Showing posts with label Digital technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Digital technology. Show all posts

25 November 2017

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Raised Their Kids Tech-Free

Psychologists are quickly learning how dangerous smartphones can be for teenage brains.

Research has found that an eighth-grader's risk for depression jumps 27 percent when he or she frequently uses social media. Kids who use their phones for at least three hours a day are much more likely to be suicidal. And recent research has found the teen suicide rate in the U.S. now eclipses the homicide rate, with smartphones as the driving force.

 

But the writing about smartphone risk may have been on the wall for roughly a decade, according to educators Joe Clement and Matt Miles, co-authors of the recent book Screen Schooled: Two Veteran Teachers Expose How Technology Overuse is Making Our Kids Dumber.

 

It should be telling, Clement and Miles argue, that the two biggest tech figures in recent history -- Bill Gates and Steve Jobs -- seldom let their kids play with the very products they helped create.
 


"What is it these wealthy tech executives know about their own products that their consumers don't?" the authors wrote. The answer, according to a growing body of evidence, is the addictive power of digital technology.




"We limit how much technology our kids use at home."



In 2007, Gates, the former CEO of Microsoft, implemented a cap on screen time when his daughter started developing an unhealthy attachment to a video game. He also didn't let his kids get cell phones until they turned 14. (Today, the average age for a child getting their first phone is 10.)



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Image credit: theverge

Bill Gates wouldn't allow his children to have cell phones until they turned 14, fearing the effects of too much screen time.

 

"It's interesting to think that in a modern public school, where kids are being required to use electronic devices like iPads," the authors wrote, "Steve Jobs's kids would be some of the only kids opted out."

 

Jobs's children have finished school, so it's impossible to know how the late Apple co-founder would have responded to education technology, or "edtech." But Clement and Miles suggest that if Jobs's kids had attended the average U.S. school today, they'd have used tech in the classroom far more than they did at home while growing up.

 

That's at the average school at least, according to the co-authors. A number of specialty Silicon Valley schools, such as the Waldorf School, are noticeably low-tech. They use chalkboards and No. 2 pencils. Instead of learning how to code, kids are taught the soft skills of cooperation and respect. At Brightworks School, kids learn creativity by building things and attending classes in treehouses.

 

Edtech won't be a "cure-all."


If there is any concession Gates has made on technology, it's in the benefits it offers students in certain educational settings. In the years since Gates implemented his household policy, the billionaire philanthropist has taken a keen interest in personalized education, an approach that uses electronic devices to help tailor lesson plans for each student.

 

In a recent blog post, Gates celebrated Summit Sierra, a Seattle-based school that takes students' personal goals -- like getting into a specific college -- and devises a path to get there. Teachers in personalized learning settings take on more of a coaching role, helping to nudge students back on track when they get stuck or distracted.

 

Technology in these cases is being used as specifically as possible -- and in ways Gates recognizes as useful for a student's development, not as entertainment.

 

"Personalized learning won't be a cure-all," he wrote. But Gates said he's "hopeful that this approach could help many more young people make the most of their talents."

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4 October 2017

5 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Starting Your Business

Image result for questions when starting a business

When you're watching other people play Scrabble, it's easy to see ample opportunities to place tiles and score more points. But, when you're actually in the game yourself, it can be harder.
This is exactly what happens to new entrepreneurs. Often, they have many business ideas but lack the capacity to understand the risks, experience and time associated with startup success.
The big question is: What should new entrepreneur know before launching their businesses? There is no complete answer to this question, because some things will affect some businesses and not others. But, here are five questions you definitely should ask yourself when trying to start a business.

1. Why am I starting this business?

 

  Image result for questions when starting a business

 

People start businesses for various reasons. Some do not want to take orders while others are tired of the 9 to 5 work day. Still others just want to join the bandwagon and make some money.
If you're starting your business for any of these reasons, you're probably going to fail.
Instead, you should have a purpose for starting a business. For instance, I set up a business research consultancy firm in 2014 because I felt people in my locality lacked practical knowledge of business plans and feasibility studies. I launched my business to meet a need, and I have profited from it.
It's crucial to thoroughly examine any initiative you wish to launch. This is because you could be faced with many business ideas. Just be careful not to lose focus. With each new idea, sit back and think through the pros and cons, then launch.
Noah Krinick, founder and partner of Solo Rugs, said, "Every entrepreneur should be able to answer the question, 'Why are you doing this?' It seems like a simple question, but there will inevitably be times when things go wrong, hope is dwindling and you need to remind yourself of why you're in it. As an entrepreneur, building and growth is a process that never fully ends. It is great practice to give yourself a mission statement to maintain focus on the project goals as well as personal ones."

