"Where's My Traffic Alert Message?"

I don't understand .... Why would i have to wait for a news report on the radio to here that traffic in some parts of town has been blocked because of riotous behaviour by students from the University of Zambia. Shouldn't The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) have some form of real-time messaging system to inform every motorist residing in a specific town about the situation on the roads?

Every person getting a licence or registering a motor vehicle supplies their mobile number and town. An automated script can single out numbers  for those in an affected town and send a broadcast message. I honestly think it's that simple to do.

Apart from this, I think we should have started creating some form of traffic control centre that monitors traffic on all roads whether it has traffic lights or not. Imagine the people charged with road safety being able to adjust the behaviour of traffic lights at peak periods to make driving around much easier. Only if all roads had traffic lights. The one with roundabouts are a special case but at least they (RTSA) would be able to see things build and send an officer to regulate.

Road fines is another area that could benefit from some technological advancement. You get stopped at a road block or randomly and are found with expired road tax but instead of having your car 'seized' or licence taken from you, all the officer does is charge you for driving with expired road tax, scans your vehicle registration barcode, puts a marker on the vehicle that this record must pay a fine before renewing and marker on the driver's licence as well or a reduction in points for deserving a licence. All this in real-time. Think of the accountability and easy of use. Cars with outstanding fines as well as drivers can be deemed not worthy to be on the road if they default. Its impact on bribery is another topic because all together though. And all this is not that farfetched, we already scan our vehicle registrations when purchasing road tax.

The Road Transport and Safety Agency has made some botched technology advancements though, they ordered a machine to assess vehicle fitness that didn't work very well initially. I do not know if the machine is being used now but it would be a case in point for apprehension over making leaps into the unknown of technology. Proper research and consultancy is needed, reports on all the options provided and government to sign off on the one that meets cost and objective.

At the time of writing this, the RTSA website, www.rtsa.org.zm, has been down for more than 3 weeks which is not acceptable. In the meantime, be a responsible motorist and let your fellow drivers know about road blocks and demos via Facebook or Twitter.

Technology and Governance

Disclaimer: The following is based on online research and may not be a complete account of the technology situation in government.

With that said, shall we begin.

There was a time when computers were rare in government, only available to a select few. Those days are long gone and we should be happy with that but we question to what degree this technology is helping our leaders govern our country. I ask the question, "is having computers in a ministry enough?" The answer is most certainly not.

For ministries like Finance, Commerce and any of the rest that do number crunching, the use of technology is more evident. They churn out expenditure reports, budgets etc. For others like Foreign Affairs, Works and Supply, they obvious do have reports being created what remains to be seen is the extent to which processes and decisions are built on the backbone of ICT. If a spot request was made for the number of vehicles on the government books, which are runners and the like, how long would it take to get a response? Do ministers rely on computer based Management Information for decision making? Government would gladly sign off expenditure on a management information system to be set up as an information repository and/or report generator. What needs to be seen is the will to make full use of such a system.

What do we need to do to improve governance?

A lot. To start with, mindset or cultural change. I remember a photo of the late Michael Chilufya Sata, may his soul rest in peace, hard at  work at his desk with mountains of paper work and no computer in sight. If I could ask him, he'd say computers are before his time and a needless bother. As the generation of leaders gets younger, we need more emphasis from them on rooting how the country is managed. It should not be seen as "by the way" thing.

Record keeping should be computerised. A paperless government may be pushing it but if 40% of the paper stored in archives can be cut out, imagine the space freed up and the cost of that paper channelled to other things or banked as savings.

Our registration systems need to be linked or made into one. When you get a National Registration Card (NRC), getting a passport should be seamless as the passport office can make an easy query for the rest of the information required. Extend it to birth and death certificates, as well as voters registration. Plus road licencing.

