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Paper versus Digital: The Future of Work

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By Somesh Adukia

Digitization is revolutionizing the way businesses operate across the globe, and Africa is no exception. Over the past two years, remote and hybrid arrangements have become the norm in the workplace.

We have seen the proliferation of new digital tools and platforms to support hybrid work, such as video conferencing, cloud-based software, and collaboration platforms like Teams and Zoom.

IT teams have had to support this transition by providing technical support for these new digital tools and platforms, all the while ensuring cybersecurity and data protection, and managing remote access to company systems and applications.

The challenges of navigating digitization in a hybrid working world

Navigating digitization in a hybrid working model can be challenging for both businesses and IT teams.

Research conducted by Walnut Unlimited on behalf of Canon, shows that there is a divide between businesses and employees when it comes to hybrid working. While businesses think they are largely digital, employees are experiencing a host of niggling issues.

One of the most prevalent challenges facing employees working remotely is access to important documents, both digital and physical. This, combined with other related issues (such as difficulties with business processes, and having to visit the office to print, pick up or sign documents in person) suggests a wider problem – organizations have not yet completely rebuilt their business processes to function in a virtual environment.

As a result, we’re seeing employees struggling to perform basic steps in everyday document-based workflows, like processing invoices or contract approval, when outside of the office.

Moreover, equipping new workspaces has been a major challenge for IT teams.

According to 2021 research conducted by McKinsey, 65% of companies had increased spending on digital and technology during the global pandemic, despite significant cost cutting elsewhere in the business. This suggests that most companies are aware that they need to undertake digital transformation, fast.

According to our report, 71% of IT departments say that solutions that would support their hybrid working are not compatible with their legacy infrastructure.

Furthermore, 72% say their printers and scanners used in different locations were not designed to work together.

While companies may have the basics in place, most businesses have yet to rebuild their document-based processes for a new hybrid work. By creating a digital-first culture that empowers employees to work smarter, businesses can help ensure that their digital aspirations are aligned with the everyday work experiences of their workforce.

On the African continent, the challenges that employees face with technology are more complex than regions elsewhere. Some of these challenges are:

  1. Limited internet connectivity in parts of Africa: In many parts of Africa, internet connectivity is limited or unreliable, which can make it difficult to maintain consistent connectivity between employees working remotely and those working in the office.
  2. Limited access to hardware: In some cases, employees may not have access to the necessary hardware, such as laptops or smartphones, to effectively work remotely.
  3. Inadequate IT infrastructure: IT infrastructure in companies may not be equipped to handle the demands of hybrid work.
  4. Security concerns: Hybrid work can create new security risks for companies, particularly when employees are accessing company data and systems from remote locations.
  5. Lack of digital skills and expertise: Many countries face a shortage of skilled professionals in the tech sector, which can be a significant barrier to the adoption of digital solutions.

It’s important for businesses to recognize the unique challenges faced by employees in Africa and work to create solutions that meet their needs. To overcome some of these issues, companies can invest in improving internet connectivity and providing access to digital tools and technology to support remote work.

By addressing these challenges proactively, businesses and IT teams can help ensure a successful transition to a hybrid working model in Africa.

The transition to paperless operations

Despite the adoption of digital technologies in the workspace, businesses have still not moved to paperless operations. While digital solutions have made it less expensive and easier to store, retrieve and share information, paper documents still have a place in many business operations, especially in Africa.

A great deal of business on the continent still gets done on paper in the workspace via scanners, printers, photocopy machines and faxes. Many small-to-medium sized business operate in a paper centric environment, using paper as part of their everyday workflow and transactions.

One of the advantages of the blend of paper and digital in the hybrid workplace is its flexibility. The use of digital technologies allows for seamless collaboration across physical locations, while paper documents provide a sense of tangibility and familiarity that can be useful in certain contexts.

