News
Top Game Changers for IT Organisations, Users From 2014
Gartner its top predictions, recently, for IT organisations and IT users for 2014 and beyond combined several disruptive topics including Digital Industrial Revolution, Digital Business, Smart Machines and the Internet of Things, the analyst strongly believes these are to serve as more game changers beyond just the IT function.
Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the world’s most important gathering of CIOs and senior IT executives. This event delivers independent and objective content with the authority and weight of the world’s leading IT research and advisory organization, and provides access to the latest solutions from key technology providers.
“Gartner’s 2013 CEO survey suggests CEOs feel that business uncertainties are declining and yet, CIOs awake each day into a world of technology uncertainty and change,” says Daryl Plummer, managing vice president and analyst, Gartner.
“The savvy CIO will get his or her CEO to recognise the change being brought about by disruptive shifts is coming at an accelerated pace and at a global level of impact.”
Presenting their findings during Gartner Symposium/ITxpo, Gartner’s top 10 predictions are broken out into four categories as follows:
Digital Industrial Revolution
IT is no longer just about the IT function. Instead, IT has become the catalyst for the next phase of innovation in personal and competitive business ecosystems.
One place where this is evident is in the beginnings of a Digital Industrial Revolution that threatens to reshape how physical goods are created using 3D printing.
By 2018, 3D printing will result in the loss of at least $100 billion per year in intellectual property globally.
At least one major western manufacturer will claim to have had intellectual property (IP) stolen for a mainstream product by thieves using 3D printers who will likely reside in those same western markets rather than in Asia by 2015.
The plummeting costs of 3D printers, scanners and 3D modeling technology, combined with improving capabilities, makes the technology for IP theft more accessible to would-be criminals. Importantly, 3D printers do not have to produce a finished good in order to enable IP theft.
The ability to make a wax mold from a scanned object, for instance, can enable the thief to produce large quantities of items that exactly replicate the original.
By 2016, 3D printing of tissues and organs (bioprinting) will cause a global debate about regulating the technology or banning it for both human and nonhuman use.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration or comparable agency in a developed nation that is charged with evaluating all medical proposals will introduce guidelines that prohibit the bioprinting of life-saving 3D printed organs and tissues without its prior approval by end of 2015.
Bioprinting is the medical application of 3D printers to produce living tissue and organs. The day when 3D bioprinted human organs are readily available is drawing closer.
The emergence of 3D bioprinting facilities with the ability to print human organs can leave people wondering what the effect of it will be on society.
Beyond these questions, however, there is the reality of what 3D bioprinting means in helping people who need organs that are otherwise not readily available.
Digital Business
Digital business refers to business created using digital assets and/or capabilities, involving digital products, services and/or customer experiences, and/or conducted through digital channels and communities.
Gartner’s digital business predictions focus on the effect digital business will have on labor reductions, on consumer goods revenue, and on use of personal data.
While these do not cover the sum total of digital business, they do highlight critical areas of medium to long-term impact.
By 2017, more than half of consumer goods manufacturers will receive 75 percent of their consumer innovation and R&D capabilities from crowdsourced solutions.
Consumer goods companies that employ crowdsourced solutions in marketing campaigns or new product development will enjoy a 1 percent revenue boost over noncrowdsourced competitors by 2015.
Engineers, scientists, IT professionals and marketers at consumer goods companies are engaging crowds much more aggressively and with increasing frequency using digital channels to reach a larger and more anonymous pool of intellect and opinion.
Gartner sees a massive shift toward applications of crowdsourcing, enabled by technology, such as: advertising, online communities, scientific problem solving, internal new product ideas, and consumer-created products.
By 2020, the labor reduction effect of digitization will cause social unrest and a quest for new economic models in several mature economies.
A larger scale version of an “Occupy Wall Street”-type movement will begin by the end of 2014, indicating that social unrest will start to foster political debate.
Digitization is reducing labor content of services and products in an unprecedented way, thus fundamentally changing the way remuneration is allocated across labor and capital.
