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Howard Mittman resigns.
Condé Nast’s chief business officer, Howard Mittman, has resigned after a decade with the company, according to reports.
Citing a Condé spokesman, WWD reports that Mittman will depart August 11th to serve as the “business-side head at a large, digital-only property.”
After spending several years as VP and publisher at Wired, Mittman was shifted to publisher and chief revenue officer at GQ in 2014 before being promoted, earlier this year, to oversee all of the company’s men’s titles as part of a broader reorganization that partially phased out the publisher role at the company — with the exceptions of The New Yorker and Vogue notwithstanding.
The men’s titles, according to WWD, will now fall under the purview of Kim Kelleher, who currently oversees Condé’s women’s titles. Kelleher will evidently continue to report to chief business officer and president of revenue Jim Norton as the company seeks a replacement to serve in Kelleher’s now-previous role.
UPDATE: Mittman signed on with Bleacher Report on July 24th as chief revenue officer and chief marketing officer.
A new owner for the East Bay Express.
Oakland, CA-based Telegraph Media has purchased a controlling stake in local alt-weekly East Bay Express from former majority owner Jay Youngdahl, expanding its portfolio of print and digital publications serving the region.
The company, which publishes Oakland and Alameda magazines, among others, is owned by former East Bay Express editor Stephen Buel and his wife, Judith Gallman, who have held a minority stake in the Express since 2007, according to a release.
The new owners intend to continue to publish the Express as a “separate and editorially unique publication,” according to an announcement attributed to the Express editorial staff, which notes that “the total staff size of the two companies is expected to remain the same or grow.”
Not staying on for the Express‘s next chapter, however, will be its editor, Nick White, who took over the weekly a little over a year ago after joining from the Sacramento News & Review.
“The good news: These new owners care deeply about EBX, the East Bay and journalism,” White tweeted Wednesday evening. “The other news: I won’t be part of the new East Bay Express team.”
Returning to fill White’s role will be Kathleen Richards, who worked at the Express from 2007 to 2014, most recently as co-editor, before spending two years as managing editor of Seattle’s The Stranger.
“I am especially thrilled for Stephen [Buel], Judy [Gallman], Bob [Gammon] and Kathleen [Richards] — journalists I respect and admire,” added White.
Hearst bets big on The Pioneer Woman.
When the Walmart-exclusive 150,000-copy run of the debut issue of Hearst Magazines’ latest launch, The Pioneer Woman, sold out in a week, Hearst printed an additional 100,000 copies to meet demand.
A month later, Hearst isn’t hedging any bets for the magazine’s second go-around.
The company announced Thursday an increase to 500,000 copies for the Ree Drummond title’s follow-up issue — expected to arrive in September — alongside expanded distribution to a litany of nationwide chains including Barnes & Noble, Costco, CVS, Kroger, and Hudson News, among several others.
Hearst Magazines president Michael Clinton hailed The Pioneer Woman as the latest fruit of a now-proven strategy of partnering with strong personalities to launch successful new magazine brands. The Ree Drummond title follows in the footsteps of similar launches by Hearst — O, The Oprah Magazine, Food Network Magazine, and HGTV Magazine — and others, like Meredith’s Rachael Ray Every Day and The Magnolia Journal, which has seen similar distribution increases after a successful initial run.
“Partnerships are a key element of Hearst Magazines’ strategy and success, and we’re excited to be able to bring The Pioneer Woman Magazine to even more fans around the country,” said Clinton in a statement.
For every success story, however, there are cautionary tales — like Dr. Oz The Good Life, which lost most of its staff to layoffs earlier this year amid an ongoing transition to a more “bookazine”-type format.
Join us October 9th to 11th!
Below are just a handful of the expert speakers assembled for the Folio: Show, October 9th to 11th in New York. For more information, or to register, click here.
W staffs up.
W magazine is expanding its fashion department, the Condé Nast title revealed Thursday, announcing a handful of new appointments.
Notable names joining the ranks are Love magazine founder Katie Grand, named contributed fashion creative director, and Sara Moonves, who has been hired as style director. Moonves moves over to W from Vogue, where she was a contributing fashion editor. Prior to joining Condé Nast, Moonves was senior fashion editor at T: The New York Times Style Magazine.
Additionally, Rickie De Sole, who has been with the title since joining from Vogue in 2015, is promoted to fashion director. De Sole’s promotion is effective immediately, while Grand and Moonves will begin making their mark on the Stefano Tonchi-helmed book this Fall.


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Meliá Hotels International projects 55 new openings, with a total of 13,500 rooms, during the 2021-2023 period.
While the Chairman and founder of the Group, Gabriel Escarrer Juliá, detailed the commitment expressed by the company to its Stakeholders in the face of the greatest challenge in the history of tourism, Meliá's Executive Vice President and CEO explained the keys to the company's response to Covid, and the progress made in digitalization and operational efficiency.
We are on the threshold of a global recovery, which we at Meliá plan to take advantage of to grow, recover lost value and multiply it in the future for our shareholders, partners, employees, customers, suppliers and society in general. After 15 months in the negative, we expect to obtain positive Ebitda starting this June.
Although uncertainty remains important and although we must maintain an attitude of prudence, the big change is that, thanks to vaccines and improvements in transmission control, if the current positive trend continues, we can put a date on overcoming this crisis and place the beginning of what will be a consistent recovery in the second half of this year.
Gabriel Escarrer Jaume Executive Vice President & CEO of Meliá
Gabriel Escarrer informed shareholders that the Mallorcan hotel company currently has 200 hotels open around the world, some 70 of them in Spain, and the forecast is to exceed 300 hotels open before the end of the year.
He also emphasized the plan called "The Day After", which aims to drive and accelerate the company's transformation based on three pillars: digitalization, organizational evolution and sustainability.
Regarding expansion, the executive recalled that, to date, 11 new hotels have been signed in 2021, a figure that they expect to at least double during the year, in all cases under "asset-light" formulas, as well as 55 openings and 13,500 rooms in the 2021-2023 period.
Escarrer stressed the importance of the collaboration between the administrations and the private sector in favor of the recovery and that a substantial part of the European reconstruction funds should be allocated to tourism.
For his part, the chairman of the board of directors and founder of the hotel company, Gabriel Escarrer Julià, pointed out that MHI will celebrate its first 65 years of history in 2021. He also highlighted the role and responsibility of family businesses and framed the responsible and collaborative management that the company has developed with its employees, customers, suppliers, hotel owners, shareholders and the third sector, throughout the 15 months since the declaration of the health crisis, within the family business values.
In six decades as a global company we have lived through numerous crises and complex situations, but we have never experienced an impact so extensive and deep that we had to close almost 100 percent of our hotels simultaneously.
I encourage our institutions to correct this direction because it will be difficult to achieve a robust, sustainable, equitable and inclusive recovery if tourism businesses and destinations, which need more than ever a rescue and a boost to their competitiveness, are not taken care of.
Gabriel Escarrer Julià Chairman of the Board and founder of MIH.

domain: news


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Large firms urged to mark difficult year at awards
CELEBRATING business success has never been so important – that’s the message from The News' Business Excellence Awards latest sponsor.
Portsmouth City Council said it is once again delighted and excited to be sponsoring the Large Business of the Year award.
The awards, set to take place on Thursday, July 8, will see 15 awards handed out across a range of categories, all created with the purpose of helping Portsmouth shine.
Deputy leader of the council Steve Pitt encouraged people to enter in order to mark the successes of a difficult year.
He said: ‘It has been a very difficult year for all our businesses but I am so proud of everything we have done across the council, working in partnership with so many organisations and people to help our businesses survive.
‘For example our crowdfunding platform in partnership with Shaping Portsmouth has helped 31 businesses achieve £286,000 in funding. We have paid out more than £56m in grants and provided £46m in rate relief so far with more grants and rate relief on the way.
‘We have provided grants to 44 per cent of all of our 8,000 businesses in the city. The helpline has helped 5,400 business callers.
‘The city is proud of achieving the award as Most Entrepreneurial City in 2020 and winning the FSB award for the Most Business Friendly Council in the Wessex area in 2019.
‘Our economic growth team provides many services for businesses including the amazing Covid business support helpline, our weekly e-business bulletin, grants, the inward investment service, research and intelligence on the economy, and much more.’
Pat Smith, from lead sponsor the University of Portsmouth, said: ‘We greatly admire the huge passion it has in championing businesses of all sizes.
‘It offers great support to businesses and it has done a fantastic job throughout the pandemic to ensure every business was given help and that essential grant funding was out quickly. I am sure they will have many entries from businesses who employ more than 25 employees and I am excited to see who wins.’


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Watch Microsoft's RoomAlive Prototype Turn an Entire Room Into a Game
It's not quite a holodeck, but it's not far off either.
Last year, there was some speculation that Microsoft's IllumiRoom project, which uses a Kinect and a projector to extend a game world from the confines of the TV screen to the rest of the room, would be used with the Xbox One. Microsoft later explained that the technology was too expensive to include with a home console, but the company didn't stop working on it.
A new video posted to YouTube by Microsoft Research shows the progress it made with IllumiRoom, now called RoomAlive, which doesn't even use a TV. Instead, the new prototype uses a Kinect and a number of video projectors to scan every surface in the room to turn it into an "augmented entertainment experience."
It can project images to fit surfaces, and allow players to interact with them by detecting their movements. In one part of the video, you can see a user playing whack-a-mole, chasing a creature around the room, and in another we can see a how a gun can be used to fire at targets as they pop up on different walls.
"In the future we will explore approaches and experiences that involve multiple users and multi-user viewpoint rendering," the team that created RoomAlive said. "We will also explore new ways to increase immersion with spatialized sound. RoomAlive provides a glimpse of how a scalable multi-projector system can transform any room into an immersive augmented gaming experience. Many new and exciting possibilities remain to be explored."
What games would you like to see take advantage of this technology? Let us know in the comments below.