To make the most of the blend of paper and digital in the hybrid workplace, businesses must identify which processes require paper documents and which processes can be digitized. This may involve investing in document management systems, scanners, and other technologies that can facilitate the transition to digital workflows while maintaining the use of paper documents in specific contexts.

By identifying which processes require paper documents and which can be digitized, businesses can create a flexible and productive workflow that accommodates both in-person and remote work.

Somesh Adukia is Managing Director, Canon Central & North Africa


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Kaspersky Transforms Threat Intelligence Reporting into an Interactive Content Hub

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Easy interaction with exclusive Kaspersky reports, geo-filtering and actionable intelligence in a single click: expert insights on Advanced Persistent Threats (APT), Crimeware and Industrial Control Systems (ICS) threats are now available directly in Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Portal — with charts and visuals rendered inline.

In an era of increasingly sophisticated and frequent attacks, threat intelligence inevitably evolves into a business enabler that equips security teams with strategic advantage in their mission to back their company’s stability and growth.

Kaspersky, a recognised leader in threat intelligence, facilitates informed decision-making and proactive risk mitigation by introducing simplified access to actionable and relevant threat insights.

Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Reporting is a subscription-based service delivering over 200 in-depth analysis reports annually. These insights are compiled by Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team, Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team and Threat Research experts through the continuous tracking of more than 900 threat actors and campaigns.

Following the update, all reports previously representing a library of static PDF files (that is more than 2000 exclusive Kaspersky reports published to date) are now structured and can be examined directly in the Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Portal. For offline use, the standard PDF download format remains available as well.

The update also introduces deeper integration within each report, featuring direct links to indicators of compromise (IoCs), detection rules (including YARA), and MITRE ATT&CK® techniques. Users can now perform a single-click drill-down into specific threat actors, malware families and Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) across diverse geographies and industries.

Smart geo-filtering streamlines investigations by prioritising content explicitly mentioning a selected country, followed by broader regional intelligence, giving analysts a complete geographic view in a single query.

Enhanced Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Reporting supports the following use cases:

  • Customised content discovery: apply geo, industry and software filters to instantly retrieve a list of relevant reports.
  • Exclusive intelligence: access the most recent incident investigation reports, including those without public disclosure, to understand the nature of an attack and identify the actions required for mitigation.
  • Actionable intelligence extraction: extract and apply threat data from the reports and apply it across specific infrastructure to detect traces of compromise.
  • In-depth Threat Lookup and contextual analysis: investigate suspicious indicators identified within the network and quickly determine if a specific IoC is linked to a related threat report.

“Empowering cybersecurity teams in their mission-critical daily work to ensure business resilience in a complex threat landscape. This is the main driver behind our ongoing visual and functional improvement initiative.

While updating Kaspersky Threat Intelligence Portal, we focused on refining the customer experience by optimising processes of active investigation, proactive incident monitoring and detailed mitigation techniques,” comments Alexander Mazikin, Head of Threat Intelligence Product Line at Kaspersky.


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Weebly Websites to Shut Down for Nigeria, 66 Other Countries from September

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Weebly, US-based free, beginner-friendly, drag-and-drop website builder and eCommerce service, will no longer be available for customers in 67 countries, including Nigeria, after September 2026, according to an email seen by Nigeria CommunicationsWeek.

Weebly Websites to Shut Down for Nigeria, 66 Other Countries from September

Weebly said it is “winding down” services in different nations “due to changes in regulation and to simplify our global operations”.

The firm released a timeline of gradual changes, to help existing users access their data before the site shuts down.

Starting June 29, customers of 67 countries were no longer able to publish any new pages.

September 27, 2026: Weebly websites will be unpublished.

Before this date, users should download site content and data. Follow these steps:

Go to Account Settings, click on My Data, and select Download My Data.

This will help you migrate your content to another website provider, or retain it.

Concerned about privacy? Ask Weebly to delete your data, through the Erase Data and Forget Me option under the My Data tab on your account page.

