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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
Kaspersky Security Services experts have identified a sophisticated cyberattack campaign targeting containerized environments to deploy a miner for the Dero cryptocurrency.
The attackers abuse exposed Docker APIs — parts of Docker, an open-source container development platform. In 2025, there are a significant number of Docker API default ports that are insecurely published, accounting for almost 500 occurrences worldwide on average each month.
In the discovered campaign, cybercriminals inject two types of malwares into the compromised systems: one is the miner itself and the other is a propagation malware that can spread the campaign to other insecure container networks.
Kaspersky experts discovered this malicious campaign as part of a compromise assessment project. According to expert estimates, any organisation that operates containerized infrastructure — while exposing Docker APIs without robust security controls — can be a potential target. These may include technology companies, software development firms, hosting providers, cloud service providers and more enterprises.
According to Shodan, in 2025, there are 485 published Docker API default ports¹ worldwide each month on average. This figure illustrates the campaign’s potential attack surface by tallying the “entry points” — or insecurely exposed ports that attackers might target.
Once attackers identify an insecurely published Docker API, they either compromise existing containers or create new malicious ones based on a legitimate standard Ubuntu image. They then inject two malware types into the compromised containers: “nginx” and “cloud”.
The latter is a Dero cryptocurrency miner, while “nginx” is a malicious software that maintains persistence, ensures execution of the miner and scans for other exposed environments. This malware allows attackers to operate without traditional Command-and-Control (C2) servers; instead, each infected container independently scans the Internet and can spread the miner to new targets.
“The campaign has the potential for exponential growth of infections, with each compromised container acting as a new source of attack, if security measures are not immediately put in place in the potentially targeted networks,” explains Amged Wageh, an incident response and a compromise assessment expert at Kaspersky Security Services.
“Сontainers are foundational to software development, deployment, and scalability. Their widespread use across cloud-native environments, DevOps, and microservices architectures makes them an attractive target for cyber attackers. This growing reliance demands organisations adopt a 360-degree approach to security — combining robust security solutions with proactive threat hunting and regular compromise assessments”.
The attackers embedded the names “nginx” and “cloud” directly in the binary — an inflexible executable file composed of instructions and data for the processor, not for humans. This is a classic masquerading tactic that lets the payload pose as a legitimate tool, trying to deceive both analysts and automated defenses.
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Tuesday, charged five defendants before a Federal High Court in Lagos for allegedly hacking into the server of Premium Trust Bank.
The defendants are listed as the bank’s e-payment service manager, Matthew Adeniyi; Kehinde Odeyemi, a nursing mother; Samson Latshin, Bolaji Omotosho and Sunday Okunnola.
They were charged before Justice Alexander Owoeye, on a six-count charge bordering on conspiracy, cybercrime and unlawful access to the bank’s database.
They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Mrs. Zeenat Atiku, prosecutor, alleged that they committed the offence between April and May this year, in collaboration with three others, now at large.
Those still at large are Isa Ismaila, Victor Joshua, also known as ‘Oracle’ as well as one other, simply identified as Humble.
According to the charge, the first defendant unlawfully disclosed sensitive credentials, including the bank’s server IP and domain details, to these parties.
She said this enabled an unauthorised access to the bank’s database and the consequent data breach allegedly resulted in financial gains of $10,000.
The prosecutor also alleged that the defendants attempted to intercept the bank’s network and procured a Hewlett-Packard ProBook 440 G9 laptop (serial No. SN#5CD2473N6G) configured to bypass the bank’s security systems.
The anti-graft agency said the alleged offences contravened the provisions of sections 12(1)(b), 27, 28(1)(b)(c) and 28(3) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition Act, 2015 (as amended in 2024).
Following their pleas, the prosecutor, requested for a trial date and sought an order to remand the defendants in custody.
Meanwhile, the court declined an oral bail by the defence counsel and directed that a formal bail application be filed.
He adjourned the case until June 30, for trial and ordered that the defendants be remanded at the Nigerian correctional centre, pending bail.
The court, however, added that the defence may apply for an earlier trial date, upon filing their bail applications.
Digital Bridge Institute (DBI), the training arm of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said that it plans to train not less than five million workers in two years.
Mr David Daser, president/CEO DBI,
Speaking at an event in Abuja to mark the organisation’s twenty-one years of existence, Mr David Daser, president/CEO DBI, said that the investment in human capacity building by the Organisation is to ensure that Nigerians are well prepared to compete in the global market.
The event with the theme: “Preparing Today’s Workforce for Tomorrow’s Market”, chronicled the birth of the DBI 21 years ago and the journey so far in a documentary produced by the Agency.
“Today, we commemorate a vision that took root over two decades ago, one that continues to flourish through innovation, excellence, and transformative impact across Nigeria and Africa.
“The Digital Bridge Institute (DBI) was established on May 20, 2004, by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) as a Centre of Excellence for ICT and telecommunications training.
“Today, we stand proud with a network of campuses, global partnerships, and thousands of empowered professionals contributing meaningfully to the digital economy.
“We recall with pride that the commissioning of DBI was graciously performed by Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose commitment to knowledge-driven development gave this institution a strong and promising start”, the DBI President said.
Mr Daser said that the theme of the celebration, reflects the urgency of the DBI mission in a rapidly evolving digital world.
As technologies like AI, 5G, IoT, and cybersecurity redefine the future of work, DBI, he stated remains steadfast in its commitment to future proofing Nigeria’s workforce.
Not leaving out the architects that laid the foundation of the Institute, Mr Daser said that their legacies must live on.