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The nation’s fastest-selling cars are also disproportionately luxury cars. Five of the 10 fastest selling cars include models from Audi, BMW, Land Rover, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz. Lyman noted that while belt-tightening lowered demand for luxury cars during the recession, “the recovery following the downturn [got] us back to where we were in 2007,” in terms of luxury vehicles’ share of the overall market.
One important factor that can help boost demand for a car is a recent redesign. TrueCar’s Lyman told 24/7 Wall St. that cars are often an emotional purchase for buyers. This sometimes helps make recently redesigned models become popular. “Everybody wants something that is the latest and greatest, that they can show off to their friends or family. Something they haven’t seen before,” Lyman said. Information sent to 24/7 Wall St. by Lyman shows that most of the fastest-selling cars had either full redesigns, or tweaks to at least one new key component, in recent years.
To determine America’s fastest-selling cars, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed days-to-turn figures provided by TrueCar, an information and technology platform for car buyers. This figure measures the average number of days a particular model spent on dealers’ lots following its arrival until it was sold. Additionally, TrueCar provided figures on sales by model, as well as the average transaction price and average dollar value of incentives offered for the first six months of both 2013 and 2014. We also reviewed monthly sales releases published by auto manufacturers.
Manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) figures, come from the manufacturers’ websites.
These are America’s fastest-selling cars.
10. Kia Soul
> Days to turn: 37.7
> Year-to-date sales: 74,999
> Avg. transaction price: $19,147
Few cars take less time to turn over than the Kia Soul, which spent an average of just 37.7 days on dealer lots before being sold. The new generation Soul provided a major boost to Kia’s sales in the first half of 2014. The number of Souls sold rose by 19%, from 63,031 in the first six months of 2013 to 74,999 in the first half of this year.
Due in part to the Soul’s strong sales, Kia recorded its best first half in terms of U.S. volume sales in company history. This was despite the fact that sales of the Optima, Kia’s most popular model, were effectively flat. Dealers also benefited from the Soul’s strong sales, as the average Soul transaction price rose by 3.5% from the first six months of 2013, to $19,147.
9. Ford Explorer
> Days to turn: 36.2
> Year-to-date sales: 104,460
> Avg. transaction price: $37,615
Ford Motor Co.’s (NYSE: F) Explorer is not just one of the nation’s best-selling cars with 104,460 units sold through the first six months of the year, but it is also one of the fastest sellers on the market. The average Explorer spent just over five weeks at a dealer’s lot before being sold.
Compared to other models with a low number of days to turn, Explorer customers received a large average sales incentive recently of $3,635 per car. Explorers are popular not only with households but also with U.S. police departments. Sales of the police version of the Explorer, the Police Interceptor Utility, totaled nearly 9,500 in the first six months of 2014, up 59% from the same time period in 2013.
8. Honda Odyssey
> Days to turn: 33.4
> Year-to-date sales: 63,297
> Avg. transaction price: $34,429
Although sales of the Honda Odyssey have declined somewhat this year compared to the first six months of 2013, few cars sold as quickly during the period. The Odyssey sold quickly despite the current generation being already a few years old, having been first introduced in 2011.
Honda Motor Co. Ltd. (HMC) currently sells the Odyssey in five trims, ranging in MSRP from $28,825 for the LX trim to $44,450 for the Touring Elite trim. The 2014 Touring Elite has one truly novel feature: a built-in vacuum cleaner that stretches 16.5 feet, enough to reach anywhere in the car's interior, according to Car and Driver.
7. Toyota Tacoma
> Days to turn: 20.1
> Year-to-date sales: 75,149
> Avg. transaction price: $29,148
The Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) Tacoma has been a relatively strong seller in the compact truck market for years. However, competition in the sector is strong, with General Motors Co. (GM) about to release the next generation Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon.
Nissan, too, has made progress in the sector, with sales of the Nissan Frontier in the first six months of 2014 up by more than 6,000 vehicles, or 22.6%, to nearly 36,000. By comparison, sales of the Tacoma in that time have fallen by about 6,000 units, or 7.4%, to just over 75,000. Yet, the Tacoma remains one of the fastest-selling cars in the United States, taking less than three weeks to turn on average.
6. Audi Q5
> Days to turn: 17.5
> Year-to-date sales: 19,928
> Avg. transaction price: $46,572
Sales of the Audi Q5 crossover SUV in the first half of 2014 are up 8.8% compared to the same period last year. Additionally, no other Audi model sold more vehicles in the country than the Q5, with 19,928 units sold in the year through June. The Q5’s strong performance also helped Audi set a new company record for first half sales in the United States, with 84,349 vehicles sold.
The Q5 starts at an MSRP of $38,900, although base prices can run as high as $60,200 for the Prestige trim of the SQ5, the high-end version of the vehicle. The average transaction price for an Audi Q5 in the first half of the year was $46,572, according to TrueCar.
5. Mercedes Benz GL Class
> Days to turn: 17.1
> Year-to-date sales: 11,726
> Avg. transaction price: $80,890
Although sales are down 21.5% in the first six months of 2014 versus the same time last year, fewer cars sold as quickly as the Mercedes Benz GL Class. Even the high price of a GL Class model did not appear to deter buyers from quickly grabbing up cars. Mercedes sells four GL Class trims, at MSRPs ranging from $63,000 for the GL350 to $118,160 for the GL63 AMG -- part of Mercedes Benz’s high-performance AMG line. The GL Class competes with Cadillac’s Escalade and a range of other cars in the full-size luxury SUV segment.
4. BMW X5 Series
> Days to turn: 15.4
> Year-to-date sales: 22,438
> Avg. transaction price: $64,375
Last year, BMW lost its position as the nation’s leader in luxury car sales to Mercedes-Benz. In the first six months of this year, BMW holds a slight lead, with 157,382 vehicle sales versus 151,624 for Mercedes-Benz.
The X5 has been one of the German automaker’s most in-demand models this year, with 22,438 units sold in an average of barely more than 15 days to turn. And buyers are willing to pay more for an X5. The transaction price has risen by 11.3% from an average of $57,822 in the first six months of last year to an average of $64,375 this year.
3. Subaru Forester
> Days to turn: 14.8
> Year-to-date sales: 74,400
> Avg. transaction price: $27,360
Motor Trend named the Subaru Forester 2014’s SUV of the Year. Now in its second model year since its redesign, the Forester had very strong sales in the first six months of this year. They jumped by 46.6% to 74,400 units from 50,748 units in the first six months of 2013. Sales increased despite Subaru cutting the average incentive offered on a Forester from $1,026 in the first six months of 2013 to $459 in the same period this year.
The average transaction price for a Subaru Forester has also risen more than 5%, from $25,973 to $27,360. However, not all owners are necessarily happy with Subaru. A recent lawsuit claims a number of Subaru vehicles “prematurely burn off and/or consume abnormal and excessive amounts of engine oil.”
2. Lexus GX
> Days to turn: 14.5
> Year-to-date sales: 10,276
> Avg. transaction price: $56,503
The Lexus GX has been in especially high demand through the first half of 2014, spending barely two weeks on dealers’ lots before being sold. Sales of the GX totaled more than 10,000 units in the first half of 2014, well more than double the 4,415 units sold in the first half of last year.
Strong sales of the GX helped boost Lexus sales in the first six months of 2014 by more than 17% from the year before. Helping drive GX sales, Lexus slightly redesigned the model’s front-end for 2014 and began marketing the GX at a nearly $5,000 lower starting MSRP. The average transaction price for a Lexus GX during the first half of this year was $56,503, down from $58,885 the year before.
1. Land Rover Range Rover
> Days to turn: 9.3
> Year-to-date sales: 5,965
> Avg. transaction price: $111,897
Few cars carry the appeal among luxury buyers of the Land Rover Range Rover. Now in its fourth generation, it takes dealers an average of barely nine days to turn over a Range Rover, by far the fastest time of any car on the market.
According to a recent report by the Financial Times, U.K. car exports have been booming in recent years, with much of the boost coming from luxury car-makers such as Land Rover. In the first half of this year, sales of the Range Rover are up 12% from the year before, with nearly 6,000 sold in the year through June.
In the case of the Range Rover, TrueCar’s Lyman added, buyers are often buying the model before it arrives at the dealership. “It’s just taking, on average, nine days for the intended buyer to come visit the dealership, fill out the paperwork, and drive it home,” he said.


