Countdown to Technology Outlook, Agenda Overview

All is set for the much expected yearly event, Technology Outlook 2010, where movers in the technology industry in Nigeria gather to chart the course for the industry in 2010 and beyond. You can register for the event by click here. Below are the people to expect and particular panels they will be discussing on.

Summit Keynote Presenters and Panelists

Day One: Tuesday, February 23, 2010

TELEPHONY FORUM

Keynote: Ikra Bilbis, Minister of State, Information & Communications

Ernest Ndukwe, NCC

Wale Goodluck, MTN Nigeria

Steve Evans, Etisalat Nigeria;

Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu, eShekels

Sylvester Anyanwun, Senate

Funke Opeke, Main One

Jameel Mohammed, Globacom

Afam Edozie, FiCres Capital

Jeffrey Hedberg, MultiLinks Telkom

Philip de la Vega, Nokia Nigeria

ICT in GOVERNANCE FORUM

Keynote: Gerald Ilukwe, GalaxyBackbone

Ahmed Rufai, NigComSat

Cleopas Angaye, NITDA

Case Study Presentations by:

Lagos State

Delta State

Kano State

E-BUSINESS FORUM

Keynote: Tani Fafunwa, Resourcery Limited

Collins Onuegbu, Signal Alliance

Austin Okere, CWG

Dele Arikawe, Chevron

Day Two: Wednesday, February 24, 2010

E-PAYMENT FORUM

Keynote: Sanusi Lamido, CBN

Demola Aladekomo, Chams

Mitchell Elegbe, Interswitch

John Obaro, Systemspecs

Bisi Onasanya, First Bank

Valentine Obi, eTranzact

Basil Udotai, Technology Advisors

OEM FORUM

Keynote: Leo Stan Ekeh, Zinox

Florence Seriki, Omatek

Ime Umo, HP

Harold Anumihe, Dell

Bode Pedro, VEDA Technology

Tunji Balogun, Brian

Will Anyaegbunam, Beta

Emmanuel Onyeje, Microsoft

ICT INTEREST GROUP NIGERIA

FORUM

Charles Uwadia, NCS

Ibrahim Tizhe, CPN

Chris Uwaje, ISPON

Emmanuel Ekuwem, ATCON

Lanre Ajayi, NIG

Gbenga Adebayo, ALTON

Samuel Adeleke, ISPAN

Jimson Olufuye, ISPAN

Day Three: Thursday, February 25, 2010

JOURNALISM & NEW MEDIA

FORUM

Keynote: Dele Olojede, Next

Dora Akunyili, Minister of Information & Communications

Steve Ayorinde, Punch

Ibim Seminitari, Business Eye

Waziri Adio, Think Tank Consult

Funmi Iyanda, CEO, FI

Simon Kolawole, ThisDay

N’emeka Maduegbuna, PRCAN

Tolu Ogunkoya, Media Reach

Ade Atobatele, Nigeria.com

Taiwo Obe, TaijoWonukabe

INTERNET FORUM

Keynote: Chima Onyekwere, Linkserve

Mary Uduma, NIRA

Ibukun Odusote, NIRA

Cleopas Angaye, NITDA

Bruce Ayonote, Suburban

Lanre Ajayi, NIG

Muhammed Rudman, IXP Nigeria

Charles Anudu, Swift Networks

WEB 2.0 FORUM

Keynote: Femi Awoyemi, Proshare

Gbenga Sesan, PIN

Oreoluwa Somolu, W.TEC

Loy Okezie, Startups Nigeria

Oluseye Amusa, Kogno

Temi Kolawole, Sturvs

Tim Akinbo, TimbaObject

Ayodeji Adewunmi, Jobberman

Mayowa Owolabi, Dudumobile,

Sheriff Shittu, Web Trends Nigeria

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Nigerian Web technologist takes the web to the mainstream

Technology Times Outlook 2010 Business Summit is an annual event organized by Technology Times Media Limited a leading technology publishing outfit in Nigeria. The event always brings together policy makers, Industry’s experts, and thought leaders in the Nigerian technology industry. It was successfully hosted last year with top executives in banking and telecoms present.

