Huawei seeks collaboration to restore trust in technology

Huawei, a global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices has called for global public-private sector collaboration in order to restore trust in technology.

Corporate Senior Vice President and BOD Member at Huawei, Catherine Chen, made the call while addressing industry stakeholders at the 50th anniversary of this year’s St. Gallen Symposium, an annual gathering of current and future leaders from across the globe.

At the event, 1,000 participants took part in the three-day cross-generational dialogue, joining from the University of St. Gallen campus, an international hub in Singapore, 10 Swiss Embassies around the world, and elsewhere online.

During her address, Chen, who believes that public trust in emerging technologies would require the joint efforts of policymakers, regulators, and the private sector, said the world must rally together to restore global trust in emerging technologies.

According to her, “As more devices feature connectivity, more services go online, and more critical infrastructures rely on real-time data exchanges, so must governments worldwide ensure that everyone is protected by the highest security standards. Only a common set of rules can guarantee a level of security that creates trust in technology.”

The event’s participants agreed that trust remained inherently built on openness and transparency and that it was time to take concrete, actionable steps to address the common challenges and risks that have emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public trust in political and economic institutions, emerging technologies, and the media has recently been eroded, especially among the younger generations, and this has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I urge them to continue developing the positive relationships between communities, individuals, and their environments. We must build strong trust in technology, enabled by a common set of rules, innovations, and progress. Only then can we commit to the sustainable and trustworthy use of technology,” Chen further said.

A member of the team of 35 students from the University of St. Gallen that organised this year’s symposium, Simon Zulliger, said: “We, as members of the younger generation, are connected to a greater number of people through social media, but this does not correspond to a circle of people we can trust.”
The team expressed their view that finding ways to preserve and strengthen trust, remained critical for a sustainable recovery.

Chen hoped that the next generation of leaders would build trust and shape a world of pervasive connectivity.

AppZone, a fintech company has disclosed that it is currently training talented software developers that can compete with their peers globally.

Co-founder/Chief Executive Officer, AppZone, Obi Emetarom, who said this during the launch of AppZone’s headquarters in Lekki, Lagos, recently, said the firm was already working towards transforming the finTech sector in Nigeria and Africa by a software solution that would enable easy payment system that would be reliable and scalable.

“At AppZone we develop all our solutions from scratch, using local content. We got our initial support from Nigerians and we maximised the support efficiently, by building capacities and training startups to own and grow equity.

“With our model, we promote only locally developed tech solutions that can compete favourably with foreign software, to reduce the influx of foreign software in the Nigerian market,” Emetarom said.

Stakeholders from Nigeria’s banking and payments industry, who gathered to witness the launch, commended the fintech company for its ingenuity in addressing specific challenges in the financial services sector, using home-grown solutions.

AppZone Group, which plays prominently in sub-Saharan Africa, launched its ultra-modern headquarters in Lekki, Lagos, recently. The launch of the new AppZone office follows a decade of stealth operations, as the company has diligently congregated some of Africa’s best and brightest talents to build the de facto operating system for the continent’s banking and financial services industry.

The launch of the new headquarters exemplifies AppZone’s understanding of the need to ensure that home-grown talents are genuinely empowered and valued. The contemporary space, which sits on two floors with sprawling views of the upscale Admiralty Way in Lekki, boasts of features and facilities that rival the best tech offices found anywhere else around the world.

“The AppZone team has built a robust digital financial ecosystem that streamlines banking, payment, and commerce processes for some of Africa’s highly respected banking and financial services institutions.

“With the launch of the new office space, AppZone’s talent, which includes over 170 highly skilled individuals, will continue working towards achieving the organization’s ambitious goals to digitize and fully automate the banking and payments industries across Africa,” Emetarom said.

The launch of AppZone new headquarters followed the successful ‘Series A’ funding round, which saw the company raise $10 million to hire more premium talent and build more technology and scale operations across the continent.

“AppZone believes in maximizing local talent by rewarding and creating wealth while building and managing Africa’s singular financial operating system,” Emetarom further said.

Founded in 2008, AppZone processes over $2 billion in transactions annually, serving 18 commercial banks and over 450 microfinance institutions across the continent. As it expands, it is expected that urs footprint would steadily increase, which underlines the company’s bright future, putting Africa at the forefront of the global financial technology map.