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Microsoft’s latest hardware product — Surface Duo has been announced and is now available for purchase in the United States. The early reviews of the device indicate that the product doesn’t live up to the expectations.
Amid all these, fan-made concept renders of the Microsoft Surface Solo smartphone have surfaced online. It showcases what the company could make as a standalone typical smartphone and not the experimental dual-display device.
The renders showcase a smartphone with minimal bezels and a punch-hole cutout at the top-center to house the front-facing camera sensor. On the backside, there’s a single camera sensor and an LED flash at the top-left corner. The phone, which features round corners, has a USB Type-C port
Do note that these are just concept renders by Jonas Daehnert and the company isn’t working on a Surface Solo smartphone. There are no reports of Microsoft developing a typical Android-powered mobile phone, so even if something like this is to happen, it isn’t happening anytime soon.
While the Microsoft Surface Duo smartphone with dual-display and a customized Android operating system has been launched, the company has delayed the launch of its Surface Neo with a similar dual-display concept.
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latest pub news, offers & events
Published on 28/01/2020
Once again the UK's finest food critics have been out and about in force, voting in the annual Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards.......and this pub has made it onto their list. So make sure you book yourself a table. You can be sure it will be well, well worth it.
Follow the link to…
Published on 23/05/2018 [Expired]
Some very talented chefs have, rather excitingly, named us as one of the 25 best British pubs to eat at. You can find us in the guide which is out now: https://uylo.co/wherechefseat or even better, you can pop in and see for yourself why we made the cut!
Published on 30/01/2018 [Expired]
We are delighted to announce that we have been voted as one of the top 50 gastropubs in the UK in the Estrella Damm Awards 2018!
The Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropub Awards are voted for by top foodies and hospitality experts. These include gastropub operators (who can’t vote for their own…


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Phenomenal deal brings daily ICC cricket near-live action to fans on the go
New internet TV service DEOD (Digital Entertainment on Demand) by on-demand solutions provider, Discover Digital, has secured the near-live short-form digital rights for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2017 and the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 tournaments and has been appointed the exclusive aggregator in Sub-Saharan African by the Channel 2 Group for all ICC tournaments up to and including and the 2019 ICC World Cup.
Discover Digital announced today that it had been awarded the short-form digital rights to the two prestigious cricket tournaments and appointed aggregator by Dubai-based Channel 2 Group, which is the official licensor of ICC’s digital content in various territories around the world. In addition to being the exclusive digital rights licensor in Sub Saharan Africa, Channel 2 Group also holds the exclusive global audio rights of the ICC until the 2023 World Cup.
Tim Cook, Senior Manager: Sports at Discover Digital, describes the deal as ‘huge’ for South Africa. It will allow DEOD to take near-live highlights of the events to South African cricket fans within minutes of them happening throughout the day. “It’s phenomenal. For the first time, South Africans will have access to near-live short-form content to stay on top of what’s happening, on the go, in the most important cricket tournament after the World Cup. They will be able to see the most spectacular moments and track the progress of the world’s leading cricketing teams – including South Africa – throughout the tournaments during every hour of play. We have created a Cricket package to cover both of these tournaments costing just R10, so fans don’t have to subscribe to our Premium Package if they just want cricket. The content will of course be available to our Sports OnDemand and DEOD Premium Customers too at no additional cost.”
Stephen Watson, Managing Director of Discover Digital, says: “This is a significant deal in the sports space, taking a major mainstream event out of the pay-TV arena to a much broader audience. We have seen a massive trend towards near-live short-form action content, as many people simply don’t have the time to sit and watch a whole day of sports, but they still want to keep up to date with the action. This is a fantastic way for fans to keep up with a tournament like this wherever they are, and they don’t have to wait for a sports roundup at the end of the day.” Watson says the deal takes the mainstream sport of International Cricket to all viewers, and allows sponsor brands to extend their reach while new brands can now associate themselves with the sport. “It’s perfect for busy sports fans on the go, and it’s ideal for mobile viewers, so we are keen to partner with brands and telcos to take it to their customer bases too,” says Watson. “Discover Digital will also be extending this partnership and exciting content licensing opportunity to ASEAN & Australia, engaging partners in these territories that wish to work with us and C2G.”
DEOD has created a dedicated OnDemand Category for the ICC tournaments, starting with the ICC Champions Trophy which runs from 1 – 18 June in England and Wales. All the key action plays will be shared, giving fans ongoing updates of the most exciting moments of the event within minutes of key match action. Access to DEOD enables a lot more near-live content to be viewed than is generally available through other public platforms. The ICC Women’s World Cup from June 24 – July 23 will also have a pop-up channel. Highlights from the tournaments will also be featured as part of DSN – DEOD Sports Network. The DSN content will also include build-up content, analysis and interviews before and after the matches.
Mr Sethi, chairman of Channel 2 Group says: “The digital property created by the ICC has massive appeal to cricket fans who might not normally have access to live paid-TV. The adoption of short-form near-live content by millennials and smart device consumers opens up a whole new digital market for sports rights holders and key partnerships with telecommunications businesses. We are delighted to partner with Discover Digital, who has a firm understanding of the potential of this content and innovative strategies and technology to maximise its reach.


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This release takes care of two important features – Performance and Security primarily, along with few other things.
Reducing page load time and performance issues have been the focus of Magento team for sometime now, in that direction, Magento 1.9.2 comes with Zend Framework and Redis Integration. To ensure online store owners are able to serve and store more content the Cache system has been modified. Also, if you are one of those sites that allows downloadables, the issue of performance degradation has been effectively addressed.
These performance enhancements are timely in the light of latest research by Radware that indicates, “the top 500 American retail sites actually are 16% slower than they were a year ago. The average e-commerce site’s load time has increased from last year’s 7.36 seconds to 8.56 seconds.”
Read the above information with this piece of research: “a business loses roughly 25% of its online visitors if its site takes over 4 seconds to load.”
So, it really makes sense for online store owners to make this upgrade to Magento 1.9.2.
Second important feature of Magento 1.9.2 is Security, this upgrade offers protection from most know XSS and SQL injection attacks, two known methods by which cyber-criminals attack the sites.
Consider this, credit card security being one of the most important components of eCommerce security was breached in the year 2007 by what is infamously known as TJX security breach, this resulted in 94 million accounts being compromised with losses exceeding $70 million due to fraud leading to lawsuit filed by over 300 banks against TJX. The attacker was finally caught who informed he exploited “SQL Injection vulnerabilities to net over 130 million credit cards.”
Apart from SQL injection another type of vulnerability that exists is Cross Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. Cross site scripting attacks can occur when applications take untrusted data from users and send it to web browsers without properly validating or “treating” that data to ensure it isn’t malicious. XSS can be used to take over user accounts, change website content, or redirect visitors to malicious websites without their knowledge.
Few other features that make Magento 1.9.2 better are, automated functional testing framework provided with access to 170 automated functional tests, widgets can now be included into CMS page, email alerts can be sent, regions are displayed in alphabetical order on checkout page etc.
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Scareware Writer Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison
December 17, 2012 4:31 PM
comment(s) - last by
He was also ordered to pay $650,000 in forfeiture
A Swedish man was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to selling rogue antivirus software in an international cybercrime ring.
Mikael Patrick Sallnert, 37, was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Marsha J. Pechman in the Western District of Washington. He received a four-year prison sentence and was ordered to pay $650,000 in forfeiture.
Sallnert was a credit card processor in an international cybercrime ring. He sold rogue antivirus software, or
which advertises that it will protect a user's computer from viruses, but instead does the opposite.
About 960,000 people were affected, and the cybercrime ring netted about $71 million from the scheme.
Sallnert was arrested in Denmark in January 2012 and extradited to the United States in March. He plead guilty in August to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of accessing a protected computer in furtherance of fraud.
“Mikael Patrick Sallnert played an instrumental role in carrying out a massive cybercrime ring that victimized approximately 960,000 innocent victims,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. “By facilitating payment processing, Sallnert allowed the cybercrime ring to collect millions of dollars from victims who were duped into believing their computers were compromised and could be fixed by the bogus software created by Sallnert’s co-conspirators. Cybercrime poses a real threat to American consumers and businesses, and the Justice Department is committed to pursuing cybercriminals across the globe.”
Earlier this year,
Symantec was sued
for allegedly selling scareware.
James Gross from Washington State filed the suit against Symantec in a court in the Northern District of California, hoping that it will turn into a class action covering anyone that has purchased Symantec software. Gross alleges that the firms Registry Mechanic software installed on his computer told him that it had found multiple errors with his machined and after paying the $29.95 for the software, he alleges it did nothing.
U.S. Department of Justice
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
12/17/2012 6:29:04 PM
I certainly hope the co-conspirators get prosecuted as well. This guy was important to the scheme but his role could have been done by anyone. The software writers are the ones that need some serious fines and prison time.
"If you mod me down, I will become more insightful than you can possibly imagine." -- Slashdot
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iPhone at 10: Fascinating Facts About the Apple Phone on its Birthday
Photo: Featured Image Credit: David Paul Morris / Getty Images
Today marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the first generation iPhone, a device that revolutionized consumer technology. On June 29th, 2017, the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs took to the stage at the MacWorld Expo in order to unveil the smartphone, with it going on to help catapult Apple into one of the top 10 highest-earning companies in the world.
On its tenth anniversary, let’s take a look at a selection of fascinating facts from the iPhone’s history.
The first ever iPhone prototype was made in 1983.
Apple had its eyes on smartphones as early as the ’80s, with computer developer Hartmut Esslinger being tasked by Apple to create a landline phone with features reminiscent of what we would later see in the iPhone and iPad.
Equipped with a stylus and touchscreen, the phone wasn’t exactly a looker and it was never released to market, but it’s interesting to see evidence of the process behind the creation of Apple’s revolutionary device.
It was code named the M68.
Unsurprisingly, Apple didn’t want anyone to know about the iPhone before it had been revealed. As such, they adopted a code name for the device: the M68. This is how all Apple employees would refer to the upcoming smartphone, though this isn’t the only preventative measure Steve Jobs put in place to ensure word of the device wouldn’t spread…
Even Apple’s employees didn’t know what it would look like.
Yes, Jobs was so secretive about the iPhone that he ensured even his own employees wouldn’t be able to leak conclusive details about it. Refusing to give hardware developers information about the device’s software, and software developers no information regarding its hardware, many Apple employees were just as curious as viewers of its reveal event about what the phone would look like.
Greg Packer was the first person to buy the iPhone.
Greg Packer, a “professional line sitter,” is widely recognized as the first person to purchase the first generation iPhone. Packer spent four days camping outside the 5th Avenue Apple Store to be the first to get his hands on the smartphone, alongside a sign asking passersby for donations.
Steve Jobs unveiled the device with a classic quote.
By now we’re all abundantly aware of Apple’s penchant for hyperbole, but back in 2007 Steve Jobs confidently changed the way Silicon Valley would stage their product reveals forever.
Taking to the stage at MacWorld 2007, Jobs said: “Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one: is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second: is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device. An iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator. An iPod, a phone… are you getting it? These are not three separate devices, this is one device, and we are calling it iPhone.”
The announcement was met with a huge ovation from attendees, though one figurehead of a major Apple rival was left unconvinced…
Steve Ballmer said the iPhone had “no chance.”
At the time of the iPhone’s announcement, Microsoft’s then-CEO Steve Ballmer famously slammed the new device. In an interview with USA Today, he said: “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It’s a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I’d prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get.”
Steve Ballmer later went on to make one of Microsoft’s most costly mistakes, with him buying out the struggling smartphone firm Nokia. The move was eventually branded a “$7.6 million mistake,” highlighting Ballmer’s poor grasp of the smartphone market.
Steve Jobs made a prank call when first revealing it.
During the iPhone’s reveal event Steve Jobs made a prank call to Starbucks, ordering 4,000 lattes for its attendees.
Watch the prank call below:
The time on iPhone ads is always 9:41.
The time on all photos advertising the iPhone reads 9:41, in reference to the time that the device was announced by Jobs.
The App Store had 500 apps when it first opened.
For comparison, the App Store currently has around 2.2 million apps.
Apple always liked Bono.
When Apple automatically downloaded U2’s album Songs of Innocence onto users’ iTunes libraries, they were widely criticized. But, that wasn’t the first time that Bono had covertly inserted himself into an Apple product. Up until 2005, the music icon displayed on iPhone products featured the silhouette of the U2 frontman.


