Jun 29, 2015
A new programme that focuses on teaching young people Web programming and entrepreneurship will ultimately tie up with similar initiatives to make Johannesburg a smarter and more innovative city. The programme is a partnership between SAP, Simplon and the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Newtown and aims to advance youth skills development among graduate students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. David Kramer, CEO of the Sci Bono Discover Centre, says the programme could ultimately link up with Wits University’s Tshomolong Precinct in Braamfontein to form a digital corridor and exchange resources.
Jun 26, 2015
South African and Argentinian palaeontologists have discovered a new early dinosaur from South Africa. The specimen was found in the late 1930s in the Zastron area of South Africa, about 30km from the Lesotho border. For a long time the remains of the dinosaur just languished on the shelves in the collections at the Evolutionary Science Institute (ESI) (then the Bernard Price Institute) in Johannesburg. A few years ago it was studied and considered to represent the remains of another South Africa dinosaur, Aardonyx.
Jun 25, 2015
South Africa’s start-up industry isn’t for the faint-hearted. According to a new survey by Ventureburn, employees and founders of start-ups are often paid below-market salaries, get close to zero benefits and are subject to high-pressure environments. Moreover, just 17% of start-ups are profitable, with only 3% making it to the sought-after venture capital investment stages.
Jun 24, 2015
South African businesses are wasting up to 20% of their telecommunications spend every year. This adds up to R20-billion – and means that for every R5 spent, R1 is being lost. These figures are according to a white paper, Wastage in South Africa’s Telecoms Sector, released by telecoms professional services firm Nebula. Nebula estimates that the telecommunications market in South Africa is worth around R200-billion – or equivalent to the government’s spend on education. Half of this is business spend – and one-fifth of this is wasted. There are a number of reasons for this, but key is that because of the complexities involved, many businesses are unwilling to take a closer look at inefficiencies and wastage in their own telecoms systems.
Jun 23, 2015
More than one-third of risk professionals throughout Africa, Europe and the Middle East have experienced a material or significantly disruptive loss relating to a data breach or security exploit in the past 24 months, with the average financial impact of these incidents in the region of $2,1-million. The most common EMEA cyber incident was an attack that caused disruption to business and IT operations, according to Aon Risk Solutions in a research report undertaken during March 2015.