2. What is my target market?

Knowing your target market is very important, since your sales and profits hinge on it. Remember: If you target everyone, you're targeting no one. You need to focus and identify your target audience by carrying out a market survey.
Reach out to your prospective customers by sending out questionnaires or directly speaking to them. By doing these, you can provide a product or service people really want. In an email interview, Sarah Brennan, fashion expert at Clothingric, said, "A business's focal point is the target market. If you don't have a well-defined target market, then, you scramble for everybody in the market. Just know that everybody can be nobody."

3. What is my digital strategy?

Nearly half of U.S. small businesses don't have a website. The contemporary business world cannot thrive without digital technology. In our contemporary world, clients and customers are going digital. The conventional methods of sales, marketing and delivering goods and services to clients and customers are phasing out. Clients and customers are now yearning for more efficient methods of buying products and services.

It is easy to manage business nowadays. By engaging in digital marketing, you can reach out to billions of prospective customers all over the world. You can also automate some of the business tasks using sophisticated software. You can start with Apptivo which can allow you to do everything you need in one cloud solution.


4. What goes into my business plan?

Some people believe writing a business plan is only necessary when you're seeking outside funding, but a good business plan actually indicates whether a business is feasible or not, breaking down its strengths and weaknesses.

Write out your business plan. Detail the financial, operational and marketing.
Venturing into a business is a choice. Our choice today determines our result in the foreseeable future. Thus, all planning should center on your business plan, so you can avoid surprises later.

5. What are my competitive advantages?

Customers will patronize your goods and services if you offer something better or different from your competitors. One important thing to do when you are launching your business is to deliver what your customer wants and not necessarily what you want.
 
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16 September 2017

Societe Generale Europe Launches Mobile Money Solution for Africa

European financial services group, Societe Generale has launched a mobile money solution for Africa called YUP.

According to a statement from the company, the solution aims to provide a full range of transactional and financial services to the banked and unbanked, offering a new alternative to the traditional banking model in Africa.






The solution was already launched in Ivory Coast and Senegal, with plans to release in Ghana and in Cameroon by the end of 2017, and in Burkina Faso, Togo and Guinea in 2018.

Societe Generale says YUP already has more than 30 000 open wallets and nearly 600 agents. The company aims to open one million wallets in the next three years, to double its individual customer base in sub-Saharan Africa and create a network of 8000 agents to serve users.


"Africa is inventing the future of banking. The project's key ambition is to be a part of this revolution by offering a simple transactional tool that's accessible to all residents of the countries in which Societe Generale does business, be they individuals or corporations, Group customers, account holders with our competitors, or customers without bank accounts," says Alexandre Maymat, the company's head of the Africa/Mediterranean Basin & Overseas region.

According to Maymat, customers without bank accounts make up to 80%-90% of the population depending on the country," and it's a major financial inclusion challenge in which the Group wants to take part through YUP," he adds.

The company says the service is based on an Agency Banking model, a network of third-party agents with whom the bank has formed partnerships (service stations, distribution trade, etc.).

YUP is accessible via a network of distributors equipped with adapted terminals and via the company's mobile banking app.

Customers can withdraw, deposit, and transfer money pay bills, buy phone credit, and make payments to merchants.

The solution also digitises corporates' payment flows. "Soon, financial services like payday advances, credit, savings products, and international transfers will be added," the company adds.
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14 September 2017

Broadband Can Help Achieve Sustainable Development Goals

DURBAN - A report released by the United Nations (UN) Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development says that broadband will play an important role in development.

According to the report broadband technologies today are a driving significant transformation in lots of sectors that are related to development such as health, food security, financial inclusion and education.

Therefore broadband will play a key role in achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are:
No Poverty
Zero Hunger
Good Health and Well Being
Quality Education
Gender Equality
Clean Water and Sanitation
Affordable and Clean Energy
Decent Work and Economic Growth
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Reduced Inequalities
Sustainable Cities and Communities
Responsible Consumption and Production
Climate Action
Life Below Water
Life on Land
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Partnerships for the Goals
Digital technology and ICTs (information communication technology) offer big opportunities to help enhance the lives of people and improve development results. They also help achieve three of the goals mentioned above.

The report details the many ways that technology and ICTs are improving food security and putting an end to hunger; helping to improve health and well being and securing quality education that is inclusive for everyone.

Technology related to broadband are effective tools to promote nutrition including improving agriculture systems, bettering flexibility of food systems that could be affected by the economy or the climate and helping to improve knowledge of food choices.

Health in relation to technology have been important to improve the health of people in the past two decades. Now there has been a shift from making eHealth a small part of healthcare to making it central to strategic health planning. Broadband can serve as the support for future health systems by providing national eHealth strategies.

Broadband and ICT’s can be used in health sector to train health professionals through e-learning, connect distant communities with clinics and introduce electronic medical records.

Education in association with broadband can be used to boost education systems, increase access to information and drive learning.

The report states that ICT’s must be implemented into planning, curriculum, teacher training and schools.

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