“We owe our foundation to the foresight and patriotic vision of our founding fathers, notably the late Alhaji Ahmed Joda, former Chairman of the NCC, and Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, former Executive Vice Chairman.
“Their belief in the transformative power of digital knowledge gave birth to this noble institution.
We also honour the past Chief Executives who built the foundation upon which we proudly stand today”, he said.
According to him, upon assuming office in September 2024 as President/CEO, he inherit a resilient institution brimming with potential adding that since then, DBI has recorded several landmark achievements, which including a strategic partnership with Small Business Training Solutions (SBTS) Group to expand digital learning infrastructure.
Other achievements he listed include “the launch of the DBI Global Training Partner Program at our Lagos Campus;
“The ongoing Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction Training Programme across all campuses.
“Graduation of Sightsavers training cohorts in Kano and Lagos.
“The commissioning of the Information Access Centre (IAC) by the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani”.
The Digital Bridge Institute is also working towards the implementation of the NCC-DBI ADEPTI Programm described as a high impact NCC-funded initiative set to commence soon.
Only recently, Mr David Daser, was appointment as chairman of the Digital Literacy Technical Working Group by the Federal Government, through the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), a Development considered a strong endorsement of DBI’s national leadership in the digital literacy space.
“While these accomplishments are significant, they are not ours alone. We remain deeply grateful to our founding and sustaining institution, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), for its vision, guidance, and unflinching support.
“Looking ahead, DBI, through its global network of partners, aims to train five million Nigerian workers, across public and private sectors, in Artificial Intelligence over the next three years.
“This ambitious goal is already in motion, bolstered by the backing of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Minister Dr. Bosun Tijani, and Dr. Aminu Maida.
“Nigeria is poised to become a hub for AI innovation and training, and DBI is fully committed to making this a reality.
“To this end, we call on all Nigerians, leaders of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), State governors, and local government authorities, to support and partner with DBI in this critical mission. Nigeria must not lag behind in the AI revolution”, Daser stressed.
Like any other human organisation Daser discosed that the DBI has experienced its share of ups and downs over the past 21 years.
“In the recent past, we faced a particularly challenging period during which it became a herculean task to pay staff salaries and allowances.
“Our facilities and office infrastructure across campuses deteriorated, and staff morale declined significantly, leading to a sense of disorientation among workers.
“But beyond these tangible difficulties, there were more complex undercurrents, seasons when the compass between this vessel and its founding lighthouse drifted, ever so slightly, from alignment.
“A fog of uncertainty hung over questions of identity, structure, and status. These internal tides, though rarely seen on the surface, stirred deep within the institutional waters, creating a rift that tested the very bridge we were built to uphold.
“Yet even in such a storm, we did not abandon the helm. Rather, we recalibrated our direction with resolve and mutual respect, understanding that even a well-built compass must sometimes reset to find true north.
He emphasised that the journey back to clarity is ongoing, “but it is steady, principled, and constructive”.
He commended the Federal government for its support and commitment to bridging the digital divide and driving Nigeria towards inclusive digital transformation saying that the future is not just bright, it is solid.
“We assure our partners of our unwavering dedication to effective service delivery, as we continue to foster and sustain collaborative efforts toward making the world a better place for all.
“As we mark 21 years of DBI, we look forward with renewed purpose, to bridge the digital divide and prepare a workforce ready to lead in tomorrow’s marketplace”, he said.
Delivering a lecture on bridging the digital divide: collaborative pathways to ICT work development in Nigeria, Mr Shola Osiloja, lead speaker, said that for over two decades, DBI has stood as a beacon of excellence in ICT education and training in Nigeria, living up to its founding vision as a bridge across the digital divide.
Mr Osiloja who is also the Chairman, sector Skills Council for Information and Communications Technology SSC-ICT, was represented by Mr Emeka Okafor, secretary-Council.
He said that in 2004, when DBI was established by the Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigeria had just witnessed the successful auction of Digital Mobile Licenses.
According to him, Mobile penetration was less than 5%. “The internet and telecommunication was a luxury. Digital literacy was a term unfamiliar to many.
Presently he stated, “We have over 120 million internet users. Mobile penetration exceeds 85%. We have vibrant tech hubs in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and beyond.
“Nigerian startups are attracting global investment.
“This transformation – both national and personal – didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of deliberate, collaborative efforts to build digital capacity and bridge the skills gap.
“Let me take a moment to commend DBI.
For 21 years, DBI has not just trained individuals—it has trained a mindset, From ICT literacy programs to professional certifications, from rural empowerment initiatives to global partnerships, DBI stands as a cornerstone in Nigeria’s digital architecture”, he said.
Quoting the World Economic Forum, he said, “The World Economic Forum estimates that by 2027, 69% of companies globally will accelerate their adoption of AI, potentially displacing 85 million jobs while creating 97 million new ones.
“In Nigeria, the digital skills gap could cost our economy an estimated $11 billion annually in lost growth opportunities-The question before us is clear: How do we prepare Nigeria’s workforce not just for today’s market, but for tomorrow’s?”
Proferring solutions to what must be done to prepare Nigerian workers for tomorrow’s market, the Chairman listed Making digital skills the new literacyand to embed coding, digital marketing, cybersecurity, data analytics, and AI basics from secondary school.
Other suggestions he said include but not limited to, “every citizen must see digital fluency as fundamental as reading or writing.
“Institutionalise Work-Based Learning
Let’s make internships and apprenticeships mandatory in ICT programs. Let schools and startups co-design curricula that are relevant and adaptive.
“
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