ANC needs a brand makeoverThabani Khumalo says there are times in the life cycle of any brand when it needs to be refreshed, restructured, revitalised, rejuvenated, re-worked, repositioned and even re-launched to take it to a different level. That's why he reckons brand ANC needs to be re-charged. Getting mobile, we are assured that Alan Knott-Craig does not have "daddy" issues. Nor does he want to be remembered as a king of sexed-up adverts. Agriculture is a crucial pillar of the South African economy and a significant earner of foreign exchange, and it seems in the area of exports, SA fruit is crucial for development. That is what growers are telling UK shoppers, and according to Fresh Fruit Portal, South Africa's deciduous fruit producers hope to increase SA fruit consumption in the UK in 2013 with a marketing campaign illustrating the industry's positive contribution to job creation and sustainable practices in the country. Finally, in another crucial area of the economy, auto leasing and finance organisations are to diversify into new markets and services. According to a KPMG report, the finance and lease businesses of automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) would stand to benefit by adjusting their operating models to meet the changing global conditions. Rod Baker, content director
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IT & Telecommunications
The 4th annual IT Leaders Africa Summit, hosted by Kinetic Events, will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 13-14 March 2013. The IT Leaders Summit series is hosted in strategic locations globally. The series hosts over 150 CIOs and senior IT executives representing leading companies from the respective regions. Read more >>
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Michele McCann, the business development manager of Teraco Data Environments has been appointed to the Wireless Access Providers' Association (WAPA) committee. McCann has expertise in peering, content and carrier aggregation as well as an in-depth knowledge of the local marketplace. Read more >>
If a business' current IT systems are functioning properly and doing what they were bought to do, should it consider upgrading or investing in new, different or more advanced technologies? According to Andre Joubert, GM of MWEB Business, there is no easy answer to that question. Read more >>
Vox Telecom's hosted teleconferencing solution, Voxair, now allows for up to 150 people to connect to the same audio conference, unlike other teleconferencing tools that only allow up to ten participants. It is easy to subscribe and set-up, and call plans are customised around needs - whether it be weekly, monthly or ad-hoc conferencing. Read more >>
Come 23 October 2012, on the eve of the upcoming AITEC East Africa ICT Summit scheduled for the 24-25 October at Oshwal centre, Kenya, leaders from the East Africa information and communication technology sector will gather for a celebration dinner and toast to 25 years of AITEC Africa's impact on the region's ICT industry. Read more >>
Comztek has announced the appointment of Morne Coetzee as a core voice specialist to its Cisco Team. Read more >>
Greg Reis, CEO of BSG has been appointed chairman of the Cape IT Initiative (CITi), a non-profit organisation that initiates projects and programmes to enable the success of the IT industry in the Western Cape. Read more >>
A survey report by Avanade - a business technology solutions and managed services provider - titled 'Dispelling Six Myths of Consumerisation of IT', challenges commonly held beliefs about the consumerisation of IT, including executive perspectives on Millenials as the driving force, employee brand preferences, and hesitance of business leaders to embrace the trend. Read more >>
[Gavin Halse] IT managers are going to have to change their approach to motivating for budgetary increases dramatically if they are to survive and drive technological change in the organisation. Budgets are tight for technology improvements of any size, but CIOs and CEOs are willing to make investments to guarantee future savings, based on the sound advice of their IT division. Read more >>
[Marcus Mushonga] The growth of ICT in Africa and how companies operating in the continent can utilize technology to enhance operations will come under spotlight when ICT experts meet for a five day e-Tech Africa Expo to be held in Harare, Zimbabwe from 1-5 October 2012. Read more >>
Teraco Data Environments, South Africa's first vendor neutral data centre, has won the bid to host the Durban Internet Exchange (DINX). Teraco is set to make internet history with this announcement by providing Durban-based ISPs with a local exchange for the very first time. Read more >>
[Divesh Nathoo] Communication in today's business world is so much more than picking up the phone and making a voice call. It is about collaboration, cross-platform communication and presence, and intelligently locating the best resources and getting in touch with them in a way that suits all parties. Read more >>
Hardware
Samsung has expanded its range of low-cost mobile phones with the introduction of the Samsung Pusha mobile device range - a feature phone range that is not only cost effective, but also provides the reliability of a leading mobile brand and the connectivity expected by today's consumers. Read more >>
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[Deon Scheepers] The concept of integration in the contact centre has been widely discussed in recent years, with many companies having made great strides towards achieving a more unified environment. SMS, email and web chat are gradually being incorporated into contact centres, and now afford customers the option to have their queries dealt with via a variety of channels. Read more >>
Internet
A court in southern Vietnam on Monday jailed three bloggers for "anti-state propaganda", including one whose case has been raised by US President Barack Obama. Read more >>
Sydney - Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple with the late Steve Jobs, revealed Tuesday his fondness for Australia and said he hopes to become a citizen. Read more >>
Network
[Roelof Louw] Businesses looking for a secure virtual environment will only consider the private cloud in the near future, says research firm IDC. According to the researcher, the private cloud is the closest to a virtualised infrastructure which offers better controls. Read more >>