Long term, this makes it impossible for increasingly large groups to participate in the traditional economic system — even at lower prices — leading them to look for alternatives such as a bartering-based (sub)society, urging a return to protectionism or resurrecting initiatives like Occupy Wall Street, but on a much larger scale.
Mature economies will suffer most as they don’t have the population growth to increase autonomous demand nor powerful enough labor unions or political parties to (re-)allocate gains in what continues to be a global economy.
By 2017, 80 percent of consumers will collect, track and barter their personal data for cost savings, convenience and customization.
The number of Kickstarter-based auctions of personal data will increase by triple-digit percentages by the end of 2014.
The escalation of consumer awareness of data collection practices has set the stage for offering consumers more control over the disposition of personal data — collected both online and offline. As increasing demand and scarcity drives up the value of such data, incentives grow to entice consumers to share it voluntarily.
Meanwhile, consumer interest in self-tracking also suggests that consumers are investing more time and energy in collecting data about themselves.
They increasingly view such data as a key asset for life improvement, which is potentially consistent with the idea of trading it for value under the right circumstances.
By 2020, enterprises and governments will fail to protect 75 percent of sensitive data, and declassify and grant broad/public access to it.
By 2015, at least one more Snowden or WikiLeaks moment will occur, indicating an upward trend in corporations and governments’ acceptance that they cannot protect all sensitive information.
The amount of data stored and used by enterprises and governments is growing exponentially, such that any attempt to protect it all is unrealistic. Instead of facing an unfathomable task of protecting all data, enterprises and governments will focus on protecting only a small part of it, but protecting it well. Wider society will also gain from this approach, enabling it to establish better control over government and business, preventing abuses of power and engendering greater trust.
Smart Machines
The emergence of smart machines adds opportunity and fear as “cognizant and cognitive systems” and can enhance processes and decision making, but could also remove the need for humans in the process and decision effort.
CIOs will see this as a means of delivering greater efficiency, but will have to balance between the active human workforce and the cold efficiency of machines that can learn.
By 2024, at least 10 percent of activities potentially injurious to human life will require mandatory use of a nonoverideable “smart system.”
Economically priced cars with “automated assist” technology added as standard equipment will increase by through 2014 as an indicator of adoption.
The increasing deployment of “smart systems” capable of automatically responding to external events is increasing all the time, but there remains a deep-seated resistance to eliminating the option for human intervention.
The capability, reliability and availability of appropriate technology are not the issue. The willingness of the general population to accept initial widespread deployment and increasing removal of manual override options is the issue.
By 2020, a majority of knowledge worker career paths will be disrupted by smart machines in both positive and negative ways.
Virtual personal assistant usage in business grows more quickly in 2017 and 2018 than iPad usage did in 2010 and 2011/
Gartner forecasts that smart machines will upend a majority of knowledge workers’ career paths by 2020.
Smart machines exploit machine learning and deep-learning algorithms. They behave autonomously, adapting to their environment.
They learn from results, create their own rules and seek or request additional data to test hypotheses.
They are able to detect novel situations, often far more quickly and accurately than people. IT professionals need to recognize that smart machines can create substantial competitive advantages, as well as entirely new businesses.
By 2017, 10 percent of computers will be learning rather than processing.
In 2014, the number of speech recognition applications running on deep neural network algorithms will double.
Deep learning methods, based on deep neural networks, are currently being applied in speech recognition systems as well as some object recognition applications.
Quality of life improves when society is able to derive useful information from the copious amounts of unstructured data collecting in the Internet.
The most important implication of a learning computer is that it expands much less energy to recognize more complex patterns.
Internet of Things
The Internet of Things cements the connection between machines, people and business interactions in the modern era.
With the advent of massively connected devices, businesses, governments and people now have access to more information about themselves and their surroundings than they can actually act on.
Gartner’s prediction focuses on the opportunity to build applications and services that can use that information to create new engagement models for customers, employees and partners, and to foster a new set of business and marketing models that make the word “engagement” a truly valuable asset.