December 26, 2026: Last date of accessing Weebly account.

Until this date, you will have access to the account, although sites will be unpublished.

This period helps users move their site, domains, and data to another service.

Domain names can be moved to another registrar only after 60 days from the registration date.

According to the Weebly website, users must make sure that they do not make changes to your registrant contact information (email, phone number, first/last name), as this will lead to a 60-day registrar lock and prevent you from transferring your domain name.

Note that domain name transfers work differently for country-specific domains; users must contact Weebly’s support team for assistance.

How to unlock, transfer domain name

From your Weebly Dashboard, go to websites, and click on Domains, then select Manage Domain.

Disable registrar lock, get EPP authorisation code, and copy the full code.

Disabling registrar lock will also disable privacy protection. It is important to set privacy protection once again with the new registrar.

Follow the instructions for the newly chosen registrar as the rest of the transfer process will be managed by them

Why is Weebly winding down?

While the firm attributed it to “a change in regulation,” online users have argued that Square, which acquired Weebly in 2018, is pushing its platform ‘Square Online’.

Square is originally a US-based payment processor, and the firm says it has since evolved into the “largest business tech platform”.

It calls Square Online a “free online store” but clarifies that those who do not sell online can also use it to build their websites.

In an earlier support update for the Weebly Website Builder, Square Online was consistently referred to as a better alternative, although at the time, it was said that Square “has no plans to discontinue the Weebly website builder”.

Which countries will Weebly no longer be available in?  Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbadoa, Belarus, Benin and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Others are: Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Costa Rica, and Côte d’Ivoire.

Also affected are: Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, French Polynesia,    Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Iceland, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal and New Caledonia.

The rest are: Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, South Korea, Suriname, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

 

 


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NOTAP to Commercialise University Research, Expands Patent Drive

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National Office for Technology Acquisition and Transfer (NOTAP), has commenced the process of patenting and commercialisation of research works by universities and other research institutions in the country.

NOTAP to Commercialise University Research, Expands Patent Drive

Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general of NOTAP

Dr. Obiageli Amadiobi, director general of NOTAP, stated this in Abuja, during an interaction with journalists on her achievements since assuming office.

Speaking on the theme, “Strengthening Indigenous Capacity: NOTAP’s Drive for Technology Transfer, Local Content Development, and Innovative activities,” Amadiobi said the agency had involved both the academia and industry so that researchers can work on topics brought forward for commercialisation purpose.

“My minister is very intentional about this– very intentional about commercialisation of research results, which we have already submitted to him. They are meaningful researches, which we need to commercialise.

“We have established 69 intellectual property technology transfer offices in 69 universities that we are still counting. We have informed the vice chancellors of Nigerian universities to set up such offices and we will come and educate them on intellectual property and technology transfers.

“As we are doing this, we are also taking record of all the researchers of these universities and research centres and documenting them in a compendium.

“So, we have compendiums from the universities to us and we put them in a database. If you will recall, recently, the ministry, our supervising ministry, which is the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, launched a programme titled Energise Commercialisation. This entirely was for commercialisation of all R&Ds,” she said.

On research Institutions carrying out research on areas of industry needs, she said, “NOTAP is bridging the gap between research and development with industry needs, “it is on our programme called the NITDF, NOTAP Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship. By this programme, we engage the universities and the industries, in what we call the triple helix. We liaise with the universities and the industries to sponsor, the industries will sponsor a Ph.D candidate in a Nigerian university to conduct relevant researches.

“They will provide the topics that they want researches for and such students will research on that with the assistance of the industries, because they wear the shoes, so they know where it pinches them. But usually, there are Ph.D candidates already established. This year alone, we certified about 15 of them to enter into this programme and they have gone into the various universities.

“And we are still looking for people to update some of the projects; the research topics we already have. But we are not getting enough persons to do the researches. So, we are going to do further advertisement to see if other candidates will come up.


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