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If you’ve been paying attention lately, it seems that everywhere you turn, you see signs posted that are saying the same thing:
Due to supply chain shortages, we are running low on some items and stock. We apologize for any inconvenience.
You may not have stopped to consider how most of your groceries and other products make it from their original manufacturer or farm to store shelves. While the full explanation would take more than a short blog, the reality is that the nation – and the globe at large – operates on a finely-tuned supply chain.
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted nearly every aspect of life as we know it. From store and business closures to interstate long-haul trucking shortages, the pandemic has impacted the supply chain in ways we could never have imagined.
While some industries have been able to find alternative means of transporting goods, many are still flying by the seat of their pants. The grocery and restaurant industry has been especially hard hit as long-distance supply chains have been disrupted.
At Fields & Table, we are committed to continuing to provide the highest-quality food to our customers – even when faced with difficult supply line problems. Let’s take a closer look at how the pandemic has impacted supply lines and how we can begin to chart a path forward as the pandemic begins to subside.
How Supply Chains Work In The Grocery Industry
There are a few key points to remember about how the grocery supply chain works. These include:
- Food processing, packaging, and distribution are highly centralized. Most food companies have facilities located in just a handful of states or even countries. This makes it very easy for a disease outbreak to travel quickly through the entire country if one facility is affected.
- Because food is perishable, it cannot be stockpiled. Companies and stores must constantly restock their products. This means that if there are disruptions in production, the shelves will run empty quickly.
- The majority of grocery store items need to be processed at some point during transportation or storage. If a processing plant closes because an employee falls ill or the facility becomes contaminated, there are many other companies and processing plants to draw from. However, if a company’s trucks do not move for a long time due to road closures, gas shortages, or damage to the vehicle fleet, grocery store shelves will quickly empty as food spoils.
- Food is typically shipped in large quantities. The majority of food companies sell to grocery stores in bulk to not process or package every item individually. This makes it very easy for the supply chains to be disrupted if a disease outbreak occurs.
- Most grocery stores and large retail chains will carry only one brand of a given product. As such, there are only a few suppliers in the country. If one of these suppliers has a problem, there will be very little inventory for other stores to draw from.
You can see how quickly disruptions and problems along the supply chain could lead to empty grocery store shelves. And when you’re hungry and have no food, it’s not just an inconvenience – it’s a crucial and an immediate matter of life and death.
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Disrupted The Supply Chain
In the grocery industry, we are no stranger to supply chain disruptions. We have learned that there are constant issues in each industry that we work directly with. If you can name it, your favorite store has probably been impacted by it:
- Road closures
- Spoiled or inedible produce from suppliers
- Shutdowns from unsafe working conditions at some facilities
- Production shortages
- Inventory shortfalls from food distributors
- Acts of nature (flooding, forest fires, etc.) and work stoppages
However, the COVID-19 virus outbreak was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events that had the power to shut down entire industries for weeks at a time. We learned during the pandemic that just as we expect grocery stores to be fully stocked and operational, the same goes for their suppliers. Many companies were forced to close due to employee illness or facility contamination, leading to chain reactions that caused further closures as hundreds of other facilities closed down.
Even as the pandemic began to release its grip, we are still feeling the impacts of COVID-19 on supply chains. There are two main aspects that our team at Fields & Table have noticed as of late:
1. A lack of a labor force to keep up with demand
This can include temporary labor shortages and a lack of qualified personnel to fill roles. From workers at farms and processing plants to long-haul truck drivers responsible for delivering food safely and on time, there just aren’t enough people to fill the roles necessary to keep up with demand.
2. A lack of ability to produce at expected levels
This can include the inability or refusal to adopt new technologies due to outside industries deeming them too risky, some processing plants closing due to contamination, and many more.
Closer to home, we have felt the impacts of COVID-19-induced supply chain shortages.
Our chicken distributor has shared with us that they simply don’t have enough people to process the chickens once they are ready to be processed. This shortage of workers causes a shortage of products because there is a timing effect between each step of the supply chain that no longer takes place.
If the chicken is not processed within 24 hours, it can’t be used for consumption due to health risks and quality controls. The demand for chicken remains high, but the supply is too low to keep up.
The Fields & Table Commitment
In this situation, it’s clear that COVID-19 pandemic caused a huge impact on supply chains for food distribution. It has also shown the cracks in our nation’s supply chain process that our country must now identify and fix to avoid these issues happening again.
At Fields & Table, we are committed to providing the highest-quality food and other products despite supply chain issues. Our team has worked tirelessly to be flexible in all situations, and it is because of their commitment, we can make sure all customer needs are met. We will continue to do everything in our power to keep providing the level of quality and service that we’ve provided since our company was founded.
If you ever have questions about products in stock, or special item requests, you can always ask for a manager in the store, or you can email us anytime