By 2020, consumer data collected from wearable devices will drive 5 percent of sales from the Global 1000.
The number of smartphone apps requesting to share consumer data will increase twofold by 2015, indicating a rise in the number of marketers or proprietors who seek access to customer profile data.
Wearable computing, or wearables, is quickly moving into mainstream society, led by the growing, multibillion dollar health and fitness markets.
Within five years, consumer wearables will become more sophisticated, capturing what the user sees, hears or even feels through biorhythmic responses.
The technical hurdles that have stalled the adoption of wearables (battery life, augmented reality, chip evolution and bandwidth) are quickly eroding; opening doors to creative minds determined to exploit this technology for commercial gain as evidenced by sizable investments in wearable technology from Samsung, Google, Apple and Microsoft.
“While some of these disruptive topics might seem as if they do not have a direct impact on the IT function, we must embrace the notion that IT is now a part of everything,” said Mr. Plummer. “As the structure of businesses and industries change, the IT systems that support them will change and so will the skills, processes and controls needed to keep them functioning. The day when 3D-printed computer architecture exists is upon us, and the days when the digital business, smart machines or the Internet of Things change what computers are may not be far off.”
Culled from: www.gartner.com
Defence Headquarters (DHQ) has made public the full names of 16 officers of the Armed Forces of Nigeria indicted by a Special Investigative Panel over alleged serious misconduct, including an alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu.
The officers suspected to be involved in the coup plot include a brigadier general, a colonel, four lieutenant colonels, five majors, two captains, a lieutenant, a lieutenant commander and a Squandron Leader.
Major General Samaila Uba, director of Defence Information, disclosed this on Monday, stating that the panel had concluded its investigation and established that the affected officers had cases to answer.
According to him, the indicted officers will face a military Court Martial in line with established procedures and existing regulations.
Major Gen. Uba said the probe examined the circumstances surrounding the conduct of the officers and identified actions “inconsistent with the ethics, values and professional standards expected of members of the Armed Forces of Nigeria.”
He stressed that the exercise was purely disciplinary and aimed at preserving internal discipline, cohesion and operational effectiveness, adding that the Armed Forces remain loyal to the Constitution and Nigeria’s democratic order.
- Brigadier General Musa Abubakar Sadiq (Nasarawa, 44th Regular Course)
- Colonel M. A. Ma’aji (Niger, 47th Regular Course)
- Lieutenant Colonel S. Bappah (Bauchi, 56th Regular Course)
- Lieutenant Colonel A. A. Hayatu (Kaduna, 56th Regular Course)
- Lieutenant Colonel Dangnan (Plateau, 56th Regular Course)
- Lieutenant Colonel M. Almakura (Nasarawa, 56th Regular Course)
- Major A. J. Ibrahim (Gombe, 56th Regular Course)
- Major M. M. Jiddah (Katsina, 56th Regular Course)
- Major M. A. Usman (Federal Capital Territory, 60th Regular Course)
- Major D. Yusuf (Gombe, 59th Regular Course)
- Major I. Dauda (Jigawa, DSSC 38)
- Captain I. Bello (DSSC 43)
- Captain A. A. Yusuf
- Lieutenant S. S. Felix (DSSC)
- Lieutenant Commander D. B. Abdullahi (Nigerian Navy)
- Squadron Leader S. B. Adamu (Nigerian Air Force)
Justice Ibrahim Ahmad Kala of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Monday awarded a total of N210 million in damages against Airtel Networks Limited for copyright infringement arising from the unauthorised use of a musical work titled “Nigeria Go Survive.”
The award comprises N200 million as general damages and N10 million as costs.
In addition to the monetary award, the court issued mandatory and perpetual injunctions restraining Airtel, its management, agents, servants, privies, successors-in-title and assigns from reproducing or further using the musical work, or any substantial part of it, for advertising, promotion, telemarketing, or other business purposes without the licence or authorisation of the copyright owner.