As part of the freedom to information bill,every government wing must make available key operating data and information for the public to use in their research or to know what that said wing is doing. Of course, this does not mean giving us classified information but a good amount of it on websites. Having a website as a ministry should be the norm not the exception. As a side note, I was very disappointed by the Bank of Zambia website when I was looking for old quarterly statements for financial institutions. I found nothing. Maybe I was looking in the wrong place. Information is key in decision making, our leaders need to put the processing of such information as a priority. ICT gives them this capability.

All parts of government should have computer systems to take away this manual paper-filled routine we have grown to accept. The Ministry of Lands has a computerised database of deeds, why shouldn't the home affairs one have a database of fingerprints, criminal records, etc?

Works and Supply could employ a fleet management system to track the massive number of vehicles government owns. I believe a lot of money is wasted on vehicles.

These are some of things I could think of and I'm sure someone reading this has thought of their own was we can really move with the times as a nation.....

Your Smartphone, Your Best Friend

To many, a smartphone is merely a means to take communicate via instant messaging like WhatsApp and Blackberry Messenger and/or Facebook and tweet. But for a good number, yet to be quantified, the smartphone has many faces. If you're like me, it does the above and a whole lot more.

A Smartphone is

1. Your Office....

More than one email account is set up. Be it personal and work mail connected to your corporate network via some form of secure authentication, you're able to respond on the go, receive and author documents whether it's spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentations, scan and copy items. It's your business centre without the printer. I blog straight from my phone to the Internet. The beauty of technology. It is my office in my pocket.

2. Your Organiser...

Phones now help us know what the time is. Coupled with Facebook integration, we get reminders for our friends' birthdays and special events like anniversaries. The phone truly came to save us from our lapses in memory. Let's not forget that we can use them to draw up to do lists that came be backed up to your cloud storage service of choice. You have diary apps if keeping personal journals is something you can't do without.

3. Your Playmate...

As the old adage goes, all work and no play makes your smartphone boring stack of transistors. For those moments when you social networking is not entertaining enough we all need a set of games to call upon. From the hardcore gamer with a scaled down version of FIFA 15 or Assassins Creed to those that play Candy Crush or Snake. There is something for every one. If you don't have a single game on your phone, it's time to get one for emergency purposes.

4. Your Pocket Book...

Keeping track of your finances made easy. You have expense apps galore. Better apps would be those that integrate with your bank and perform your reconciliation automatically but that's for the future. I found vehicle management apps to track what you're spending on your car, give you service reminders and act as trip logs.  Online shopping is no longer restricted to the desktop. Amazon, eBay, Gumtree and even TradeCarView have apps on the leading platforms to get you on the go.

There are many functions your smartphone is able to perform and mine is by no stretch is an exhaustive list. If you use it for these 4 then I believe you're getting value for your purchase. If not, your decision to upgrade phones should be held off and until the current phone totally depreciates.

A Glimpse into the Future . The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+ & Note 5!

Disclaimer: No Unicorns were harmed during the writing of this piece.

About a month ago, Lexus announced something that brought tears to your eyes if you watched a movie called Back To The Future starring Michael J. Fox. The hover board, a skate board without wheels that glides over the ground with the help of superconductors and a mechanism that would make the cast of the Big Bang Theory sitcom feel right at home. Not to say that what Samsung have done is forging out of science fiction, they have simply opened a portal to the future with the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge + (what a mouthful) and the Note 5.

Let the glimpsing begin.....

This mainly an impressions piece from a brief hands on experience with the S6E+, as I'll call it for short hand, and the Note 5.

Design....

Boring from the recently (some asked why one release so soon after another) released S6 and S6 Edge, both the S6E+ & Note 5 have a curved rear form factor with a metallic bezel. The Edge+ has a more flat feel to it owing to the curved glass display that has been refined from the Note 4 Edge and later the S6 Edge.
Metal has replaced ceramic type buttons on the Note 4 for the 5.

No replaceable batteries for both phones, you get a unibody construction with a pop out tray for your sim card at the top of the device. What most will miss is the absent micro SD memory card slot. Like most power users (geeks/phone buyers that use their phones to the Max) I wonder if we'll ever see a return of the memory card to the premium range of Samsung phones.