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UFC GYM®, the first major brand extension of UFC®, celebrated a milestone year in 2022 by surpassing expectations on its domestic and international growth. Building on its momentum as one of the largest and fastest-growing operators and franchisors of premium fitness facilities, UFC GYM®’s development of more than 1,000 locations in 40 countries will play an integral role in the organization’s mission to provide a wholistic wellness approach to its unique global member community.
“Coming off of the physical and economic hurdles that have unraveled over the past few years, UFC GYM® and UFC FIT® are poised to make an impact on fitness enthusiasts worldwide with our dynamic TRAIN DIFFERENT approach and industry-leading programming that brings out the purpose in why members go to the gym,” said Adam Sedlack, CEO of UFC GYM®. “We are constantly focused on how we can make a difference in one’s life from a holistic perspective and how training with us can impact lives both in and out of the gym. Now more than ever before, it is about aligning with our customers to provide them with an arena where they can build the best version of themselves. We are not just a gym but rather an open community that allows members of any fitness level to achieve their lifelong physical and mental best. It is our enhanced class experiences developed through technology, and high caliber coaches that provide a training regimen that aligns with how MMA athletes prepare for a fight. We all have a personal fight to win, and through the appreciation of how a UFC athlete trains, we can create an experience that cannot be duplicated outside of our gyms.”
Furthering its rapid expansion and club development of the past year, UFC GYM® and UFC FIT® have 82 domestic locations and 65 international locations in development for 2023. This year, the brand plans for record growth and will open premium fitness facilities in new markets including Brea, California; Bakersfield, California; Hilo, Hawaii; Fort Worth, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta; Pittsburgh; and Seattle, among other domestic locations. New clubs are under construction and in development internationally in China, Germany, Israel, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom and many other countries worldwide.
Last year, UFC GYM® and UFC FIT® unveiled new facilities in San Jose, California; Wayne, New Jersey; and Plantation, Florida; in addition to remodeling and making upgrades to several locations across the United States. The brand launched in new countries throughout the globe, including Australia, Bolivia, Dubai, Egypt, Germany, Israel, India, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Singapore, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates. A complete video recap of 2022 openings and highlights featuring Sedlack is available on UFC GYM®’s YouTube channel.
UFC GYM® also agreed to an exclusive partnership with NxGen Fitness LLC, led by seasoned industry veterans Marc Tascher and Rick Bouza, to expand its extensive portfolio of premier fitness facilities to major metropolitan areas throughout the United States. As part of the agreement, UFC GYM® and NxGen Fitness LLC will develop more than 260 new gyms over the next 12 years, including new Signature UFC GYM® and CLASS UFC GYM® locations. Growth plans include the development of 24 signature UFC GYM® locations by 2023 and 36 additional locations by 2031, as well as the development of more than 200 CLASS UFC GYM® boutique locations.
UFC GYM® was the first to unite the benefits of MMA with fitness. The brand’s TRAIN DIFFERENT® approach provides members with the ultimate fitness experience and programming that secures results for all ages and training levels. Each of the premium fitness facilities offers world-class fitness classes and programmings, such as HIIT, Boxing Conditioning, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Zumba; and integrates and unites fitness technology, recovery, nutrition and workouts to ensure members have an experience that cannot be duplicated at any other facility. The company’s BOX.HIIT.LIVE platform offers access to MMA-inspired fitness virtually with live and video-on-demand classes inspired by the regimens of elite athletes. The brand also utilizes MyZone wearable technology to enrich classes, elevate the overall member experience and bring gym communities together virtually. MyZone allows members to track exact heart rates throughout a workout to measure performance and progress, while the connective technology allows for competitions within individual locations and across the globe. To further support the success of its communities, UFC GYM® has developed specialized pre- and post-workout Recovery treatments to offer a balanced approach to fitness and restore hard working bodies to their full potential. Partnering with industry leaders in recovery technology, UFC GYM® and UFC FIT® offer Recovery services such as NormaTec compression recovery systems, percussion massage therapy, cryotherapy, red light therapy, spray tanning and more. Options to access Recovery services are available to members and non-members alike.
With 160 locations opened and 1,000 additional locations currently in development across 40 countries worldwide, UFC GYM® has revolutionized the fitness industry and positively impacted countless lives across the globe. The rapidly expanding fitness franchise welcomes interested candidates to grow alongside the brand in key markets such as California, Texas, New York, Florida, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. For franchising information, visit www.ufcgymfranchise.com or contact firstname.lastname@example.org. For more information and a list of locations, please visit www.ufcgym.com or www.ufcfit.com.
ABOUT UFC GYM®
UFC GYM® is the first major brand extension of UFC®, the world’s premier MMA organization, created in alliance with New Evolution Ventures™ (NeV), developers of many of the world’s most successful fitness brands. As the first to unite the benefits of MMA with fitness, the brand is not what you expect, and more than you can imagine. UFC GYM’s TRAIN DIFFERENT® approach provides members with the ultimate fitness experience and programming that secures results for all ages and training levels. With 160 locations opened and 1,000 additional locations currently in development globally, UFC GYM has revolutionized the fitness industry and positively impacted countless lives worldwide. In addition to its corporate-owned clubs, UFC GYM offers the opportunity to own and operate a franchise domestically and internationally through the UFC GYM® or UFC FIT® model. For franchise information, contact email@example.com or visit UFCGYMfranchise.com. For more information, please visit UFCGYM.com or UFCFIT.com. Follow UFC GYM on Instagram and Twitter @UFCGYM, Facebook.com/UFCGYM, and youtube.com/UFCGYM.


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Fast fashion outlet Missguided has gone into administration.
Per The Guardian, the online fashion retailer had been in talks for a “rescue bid”, but nothing was secured.
On Monday, administrators from public relations and advisory company Teneo were appointed after suppliers, who are reportedly owed millions of pounds, issued a winding-up petition.
The UK-based outlet first launched in 2009 with its headquarters in Manchester and has expanded across the globe to the USA, Australia and parts of Europe, even launching in the Middle East back in 2019 with its very own Dubai Mall store.
Missguided reportedly now has about 330 employees and administrators are now working to sell the assets of the fashion e-tailer.
There had been talks for fast fashion outlet Boohoo to buy Missguided, as well as JD Sports and ASOS, however nothing was able to be finalised.
According to Teneo, Missguided will still continue to trade as it seeks a buyer.
At present, comments on some of Missguided’s recent Instagram posts have been disabled.
All of this begs the question: what does the future hold for fast fashion?
– For more on luxury lifestyle, news, fashion and beauty follow Emirates Woman on Facebook and Instagram
Images/Media: Missguided Instagram


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Systech Named a Winner in the Mondelēz Challenge During AIPIA Summit
PRINCETON, NJ – (July 15, 2019) Systech was named as a winner in the Mondelēz Challenge during the AIPIA Summit of the Americas in Jersey City, New Jersey. Mondelēz International, a leading global provider of high-quality snack foods, invited companies to propose solutions that can help them incorporate active and intelligent packaging technologies across their broad portfolio of brands. Three winners were chosen by senior Mondelēz executives—Systech, BlueBite, and HP Indigo.
Counterfeiting and product diversion are prevalent in all supply chains, including the food industry, placing top brands at risk of compromising customer loyalty and lost revenue. Having secured the world’s pharma supply chains for decades, Systech is now poised to bring its unparalleled brand protection solutions to the food industry. The same technology that protects billions of pharma products yearly will help keep the food industry’s top brands authentic, safe and connected across the supply chain.
Systech’s breakthrough digital brand protection technology is the only solution to use existing package barcodes to deliver real-time, end-to-end authentication—from manufacturing to the consumer’s hands.
“Companies like Mondelēz are looking to protect their brands by deploying intelligent packaging solutions that provide data-enriched product insight across the supply chain. This insight helps them prevent product counterfeiting and diversion, while enabling enhanced consumer engagement and customer loyalty programs.” commented Joe Belenardo, Senior Vice President, Systech. Mr. Belenardo continued, “Systech’s Brand Protection Suite™ leverages what already exists—a QR or barcode—to protect an organization’s brand and products across the supply chain. Our technology turns a QR or barcode into a unique digital e-Fingerprint® that’s impossible to duplicate. Using a smartphone app, anyone can instantly authenticate products anywhere in the supply chain.”
Jefferson Barr, VP Marketing


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At the end of March, Austrian sporting goods chain Hervis Sports, which belongs to the Spar group, opened a new bike flagship store after transforming a regular multi-category store in the Stadlau district of Vienna. In the local industrial park, Hervis presents everything related to bikes on 2,000 square meters. It sports an open bike fitting station along with an indoor and outdoor presentation of an extensive range of all types of bicycles and e-bikes, bike trailers, cargo bikes, as well as other bike gear and accessories. Hervis offers product consultation and bike service in the store without waiting time via online booking and a digital product information system. While concentrating on bicycles, the new flagship store also offers products for other sports such as tennis, fitness, running, fun sports and outdoor.
On April 1, the retail chain opened another new flagship store, this time with a large outdoor sports world and a special focus on climbing, but also trail running, hiking and bikes. This store, which also measures 2,000 square meters, is located in Innsbruck, Tyrol. Besides personal in-store product advice, the store also offers distanced consultation via telephone or video call after prior reservation. Thanks to the interlinking of the online store with stationary retail, services such as Click & Collect are also available in Innsbruck.
The two store openings fit into a new strategy, outlined by Hervis’ management on April 8, of concentrating more on four sports categories – bike, outdoor, running and snow sports – in the future, without ignoring fitness, football or other categories. Similar flagships are planned for running and snow sports. Hervis’ smaller stores will also specialize more and more in any of the four major sports. Still, their personnel will be able to order specific items in other categories from a vast in-house catalog online for delivery within two days to the store or the customer’s address.
About 25 more stores will be based on this concept. Hervis will also seek to reinforce its claim as “the leading omnichannel sports retailer” in Austria over the next five years. By more than doubling its digital sales to counter-balance the closure of its physical stores in the country for 20 percent of the time last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Hervis could limit the decline in its domestic sales at 3 percent.
A 25 percent increase in sales of all kinds of bikes, which was partly induced by the pandemic, also contributed to limit the sales decline in Austria. Its sales of e-bikes rose by 50 percent. Hervis has been cultivating this segment for about ten years. It maintains a special relationship with a leading Austrian bicycle producer, KTM.
Adding its numerous stores in six other countries, Hervis’ total sales fell by 7.3 percent to €470 million in 2020. The chain also has a presence in Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and Romania, with a larger number of stores than in Austria.
More on Hervis and its market positioning on SGI Europe.


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This weekend, in an inevitable bit of hacking, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) successfully foiled the iPhone 5S fingerprint reader via the age-old technique of lifting a fingerprint and using it to create a latex mold.
A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with TouchID. This demonstrates – again – that fingerprint biometrics is unsuitable as access control method and should be avoided.
Er, not exactly.
One of the logical traps that the CCC falls into here is that the group assumes that, just because they foiled the iPhone’s biometrics, that makes the entire TouchID authentication system useless. There are a few reasons why that doesn’t make much sense.
First, Apple hasn’t sold the iPhone 5S’s fingerprint reader as a unhackable alternative to the passcode. All security systems — including biometrics-based ones — are flawed in some way, and TouchID is no exception.
More, the TouchID technology was created in response to one basic observation: iPhone users have been so annoyed by the process of inputting passcodes that half of them have stopped using passcodes altogether. TouchID fills that gap by being so easy to use that it’s almost invisible.
Some security is better than no security at all (and two-factor authentication better than them both).
And then there’s the process of making the fake fingerprint itself. While the CCC maintains that the materials needed to make the fingerprint mold can be found “in almost any household,” that line just doesn’t hold up. How many people do you know who have cameras capable of taking images at 2400 DPI, 1200 DPI printers, and latex milk. Precious few I’m sure.
Likewise, it’s telling that the CCC didn’t go out of its way to also record the process of making the mold — likely because of how long it takes. Most thieves just don’t have that kind of time.
In other words, the entire process of creating a fake fingerprint and fooling the iPhone 5S’s fingerprint scanner is so involved and time-consuming that it significantly limits the chances you’ll ever see such a technique used in the real world. (This is a common theme with these kind of proof-of-concept security breaches, by the way.)
All of this underscores the basic reality about TouchID: For most people, it’s just good enough. And that, not the “hacking,” is what’s really important here.


