Iristick is announcing the launch of Microsoft Teams video conferencing solution on their Iristick.H1 and Iristick.G2 PRO smart glasses. Fully optimized for use with voice commands, see-what-I-see function, screen, and file-sharing capabilities. Providing a completely hands-free option for remote assistance and collaboration.
The ‘Microsoft Teams on Iristick’ solution allows users to start a call or share files without having to use their hands. During a call, they can livestream, take and share pictures, control the camera view and zoom in for details using voice commands. This way, the solution offers hands-free information exchange, remote assistance and troubleshooting options. The result: better diagnosis of maintenance issues, faster and improved technical assistance, reduced downtime and costs.
”Extended Reality and smart glasses are an undeniable part of Industry 4.0, the smart factories of tomorrow and digital health. Leveraging these technologies and their remote assistance solutions will help companies gain competitive advantages and provide them with a better chance to position themselves at the forefront of their respective industries. With Microsoft Azure we significantly simplify the integration of intelligent technology at scale and reduce the time to market for companies like Iristick.” said Joris Aeles, Azure Business Group Lead, Microsoft.
”Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a significant, 44% increase in the number of professionals using collaboration tools1,” said Johan De Geyter, CEO at Iristick. ”Iristick supports this increased demand by launching a widely used videoconferencing solution on our smart glasses. ‘Microsoft Teams on Iristick’ is an application that connects frontline professionals in every industry to empower them in a digitized future.”
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I’ve always wanted to improve my skills as a developer. I knew that the best people are at companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Facebook. I’ve always wanted the kinds of challenges they represent. I always wanted to work with people who would wow me and teach me at the same time. When I heard that Microsoft had come to Kenya, I knew that “this is my chance”.
This is the story of George Maina, a Software Engineer at the Microsoft Africa Development Center (ADC-East) located in Nairobi, Kenya. He is one of the first hires of Microsoft and works on the Identity and Network Access team in Kenya.
Even though the ADC was an experiment the success of George’s team in the early days will go on to help Microsoft make investing more in the ADC an easy decision. The ADC has grown from 21 employees in three teams to over 400 in more than eight teams in three years. With Microsoft launching a 27 million dollar office facility to house the software engineers.
Geroge works for the Microsoft Graph onboarding team, which is the third team to be formed at the ADC. “Right now, we’re four people, we help teams within Microsoft to onboard onto Graph and to manage their Graph deployments. … My role is to develop tooling to make sure we can automatically link their API when they publish it to our repo.”
I think we were the very first team to join Identity here, and we all came on the same day. There were then three teams at Microsoft’s Africa Development Center (ADC) in Nairobi. Each team had around seven people, making a total of 21. One team came aboard just a week before my team. At that time, it was not really clear where ADC was going. But it turned out really well. We’ve gotten our footing and have developed specialized areas. Several teams are now owners of certain operations within Microsoft. ADC has grown to around 400 just here in Kenya alone. That’s a testament to how well ADC has performed.
I remember when you came to visit, Igor, you said that you’d evaluate the operation after a few years, that it was an experiment. I remember going home that night thinking, wow, what happens if this fails?
I’ve learned so much. The last two years have blown my mind. I love working here and really love Microsoft. Microsoft offers so many opportunities everywhere.
George Maina
Igor Sakhnov, Microsoft Corporate vice president of Identity and Network Access Engineering, talks with software engineer George Maina about his entrepreneurial journey and the beginnings of the Microsoft ADC. Click to read the full conversation.
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Team RUTELA is the winner of the first edition of the Equity Group Hackathon in partnership with Microsoft. The University of Nairobi student team wins a cash prize of Kes. 600,000, 3 months mentorship with Microsoft, Technical Cloud certificates for all team members and a gift hamper.
The Equity Hackathon brought students from the University of Nairobi and Meru University of Science and Technology together. To deliver solutions to address business and social challenges in the Payments, Financial Inclusion and Digital Identity thematic areas. The Hackathon, which opened for registration on 4th February, saw a total of 663 students register and compete to be among the top 120 participants to take part as innovators.
Equity Group, in partnership with Microsoft, brought together the shortlisted students for the virtual Hackathon which ran from the 17th of February to the 17th of March this year. The initiative challenged the students to be innovative and collaborate to build proofs of concept and minimum viable products for predefined business problems and social issues.
The Hackathon was phased into 4 stages. The first phase involved instructor-led and self-paced training of the participants on Microsoft Azure and the Business Problem Statements. In the second stage, the students went through the coding with mentorship from representatives from Equity, the University of Nairobi, Meru University of Science and Technology and Microsoft. Their solutions then went through a 1st and 2nd knock off stage, which culminated in the selection of the 4 winners.
Kenya is emerging as an innovations hub, especially in the financial sector, and organizations need to start looking internally for solutions that will give them an edge in the market says Microsoft ADC Kenya Program Manager, Irene Githinji.
“We are indeed not surprised by the ideas we have seen these young students work on during the Hackathon. The spirit of innovation is ripe in Kenya and it is time for Kenyan corporates to start looking at local education institutions and technology hubs for the development of unique solutions for their business needs.”