Justice Kala specifically ordered Airtel to remove “Nigeria Go Survive” from its list of songs used for advertising, business, telemarketing and promotional purposes across its network with immediate effect.
The judge held that Airtel’s use of the song without licence or authorisation amounted to restricted acts under the Copyright Act and constituted an infringement of the plaintiff’s copyright.
The judgment was delivered in suit No: FHC/L/CS/1822/2022, filed by Veno Marioghae Mbanefo, producer of the song.
In resolving the sole issue for determination, the court held that the plaintiff proved her case on the balance of probabilities.
Justice Kala noted that a perpetual injunction is granted after infringement has been established and is intended to protect the proprietary rights of the copyright owner and restrain continued infringement.
Accordingly, the court made the following orders: “That Airtel’s unauthorised use of “Nigeria Go Survive” for advertising, promotion and telemarketing amounts to copyright infringement.
“Mandatory injunction prohibiting Airtel from reproducing or using the musical work, or any substantial part of it, for business and promotional purposes.
“Perpetual injunction restraining Airtel from any further unauthorised use of the work.
“General damages N200 million awarded to the plaintiff for losses suffered as a result of the infringement. And N10 million awarded in favour of the plaintiff, considering the duration of the case, legal representation, expenses incurred, and the current value of the naira.
In the writ of summons filed by her legal team led by Clement Onwvenwunor, SAN, the plaintiff sought, among other reliefs, declarations that Airtel’s use of the song without attribution, licence or authorisation breached her statutory rights under Section 12 of the Copyright Act, Cap. C28, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
She also claimed substantial damages for copyright infringement and, in the alternative, requested an order directing Airtel to render an account of profits allegedly made from the infringement under the supervision of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
Airtel Networks Limited, represented by counsel led by Babatunde Amoo, urged the court to dismiss the suit.
However, after reviewing the exhibits and submissions of counsel, Justice Kala resolved all issues in favour of the plaintiff.
The court refused the plaintiff’s alternative prayer for an account of profits but granted all substantive reliefs relating to infringement, damages and injunctive orders.
News
Tech Executives Double Down on AI, Talent and Adaptive Strategies to Lead in the Intelligence Age
KPMG’s Global Tech Report 2026 reveals that organisations worldwide are moving beyond pilots and seeking to embed AI into core workflows and offerings, striving to scale investments. The new report identifies that while expectations are high and adoption is rapid; scaling can introduce additional complexity and returns vary widely.
- 68 percent of organisations surveyed aim to reach the highest level of AI maturity by the end of 2026, yet only 24 percent are there today.
- 88 percent are investing in building agentic AI into their systems.
- 74 percent say their AI use cases are delivering business value, but only 24 percent achieve ROI across multiple use cases.
- 90 percent plan to grow partnerships and tech ecosystems over the next year, yet 53 percent still lack the talent needed to bring their digital transformation plans to life.
- 78 percent agree they must take more risks on emerging technologies to stay relevant.
The report asks: Can ambition match reality, and can organisations keep one eye on the next wave of innovation while delivering on today’s agenda?
“The future belongs to leaders who turn intelligence into advantage. Our research shows organisations are pushing past the early phase of ‘AI roulette’, placing scattered bets on multiple technologies, and are now increasingly focused on delivering value. When ambition meets disciplined execution, value compounds.
“Our 2026 Global Tech Report provides a synopsis of the critical things that high performers are doing better than most; a checklist for tech leaders looking to improve their organisational performance, emulate the high performers, and deliver higher ROI”. – Guy Holland, Global Leader, CIO Center of Excellence, KPMG International
”As Africa enters the Intelligence Age, the differentiator is no longer access to technology, but the ability to build the skills, governance, and operating models required to scale it responsibly. While organisations are accelerating AI adoption to drive productivity and growth, the real determinant of value lies in workforce readiness, executive alignment, and disciplined execution.