Ergonomically, both sit nicely in the palm of your hand. I still question the claim of one handed use because the display is pretty wide from top left corner to bottom right.

Hardware....
Both smartphones boast a 5.7” Super AMOLED touchscreen with 517 pixels per inch make the user interface glorious to look at, the app icons look brilliant. You just want to stare at it in awe. Capacitive multitasking and back buttons maintain their familiar positions and in between them is the “press down” finger print scanner. On the Note 5, this is a departure from the “swipe” motion finger print scanner on its predecessor.

The top side of the frame sports a nano sim card pop out tray…say goodbye to the Infra-Red blaster. I wonder how I’d use the Note 5 as a remote control for my TV. The headphone jack has been relocated to the bottom of the phone and I ask WHY. My personal preference is a top mounted jack so that the cable doesn’t get bent when the phone is in my pocket but I can already see the counter argument as I’m typing this. My ‘why’ has been withdrawn.

Samsung have boasted that their latest flagship phones are powered by their in-house developed Exynos 7420 octa-core processor. In the strictest sense, it’s a split of 2 quad-core processors. No more Snapdragon processors from Qualcomm. The 4 GB RAM compliments the processor well though this is from a limited hands on experience.

With no micro SD card slot, all your file storage and apps will sit on the phone’s memory. There are only 32 and 64 GB variants which comes as a surprise in the age bigger storage, 128 GB should have been the upper limit. 32 GB on the Note 4 is barely sufficient for the power user. The user would have to leverage on various cloud storage services such as Google Drive, OneDrive and/or DropBox.

With a 16 megapixel camera at the back and 5 megapixels in the front, you can capture those precise moments with stunning clarity. The front facing camera is pretty good, knocked me off my feet with its consistent performance in a well-lit night environment.

The Note 5 and S6 Edge + have the same battery, non-removable 3000 mAh that accommodate fast wireless charging in from dead to full in 90mins and 60mins respectively. The battery on the Note 4 is 3220 mAh, my guess is that the battery had to be slimmed down a tad to fit in the both slim phones and not add more weight.

I think the S6 Edge + should have had a S-Pen. This is one feature that sets the Note 5 apart from it. As Note 4 owner, I’m more inclined to enjoy the Note 5. The S-Pen eject mechanism was well thought. Gone is the need to pull out the stylus with you nails and then fingers. A simple push of the button at the top or is it bottom of the pen and its pushes out the pulling handle if I can call it that. I tried out the Note 4 S-Pen on the Note 5 and it performed well and vice-versa. I half expected one not to work on the other. All the air-commands popped up to my delight.

Software....

Shipped with lollipop 5.1.1 out of the box and a re-skinned TouchWiz UI, flipping through the home screens is good experience, one the owner of either device is bound to enjoy.

On the Note 5, the Air Command related to the S-Pen has been improved with a better icons and the ability to include apps of your choice. There is also the much talked about
YouTube integration at an operating system level that allows you to share moments that you are capturing live the subscribers of your YouTube channel. It would be nice it pit it against Twitter’s Periscope which offers something similar.

The Note 5 has the ability to capture screenshots of a webpage or document that requires you to scroll down. This is one that will be a hit.

Samsung are not bundling Microsoft apps onto the Galaxy models, i.e. OneDrive and OneNote. The People Edge/App Edge feature for the S6 Edge + looks interesting, I’m just curious as to the usability level of People Edge.

The Note 5 can take notes with screen locked, that’s massively important. Beats having to unlock the phone, pull out the stylus and take your notes.

Multi-window display has been changed to a more defined split screen. I hope more apps have been included that can function this way.

Not so much emphasis on was put on voice commands which I found strange. Personal Assistants are taking centre stage and I feel the Google alternative is behind Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri.

Price….

