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Tips to Save Time with Your Smartphone

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Time is an essential commodity that cannot be trifled with. Notable American entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker, Jim Rohn captured it succinctly when he declared that: “Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.”
Nevertheless, your smart phone, when used effectively, can be a very useful tool for helping you use time more judiciously. The following tips from the Research and Development Unit of Yudala, Nigeria’s fastest growing e-commerce outfit – will help you become smarter in saving time.

Set up task lists
Most busy people always seem never to have enough time in a day. This is often due to clashing engagements and loads of crucial tasks to attend to. However, your smartphone can make life easier for you in this regard by helping you make smarter use of your 24 hours. One of the ways to achieve this is by setting up a task list. You can create a simple spreadsheet with the major tasks you have set out to achieve each day with timelines attached to each. You can even set a reminder for each task. With this list accessible on your smartphone, you can work smarter and maximize your productivity. When managed properly, a task list can be a fantastic organizer.

Create access to your documents
Today’s fast-paced, knowledge-driven economy has resulted in more mobility, with more time being spent on the move and away from work spaces or the office. Valuable time and potential business deals will certainly be lost if you have to get to your laptop or the office to take action or respond to important correspondence. With your smartphone, you can access your emails, save your important documents online and access them on the move, thereby reducing down-time. Whether at home or out of the office, you can still get crucial work done with apps such as Microsoft One Drive, Google Drive or Dropbox which allow you to store and retrieve your documents whenever you need them.

Online Shopping
Considering the crushing daily schedule most individuals pass through to earn a living, finding time to visit an open-air market or physical store for your shopping needs may be a tough ask. This is where your smartphone comes in. Online shopping is gradually growing in popularity and you can leverage on this to manage your time more efficiently. Interestingly, platforms such as Yudala combine physical stores with an online presence, thus offering the consumer more convenience.
As a result, you no longer have to physically visit a store for your shopping requirements. You can place orders online and have your items delivered straight to your door, with the additional convenience of paying on delivery. Interestingly, some supermarkets have also caught the online shopping bug and now offer home delivery for provisions and food items.

Digital Banking
The days of filling out numerous forms and standing in a queue in a crowded banking hall while waiting to carry out a simple transaction are decidedly over. Banks and other financial institutions are fully in on the digital revolution.  Therefore, you can save more valuable time by cashing in on the ease of digital banking. With your smartphone, there is no reason why you cannot carry out all the transactions you previously visited a bank for. You can check your account balance, transfer money, request a debit card, pay bills and even set up a monthly savings plan. All you have to do is subscribe to online banking and download and install your bank’s app.

Educational/Reading materials
The increasing convergence of technology has seen the world shrink to a global village. An amazing depth of educational, informative and other reading content is available on the internet. This is in addition to books and materials related to your career, industry or area of study. These can be accessed from the convenience of your smartphone in various formats including audio, video and written form. What’s more, you can save valuable time by using apps such as Audible or Librivox Audiobooks to listen to useful literature or other contents while carrying out other activities such as your daily workout, a long drive or while cleaning or doing the dishes.

Travel arrangements and hotel reservations
Gone are the days when making travel plans can be a time-wasting affair.  With your smartphone and in the comfort of your home, you can save time by booking your flight and making hotel reservation. Irrespective of your destination, this can be achieved with a good internet connection and the right app on your smartphone. With your smartphone, you can make payments, check in online and choose a seat without physically visiting the airline’s booking office. This applies even for trips by road to other parts of the country, as a number of transport companies now have their mobile apps with which you can book and pay for a trip.

Time Management Apps
You can carry out all of the tips given above without additional time management apps, your smartphone is already equipped with the features mentioned.  However, there are many fantastic applications available for Smartphones in this category. 
If you choose to use one of these, ensure that it complies with your overall strategies for better time management. A comprehensive task management application or program might have many valuable features, but if you find that its complexity means that you are spending a lot of time using it, you will be defeating the object of having an application to help with your time management in the first place.  If this is the case, consider using one of the myriad of other programs available or simply use the features already available on your smartphone.  Remember, the point of a task manager is to make you more efficient with your time and reduce the stress in your life, avoid anything that adds to it!


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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WIOCC’s Strategic Role in Addressing Subsea Cable Outages

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WIOCC, Africa’s digital backbone, is leading the continent’s response to the cable cuts currently affecting the WACS, ACE, Main One and SAT3 subsea systems on Africa’s western seaboard.

WIOCC’s highly resilient network, with hyperscale capacity on every major system is the largest in Africa and ideally placed to swiftly deliver restoration solutions to hyperscalers, fixed and mobile carriers, internet service providers and other clients, enabling them to quickly re-establish key traffic routes into, within and out of Africa, thereby minimising performance degradation for their end-customers.

According to Chris Wood, Group CEO of WIOCC, “Immediately the four subsea cables were severed off the coast of Cote d‘Ivoire our engineering, operations and field teams swung into action.

“They have been working tirelessly for the last 48 hours with our strategic network partners and equipment suppliers and will, within the next 24 hours, have activated an unprecedented additional 2 Terabits per second (Tbps) of capacity across the unaffected cables in our network to support the capacity needs of other network operators and hyperscalers.

“Our clients connected directly at Open Access Data Centres (OADC) data centres in South Africa and Nigeria are already protected from the impact of the subsea outages due to the unique levels of redundancy and scale of the WIOCC core backbone.

“In Lagos, the Equiano cable, in which WIOCC owns a fibre pair, has not been affected by the incident off Cote d‘Ivoire. WIOCC lands the cable directly into the OADC data centre, establishing the most resilient digital ecosystem hub in Lagos and offering the most direct connectivity to Europe and South Africa.

