South Korea gives Konza smart city new lease of life
BUSINESS DAILY By JOHN MUTUA
Wednesday March 15 2023
Kenya’s push to actualise a smart city at the Konza Technopolis has gained momentum with the roll-out of four new projects.
The projects, under its second phase, are an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) and Integrated Control Centre, the establishment of a Startup Ecosystem, the development of Smart Logistics in Konza and the development of the Konza-Nairobi Corridor Transport Network.
The four projects under the Economic Innovation Partnership Program (EIPP) are backed by a grant from the government of South Korea.
Konza Technopolis is a flagship project of Kenya’s Vision 2030 economic development and is set to become the country’s technology and innovation hub.
“Konza Technopolis has identified several candidate projects for consideration and I am pleased to note that four additional projects have been approved for implementation during the second year of the development program,” ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo said on Tuesday at the launch of the projects.
The four projects follow the successful completion of targets in the development of Konza City in the first year.
Finance sector bets on AI to lock out hackers
DAILY NATION By BRIAN GEORGE
Monday March 13 2023
Experts are pushing for use of artificial intelligence (AI) to hasten the speed of stopping cybersecurity threats in companies.
Abdullahi Sheikh, the founder and CEO of Konvergenz, a cyber security firm in Kenya told the Business Daily that with the surge in cyber attacks as businesses migrate online, there was a need to employ fast and more responsive tech.
He said in the financial sector, AI was the best bet to curb the ever-costly intrusions.
AI employs statistical models to predict patterns, which then help to avert fraud. Unlike humans, technology works tirelessly, giving it an edge.
“The AI process of responding to any detected card fraud is if an SMS is sent to you indicating that you are making a transaction, and through behavioural analytics, the bank detects that you have not spent, there is an interface for the machine to call the bank and disable the card automatically. Then it connects to human customer care and a call is sent out to the client to inform them of an attempt on their account that was averted. The machine does 80 percent of the work,” Mr Sheikh said.
Safaricom phone tracking to arrest bank ATM fraud
BUSINESS DAILY By KABUI MWANGI
Friday March 03 2023
Safaricom has rolled out an "ATM Vicinity Check" technology that will help banks ensure that cash withdrawals can only be conducted if the transacting customer is within the vicinity of the machine.
The solution, to be offered to commercial banks for free, is aimed at arresting the rising cases of banking fraud where criminals use their victims’ cards and/or information to withdraw funds from ATM points.
There are several ways through which criminals steal funds from cash machines including cloning ATM cards, trapping the cards at the machines and collecting information on the cards.
Others involve withdrawing cash from a victim’s account using M-Pesa. The new solution from Safaricom is designed to tie ATM transactions to the genuine account owner’s physical location, making it harder for fraudsters to carry out their schemes.
“The solution works by comparing the geographical location of the ATM and the customer requesting a withdrawal from the specific ATM based on the location of the cell phone mast serving the customer,” said Safaricom in an email response to Business Daily.
5G network subscriptions reach 300,000 on demand
DAILY NATION By Brian Ambani
Friday, March 10, 2023
The number of 5G mobile internet subscriptions hit 299,904 at the close of the first three months of commercial deployment of the technology, which grants users super-fast internet speeds.
The first-ever data by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) on 5G technology subscriptions, shows a significant growth in sign-ups even as local firms accelerate plans to roll out the service to more locations.
“The continued roll-out of the 5G network, coupled with the landing of the PEACE (Pakistan & East Africa Connecting Europe) cable, will enable consumers to access superfast internet speeds, particularly in areas with high population density, and for linking connected devices, such as in manufacturing and healthcare,” said CA.
A majority (20.52 million) of Kenya’s 47.76 million internet subscriptions between October and December were on 4G technology, 11.06 million on 3G and 15.87 million were on 2G.
World Bank lines up to fund Kenya’s digital drive
BUSINESS DAILY By KABUI MWANGI
Friday February 24 2023
Kenya is set to roll out an initial 5,000 of the planned 100,000 kilometres of fibre optic cable by June this year aided partially by funding from the World Bank.
ICT Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo, speaking on Thursday at the ongoing third edition of the digital summit organised by the Nation Media Group in Mombasa, said the National Treasury is currently engaged in talks with the global financial institution to secure part of the funding for roll out of the digital superhighway.
“With Cabinet approval already in place, we are now set to roll out an initial 5,000 kilometres by June 2023. We are also in talks with the World Bank, through the National Treasury, to secure part of the funding for the digital superhighway, through the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project (KDEAP),” said Owalo.