Both will cost you more than 8000.00 ZMW around launch time with the S6 Edge + costing close to a 1000 more Kwachas than the Note 5.

The Wrap…

The S6 Edge + is the first of its generation and it does stand out in the crowd as a stylish alternative to the Note 5 which stands on the shoulders of it forbearers and is a positive iteration in the dynasty that brought us the original ‘phablet’. Both would make perfect phones for the business man or fashionista.

Did we spot a couple of Unicorns? Close but not just yet.

Technology Waste: Where does it go?

When you call someone to your offices to fix your photocopier and they give you that engineering report that it's beyond fixing, all you think about is justifying the purchase of a replacement and how soon you can get it.

You rarely think of the disposal of the old one. It's usually sold for a song or given away for free to whoever can take it way. Where it goes depends on how 'salvageable' it is. Stripped for parts, pieces are thrown anywhere without caring what effect their non-'biodegradable' nature will have on the environment.

In Zambia, our idea of waste disposal is throwing things in the garbage which is later dumped at a landfill. Technology waste or "technotrash" contains hazardous materials from metals to liquids that end up going to the ground and may end up in our water. Someone may argue that even stuff from other waste does already end up contaminating our soils at the dump site rendering it useless either way but this added special waste is one that makes the mix more dangerous.

My hope is that some for of legislature exists to outlaw the dumping of technotrash like household waste. It's enforcement is another issue all together but having a law would mean government is alive to the potential risks to the environment.

Cracking Mobile Payments

The Problem...

Despite the launch of many forms of mobile payments in Zambia, there has not been an increase in their use leading to the question of whether it is a viable business segment especially that it is viewed as a competitive advantage by banks and mobile network operators.

These mobile payments vary from bill payments, purchasing of prepaid mobile airtime or power units to money transfers.

The Reasons...

Many of those with bank accounts in Zambia (the banked) prefer paying for goods and services with cash despite the convenience of using a cellphone to perform the transaction. Even when it comes to making transfers to friends and family, they would rather withdraw the money and walk to a post office to use MoneyGram.

To add to this number, many have a distrust for technology and it's perceived advantages over cash. They prefer physical contact with bank tellers, those selling airtime, or Zesco prepaid units.

Consumers would rather send money using moneygram and Zoona than open an mobile money account/send an ewallet and encourage the recipient to open a similar account. The word is not spreading fast enough to achieve critical mass. Zambia has a long way to go before they reach even a third of Kenya's M-Pesa.

A high percentage of Zambians are 'unbanked' meaning the mobile payments offering from banking institutions loses potential users.

What Can Be Done....

The high number of unbanked Zambians offers an opportunity for mobile network operators to offer some form of banking that offers mobile payments as a part of its product suit.

Banks need to also offer fault-free, seemless, services on mobile devices be it smartphones or simple phones so as not to segment or fragment the customer base.

User education is also key at the point of account opening or signing up for a mobile number. Customers need to aware of the capabilities that exist on mobile banking/payments. Highlighting the convenience and ease of such services is a big selling point. Telling someone that they don't need cash to pay for services is a plus.

The age of cash and walking into banks for account inquiry services should slowly be behind us.

We like pulling government into everything and I am of the opinion that some form of legislation compelling Zambians to open accounts or be less reliant on paper based transactions could be the push necessary.

In the absence of government will it is up to the private sector to be the driver as well as you and me.

If you don't use mobile payments and you're reading this,shame on you....Just kidding.

Flashpoint Paradox

The 2014 Flash TV series is one that has gotten me thinking after watching it's season finale and having already seen the animated movie "Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox". I have already weighed in on time travel in a previous post which was more of a short opinion on the concept. This one is more likely to be the same.....SPOILER ALERT IF YOU INTEND TO WATCH THE FLASH. 😁

The premise on which Justice League Flashpoint Paradox is based is that Barry Allen voluntarily dashes back into the past and saves his mother from being murdered by the Reverse Flash aka Eobard Thawne. This action changes the course of time. Barry loses his powers, Iris isn't his woman anymore, and the reverse flash exists and causing all sorts of havoc. The TV series and movie somehow align at this point. The Flash is faced with that tough decision, save his mother or not and in both instances 'future' him stops himself from doing that.

