So where are our taxes going? According to an article by Amanda Visser, fewer than half of government departments are able to provide "credible and quality information" in their financial reports. Quoting auditor-general Terence Nombembe, it seems state finances are regressing. It's bad enough when we hear of our tax monies being wasted through the need (call that greed) of individuals within government deciding to spend millions on parties, luxury cars, first-class travel and so on, but it's almost worse when even the auditor-general has an issue with the departments and municipalities' accounting standards, and we then don't know where money is going or how it is being spent or wasted. Do you want to know what the best programs to protect passwords are? Subhash Chandra has some suggestions for you. On the aquaculture front, the environmental impact guideline for aquaculture has been published for public comment. You can download the entire document from the article on Bizcommunity.com. As if being taxed to poverty weren't enough, and then discovering that the average government department and vast majority of municipalities have a less than stellar record when it comes to accounting practice, it seems like the petrol price may go up 87c a litre. And to think that one day these will be the bad old days... Rod Baker: Content Director
Submit your company news to itnews@bizcommunity.com. Exclusive contributions may be sent to contributors-it@bizcommunity.com. Top stories
[Mondi Hattingh and Jaco Visagie] Much of the globe's infrastructure is controlled digitally via Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, and South Africa's own power utility, Eskom, which supplies almost 95% of the country's electricity, is no exception. The parastatal recently signed a multimillion dollar deal with Ventyx, a leading industrial enterprise software company. Read more >>
Advertisement:
[Tony Rodrigues] Many internet service providers (ISPs) are faced with massive data-usage growth from their subscriber base due to the fast adoption of the internet for streaming voice (Skype) and video (YouTube) applications. Just a few years ago, streaming video accounted for 30% of all usage whereas it now dominates at more than 60%, with subscriber usage having increased more than 500% in the past six years. Read more >>
[Doros Hadjizenonos] As you round out your 2013 business and IT plans, cybercriminals are resolving to implement increasingly sophisticated threats targeting specific computer systems and organisations big and small. Read more >>
[Issued by BitCo] Aspiring young entrepreneurs associated with the Skills Village project in central Johannesburg are now one step closer to being their own boss after emerging telecoms operator BitCo provided them with the ICT tools necessary to kick-start their dreams. Read more >> visit press office >>
 [Zeenat Moorad] Despite a developed and competitive retail landscape‚ SA lags behind in terms of online grocery retailing and the country will need at least to double Internet usage before it sees an increase in e-commerce‚ Cedric Bra‚ retail analyst at Euromonitor International claims. Read more >>
Advertisement:
[Genevieve Quintal and Ahmed Areff] Social media will be an important tool for author, activist and businesswoman Mamphela Ramphele, who announced a newly-formed "party political platform" on Monday,18 February 2013. Read more >>
 [Bekezela Phakathi,] As Cape Town's broadband infrastructure project gathers momentum, residents of the city's largest township, Khayelitsha, are ready to take full advantage of the benefits of cheaper and more accessible Internet. Read more >>
 With 2000ha of land and an established infrastructure of fibre-optic cables, telecommunications and broadband services to back an economic development mandate, there is a compelling reason to move to cloud computing says Dube TradePort's ICT executive Hamish Erskine Read more >>
[Walter Baets] To be effective, online learning must be delivered in an appropriate way, based on an understanding of what learning is free to access. In Africa with its dire need for education and skills, it should be more than mere etiquette. It should be an imperative, and could well herald a new era for the way Africans engage with education - if it is done right. Read more >>
 SA's growing appetite for buying goods over the Internet is not only boosting online retailers, it has also become a big growth driver (and headache) for courier services. Read more >>
 Kaspersky Lab experts recorded 7000 attempts to infect gamers around the world every day in 2012. The attacks are launched in an attempt to gain access to personal user data, such as passwords to online games and online banking systems. Where games are concerned, malicious users attempt to steal avatars and in-game items subsequently to sell these virtual goods for real money. In the case of online banking, cybercriminals aim to steal money directly from real bank accounts. Read more >>