2010 event promises to be a ground breaking one as agenda is set to include web 2.0 Forum in the masterpiece event. Young Nigerians with interest and expertise in the web industry have been invited to be at the event. There are: Executive Director, Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, Gbenga Sesan and Executive Director, Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), Oreoluwa Somolu. Others include CEO, Startups Nigeria, Loy Okezie; CEO, Kogno Worldwide Ltd, Oluseye Amusa; Co-founder, Sturvs, Temi Kolawole; CEO TimbaObject Company, Tim Akinbo; an Internet Strategist, Ayodeji Adewunmi; COO, Dudumobile, Mayowa Owolabi and a Web Consultant and CEO of Web Trends Nigeria, Sheriff Shittu (Myself).

The young minds invited have shown their interest over the years in developing Nigerian web industry and this is a good opportunity to take the “web message to the mainstream”. Nigeria currently has 11 million internet users out the population that exceed 140 million. Telecom and internet is growing geometrically in Nigeria; recently mobile phone users surpassed 70million mark to make it one of the top countries in the world experiencing massive growth.

This is a step in the right direction as I see this to be an opportunity to dialogue with the business community and government to chart a course for the future of Nigerian Web Industry.

The event will take place on 2^nd-4^th of February 2010 at Muson Center Onikan Lagos, Nigeria. Are you planning to attend? Let’s get it started.

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Starcomms iZap@Trendy another Fast Internet Connection in Nigeria

I wrote about MTN F@stlink earlier this week and now again Starcomms. I am convinced that Nigeria is on the right path towards getting a real broadband internet connection. Starcomms as you may have known are a top performer in the internet connection market having spearheaded the launching of creative internet products.

Starcomms iZap is powered by EVDO technology, meaning a “broadband” internet access.  It automatically switches to 1x incase you are not within the 3G coverage.

Starcomms also have various plans you can choose from;

PRICE: N29,999
USB Purple Always AP: 24/7

PRICE: N22,999
USB Purple Business AP: 9am-9pm

PRICE: N19,999
USB Purple Night AP: 9pm-9am

PRICE: N28,999
USB Purple 250 Hours AP: 24/7

PRICE: N19,999
USB Purple 100 Hours AP: 24/7

The prices above include the cost of hardware. These are the cost for the plans;

Always On 24/7=15,000

Business 9am-9pm=7,000

Night 9pm-9am=5,000

100 hours=6,500 valid for 30days.

250 hours=15,000 valid for 90 days.

Starcomms connection is a good option for all levels of users including high-end users. Starcomms is better compare to others in terms of bandwidth limit as it has no bandwidth limit on all its plans. You can read more on Starcomms site here.

Which internet connection do you use? Ever tried Starcomms? Share your experience below…

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MTN F@stlink Internet Connection, truly fast!

I got an MTN F@stlink datacard yesterday to check how efficient it is, to my amazement, it was cool! Well I used it first in the early hours of Sunday… my location (K2, Lagos) allowed me to get HSDPA network which increased the speed astronomically!

I chose the daily plan which is N500 for 50 MB and valid ONLY for 24hours. As a power user, I almost exhausted the limit of 50MB less than 1 hour, well this shows that it’s only good for normal user (checking and sending mails).

Upside

1. Cheap…with N500 recharge card you are on
2. It’s fast… around Lagos its very fast (be sure you have a good network service in your area)
3. It’s mobile, the gadget is a USB modem, so you can move it anywhere you want
4. 24hrs … in case you are sending an email and expecting a response within 24hrs, fine… you can logoff and come back to use it.

Downside

1. When the limit is about to be exhausted, it somehow slow
2. The connection is not vibrant in every area, even within Lagos it still gives you GPRS (which is slow for PC browsing)
3. It’s good only for normal internet users, check your mail, visit couple of sites, Google etc, if you view too many images… you are done!

The Gadget is usable with all the bundle plans and comes with an easy and intuitive interface; you can send SMS right from the interface and do much more.

Thinking of getting one? Well verify your connection and choose a suitable plan according to your browsing pattern.

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Etisalat Launches Easynet, a cheap internet connection in Nigeria

As the internet market in Nigeria grows, the competition among telecoms companies have been very aggressive recently. Etisalat entered the market just last year and adding to the ever increasing internet packages offered by various telecoms operators. Before this, Etisalat offered internet connection through Pay-as-you-go model. The new products now offer three bundle internet plans in 30 days circle.