Government has the responsibility to professionalise the public service by upgrading and retaining their skills through technology, says Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu. Read more >>
MTN SA has expanded its network capacity and capability by rolling out an intense infrastructure development drive focused on leapfrogging customer experience through network expansion. Read more >>
The rapid penetration of smartphones into the South African market has spurred massive demand for mobile data from consumers, a trend that looks set to continue as new devices such as the Apple iPhone 5 hit the market. Read more >>
[Mpho Sibanyoni] Alan Knott-Craig does not have "daddy" issues nor does he want to be remembered as a king of sexed-up adverts. Read more >>
Services
Although telecoms is one of the least competitive business services worldwide, Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is emerging to be one of the most fiercely competitive. Read more >>
NEW YORK, US: Twitter is not readying a stock public offering nor is it seeking to be sold to another group, chief executive Dick Costolo said on Wednesday. Read more >>
Currently 36% of all internet traffic is being delivered over wireless networks. By 2015, this figure will grow to 46%, with less than 10% of traffic delivered over cellular networks. Wi-Fi will soon surpass wired traffic. Read more >>
Wi-fi adoption is growing in Africa with solution providers committed to developing viable services that improve the way we communicate and work, says Michael Fletcher, sales director for sub-Saharan Ruckus Wireless. Read more >>
MTN has issued a number of helpful tips in order to educate consumers on effective ways of keeping telephony costs low when travelling overseas, including its Eurosaver and SEA region offerings. Read more >>
Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) has already deployed 6500km of optic fibre across South Africa and will now be investing nearly R10 million in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, enabling Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to offer their services to new markets and launching the Mthatha district into the digital age. Read more >>
The transition from traditional channels to digital channels will have a major impact on broadcasting in SA, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) South African entertainment and media outlook 2012-16 ( The Outlook). Read more >>
Software
With the inception of cloud computing and the uptake seen across a multitude of industries, many managed service providers (MSPs) are assessing the impact on their clients. Certain cloud based technologies are still perceived as "locking in" a client to one MSP making it difficult, if not impossible, to switch providers. Read more >>
Businesses looking for a secure virtual environment will only consider the private cloud in the near future, says research firm IDC. According to the research, the private cloud is the closest to a virtualised infrastructure which offers better controls. The decision in the next year or two will only be about the private cloud. The bigger the company, the more they will consider the private cloud. The enterprise cloud is locked down and totally managed. Read more >>
AVG has released its 2013 range of products which not only protect users' systems from viruses and malware, but the new suites also contain some features that will help to optimise and enhance your PC's performance and speed up those once-sluggish systems. Read more >>
A recent survey conducted by research and advisory company CXO Advisor has found that South African SMEs are taking to cloud services despite security concerns. Read more >>
[Lara Green] The future of computing may be in the cloud, but the best solution for IT resourcing is to use recruitment specialists, who have their ears to the ground. Read more >>
Cisco has announced that it will be the official technology and collaboration sponsor of this year's annual SITA Govtech conference. The conference takes place at the Durban International Conference Centre from 25-28 September 2012. Read more >>
South Africa's FNB Banking App has been nominated for the World Summit Award (WSA) and will compete for its place among the world's best mobile content. Being one of the apps that made it through the national pre-selection process, the FNB Banking App is nominated as the best m-Content example in m-Business & Commerce and competes with global counterparts for the award. Read more >>
NEW YORK, US: Two new versions of the Nook tablet were unveiled Wednesday by Barnes & Noble, as the bookseller backed by Microsoft moved to challenge rivals from Apple, Amazon and others. Read more >>
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: Samsung launched yesterday the newest version of its oversized smartphone Galaxy Note, just a week after Apple's iPhone 5 hit shelves, in an apparent bid to outpace its rival with a wider range of gadgets. Read more >>
TOKYO, JAPAN: Troubled Japanese consumer electronics giant Sharp is to cut 11 000 jobs worldwide and sell US$2.7bn worth of assets and factories in a bid to turn its finances around, a report said Tuesday. Read more >>
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: With sales of exclusive products, online games and contests about who has the greatest number of fans on social networks, Brazilian soccer clubs are battling it out on the Web to reap the bonanza of online marketing. Read more >>
LONDON, UK: Apple is facing growing criticism from users around the world who complained that the tech giant's new mapping system is riddled with errors. Read more >> More International...
IT & Telecommunications
The Cloud and Virtualisation Summit Africa will take place from 10 to 11 October 2012 at the Hilton Hotel Sandton in Johannesburg, South Africa. The summit is produced by international business-to-business conferencing company Kinetic Events. Read more >>As the popularity of the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) model grows and the desire for people to use their own mobile devices for work purposes increases, corporate networks are going to be accessed by a greater variety of devices than ever before. How can IT managers deal with the resulting need to increase the protection of company data? Read more >>Hardware
Increasing the penalties for the perpetrators of copper cable theft and improving training and awareness amongst those responsible for fighting this crime are two of the main challenges that need to be urgently addressed before progress can be made. Read more >>
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