Wrap-Up: Our pick of main stories, Tuesday July 28th, 2015 Lilian Mutegi

Sage, Deloitte partner to deliver affordable insight and agility to SMEs….. MasterCard opens its digital security lab to customers….. Kenya’s Illumininum Greenhouse emerges second at #GES2015 GIST Tech-I contest….. Khalwale loses his twitter account to ‘son’ in rare case of identity theft….USAID embraces technology, comes up with tech challenge to help curb Wildlife Crime…..and more.

Liquid Telecom Kenya launches support for Internet content entrepreneurs

Liquid Telecom Kenya has launched a two-year programme of support for entrepreneurs who publish local content online, in an ‘Information Enabler’ programme that will see entrepreneurs receive free Internet connections, free website hosting, and unlimited internet usage for two years. The group’s move marks the 6th Global Entrepreneurship Summit, taking place for the first time in Sub-Saharan Africa, from July 25th -26th, at a time when improved internet access in the developing world has the potential to generate an additional US $2.2 trillion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a 72 per cent increase in the GDP growth rate, and more than 140 million new jobs, according to the 2014 Deloitte report Value of connectivity: Economic and social benefits of expanding internet access.

Sage, Deloitte partner to deliver affordable insight and agility to SMEs

Small and Medium Businesses can now rapidly deploy cloud-based business management capabilities, thanks to a new strategic partnership between Sage and Deloitte. Part of the overall Sage strategy to build customers for life, Sage and Deloitte will provide companies with the tools and expertise they need to become agile businesses – all at an affordable price. The two organizations will collaborate across a number of initiatives to help Small & Medium Businesses gain powerful live insight drawn from their financial data.

MasterCard opens its digital security lab to customers

MasterCard today opened its digital security facility to its customers, driving further collaboration on key issues that can deliver greater payments peace of mind. Located in England, the MasterCard DigiSec Lab is focused on proactively testing threats to all forms of digital payments in coordination with government security agencies and leading academics. “The MasterCard DigiSec Lab represents our collective efforts to maximize product innovation and security investments,” said Ajay Bhalla, president of Enterprise Security Solutions at MasterCard. “While payments have never been safer, criminals have never been smarter. We’ve now opened the lab to our customers as part of an ongoing commitment to share insights, solutions and best practices to deliver the highest levels of security.”

Kenya’s Illumininum Greenhouse emerges second at #GES2015 GIST Tech-I contest

Illumininum Greenhouse, a start-up founded by Taita Ngetich, that seeks to create a limitless integrated modern greenhouse with sensors the monitor temperature, humidity, soil moisture and water supply scooped the second place in this year’s GIST Tech-I competition. The farm automation system, helps a farmer to monitor his farm regardless of the distance.If the levels are not okay, the device sends two SMS alerts to the farmer, and if he/she doesn’t respond, it makes a call. To enable texting, the system has a SIM card,(currently using Safaricom as a service provider due to its widespread network coverage) which has to be loaded with airtime.

USAID embraces technology, comes up with tech challenge to help curb Wildlife Crime

USAID is sourcing innovative science and technology-based solutions to detect transit routes, strengthen forensic evidence, reduce consumer demand, and tackle corruption through the Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge. The Challenge expects to unveil the Grand Prize Winners in early 2016. The Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge will reward innovative science and technology solutions that tackle specific wildlife trafficking issues. The Challenge comprises three stages of application: Concept Note, Prize Application, and Grand Prize Application.

Khalwale loses his twitter account to ‘son’ in rare case of identity theft

Bull fighter Senator Boni Khalwale seems to have finally found his match. The Kakamega Senator’s official Twitter account has been taken over by the person he had entrusted to manage it. And that is not all. The man, Leon Lidigu, has also changed the username. Politicians and business moguls in Kenya generally prefer to hire associates to manage their presence on social media, only rarely sending out tweets and photos by themselves.