Price Overview

• USB modem & Etisalat data SIM – 14,700 Naira
• Etisalat 100MB Internet bundle – N1000
• Etisalat 500MB Internet bundle – N3000
• Etisalat 3GB Internet bundle – N10,000

Etisalat 100MB Internet Bundle

This package is limit to 100MB upload/download data valid through 30days period. If you reach the limit, your bundle expires immediately.

Subscription Cost: N1, 000

Who is it for?

This product is best suited for someone with less internet usage; if you only check your mail, Facebook, Google search or other basic internet browsing this product is cost effective for you.

Etisalat 500MB Internet Bundle

This package is limited to 500MB over a period of 30days, like the others, if you reach the limit at any given time (even before the 30days), the subscription expires. A good product I must say.

Subscription Cost:N3,000

Who is it for?

An average internet user with moderate uploads and browsing. If you are a big-time “Facebooker”  and “Youtuber” with photo and video uploads, guess the package below is best suited for you.

Etisalat 3GB Internet Bundle

This package allows for maximum upload/download of 3GB of data giving you better option to upload more photos and video online. Still with 30days limit, this product is cost effective than the rest provided you use the internet more frequently.

Subscription Cost:N10,000

Who is it for?

An internet junkie, avid Facebook and YouTube users! Developers with fewer files to upload/download per month can also find this product okay for their online operations.

Getting connected

To get connected is easy, buy the USB Modem and Etisalat data SIM from their Etisalat experience centre, with just N14, 700, and then you can choose a plan that fits your need. The configuration will be done on the spot for you. Make sure you choose the right plan as changing plans will require that you come to the centre again.

Dial Etisalat customer care line 200 with an Etisalat phone, or 08090000200 from other networks for more information on Etisalat Easynet.

For more information about Etisalat Easynet, visit Etisalat website at www.etisalat.com.ng.

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Corporate Web Strategy: Setting up the implementation team

In my last post I discussed about what corporate strategies was and how to get started defining one. Title for today simply wants to focus on how to form a team that will deliver a fulfilling web strategy.

The Team

Snap shot of those who should be on the team;

• The CEO or COO
• The CIO or top IT personality in the organization
• Customer Support personnel
• Sales & Marketing
• External consultant (Web designs, Developer and Strategist)

That’s the ideal fulcrum of people you should make members of the team, now let’s look at their respective roles in the building process. Remember, less is better, don’t let too many people be in the team so as not to slow-down the process.

CEO or COO

The CEO is the engine room of the company, with keen understanding of the business role, the role of company in the industry and the future of the company. In case the CEO is not available, the COO or vice-president can stand in. These other people are members of the Management and will be able to voice the importance of the web project and be able to allocate resources according to the company’s budget and strategies. Even though the CEO may have an idea of the importance of the web campaign, he should further be educated by the consultant or the IT person on the strategic roles of the web. The CEO will be more concern about the ROI of this campaign hence making sure that overzealousness is curtailed in the process. I have seen in some companies in my course of consulting with clients that, some CEO may have read, heard and seen some positive effect of the web (and IT), they just want it implemented ASAP, hence given less room for thorough implementation and strategies. So, thorough briefing or education is very important.

CIO or IT Personality

In most organizations, there are separate department for IT and a figure-head in form of manager or CIO. IT personalities are generally informed to a large extent as to what is happening on the internet, the service providers, competent vendors and experience as to how to implement the web strategies. Their roles are very important so that you don’t over pay for services to be rendered by the external consultants.

I have seen some companies making the web building process a sole responsibility of the IT department to their detriment. Most IT persons don’t know rudiments about the business, and mostly placed in the support department. So they just implement the website just the way they think other people do it with the company’s operations in mind.

Customer Support Personnel

The web has evolved from just another brochure for marketing to customer service. With the advent of web 2.0 and its child social media, web sites are now responsive giving the customer service department a better way to help customers faster. The customer service personnel should be in the team to tell their story, how customers respond, which method they like to be served and the trends.

