UBBF 2021 Intelligent Cloud-Network Session Successfully Held in Dubai

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Intelligent Cloud-Network Session themed “Build Intelligent Cloud-Network, Accelerating New Growth” was successfully held in Dubai. As an important part of the 7th Ultra-Broadband Forum (UBBF 2021), this session saw leading operators and analysts of well-known institutions gather from all over the world to discuss topics relating to advanced network architecture and share successful business practices in the cloud-network era.

In the wake of pandemic, governments of many countries have accelerated their digitalization process. This is triggering great changes in the IP industry. Operators’ network construction has changed from connection-centric to cloud-centric. During the evolution from traditional IP networks to intelligent cloud-networks, what are the real requirements of enterprise and industry customers? Which innovative technologies can meet these requirements? What impact does the evolution of the network architecture have on operators’ infrastructure and operation mode? These were the focal points discussed at this session.

Dan Bieler, analyst from Forrester, kicked things off by proposing that emerging technologies drive user requirements to change. In his view, enterprise digitalization introduces requirements for service cloudification, requiring operators to build intelligent networks that feature cloud-network convergence to transform from ICT to DICT.

Hank Chen, President of Huawei’s Router Domain, then gave a speech themed “Building Intelligent Cloud-network, Enabling All-Service Growth”. In his speech, he mentioned that consumer and vertical industry services are becoming more diversified, and that user experience upgrade and vertical industry upgrade present great opportunities to operators. Operators need to build an all-in-one IP network that supports network programming, tenant-level SLA assurance, and agile cloudification to meet the growth requirements of all individual, home, and enterprise services, and ultimately lay a foundation for operators’ DICT transformation.

Fiber@Home is the largest Internet service provider in Bangladesh, and focuses on how to deliver secure, robust, and faster fiber networks across the country. Sumon Ahmed Sabir, CTO of Fiber@Home, explained how their business success comes from quickly seizing business opportunities. As such, their target network architecture must be agile and flexible to respond to new business demands. In addition, Fiber@Home actively introduces innovative technologies such as SRv6 path programming, FlexE hard slicing, and service visualization to develop new business models and thus succeed in the market.

In Hong Kong, CMHK is undergoing a transformation from providing only mobile services to providing diversified services such as home broadband and enterprise private lines. Lindel Sun, Director of the Business Development Department, believed that network slicing technology enables differentiated service bearing on the live network and meets varying requirements of different services, laying a solid foundation for the strategic transformation of CMHK.

Francois Olivier, chief engineering of Rain, the first 5G service provider in South Africa, said that massive connections, rapid bandwidth growth, and high SLA reliability are the main characteristics of 5G service development. The primary goal of Rain network development is to build a converged bearer network that features ultra-large capacity, SRv6-based simplified architecture, slicing, and automated O&M. In this way, the digitalization process of numerous industries can be accelerated.

UBBF is the world’s highest-level fixed network summit, jointly organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Huawei. This Intelligent Cloud-Network Session, aiming to help global operators explore new markets, exhibits operators’ cloud-oriented network architectures and Huawei’s differentiated capabilities of Intelligent Cloud-Network Solution.

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‫انضمام “فولوكوبتر” إلى مائدة أوساكا المستديرة لتوفير التنقل الجوي الحضري “UAM” في اليابان

بروشسل، 21  أكتوبر 2021 /PRNewswire/ – انضمت “فولوكوبتر”، رائد التنقل الجوي الحضري (UAM) ، إلى مائدة أوساكا المستديرة، وهي مؤسسة تحرص على توفير التنقل الجوي الحضري في واحدة من أكثر المدن ازدحامًا في قارة آسيا. التزم مطور eVTOL (الإقلاع والهبوط العمودي الكهربائي) الألماني كجزء من المشاركة أيضًا بالطيران خلال معرض إكسبو 2025 في أوساكا كانساي. بالإضافة إلى وجود شريك ومستثمر طويل الأجل وهو الخطوط الجوية اليابانية (JAL)، حسث حجز مؤخرًا طائرة “فولوكوبتر”، تعمل “فولوكوبتر” على تسريع تنفيذ التزامها في اليابان مع التخطط لإجراء رحلات تجريبية عامة في مطلع عام 2023.

Volocopter joins Osaka Roundtable to bring UAM to Japan. VoloCity parked on the airfield.

في 1 أكتوبر 2021، شاركت “فولوكوبتر” في مائدة أوساكا المستديرة. يوجد بمقاطعة أوساكا واحدة من أكبر مناطق الخليج الصناعي في آسيا، وهي موقع مثالي لإجراء الاختبار على مختلف الظروف البيئية. بصفتها مضيفة لمعرض إكسبو 2025 في أوساكا كانساي، فإن أوساكا لديها طموحات قوية لبدء أعمال التنقل الجوي الحضري بداية من هذا الحدث فصاعدًا.