Those that invest early in digital skills, human-AI collaboration, and adaptive leadership will be best positioned to translate innovation into sustainable commercial and economic impact.” – Marshal Luusa, Partner: Technology & Innovation Lead, KPMG One Africa
Key findings from the report
Tech maturity accelerates: Leaders set their sights on the top
Half (50 percent) of global tech leaders surveyed expect to reach the highest level of technology maturity in 2026, compared to only 11 percent today. This surge in optimism is fuelled by a move from isolated experiments to integrating AI and advanced technologies into core systems and scaling their impact.
High performers, those organisations leading in technology maturity, process maturity and value, are already reaping the rewards, reporting an average ROI of 4.5x, more than double the industry average of 2x. These leading organisations have progressed beyond pilot programs, prioritising the scaling of innovation and continually adapting to maintain a competitive edge in a fast-evolving environment.
Other organisations reporting higher ROI include smaller firms (3.6x), those with fewer cost pressures (2.6x), and transformation‑focused organisations (3.2x). The ROI pattern is equally nuanced: rather than a single investment ‘sweet spot’, clear ROI ‘zones’ emerge, from early quick wins to accelerating, enterprise‑wide value as maturity increases.
The age of agentic: AI adoption surges but innovation drives real business value
AI is now seen as a strategic necessity, not just industry hype. Sixty-eight percent of respondents are aiming for the highest level of AI maturity in their organisations. Eighty-eight percent of companies are already investing in agentic AI – autonomous digital agents transforming operations and decision-making. Seventy-four percent of respondents report that their AI initiatives are creating measurable business value, such as improved efficiency and reduced risk.
However, only 24 percent say they are scaling AI and achieving ROI across multiple use cases. This highlights the need for organisations to evolve KPIs beyond traditional financial and productivity metrics and build enterprise-wide alignment to fully realise AI’s potential.
The shift from AI experimentation to large-scale deployment is underway, with leaders working to embed AI into products, services, and value delivery.
Talent and agility power success: Human potential remains central
Human expertise remains central to digital transformation initiatives. Organisations are making significant investments in upskilling their workforce, building adaptive teams, and fostering cultures that embrace change.
Despite the rapid adoption of agentic AI, organisations still expect 42 percent of their tech workforce to remain permanent human staff by 2027 – only a five‑point drop from 2025.
High-performing companies plan to retain even more permanent human talent, with 50 percent remaining in place by 2027, revealing the continued importance of human expertise alongside AI. Despite these efforts, 53 percent of organisations report they still lack the talent needed to realise their digital transformation strategies.
Ninety-two percent of organisations surveyed anticipate that managing AI agents will become a critical skill within five years. The most successful organisations prioritise both technological advancements and people, empowering employees to innovate and adapt.
Strategic partnerships fuel growth: Ecosystems expand for the future
To overcome challenges and accelerate learning, 90 percent of organisations plan to grow partnerships and tech ecosystems over the next year. Strategic alliances are enabling access to specialised expertise, rapid innovation, and shared best practices.
As agentic AI and other advanced technologies become mainstream, organisations recognise the importance of building robust ecosystems that foster co-creation and continuous improvement. Nearly one-third of tech executives are planning to increase investment in centers of excellence, supporting cross-functional teams and controlled experimentation.
Preparing for tomorrow’s breakthroughs: Leaders embrace bold risks
The future is arriving fast, with quantum computing and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) on the horizon. Leaders are already preparing for these breakthroughs, with 78 percent of organisations agreeing they must take more risks on emerging technologies to stay relevant.
The report urges organisations to maintain strategic foresight, invest in ethical frameworks, and build resilient, future-ready workforces. By balancing ambition with rational thinking and disciplined execution, tech executives are positioning their organisations to turn disruption into durable, compounding value.
DHQ Indicts Brigadier General Abubakar Sadiq, 15 Others in Alleged Coup Plot againt Tinubu
Court Fines Airtel N210m for Unauthorised Use of ‘Nigeria Go Survive’ Song
Tech Executives Double Down on AI, Talent and Adaptive Strategies to Lead in the Intelligence Age
Firm Identifies AI as Common Denominator in Entertainment Industry’s 2026 Security Threats
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