Sales & Marketing

As Newton once said “Everything remains at the staff of rest until a force is applied”, in business nothing really happens until a sale is made! The sale is what brings in the money, while the marketing is worth expose to people what you have to offer! The input of these departments is very important because it is the ultimate thing that will affect the bottom line which will make the CEO happen and every other staff members and investors.

The sales and marketing persons explains the method they have been using, how they have performed so far, what they want change, what is hot in the market and ways to make them reach the customers better. If all their comments are well taken note of and integrated into the web strategies, the success of the web campaign is inevitable.

External consultant (Web designs, Developer and Strategist)

Getting an expert in these areas is very important, if your IT department are not web savvy, you must consult an external person to help you in this process.

Talking about the web consultants, you need to understand that, the web is vast and in most cases one person doesn’t know it all. Firms generally consultant with a web designer or developer who are basically tech people and may not be able to maximize the potential of the web. Yea, well they will provide their service to your liking but I will like to add that the impact of a strategist is the void currently needed to be filled in your next web campaign (in case you don’t have one). The role of the strategist is simply to create a bridge between the business process and the web technology at hand for optimum return. This will make sure that, all efforts are geared towards serving the customer and at the same time getting good return on your expenditure.

Summary

I will summary the works of each team members as; CEO brings the business needs, challenges and focus to the ground, while the customer services & sales and marketing personnels brings the business process, customer needs and their ideas to fore, the web designer/developer create the web pages and application while web strategist link the business need with what the designer/developer is doing for effective return and monitoring.

Do you have a web team? What are they comprised of and how have they performed so far? Drop comment below…

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World Bank to invest $215 million in African internet

To further improve broadband penetration in Africa, World Bank has pledged $215M to span 10 years, a deal signed with African Development Bank.

Africa is currently the fastest growing telecom market in the world yet cost of broadband internet  access is exorbitant.

The program will cover the following countries in the initial phase of $26.2 million; Cameroon, Chad and the Central African Republic, while Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, and Sudan are also open to participate in the program.

“Ultimately, our goal is to develop regional and national broadband backbones and significantly reduce the cost of ICT services in Central Africa,” Mohsen Khalil, Director of Global Information and Communications Technologies at the World Bank Group, said in a statement.

In Africa, there are 10 undersea cables either under construction or in the planning stages, which could push down international bandwidth rates and increase the number of broadband users.

U.S.-based advisory firm AfricaNext Investment Researchexpects Africa’s broadband market to grow more than fourfold in five years to 12.7 million users from 2.7 million in 2007.

Broadband allows for faster internet access which is good for services like, Video Streaming, SaaS, and other high bandwidth grabbing web services.

Giving the role played by broadband, entrepreneur and general internet stakeholders should expect a boost in the market, making room for more businesses and better life for Nigerian and other African countries.

More  here and here

What effect do you think this will have on your business?

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SWIFT Broadband Free Wifi Hotspot

Living or working around these areas?

- Silverbird galleria
- Tetrazinni, Akin Adesola, V/Island
- Tetrazinni, Ajao Estate
- Tetrazinni, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi
- Tetrazinni, Kofo Abayomi Street, Apapa

Get to use the SWIFT broadband free wifi connection. We recently recommended swift as one of the reliable ISP in Nigeria. Also people voted for them massively on our survey page, which also goes a long way to stamp their good service.

I went to their website to see and read more, but all I saw was the same thing advertised on paper (which I think is not good enough). On their website, you have a link to get the login details, but all you get is a 404 error (file not found). I will be speaking to them very soon to obtain the detail personally. I will also drive down to these areas to test run this laudable service

If you live around the above areas, go catch on the buzz. You can call their customer service on 01-244-1111 to get the login details.When the service is fully launched you can buy the Voucher at the various hotspots. Wow! I call this Cafe on the go!

The pricing, I think should be reduced a little. I preach affordable internet connection, so I urge SWIFT to review their price from current N150/30min to like N70 or N100.

I visited their website all i saw was a gigantic advert about their wifi product. How on earth should they do business like that? No link to other services they provide, no link to customer service, no link to contact etc. This is ill-launch. All these should be fix ASAP.