The question now is whether this action maintains the current course of time or develops another line. The existence of multiple coexisting universes is always debated. Does your current time line eventually go back to a critical point in your future or will time keep its path? I digress......What got me to write this is the ending of the season finale of season 1.

Is that the last we've seen of the reverse flash? Was Eddie Thawne's death in vain? When present Flash went through the worm hole and was instructed not to help by future him (who I'll refer to as PF and FF), FF knew would PF would show up at that exact moment.....meaning had Eddie not shot himself time would have remained as is. Another thing that leaves me wondering is why FF stopped PF. Points to FF knowing what the consequences of saving his mother would be and how else do we know the consequence? By carrying out an action meaning PF in a parallel timeline did save his mother and things went wrong so to correct them PF told himself  (after going backwards to some critical point so as not to save his mother again) that on the day he chases the reverse flash who wants to kill his child-self he should signal to past him that he should hold back from saving his mom.

Something else bothering me is if FF knew about Eddie's act to kill himself...If he did then the reverse flash lives and Eddie somehow comes back to life because of the simple fact that the fight in Barry's childhood living room still takes place. If he didn't, then that is a parallel future that only the present Flash would remember. In that case the present Flash needs to find another arch rival as the reverse flash is dead.

No one seems to address the Reverse Flash (from more than 100 years in the future) fighting with the Flash, whether present or future. Does that mean Barry lives to be a hundred? Or does he age veeeeeeery slowly? Or he mastered how to travel forwards and found the Reverse Flash's plot to kill him?

Maybe I need to read more of the comic books to make sense or some sense of all this. Season 2 will put some of my questions to bed. It's a long wait though.

Smartphones and Our Children

Times have certainly changed. To my generation, making a phone call involved getting permission from your parents to use one of those amusing looking red  telephones with a circular dialer. The duration of the call got plenty in trouble. When it came to entertainment, video cassette recorders ruled. Nintendo wasn't mainstream. Safe to say me and my fellow 80s babies grew up in the dark ages.

This is now the information age, the Internet is everywhere and anyone can have it regardless of age. People with children born after turn of the millennium feel like empowering their kids with cellphones for the purpose of 'communication'. Others will go the extra mile and purchase that Galaxy something or iPhone X simply because they want to their child to have the best. In as much as the intention of father/mother being honourable, results may vary.

My worry about this growing trend is whether these parents are aware of the dangers they open their children to by handing them a device that puts the power of good and evil at their fingertips, literally. Back in the day (the 90s), pornography was passed around like a true contraband, 1 cassette would make its rounds in one classroom till the tape gave up. These days, Google any key words and you have want you want. Then you needed friends; now? Who needs them? Websites providing simple mp3 downloads have porn site popup messages with the sole purpose of enticing visitors looking for a song into doing something else.

The online world is full of weird people preying on young naive users of social networks. A hunting ground for sexual predators with easy targets who think they can trust a person on yhe other end of a conversation via facebook inbox or twitter DM. Parents are allowing 13 year olds to join Facebook, the lack of supervised access is scary to say the least.

Then there's cyber bullying which takes the simple form of more than 2 people ganging up on a Facebook commenter or twitter retweeter. I have witnessed it first hand and these were adults going at it. Think of what would happen if a 12 year old got teased or taunted. The lack of mental strength would make their decision making poor.

I seriously think we need to 'world' proof these smart-devices we put in the hands of our offspring. Applications exist that can limit a phones functionality; download them. Check on what your children are doing before it is too late. Before handing that phone to your daughter ask yourself if it will benefit them in terms of building their character. Before buying your son one ask them if they know what the pitfalls are. If they have no answers then let them get a smartphone when they come of age!