[Jonathan Mason] Complete virtualisation is at the top of the agenda for many CIOs and IT executives in 2013.Cloud computing is set to quadruple from 2011 to 2016, according to a Global Cloud Index by Cisco and will no longer even need a name, it will be so integral to the way business is done. Read more >>
Advertisement:
 [Mark van Vuuren] Information communication technology (ICT) opens up a huge range of potential in the business environment, delivering integrated solutions that actively enable the modern business. Previously disparate tools such as voice, mobility, video, broadcasting and data have merged to deliver powerful enterprise solutions that enable organisations to compete on a global scale, all driven by connectivity. Read more >>
 [Subhash Chandra] The majority of the regular internet users are youths starting from the age of six. In these years, their curiosity is in an all-time high, and the worldwide web has provided an easy access to all the answers. Read more >>
[Fred Mitchell] When it comes to software, particularly security solutions, the model has always been "new year, new release". Now, however, we are starting to see a different trend in the security software space - version-less solutions that guarantee that consumers always have the latest and most up-to-date security solutions to guarantee complete protection. Read more >>
 SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA: LG Electronics on Monday (18 February) unveiled the latest version of its flagship smartphone, boasting a higher resolution screen aimed at gaining a technical edge over bigger rivals like Samsung. Read more >>
 MOSCOW, RUSSIA / JOHANNESBURG, SA: Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, has been ranked as one of the leaders in the market of endpoint security solutions by Forrester Research, Inc. Kaspersky Lab's corporate solution was placed among four "Leaders" in The Forrester Wave: Endpoint Security, Q1 2013.* Read more >>
 RESTON, US: comScore, Inc, a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in January with 67% of search queries conducted, followed by Microsoft Sites with 16.5%. Read more >>
 WASHINGTON, USA: Android-powered smartphones and Apple's rival iPhone have extended their near duopoly to a whopping 91% of the global market according to the results of a survey released on Thursday (14 February). Read more >>
MADRID, SPAIN: Spanish police and Europol, the European Union's police co-ordination agency, have bust a global cybercrime operation that infected millions of computers, a source in the investigation told AFP. Read more >>
 WASHINGTON, USA: President Barack Obama's executive aimed at increasing protection of critical infrastructure in the US from cyber-attacks addresses only a small portion of threats faced by companies and sets up a fresh battle in Congress over the legislation. Read more >>
 BARCELONA, SPAIN: InMobi, from 25-28 February, will showcase an array of new products for brands, agencies, and developers at this year's Mobile World Congress taking place 25-28 February in Barcelona. Swing by our booth and get an exclusive first look. InMobi will be exhibiting in the App Planet Hall 8.1 mBrands Zone Booth #B25. Read more >>
 LONDON, UK: Leading London-based digital marketing agency, Greenlight, says Google's "Enhanced Campaigns", will prove a challenge to advertisers, the biggest being that of how third party tracking solutions can integrate into it. As it currently stands, advertisers could be forgiven for thinking Google is upping its game against third party tracking solutions and trying to create a system whereby any solution outside of Google's is rendered less useful, says Angela Knibb*, campaign manager at the agency. Read more >>
 MUMBAI, INDIA: Finnish phone giant Nokia said on Tuesday (12 February) it had protested to the Indian government over a tax raid at one of its factories in South India, slamming the action as "excessive and unacceptable". Read more >>
[Subhash Chandra] They say that the only constant thing in internet marketing is change and nothing proves this statement more than the ever-shifting design of websites. One day it's black, the next day it's white. One minute it's avant-garde, the next it's streamlined and minimalist. Read more >>
More International...
- New hire for the Dataflo application development department - more info
Stellenbosch University invites applications from suitably qualified and experienced individuals for appointment as senior system administrator to commence duties on 1 April 2013. Read more >>
Click here to customise your jobs section
Print - Print any item in this newsletter.
Email - Email any item in this newsletter.
Comment - Comment on any item in this newsletter.
|