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A storm is coming, one that will affect your margins if you decide to sit on the fence. It is the storm of cyber regulation, namely the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will dole out penalties to companies who are not doing enough to prevent data breach and loss. It may […]
Feeling overwhelmed with all the work you have to finish by year-end? If you’re involved with business compliance, you have good reason to be. Staying on top of regulatory change is all-consuming: last year, there were 40,000 regulatory compliance updates.
Posted on 23rd December 2015 in HR & Management.
For the first time in 20 years, when the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation comes into force in 2016, we will have data protection laws that are in line with the way businesses handle data. The existing data protection laws were drafted at a time when data was housed in on-site servers and rarely left […]
Posted on 4th December 2015 in Tech & Innovation.
In October, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the EU-US Safe Harbour clause, a simple way for companies to transfer data between the EU and the US, was invalid. The 15-year pact was scrapped as a direct result of the audacious legal challenge brought about by 28-year old Austrian law student, Max Schrems.
Posted on 30th November 2015 in International Trade.
Picture the scene: you’ve had to hire a data protection officer, you’ve got a strict plan in place to notify all of your customers about breaches as soon as they happen, all of your data is encrypted and your company now has an insurance plan to help guard against data fines.
Posted on 26th November 2015 in HR & Management.
The Entrepreneurs’ Lunch The Entrepreneurs’ Lunch is a joint initiative between Smith & Williamson and www.freshbusinessthinking.com bringing together a select group of entrepreneurs and business leaders to allow high-level networking and exchanges of ideas. Date: Thursday 21st March 2019 Time: 12.30 – 15.00 Location: Private Dining Rooms of Smith & Williamson Address: 25 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6AY (see map) Speaker: Ajaz Ahmed | […]
Posted on 23rd November 2015 .
One of the many significant changes being introduced by the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the requirement to adopt principles of privacy by design (PbD) when creating or revising processes or technology.
Posted on 9th November 2015 in Tech & Innovation.
Responding to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) text agreed today by EU Justice and Home Affairs ministers, the IoD has warned that the proposals could leave businesses of all sizes facing significant burdens and uncertainty from the raft of new obligations.
Posted on 16th June 2015 in General business.