Irene Githinji
Equity Hackathon Winners
Winning team – Rutela, from the University of Nairobi
1st runner up – team Jazia, from Meru University of Science and Technology
2nd runner up – Hubert Kimani, from the University of Nairobi
3rd runner up – Team Code Ninjas, from the University of Nairobi
The 1st and 2nd Runners Equity Hackathon winners took home a cash prize of Kes. 250,000 and Kes. 150,000 respectively, a 3 months mentorship opportunity from Microsoft and a gift hamper. The 3rd Runners Up won Kes 100,000 and a gift hamper for each team member.
“The Hackathon has enabled us to sharpen our skills and align them to the demands of the marketplace“, notes Maluki Muthusi, from team Rutela. “We are grateful for the guidance given to us by our lecturers and the teams from Equity and Microsoft throughout the competition. We look forward to applying the principles even beyond this competition“, he adds.
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Solar-based internet service provider, Tizeti, has partnered with Microsoft to roll out affordable high-speed broadband internet infrastructure in Nigeria starting with Oyo State. The service comes with an introductory N2,222 or $5 offer for monthly fixed broadband and installation costs.
Through the Microsoft Airband Initiative, Tizeti and Microsoft will leverage low-cost wireless technologies. Making it easier and cheaper for people in underserved communities to access the internet and get connected to the digital economy. The internet in Oyo State will empower more Nigerians, stimulate economic activities, and widen the broadband envelope in Africa.
“Communities need reliable, affordable internet access in our increasingly digital world,” said Microsoft Airband General Manager, Vickie Robinson. “That’s why Microsoft is working with providers like Tizeti to connect the unconnected, expand opportunity, and close the global digital divide.”
Microsoft’s Airband Initiative is focused on advancing digital equity—access to affordable internet, affordable devices, and digital skills—as a platform for empowerment and digital transformation across the world.
Speaking on the partnership, Tizeti’s Chief Executive Officer of Tizeti, Kendall Ananyi, said that Microsoft Airband collaboration will complement Tizeti’s existing initiative in Oyo State and lay a foundation for a robust and thriving digital ecosystem for the large population of vibrant, young people in Oyo State. “We are happy to work with Microsoft on the Airband Initiative as it extends our mission of bringing affordable and reliable internet to more Nigerians outside the digital envelope,” Ananyi said.
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Telefónica Tech is announcing the acquisition of Microsoft Inner Circle partner, Incremental, for up to £175 million including potential contingent payments linked to its future performance. To become the number one cloud transformation partner for its customers. Thereby delivering next-generation modern workplace experiences, trusted enterprise security services to protect apps in a data and hybrid cloud world.
The acquisition increases Telefónica Tech’s scale and competencies in Microsoft technologies with 16 Gold Competencies and 5 Advanced Specialisations. Making it one of Microsoft’s largest partners in the UK. With these capabilities, Telefónica Tech consolidates its leading position in the UK market, considered to be the largest and fastest-growing IT services market in Europe.
Launched in 2016, Incremental Group has two key specialised business areas. It is one of the leading Microsoft Dynamics Partners in the UK and is also a major player in the Data and Analytics market. It has been a Microsoft Business Applications Inner Circle member for the past three years and is one of only two partners in EMEA on Microsoft’s Global Advisory Board for data analytics.
Incremental Group has experienced significant organic and inorganic growth in recent years. In early 2021, Incremental acquired Redspire to expand its capabilities in the financial services market and become one of the largest Microsoft Dynamics partners in the UK. In October 2021, it acquired data analytics company Adatis, enabling the group to deliver end-to-end digital transformation to customers.
It is headquartered in Glasgow, although it has offices throughout the UK, as well as capabilities in Bulgaria and India. In total it has more than 350 employees which bring Telefónica Tech UK&I’s headcount to around 1,000 employees. The UK subsidiary thus contributes almost 25% of Telefónica Tech’s global workforce.
Incremental, one of Microsoft’s most significant partners in the UK
The amount of the transaction implies valuing the company at 13.7 times its gross operating profit (EV/OIBDA) and 14.2 times its operating cash flow (EV/OpCF), considering their results expected for the next fiscal year and excluding potential synergies.
The addition of Incremental’s business applications, power apps, data analytics and management capabilities to Telefónica Tech UK&I’s cloud services portfolio will enable it to enhance the end-to-end cloud offering for mid-market, large enterprise and government customers.
José Cerdán, CEO of Telefónica Tech, comments: “We warmly welcome Incremental Group, and are delighted that this acquisition enables us to strengthen our position as a leader in the UK market for IT services. We are now able to provide end-to-end Microsoft services, including digital transformation, managed services and data analytics, and achieve attractive cross-selling synergies with Telefónica Tech UK&I, complementing and positioning us as a leading Microsoft-focused company in the UK.”
Neil Logan, the current CEO at Incremental Group, says: “I am immensely proud of what Incremental has achieved since our inception a little over 5 years ago. As we looked ahead to the next stage of our development, it was important that we secured Incremental the right support for the long term. Becoming part of Telefonica Tech propels us into the next phase of our journey and enables us to further scale the business, creating exciting opportunities for our people and our customers.”
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