But while  the free offer last, go enjoy the service and discuss it below…

(UPDATE) I just came back from Tetrazini Awolowo Road Ikoyi branch to use the SwiftWIFI Hotspot. It was very fast and am happy to see people using it. Met with Gbemi of

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Facebook Terms of Use Review

Facebook recently reviewed its Terms of Use, which brought about arguement and disagreement from the community. The dissent from around the web has made Facebook revert to its old terms. Well, this could be said to be the power of community.

The new term said thus:

“You hereby grant Facebook an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to (a) use, copy, publish, stream, store, retain, publicly perform or display, transmit, scan, reformat, modify, edit, frame, translate, excerpt, adapt, create derivative works and distribute (through multiple tiers), any User Content you (i) Post on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof subject only to your privacy settings or (ii) enable a user to Post, including by offering a Share Link on your website and (b) to use your name, likeness and image for any purpose, including commercial or advertising, each of (a) and (b) on or in connection with the Facebook Service or the promotion thereof. You represent and warrant that you have all rights and permissions to grant the foregoing licenses.”

The old term (now current) says :

By posting User Content to any part of the Site, you automatically grant, and you represent and warrant that you have the right to grant, to the Company an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such User Content for any purpose on or in connection with the Site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such User Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing. You may remove your User Content from the Site at any time. If you choose to remove your User Content, the license granted above will automatically expire, however you acknowledge that the Company may retain archived copies of your User Content.

The wording I think is too formal and could make a lot of people confused translation to give it. Facebook Founder, Mark Zuckerberg wrote two blog posts here and here to clearify their stand on the issue and He has promised to keep the Trust that people have for Facebook. You can also join the Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities

Many people rarely read the term of use, when they get freaky about any website they just click on. Some argued that Facebook is surpose to alert users of its new terms but, Facebook stated clearly that it’s the users’ responsibility to always check the terms for update. But, surprisingly, I got alerted on my Facebook page about the revert to old term. Good! But kind of late.

People have trust in Facebook, and that has to a large extent made it the largest Social Networking site on the internet. Obviously, Facebook is bigger than some major countries, about 175 millions user would have made it sixth biggest Country had it been a Nation state.

Next time you visit, any site, read through its Term of Use. It is the guiding principle to what the company can do to your data and how you can protect yourself.

Do you have any issue understanding term of use? Drop comment below.

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Reliable Internet Service Providers in Nigeria

I wrote an article recently about how Direct on PC treated me, since then I have been shopping around for a better internet service provider in Nigeria. I also conducted a poll on this site, to also hear people’s opinion.

When I first tried Direct on PC, they awed me! I setup about 3-4 branches in and outside Lagos for an Investment Banking firm I work with on Direct on PC’s Unwired platform. Though I didn’t have much ado with those connections but I felt like a better service is needed at the age we are in I.T.

Last year I handled a Microfinance Bank I.T project and needed to provide Internet service. As at that time also I wasn’t very comfortable with DOPC service so I opted for Swift broadband. Well the good news is that since then I have been very grateful to myself for a good decisionJ!

Customers in every industry and business want efficient and effective service. You provide it, you get paid handsomely. You failed, you lost it!

Why am I in love with swift?

Well, Swift sent me various SMSs about their activities; Network upgrade, maintenance, new coverage areas etc. That kept me abreast of their activities and I was much at rest. Just recently I went to their office after much hesitation because the network I need this time is more robust, a dedicated bandwidth. I thought they didn’t provide that, I’d visited other major providers… Accelon (IS), Netcom Africa, Cyberspace and IPNX.

Customer service is the heart of a repeated transaction, and Swift successfully did that. I know some businesses get complacent after having numbers of customers, but I tell you, if you repeatedly fail to satisfy your customer, they will quickly look for a better option.

Recommendation

If you run a mission critical business online, we advice that you have between 2-3 ISP because we can not guarantee you a 100% uptime service from any ISP.

Personal/Small Business users:

I recommend these networks:

SwitfClass
Starcomms EVDO
MTN F@stlink

You can also make use to the under listed ISP for Corporate Clients:

Swift Broad Dedicated Broadband (Within Lagos)
Linkserve
Accelon
Netcom

From our research, their respective clients have given them pass marks.

Is your ISP serving you well? Connection uptime excellent? Customer service good? Share your experience below.

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