpenAI to its non-profit roots, despite owning a rival firm, xAI.

Christie Pitts, a tech investor, expressed scepticism about Musk’s intentions, noting his competitive interests.

Altman echoed this sentiment, suggesting Musk’s move disregards OpenAI’s mission.

Altman, who holds no stock in OpenAI, advocates transforming the organisation into a fully for-profit company to raise more funds for AI research.

Although the board has the final say, the $97.4bn offer falls short of OpenAI’s previous $157bn valuation and rumoured $300bn in future funding talks.

Toberoff stated the consortium might increase their bid. Meanwhile, OpenAI is collaborating with Oracle, a Japanese investment firm, and an Emirati sovereign wealth fund on “The Stargate Project,” a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative announced by President Donald Trump.

 

 

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

Adobe Launches AI Video Tool to Compete with OpenAI

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Adobe yesterday released the first public version of an artificial intelligence tool that can generate video clips and revealed how much it will charge, but said it will not set pricing for major users such as studios until later this year.

The Firefly Video Model, as Adobe is calling the service, will compete against Sora, a model developed by ChatGPT creator OpenAI, and startup Runway, both of which currently offer video-generation services. Facebook owner Meta Platforms has also developed a video-generation AI model but has not given a timeline for when it will be released.

Adobe’s model differs from its rivals because it is geared toward generating clips that will fit into how film and television studios use Premiere Pro, its flagship video editing software.

To that end, many of the features that Adobe is emphasizing revolve around feeding existing shots into the video model and asking it to generate clips that fix or expand on shots that were taken on a real production set but that did not come out quite right.

Adobe said the service will generate five-second clips at 1080p resolution. While that is shorter than the clips of up to 20 seconds generated by OpenAI’s service, Adobe executives said the majority of individual clips in most productions are only three seconds.

Adobe said a user can generate 20 clips per month for $9.99 and 70 clips for $29.99. That compares with 50 videos for $20 per month with OpenAI’s plan at lower resolution and a $200 OpenAI plan that can handle longer, higher resolution videos.

Adobe is also working on a “Premium” pricing plan for studios and other high-volume video users and will release those pricing details later this year. Alexandru Costin, Adobe’s vice president of generative AI, said the company is working to generate 4K video and will remain focused on quality rather than longer clips.

“We actually think that great motion, great structure, great definition scheme, making the actual clip look like it was film, is more important than making a longer clip that’s unusable,” Costin told Reuters.

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Social

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending