Next year was meant to be a big one for South Africa’s technology industry. Years ago, under the Mbeki administration, the government agreed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that the country would switch off analogue terrestrial television broadcasts by 17 June 2015. Countries
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The clock of South Africa’s progress towards a knowledge-based economy has been turned back by at least a decade through two recent presidential proclamations. This has negative implications for our economic growth and inclusion of all our citizens in the interconnected world. It will cost us investment
There are many factors that have allowed for the successful scaling of the Internet into a global phenomenon. A consensus-based, voluntary approach to standards, decentralised design and a vast body of openly-licensed software have all contributed. But the element I want to talk about here
One has to wonder if Eileen Wilton, the eminently likeable CEO of Gijima, rues the day she joined the company as chief operating officer in June 2012. Within months of her taking on the role, Gijima’s then-CEO, Jonas Bogoshi
What do you think of when you hear the word “nerd”? What was once an insult has become almost affectionate. With their extreme intelligence and social awkwardness, nerds are usually seen as endearing and harmless. This makes what is happening in the gaming industry all the more shocking
What a difference a year makes. In late 2013, Korea’s Samsung was still riding high on the success of its Galaxy S4 and Note 3 smartphones, while some analysts were questioning whether rival Apple had simply stopped innovating after the
The right to privacy has been making big news globally. In the wake of US whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations, more people have been clamouring for stronger privacy protections. So why has there been so little debate about the state of this right in South Africa? Is it because there is nothing to
South Africa Connect, South Africa’s broadband policy, was published in December 2013, ushering in 2014 with great promise. The policy called for, among other things, the removal of policies that constrain competition and the roll-out of broadband. It singled out service-based competition
Neil Harbisson is an extraordinary person. Though he was born completely colour blind, he found a way to see colour using an electronic eye that is now permanently grafted to his skull. In 2004, he became the first person to be officially recognised by a government as a cyborg — a being that is part man
Makro announced last week that it had entered into a partnership with Sasol to build e-commerce “lockers” on the fuel retailer’s forecourts. The lockers are not a new idea, having been pioneered in the US, UK and elsewhere by retailers such as Amazon and the Walmart-owned Asda, but it is