By RARZACK OLAEGBE
He said the continent is a shithole. He said Nigeria is among the shithole countries. While he was discussing immigration issues with some lawmakers during a private meeting, he asked why people from shithole countries come to America. He was riding the waves then. So, he had his say. He also had his way. But who is smiling now?
It is said that ‘’a man who is down needs fear no fall’’. The man is already down, why should he be afraid? He has nothing to fear. He has nothing to lose. Alternatively, he has so much to gain. If he harnesses his strength and raises his head, he could still rise again. He could be the champion. He could pull the shithole label and wear the apparel of a Konn3ctor (connector).
From the preview, Konn3ct may likely provide for the largest virtual conferencing room in the world today.
That is what the Nigerian information technology company, NewWaves Ecosystems has done. The company has raised the stake and developed Konn3ct, an online meeting application. With this feat, Konn3ct is about to etch Nigeria’s name in the world’s fastest-growing IT niche area. Research has shown that this niche would be worth more than N30 trillion ($75 billion) by 2030. Well, Konn3ct is the first of such a development by any African information technology outfit.
Konn3ct will be unveiled to the world at a formal launch on April 7. The event will be headlined by the Director-General, Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi. It is a first for Nigeria. It is a first for Africa. Konn3ct comes with several unique features. These features have separated it from other existing platforms in the market. By other platforms, I am referring to China’s Zoom, Microsoft Meet and Google among others.
The Director-General had predicted in December 2020 that the Nigerian IT start-ups are capable of generating $30 billion by 2030. With the advent of Konn3ct, that target is looking increasingly possible. At a sneak preview for the privileged few, Konn3ct could possibly help cut a sizable share of the market that is currently dominated by Zoom Video Communications.
From the preview, Konn3ct may likely provide for the largest virtual conferencing room in the world today. It has capacity for a peak of 250 participants in a meeting. It has an unlimited number via live stream. The app has top-quality audio and video interface for smooth conferencing experience. Besides, it gives you a recording option that gives you the benefit to document and share your meeting proceedings.
With the popularity and acceptance of Zoom, you would have thought no one would contemplate another meeting solution. Well, not from a Nigerian start-up anyway. But it has happened. The story is that the company didn’t create the solution for commercial purposes. The goal was to enhance web conferencing experiences. The idea was to add features that facilitate interaction and create an exciting virtual workplace.
As it turns out, Femi Williams, the former CEO of Chams Nigeria, said the solution was actually created when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the world into a lockdown. “Because we couldn’t shut down, even in the lockdown, we thought of a solution that could enable free and seamless communication and workflow in our company. But the growth of the virtual office and web conferencing market drew us to the commercial opportunities since what we had at the in-house level could beat most of the commercially available apps in this space,” Williams explained.
Covid-19 has forced greatness out of the shit… Well, to make Konn3ct suitable for large conferences, Williams and his team had to build a feature that creates room for break-out sessions. The same way that is applicable in a brick-and-mortar meeting of such size. By this, you can have up to eight break-out meetings within the larger meeting. This is also another feature which allows private and group chats during the meeting. This enables you to harmonise the positions of interest groups during the meeting.
As Africa’s first virtual solution that connects the world, Konn3ct has two security features. Let me give you the technical words. It has the Secure Socket Layer Encryption (SSL Encryption). This is a process undergone by data under the SSL protocol to protect your data during transfer and transmission. It does this by creating a uniquely coded channel that gives you a private communication link channel over the public internet. This is the second security layer. The Transport Layer primarily gives you privacy and data integrity between two or more communicating computer applications. This cannot come from a shithole country, can it, Don?
The last time my team and I used the foreign platform, we could not resolve the issue of sponsorship. The foreign app could not accommodate our desire. But with Konn3ct, the problem of sponsorship of virtual events is solved. Konn3ct gives you meeting rooms you can brand!
Now that Konn3ct is connecting the world, no one would dare call Nigeria a shithole country anymore.
“In the world today, technology appears to be the only thing that does not recognize territorial and racial limitations. Technology is the same everywhere. There is no Nigerian or African technology. Today, the market leader was not the first to develop similar apps. It will certainly not be the last”, Williams explained.
As it is Konn3ct will carve its own niche. It is not because it is a Nigerian or African contribution to the technology pool. It is because it is a best-in-class solution to the real needs of people. That is true. If a product delivers, you do not ask for the “receipt.’
However, research has also shown that the North America dominated the web conferencing market from 2014 to 2019. This is because the continent adopted novel technologies and has comparatively larger IT spending in the region. But Africa is expected to register a high Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2020 to 2025.
This is because of the surging sales of smartphones, rising penetration of the internet and strong economic development in major countries in the region such as Nigeria. Now that Konn3ct is connecting the world, no one would dare call Nigeria a shithole country anymore.
*Olaegbe ([email protected])