“As a result, OADC’s data centres and WIOCC’s hyperscale network are playing a key role in restoring services to other facilities and operators currently suffering outages in Lagos and elsewhere on the continent.”

“Our priority is to ensure minimal disruption and maximum resilience for our clients,” added Ryan Sher, Group Chief Operating Officer at WIOCC.

“We have invested heavily in deploying diverse, highly-scalable national and international connectivity to support the uptime requirements of our wholesale client base. Investing at scale means that we consistently carry extra capacity, ensuring we are able to rapidly turn up or re-route capacity to address unexpected network disruptions.

“It also enables us to deploy short-term restoration solutions for other operators on a case-by-case basis. Any service provider affected by these outages, whether an existing WIOCC client or not, is encouraged to contact us to explore options.”

WIOCC’s policy of strategic deployment of converged, open-access digital infrastructure at a hyperscale level and delivery of unrivalled resiliency, enables it to meet and anticipate the needs of Africa’s wholesale community with sufficient scale and network diversity to address even the most challenging situations.


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Voice, Data Services Affected by Undersea Cable Cuts Restored – NCC

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Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced that the recent Undersea Cable Cuts that affected Voice, Data Services have now been restored.

The commission in a statement released on Monday and signed by Reuben Muoka, Director, Public Affairs, said that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.

According to him, “following the disruption on March 14, 2024, which affected data and voice services due to cuts in undersea fibre optics along the coasts of Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal, we are pleased to announce that services have now been restored to approximately 90% of their peak utilization capacities.

“All operators who were impacted by the cuts have taken recovery capacity from submarine cables which were not impacted by the cuts, and have thus recovered approximately 90% of their peak utilisation capacities.

“Mobile Network Operators have assured the Commission that data and voice services would operate optimally pending full repairs of the undersea cables as they have managed to activate alternative connectivities to bring back the situation to normalcy.

“We extend our appreciation to telecom consumers for their patience and understanding during the downtime caused by the undersea fibre cuts,” he concluded.


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IIM United Kingdom Inducts new Members, Highlights the Power of Intelligent Technologies

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Institute of Information Management (IIM) United Kingdom successfully hosted its highly anticipated Annual Convention and 47th Induction/Investiture ceremony on March 9, 2024, at the Wesley London Euston.

Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president/chairman-Governing Council, Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa

The event, held under the theme “AI Renaissance: Unleashing the Power of Intelligent Technologies,” brought together distinguished professionals, thought leaders, and industry experts from various sectors.

The convention commenced with a thought-provoking Welcome Address and Keynote Speech delivered by Amb. (Dr) Oyedokun Ayodeji Oyewole FIIM, ERMS, RMEMS, FIRMS, the esteemed international President of the Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa. His address set the tone for insightful discussions and collaborative engagements throughout the event.

Among the notable highlights was the Inauguration and Taking of Oath of Office by Acting Vice President of IIM United Kingdom Chapter, Prof. Rotimi Jaiyesimi, FIIM, who assumed the role in an acting capacity following his recent appointment by the IIM Africa Board.

A significant announcement was made during the convention regarding the launch of a single global annual Convention starting in 2025. 

“This groundbreaking initiative”, according to Dr. Oyedokun Oyewole, president/chairman-Governing Council, Institute of Information Management (IIM) Africa, “will unite all IIM Africa Global Chapters for the Convention, induction, and investiture, streamlining the event into a singular, impactful gathering. The announcement, made by Aisha Dania Ogieriakhi, FIIM, Director of IIM United Kingdom Chapter, marks a new era of collaboration and cohesion within the IIM community”.

The convention attracted a diverse array of attendees, including dignitaries, traditional rulers, captains of industry, and professionals from various backgrounds. Notable guests included Chief Bimbo Roberts Folayan, FIIM – Former Chairman (2011-2015) Central Association of Nigeria in the United Kingdom (CANUK), Cllr. Sunny Lambe, FIIM – Southwark Labour and Cooperative Councilor, Michaelene Holder-March, FIIM – Managing Director of MHM Health Consultancy Ltd, His Highness Papa Paul Jones Eganda, FIIM – Founder and the President of AIDO Network International, Chief (Dr) Richmond Macgrey, FIIM – Representative & Public Relations Minister of His Royal Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse III, (Olu of Warri) in the Diaspora and others.

Throughout the event, discussions revolved around key themes such as the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, the ethical implications of intelligent technologies, and the role of information management in shaping the future.

A highlight of the convention was the induction of new members into the Honorary Fellowship Grade and Professional Fellowship Grade, recognizing their exemplary contributions to the field of data and information management. Additionally, the collaboration between IIM and the International University of Information Management (IUIM) resulted in the conferment of Honorary Doctorate Degree Awards to deserving professionals and achievers in society, adding a prestigious dimension to the event. 

Both sessions were anchored by the duo of Antoinette R. Okoye and Olufemi Ibiwoye, a fixed specialist at BT Enterprises PLC London, England, United Kingdom.

One memorable moment came from Julliet Makhapila, a Community Transformer, Changemaker, Innovator, and Social Impactor from the United Kingdom, who volunteered to extend the IIM Africa initiative to her home country of Kenya, further expanding the institute’s reach and impact.

The convention provided ample networking opportunities and special activities for attendees, fostering meaningful connections and collaborations among participants.

Co-hosted by IIM Africa and the International University of Information Management (IUIM), the 2024 Annual Convention epitomized the mission and goals of the Institute of Information Management, serving as a platform for knowledge sharing, professional development, data leadership development and overall community building leveraging on access to quality data for effective decision making in both public and private establishments.

As the convention concluded, the main takeaways included maintaining a vibrant community of professionals, sharing best practices, and nurturing collaborative efforts to advance the field of data and information management.


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