تعمل اليابان منذ عام 2018 بشكل استباقي على تشكيل مستقبلها في مجال التنقل الجوي ووضع هدفًا طموحًا لتحقيق التسويق التجاري الكامل لعمليات الإقلاع والهبوط العمودي الكهربائي (eVTOLs) بحلول عام 2030. تفتخر اليابان بخريطة طريق شاملة لشركات التنقل الجوي الحضري لتحقيق تلك الأهداف.

علاوة على ما تقدم، تتحد “فولوكوبتر” استراتيجيًا مع شركاء محليين ومنظمين في بداية عملية التسويق لتعزيز مكانتها في السوق. في الآونة الأخيرة، حجزت الخطوط الجوية اليابانية 100 طائرة من طراز فولوكوبتر (فولودرون و فولوسيتي) وحدة لاستخدامها في المستقبل. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، بدأت فولوكوبتر في إجراء اتصالات مباشرة مع مكاتب الحكومة المحلية لمناقشة كيفية دعم منتجات فولوكوبتر للنظام البيئي المحلي.

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صرّح فلوريان رويتر- الرئيس التنفيذي لشركة فولوكوبتر- قائلاً: “يشرفنا أن نجلس في طاولة أوساكا المستديرة وننطلق في رحلة نحو مرحلة مهمة من معرض إكسبو 2025 في أوساكا كانساي. كمّا يسمح لنا التزام اليابان وأوساكا بتسويق التنقل الجوي الحضري “UAM” ونهجها المفتوح بالمشاركة في ريادتها في مستقبل مجال التنقل. بصفتنا مطور الإقلاع والهبوط العمودي الكهربائي “eVTOL” الأول والوحيد في العالم مع وجود رحلات عامة ناجحة في العديد من القارات ووجود مجموعة من الطائرات متعددة الوظائف، فنحن على ثقة من أننا سنصبح جزءًا لا يتجزأ من نظام التنقل الجوي الحضري “UAM” البيئي المستقبلي في اليابان. كمّا أننا نرنو إلى تحسين الحياة في المناطق المكتظة بالسكان من خلال توفير خدمات التنقل الجوي الحضري “UAM” المستدامة.”

تلتزم فولوكوبتر بتقديم خدمات التاكسي الجوي في سنغافورة خلال السنوات الثلاث المقبلة، كمّا أعلنت عن تسليم 150 من منتجات فولوكوبتر إلى “جيلي” الصينية.

نبذة عن فولوكوبتر

تعمل فولوكوبتر على إنشاء أول شركة مستدامة وقابلة للتطوير في مجال التنقل الجوي الحضري حول العالم لتقديم خدمات التاكسي الجوية بأسعار معقولة للسلع والأشخاص إلى المدن الكبرى حول العالم. تقود فولوكوبتر ويتعاون مع الشركاء فيما يتعلق بالبنية التحتية والعمليات وإدارة الحركة الجوية لإنشاء النظام البيئي الضروري “لإضفاء الحيوية على التنقل الجوي في المناطق الحضرية”. كمّا يوجد مكاتب لفولوكوبتر  في بروكسال وميونيخ وسنغافورة. جمعت الشركة إجمالي 322 مليون يورو من المستثمرين من الأسهم بما في ذلك Daimler، وGeely، وBlackRock، وIntel Capital. www.volocopter.com

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Smile Identity Accelerates Expansion Across Africa; Adds Uganda to Growing List of Countries Covered by its Africa-Focused KYC and Identity Verification Tools

Smile Identity is providing the Identity Verification, Digital KYC, User Onboarding, Document Verification, Liveness Checks, Face Verification, Anti-fraud, and Identity Data Deduplication tools powering the rapid growth and expansion of businesses and startups across Africa.

LAGOS, Nigeria, Oct. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Smile Identity, the leading provider of ID verification, document verification, and digital KYC compliance solutions in Africa, announced today the addition of Uganda to our list of covered countries!

Smile Identity Uganda Launch Statistics

This brings us – and our customers – one step closer to our goal of enabling comprehensive digital KYC and ID verification coverage for the entire African continent with only one simple integration to Smile Identity.

This addition also brings the total number of unique identities covered by Smile Identity across Africa to over 300 million. Smile Identity has the widest reach, and most comprehensive coverage of unique identities across Africa; more than any other KYC and Identity Verification provider on the continent.

Irshad Muttur , Aspira’s Chief Operations Officer, says “Smile Identity enables us to onboard customers more securely, mitigating fraud risks and allowing for a more confident business growth.”

Starting immediately, all verified Smile Identity Partners will be able to onboard users in Uganda using the Uganda National ID. There are 17 million unique identities in the NIRA Uganda database. For Smile ID partners, this means 17 million potential customers who can be onboarded in only a matter of seconds.

Smile Identity Logo

“Your existing Smile Identity integration means you already support Uganda. All you need to do is specify it in the ID type field,” says Cameron Gray, VP of Product and Engineering.

As we like to say at Smile ID, you now have 17 million new reasons to Smile!