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Pakistan is amongst such fortunate countries where youth Population is 60% of the Total Population. This percentage of the regular users of Digital services such as Digital payments or e-Payments, Internet Access and Professionals in Smartphone usage Provides infinite Opportunities to succeed as going digital.
It is the gigantic and innovative initiative taken by Prime Minister Pakistan to upgrade digital Banking infrastructure and easing the conditions or requirements and exhausting paperwork to avail digital services such as e-payments, online transactions and the issuance of credit cards, and their use at Online stores i.e in-store shopping, Fuel fill-up at stations, online utility Bill payments and Universities Fee Payment Gateways, but unfortunately, such easy and instant payment facility is currently available to Elite Business class and involves too much Paperwork, guarantees and regulations.
Government needs to overhaul the whole banking infrastructure and encourage businesses, retailers, Fuel Stations, PIA, Railways ticketing, superstores, schools and colleges to introduce payment gateways and banks should offer credit cards to businessmen and especially to government employees since they will use such services when they run short of funds, falling prey to illegal Interest-based lenders who squeeze them financially and socially.
The innovative digital payments will remove their financial constraints and the funds will be utilized based on a credit limit for 45 to 51 days and the bills can be paid through salaries decreasing chances for collateral damage or any default.
It would be great to boost and promote digital services paving the way for International digital bigwigs i.e. Google, PayPal, Amazon, eBay, Yahoo, Alibaba Group, Alipay, Stripe and Apple to enter Pakistani financial markets specially the PayPal, eBay and Amazon are strongly required by Freelancers and authors to get their Payments processed.
At Present, only Skrill, Payoneer and Traditional IBAN/Swift code or wire transfers are available to Pakistan which is very costly, Time consuming having inflated fees of 10% to 30% plus Bank charges of local Bank to process the amount.
On the other hand, our neighbouring country India has reaped the benefits digital world as the world’s best companies i.e. PayPal, Amazon and Google are serving the country with their innovative digital products and services.
By giving access to these Digital Payment Giants, Pakistan will open doors for Foreign Direct Investment and it will also reduce the heavily demanded Paper currency as People avoid using cash and prefer to use their credit and debit cards at online stores, in-store shopping purposes.
Even Pakistan’s governance Model may go ahead with modernizing and upgrading Reporting system, Complain Management, Receipts and Payments, Public Sector spending through an electronic dashboard that will refresh automatically if any Development related or Public sector transaction takes place. Even governance could improve if governance Model is implemented by imparting pieces of training to Staff, Officers and Officials at Federal, Provincial and District level so that proper reporting channel may be built to ease the complicated process and ensure transparency.
The Sale and Purchase of properties and estate should be digitized and automated so that revenue records may reflect the history of Property owners to do away with any claim or objection. The Ownership certificates, Heirship certificates, Birth Certificates, Domicile, PRC and all other certificates should be generated online through developing softwares, mobile applications of Android or ios devices that will reduce the process and improve the productivity of the Public sector Institutes.
The process of employees’ performance evaluation, superannuation and pension may also be automated so that the entire employment record will be available when they reach their point of promotion, superannuation or drawing pensions. The Personal IDs must be opened online through scale-wise Supervisors i.e. District Accounts Officers, Account Generals of Provinces and Accountant General of Pakistan so that trail may be available to track salary disbursements.
It is a commendable step by law and home departments to automate the Cause lists of the higher and lower judiciary but it must intimate the petitioners and respondents through SMS and email regarding their case status, date of hearing and disposing of the cases.
Furthermore, the process of voter lists should also be automated and Election Commission of Pakistan must make it available to all the citizens to register their vote when they reach at the age of 18 after getting their CNIC/Smart cards or Form B. This will enable district Election Commissioner Offices to enter the data online and consolidate the voter lists.
There should be central directorate of all the departments so that they may have coordination on digital grounds especially the FBR, AGP, Finance Ministry and Departments, Establishment division, cabinet division, NAB and Intelligence Directorates. Digital Pakistan vision will have a great impact to attract Foreign Direct Investment, strengthening of Rupee against Dollar, stabilization of the economy and discouraging paper currency that usually falls heavy upon rupee and due to substantial pressure, the rupee gets devalued and inflation jumps up.
We are too excited after Tanya Aidrus and Baqar’s statements during Digital Pakistan Vision launch and they were very confident that their sacrifices of higher paychecks for the sake of the country are highly appreciable but they will be facing resistance from the stakeholders who have been misusing the manual system for decades and it is an uphill task to compel such elements to adopt and use this digital Endeavour which will choke their corruption stream but may streamline things for the common people.
The other resistance will be from the provinces where PTI is on opposite Benches especially in Sindh and Baluchistan. It will be a big ask and the challenge that the initiated by IT and Telecom Ministry will achieve its desired objectives given the challenges of shortage of IT Skilled Staff and messed up the bureaucratic structure. The government should make the digital literacy a compulsory part in every ministry at Federal, provincial and district level by setting up IT Skill development centres to train the supervisory and office staff so that digital communication infrastructure may be implemented. There is no dearth of talent in our youth but they need support and sponsorship to do wonders.
Moreover, the Government should establish a venture capital firm to support, incubate, accelerate and fund the Startups that will ultimately develop and accelerate the mushrooming growth of big startups.
The entrepreneurship courses must be introduced with help of SMEDA, LUMS, IBA Karachi, IBA, Sukkur, SZabist, NUST, FAST, COMSATS, Virtual University and SDPI so that entrepreneurs may learn to launch their startups successfully to conquer the digital world.
The Startups such as Careem, Bikea, and Rozee.pk are some the great examples of successful Startups. Globally, the Youth after getting their education, start their businesses to create employment but in Pakistan youth after passing Graduation and Masters, start hunting for a job. That is why Pakistan has a high level of Unemployment as youth avoid entering the entrepreneurship since they lack skills, training and financial resources. Punjab IT Board has done a tremendous job by incubating, funding and accelerating startups in public sector under the Plan9 and PlanX programs but it should be followed by all the Provinces so the proper Startup culture could be developed.
Higher Education Commission, IT Boards, Technical Education, Intermediate education boards should promote digital Pakistan vision by introducing governance, payment solutions and fund the Ideas at School and college level.
It is a good sign that Online shopping Sites have experienced a mushrooming growth but mostly they accept the traditional Cash On Delivery Model (COD) which often causes losses if the customer returns the product or unavailable or Unwilling to receive the product.
Epayments ensure that product is shipped to the target buyer or customer who needs it. Though some Online shopping sites such as Popular Daraz.pk and Yayvo.com have started accepting Credit/Debit Cards issued by Pakistani Banks but still the number transactions is very low owing to hassles involved in getting credit cards from the banks.
At present, Only a few banks are issuing Credit Cards with Online Transactions and Point of Sale (POS) Transactions that include Standard Chartered Bank, unfortunately, limited to big cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Other one include Bank Al Falah which issues Credit Cards on quick processing lasting for 10 to 20 days.
Silk Bank is also the favourite bank of many customers who are interested in digital Transactions. Silk Bank offers a wide range of Credit Cards as per Income Levels of customers. UBL is also offering credit cards but it has too many conditions and terms.
Besides, these banks there other banks that are issuing credit cards such as HBL, MCB, ABL, Faisal Bank, Askari bank and JS banks. The average interest or Mark up charged 40% which is very high as compared to other countries. The government especially state Bank of Pakistan must direct the public and Private banks to lower the markup ratio and ease the conditions to avail this facility especially suited to salaried class and Businessmen.
In Big cities, credit cards are issued instantly by Commercial Banks to the salaried Employees of Government and Companies but in small cities, the untrained and local managers avoid issuing credit cards to customers since it involves risks of recovery or payment of credit Bill.
I have personally visited many banks where I maintain my bank account, but regrettably, all the managers expressed their inability or forbade to get Credit Cards since it is very costly and you cannot be issued credit cards in small cities.
Well, one will surely experience such embarrassment and inconvenience at the hands of Non-Professional Managers who are picked to only raise the deposits whereas the quality of service is compromised at the hands of such amateurs.
Therefore, Ms Tanya Aidrus head Digital Pakistan Vision and her team at Digital Pakistan Initiative will have to work out to appease the stakeholders to achieve the desired goals set as per the tenure of PTI so that Pakistanis may reap the benefits from this digital world.
To achieve this goal, the portfolio of IT and Telecom ministry must be given to a professional who should be well versed in IT and telecom preferably a Computer science or IT Graduate to pilot this project to achieve the goals in given clear framework.
There is also a big concern regarding inflated Taxes levied upon the business community which need to be reduced if they use Digital currency since Digital Currency will enable FBR to track payments and appraise the financial strength of the Individuals.
The e-Currency spectrum will help reduce the crime rate, tax evasion, hoarding of money as People will use credit cards and digital wallets such as PayPal, Ali Pay, Google pay those can easily be tracked and monitored through digital systems,
BITCOIN IS A HUMANISTIC ALTERNATIVE TO TECHNOLOGICAL SALVATION
Bitcoin will shape the future of humanity in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2008 financial meltdown, with subsequent bank bailouts and a cycle of austerity, led to the weakening of the public’s trust in governments and institutions. Bitcoin emerged as a response to this global crisis of legitimacy.
Now, more than a decade later, the economic damage created by the pandemic has triggered a further breakdown of the system. As the Federal Reserve’s infinite money printing creates high inflation, Bitcoin steadily increases its popularity as a safe haven.
At the same time, as the old economy is being destroyed, the leading global institutions have stepped forward to reboot the entire system. The key organization, the World Economic Forum (WEF), with the theme of “The Great Reset,” prepares for the rollout of the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
CBDC VERSUS BITCOIN
Agustin Carstens, head of the Bank for International Settlements, explains CBDCs as programmable money that gives issuers the power to control every transaction. Using these powers, issuers can restrict what ordinary people are allowed to spend money on.
Now, Bitcoin and CBDCs, two different types of digital currency with contrasting features, race toward a global adoption. The crux of this competition involves different visions of the world. The outcome of this race will determine the future of humanity.
SHIFT OF AUTHORITY
The crisis of legitimacy triggered by the financial panic of 2008 signaled the demise of the Western liberal democracy. This has begun to create a shift in the locus of authority in our society.
The idea of democracy that inspired the birth of the United States was based on a humanistic worldview. In the past, authority was placed in the gods, and the sacred text. People sought answers from the external. They turned to religion, the Bible and Popes for their decisions.
A move towards democracy brought a shift in values. It placed authority in human hands, putting emphasis on the individual. People who were seeking behavioral norms outside of themselves began to rely on their personal experience.
THREAT TO DEMOCRACY
Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli public intellectual and historian, talks about how, in this crisis of democracy, a threat to the humanistic worldview is now emerging from laboratories and research departments in places like Silicon Valley.
He explains that scientists are saying there is no such thing as free will and that freedom is just another myth, an empty term that humans have invented. He defines feelings as biochemical processes of calculation and contends that there is no reason to consider them the highest authority in the world.
Harari, who has been praised by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, and celebrated by tech workers in Silicon Valley, explains how in this twilight of democracy, authority is now once again moving away from humans. This time, he states it is not some gods above the clouds that control human destiny, but algorithms, and data in the clouds of the Amazon and big tech giants.
He describes a new revolution happening around this shift of authority. It is led by a “techno-religion”, the ideology that technology provides salvation. He explains that this techno-religion is a data religion within which “data and information becomes a supreme source of authority and of meaning in the world.” It makes us believe that technology knows more about us than we do ourselves. It tells us, “Don’t listen to feeling or gut intuition. Just turn to data.”
Acting as a spokesperson for this new sect of techno religion, Harari predicts a coming of a future without humanity. He states that humans like you and I will disappear and that the earth will be dominated by very different kinds of beings or entities. Under the new authority of algorithms, Harari describes how human beings are viewed as no longer spiritual souls, but become “hackable animals.”
WARNING FOR HUMANITY
Some saw what was coming and warned about the potential machine takeover of the world and the elimination of human beings.
Julian Assange, WikiLeaks publisher and one of the notable Cypherpunks, was aware of this trend from early on. He called on those who are technologically capable to take up strong cryptography as a non-violent weapon to defend individual liberty.
Assange warned us: “The future of humanity is the struggle between humans that control machines and machines that control humans.”
As central planners try to deploy CBDCs to push their techno-religious movement, a breakthrough in computer science has brought us an alternative vision of the future of humanity.
VALUE OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM
Bitcoin, in its 14 years of existence, has provided a response to the crisis of Western liberal democracy, allowing us to truly embody humanistic values.
There was an inherent weakness in the system of representative democracy. The mysterious creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto recognized that this system was not adequate by itself to secure the value of freedom and the place of individuals as supreme authority in the system.
Those who gained control over the production of money have created an economic system that works to their advantage. Concentration of economic power in a few hands turned democracy into a system of control. With sophisticated methods of persuasion, through use of propaganda and PR under the guise of democracy, the population was subjected to manipulation of their feelings.
By challenging the monopoly of money, Bitcoin — cypherpunks’ holy grail — has enabled economic liberty. With the principle of “don’t trust, verify”, this technology places the source of legitimacy with individuals, for the first time in history.
Rather than residing in the clouds of tech giants, authority is now descending into the human heart.
REVIVAL OF HUMANISM
The birth of Bitcoin has helped creativity and freedom of expression to flourish, creating the resurgence of the arts. It now inspires a new renaissance of humanism.
Before the Renaissance, history was seen as being shaped by divine forces. With the advent of the Renaissance, beginning in the 14th century in Italy, this view shifted.
The Renaissance placed human beings at the center of life. A man was regarded as a partner in the creation of Gods, to actively engage in shaping the course of their own lives.
Just as the Renaissance placed emphasis on the individual, now, the Bitcoin Renaissance 2.0 creates sovereign individuals, enabling human beings to truly come alive.
A PATH OF SALVATION VIA PROOF-OF-WORK
People from all nations, with different backgrounds, started to align themselves with humanistic ideals that exist at the core of Bitcoin. Through meetups and conferences, they are now finding one another. They begin to speak the same language and share values.
Transcending their cultural differences, they have become Bitcoiners. They are bearers of humanity, beginning to claim the source of authority in human imagination.
This is now creating a humanistic movement, generating a force strong enough to counter the techno revolution.
Between Bitcoin and CBDCs, we are now presented with a choice.
Worshipers of machine intelligence offer a promise of salvation, through which we once again are made to rely on authority outside of us, this time, on external algorithms.
Bitcoin presents an alternative model of salvation via proof-of-work, where we no longer need to trust authorities outside of ourselves. Through each individual voluntarily participating in a network of consensus, each of us can engage in validating our own truth.
While a path of technological salvation moves a society toward the post-human era, Bitcoin, pro-human technology inspires each individual to create a new world of humanism.
EL SALVADOR (“THE SAVIOR”)
El Salvador, the country that first declared bitcoin legal tender, has become a center of this Renaissance 2.0. They are leading the way.
Using Bitcoin as a tool, the President Nayib Bukele began to stand up against the central banks and their financial imperialism.
As the leaders of G7 members are trying to launch centrally controlled digital slave coins, Bukele engages in efforts to increase Bitcoin adoption to open up a path of self-determination.
This is attracting creative minds and talents from all over the world.
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex, the world’s leading digital asset exchange is working to provide a platform for financial freedom. Along with his efforts to expand Bitcoin adoption, he aims to maximize decentralization by developing Keet. io, peer-to-peer Chat Apps that are built without any central server.
Can El Salvador, under Bukele’s leadership and his policy of economic liberty, engage people in proof-of-work — to organize a network toward the salvation of humanity?
Positive changes are already happening. Bitcoin Renaissance 2.0 inspires new ideas, bringing in investors and capital to help people build alternatives to big data and centralized cloud products, to enable freedom.
SECURING THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY
We human beings share our destiny. The life of all species is intertwined. Our choices and actions affect one another.
With the accelerated speed of technological advancement, as we are being quietly transported into a virtual reality, are we leaving behind our own body and our soul? Without human beings who can feel, what would happen to the earth, ecosphere, trees, rivers, and all of animals?
We Bitcoiners are custodians for this planet. By practicing self-custody and running full nodes which maintain the ecosystem, we preserve the autonomy of individuals. We can work toward securing the future of humanity.
A network of messiahs created through technologically-empowered men and women coming together starts to form a formidable defense against the transhumanism agendas.
Bitcoin presents a humanistic alternative to technological salvation.
Hyperbitconization has just begun. The dawn of new humanity is near. With hearts that beat every 10 minutes, we human beings can claim our freedom and responsibility to steward mother earth and all of her creation.
Via Bitcoin Magazine
Fintech NayaPay Secures $13M As It Rolls Out Digital Payments In Pakistan
NayaPay, a Pakistan-based fintech platform, has raised $13 million in one of the largest seed rounds in South Asia. Bringing together a diverse mix of leading global institutional and angel investors, the round was led by Zayn Capital, global fund manager MSA Novo and early-stage VC Graph Ventures from Silicon Valley.
Singapore-based Saison Capital, Waleed Saigol’s Maple Leaf Capital, and Warren Hogarth, CEO Empower Finance, also participated in the round, alongside a major investment from the sponsors of the Lakson Group – a Pakistani conglomerate with interests in media, telecom, industrials, financial services as well as controlling stake in Colgate-Palmolive Pakistan and McDonald’s Pakistan.
NayaPay is the first fintech of its kind in Pakistan having recently secured the first E-Money Institution license from the central bank, State Bank of Pakistan. It is on a mission to make financial services simpler and accessible to millions of Pakistani users. NayaPay aims to be at the forefront in the digitization of Pakistan with its two-sided platform for the underbanked.
Pakistan presents a significant market opportunity for NayaPay, where over 50 million adults are unbanked and only 33% of women have a bank account. With 70% of the population under 35 years old, there is a significant mobile-first generation.
Almost $4tn payments are made each year but only 1% of these are made digitally currently. On the merchant side, the majority of SMBs in Pakistan are unregistered, have traditionally dealt primarily in cash, and have very limited access to business banking.
The fintech has launched its chat-led super app targeted primarily at students and freelancers, and is building a SaaS-based platform called NayaPay Arc offering universal payment acceptance and financial management tools for SMBs.
NayaPay’s platform strategy will harness the network effects between consumers and merchants, as seen in platforms such as Square Cash/Square, WeChat Pay, AliPay, and Venmo in their native markets.
NayaPay CEO and Founder, Danish A. Lakhani, commented, “NayaPay is empowering young Pakistani adults starting their financial journey, from students stepping into adulthood to freelancers and entrepreneurs taking an active role in managing their finances. In many senses, it’s a coming-of-age moment for many and our goal is to continue to innovate and build functionality to become a part of their daily lives, for the rest of their lives.”
Danish A. Lakhani added, “Micro, small and medium businesses make up 90% of the merchant base in Pakistan, and yet they are underserved when it comes to access to basic financial services. NayaPay Arc will provide universal payments acceptance and a range of business financial management tools to empower entrepreneurs and small business owners.”
“The tools are intended to give business owners visibility of their cash flows, pay suppliers and grow sales. Our goal is to enable them to focus on growth while we take care of the rest. By helping small businesses harness the power of technology, we believe we can transform the Pakistani economy,” he added.
Faisal Aftab, Managing Partner and Co-Founder at Zayn Capital Frontier, said, “We are very bullish on fintech in Pakistan. While just beginning to emerge, Pakistani fintechs have the advantage of learning from peers and placing better informed strategic bets.”
“We were impressed by the completeness of the vision of the founding team at NayaPay, and their differentiated platform-based strategy — first focused on servicing the needs of underbanked consumers and SMBs with specific use cases and building out from there. With a proven ability to execute on the ground, the founder has an impressive track record of building and scaling businesses in Pakistan, including the country’s largest fiber broadband service (StormFiber),” he added.ADVERTISEMENT
Omar Siddiqui, General Partner at Graph Ventures, added, “We are excited to partner with Danish and the NayaPay team as they scale their leading digital payments platform for consumers and merchants in Pakistan. We have been early-stage investors in 300+ companies over the past decade in the United States, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, and we are excited to see the mobile and fintech technology trends that have empowered consumers in these markets also emerge in Pakistan.”
“NayaPay already offers the most robust solution for consumers to access next-generation financial conveniences in Pakistan, and we look forward to working with the team as they roll out new products and grow their consumer base,” he further said.
Danish A. Lakhani concluded: “Customer trust is a key pillar of any platform’s success. At NayaPay, we are consumed by our obsession to simplify the lives of both consumers and merchants with our app and NayaPay Arc while supporting our customers with robust and scalable technology and fanatic customer service. We are also partnering with leading banks to provide additional value and convenience to our mutual customers, eventually leading to a full digital banking experience.”
The Digital Economy
The economy and society are undergoing profound changes as a result of digitalisation. It fuels entrepreneurial innovation, regional economic growth, and productivity. Additionally, it has consequences for economic growth, the labour market, and political engagement. And it imposes new educational and training requirements – not just in the realm of information and communication technologies.
Today, as the world prepares for 5G technology, the IT think tanks in Pakistan must seriously consider efficient ways to catch up with the world and maximise economic benefits.
Despite considerable expansions of ICT access prior to the COVID-19 crisis, the ICT availability and use remained far from universal. The COVID-19 crisis expedited advanced economies’ digitalisation and made catching up more difficult for nations or areas trailing before. We must explore the current state of digitisation in Pakistan, its economic impact, and how should we pave the way for future technologies.
Digitisation is regarded as the fourth industrial revolution. However, in Pakistan’s case, we may not be at par with the world. The biggest challenge that the country faces is the overall readiness to completely make use of digitisation. According to the World Bank 5G readiness plan, the Government of Pakistan (aligned with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority) must devise a strategy to attract multinational organizations to invest in a digital transformation infrastructure. There remain multifaceted challenges to Pakistan’s adaption of 5G technology. Despite a huge growth potential, we see that the Foreign Direct Investment in the telecommunication sector has dropped from a staggering US$763 million in the FY 2019-20 to a meagre US$202 in the FY 2020-1. The primary reason for this drastic drop in investment is the poor adaptability of technology amongst the population.
The economic contribution of the mobile industry in Pakistan might reach $24 billion by 2023, accounting for 6.6 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
5G technology offers endless economic and industrial benefits. Up to $3.5 trillion in revenue is expected to be generated by the 5G value chain by 2035, with up to 22 million employment being supported.
The Global GDP growth will increase by $3 trillion cumulatively between 2020 and 2035, according to projections based on 5G deployment. By 2035, 5G-related services, such as mission-critical services, increased mobile broadband, and enormous IoT improvements, would be worth over $12 trillion, according to estimates. Retail, healthcare, education, transportation, and entertainment are among the areas projected to benefit from 5G technology.
According to the Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA), the country has over 98 million 3G/4G subscribers or 43.51 per cent penetration. Despite network advancements such as the addition of new 4G towers, over 90 per cent of mobile devices constructed or manufactured in the country are only compatible with 2G technology. At the moment, roughly 53 per cent of all SIM subscribers utilize 2G devices. The experts believe that for a successful transition to the 5G technology, at least 60 per cent of the population must be connected to the 4G technology.
The broadband penetration is only about 46.4 per cent in Pakistan, which must be expanded drastically to ensure economic benefits. Amongst many challenges that hinder the technology adaption in Pakistan are, “the lack of large contiguous blocks of the affordable spectrum”, “broader access to fibre backhaul” and “widespread availability of affordable 5G smartphones and other devices.”
Pakistan’s IMT spectrum management policy has been identified as the primary impediment to the sector investing fully in 4G development and sector competitiveness.
The current government does seem to have a good plan of action to boost the 5G technology in the country – some of which include:
o Tax rebate, tax rationalization, and elimination of duty tariff on import of all components of high end 4G and 5G devices;
o Duty-free IMT/5G network-ready equipment imports to facilitate 5G readiness and mobile broadband to support wider mobile broadband and 5G networks deployment;
o Special incentives for global Telecom equipment vendors to establish assembly and production lines in Pakistan to promote local assembly of IMT/5G and IoT ecosystem devices including chipsets, and
o Licensee shall establish at least one 5G Innovation and test centre/lab to scale up 5G ecosystem for start-ups and entrepreneurship activities at their own cost for citizens.
All these are indeed solid items on the action list but the Mobile Economy Asia Pacific Report 2021 projected, “Pakistan will be at the lowest end in terms of smartphone users as well the 5G coverage among the selected countries of Asia Pacific region by 2025.” According to the GSMA estimate, the economic contribution of the mobile industry in Pakistan might reach $24 billion by 2023, accounting for 6.6 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product. The same report estimates, smartphones will account for over 80 per cent of all connections in the Asia Pacific by 2025, up from 68 per cent in 2020. However, Pakistan was near the tail-end of the list of 12 major countries, just above Bangladesh, and it is expected that neither of these two countries will meet the 80 per cent target in the near future.
The 5G technology will be a game-changer for Pakistan. The Small and Medium Industries could benefit greatly by adopting online selling techniques, reaching global markets, and learning from international best practices, supply chain, and business operation strategies. Pakistan’s education and medicine industry is expected to be the biggest beneficiary of the 5G technology with its low latency and widespread applications, which can help overcome the poor student-teacher ratio that currently stands at 29 to one.
The truth is that it is not as easy as it may seem to the officials, from 2017 through 2035, the world will need to invest $3.7 trillion, or 4.1 per cent of global annual GDP per year, on infrastructure to overcome existing gaps. Of this amount, 54 per cent will go towards meeting the needs of Asian countries. Therefore, experts in Pakistan must carefully consider their approach to resolving the challenges in 5G technology and adopting a single national strategy.
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