About Smile Identity

Smile Identity is the leading Know Your Customer (KYC) and Identity Verification provider for Africa. We help companies scale rapidly across Africa by confirming the true identity of their users in real time, using any smartphone or computer. Our technology is powered by proprietary Machine Learning algorithms designed specifically for African faces, and our products include Identity Verification, Enhanced Digital KYC, User Onboarding, Document Verification, Liveness Checks, Face Verification, Anti-fraud Checks, and Identity Data Deduplication.

To standardize identity verification across the continent and provide a single solution for a new generation of African companies, Smile Identity works with local ID authorities and has built a platform that combines ID validation with proprietary face verification and liveness checks to support non-surveillance, consent-based access and financial inclusion. The company performs over 1 million identity checks every month across Africa and its software is used in banking, fintech, ride sharing, worker verification, public social welfare programs, and telecommunications.  Its customers include payments companies like Paystack, Paga and Chippercash; neo-banks like Kudabank and Umba; traditional banks like Stanbic IBTC and Sterling Bank; cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Luno, and Paxful; and even supply-chain businesses like Twiga.

With subsidiaries, branch offices and engineers in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and counting, Smile Identity’s growing team is made up of people from 12 countries, including 8 African nations.

Backed by Costanoa, CRE Venture Capital, Khosla Impact, LocalGlobe and a host of Angel Investors from across Africa, Smile Identity is enabling the growth of tech ecosystems across the African continent while providing infrastructure to build trust online. For more information, please visit www.smileidentity.com.

Press Contact:
Ashiwel Ochui
press@smileidentity.com

Related Links:
https://smileidentity.com
smileidentity.com/contact-us/press

https://cdn.smileidentity.com/Smile-Identity-Media-Kit.zip

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UN Says Boko Haram is Weakened, but Remains a Threat, Calls for Renewed Efforts to Rebuild Cameroon

A top U.N. official for central Africa recently visited the Lake Chad Basin to assess living conditions in the area. Years of attacks by Boko Haram have left much of the infrastructure there in ruins.

Francois Lounceny Fall, the U.N. Secretary General’s special representative in central Africa, says attacks by the jihadist group have diminished over the past five months.

Fall says the U.N. is mobilizing the international community to support the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), a regional military alliance, as it fights against the extremist group for a lasting peace to return. He says he is visiting Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria and Niger to assess ways to start rebuilding and focus on reducing poverty.

Those four countries contribute troops to the MNJTF, along with Benin.

Fall said the U.N. Development Program is raising funds to build roads linking Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad to facilitate movement of people and goods. He said the UNDP is also helping villagers to plant trees.

He said the U.N. refugee agency is helping displaced persons return to their villages, establishing lost documents like birth certificates, and providing funds for women to open businesses.

The U.N. reports that a majority of the estimated 40 million people in the Lake Chad Basin live in poor conditions, partly due to Boko Haram’s attacks.

Civilians need assistance and are asking Cameroonian authorities and the U.N., to help them create better conditions, notes Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of Cameroon’s Far North region on the border with Nigeria and Chad.

Bakari says that economic activity is picking up gradually after more than 10 years of inactivity due to instability caused by Boko Haram attacks. He says within the past 5 months, civilians and merchants have been travelling freely with their goods between Cameroon, Nigeria and Chad.

He also said although there is apparent calm, Cameroonian troops fighting terrorism on the northern border with Nigeria are on standby to protect civilians, should there be a large-scale attack by jihadist groups.

Cameroon’s government says it has allocated 300 million dollars to reconstruct infrastructure destroyed by Boko Haram. It says that in some of the relatively calm areas, construction of schools, water wells and toilets and dozens of markets and hospitals has begun.

Officials from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria met in Cameroon’s capital Yaounde on October 8 and agreed to work together to rebuild areas destroyed by Boko Haram.

The officials said the Lake Chad basin is gradually returning to normalcy since Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was declared dead in May.

Still, they said unemployment may be pushing young people to join the jihadist group, which continues to recruit in the area.

Source: Voice of America

New Airstrike Hits Capital of Ethiopia’s Tigray Region

Ethiopian forces carried out an airstrike Thursday on Mekelle, their third on the Tigray regional capital this week, as the government attempts to weaken the Tigrayan forces they’ve been fighting for almost a year.

Spokesman Legesse Tulu told reporters the airstrike targeted a training center for Tigrayan forces. He said the base previously was used by Ethiopian forces in the area.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

War erupted nearly a year ago between Ethiopian troops and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which governed Ethiopia for three decades but now rules only the northern Tigray region.

Mekelle has not seen large-scale fighting since June, when Ethiopian forces withdrew from the area and Tigray forces retook control of most of the region. Following that, the conflict continued to spill into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar.

Last week, Tigray forces said the Ethiopian military had launched a ground offensive to push them out of Amhara and to recapture territory lost to them several months ago.

U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Tuesday that U.N. colleagues “are alarmed at the intensification of the conflict and once again reminded all parties to the conflict of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.”

Source: Voice of America