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SAMED conference focuses on growing Medtech post-Pandemic and identifies the key role SA’s medtech sector can play in economic recovery

SAMED’s annual conference which took place virtually from 19-21 October 2021 highlighted the fundamental role that the medical technology (medtech) sector has played in the global pandemic response, and how it continues to play a foundational role in the frontline delivery of quality healthcare and economic recovery.

With the conference theme of ‘Growing Medtech Post Pandemic: Adaptability, resilience and sustainability’, burning issues covered included the need for greater localisation and boosting local manufacturing capabilities; addressing shortcomings in relation to medtech policy and harmonising regulations for a highly diverse industry sector while ensuring patient access; addressing healthcare workforce shortages and the impact of corruption in both the public and private sectors; to our country’s preparedness for meeting the enormous demand for medtech in inevitable future health crises and a growing burden of disease.  Additionally, the pandemic provided important lessons in respect of Universal Health Coverage and the government’s chosen vehicle to achieving UHC, National Health Insurance. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic exposed new vulnerabilities resulting from changing social, environmental, demographic, regulatory and technological conditions, all of which have the potential to reverse the gains in health, wellness and prosperity that have been enabled by medical advances and health systems over the last century. At the same time, the pandemic has also leapfrogged tremendous advances throughout the healthcare delivery system, bringing about greater innovation, more research and development, and most notably, unprecedented levels of collaboration across public and private sectors and academia, and across geographies.

“These rapid developments were driven by the catastrophic impact of a globally synchronous pandemic that had massive implications for all human life. The advances and collaborations, in the absence of the pandemic impetus and urgency, may have taken many years to materialise, if ever. In the post pandemic recovery, it is incumbent on every stakeholder to ensure that the gains made on the frontlines of healthcare delivery in this crisis are not lost. We must continue to build a more resilient, robust and self-sufficient medtech sector and value chain that is able to respond not only to future pandemics, but also the growing burden of disease and inequitable access that has widened in our country since the pandemic broke,” explains Marlon Burgess, the Chairperson of the South African Medical Technology Association (SAMED).

Some of the key themes unpacked at the conference included: 

• Medtech Innovation

South Africa needs to unpack where our next innovative medtech solutions are coming from, and how we can improve our current offerings, onshore. The traditional innovation pathways between SMEs, industry and universities need to be revived, capacitated and funded. There is an important government role to be played in bringing funders, SMEs and the academic sector together and providing the tax and financial incentives needed to support collaboration and innovation right here on our shores.

Open innovation is another area that was tremendously effective during the pandemic and needs to be fostered in our post-pandemic recovery. Instead of following the traditional routes to market for medtech innovation – many of which fail because of the high risk and upfront capital-intensive requirements - open innovation platforms allow professionals to submit an idea in its earliest form by allowing the most valuable ideas to be identified, patented, funded and developed through collaboration, without the risk of having their IP stolen or lost. This was done to great effect during the pandemic when there simply was no time to do deals, build things up and wait for much-needed funding. The open innovation and the open-source community played a significant role during the pandemic, and such opportunities need to be made available to SA’s medtech SMEs, where there is no shortage of innovation and entrepreneurial appetite.

Boosting local manufacture and job creation

There is no disputing that Covid-19 has been as contagious socio-economically as it has been medically. South Africa’s reliance on imports and our dwindling manufacturing capabilities were thrown into stark relief during the pandemic.

A stronger South African medtech manufacturing sector would without doubt boost South Africa’s economic recovery, enhance trade into Africa, strengthen national and continental healthcare systems, and improve access to health services.  South Africa has the potential to be a MedTech hub for Africa and relevant legislation should enable economic engagement with the rest of Africa - aligned to the African Continental Free-Trade Agreement which has come to the fore in recent months.

Yet, despite highlighting the country’s dependence on imported medical devices and pharmaceutical products, South Africa has yet to see major upscaling of local manufacture of healthcare products – granted the process takes time and needs to be viewed as a longer-term project that requires sustained resources and significant cross-functional collaboration. Here, government has a major role to play in providing well-informed strategic guidance, developing a more enabling policy and regulatory environment and resolving cross-cutting economic challenges including securing the power supply and cost. With the right political will and collaboration between government and business, South Africa has significant potential for a vibrant medtech manufacturing industry in South Africa and the continent.

The government has recognised the healthcare sector as a priority sector for economic stimulus projects, and to this end the DTIC approach SAMED and MDMSA to collaborate in programmes with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Science and Innovation, the SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA).  Going forward, it is important for government to scope the requirements for increasing local manufacture while ensuring the sustainability of medical technology industry.

Other countries, such as Malaysia, Ireland and Israel, have succeeded in increasing local manufacturing capacity for medtech and dealt with similar challenges to those faced in South Africa and provide important lessons from their experiences.  To this end, the Israeli embassy in South Africa was part of the conference and provided insights on Israel’s journey, with the country just recently announcing that a new record of $18billion investment in innovation had been reached in the last nine months, of which medtech is a significant sector.

Medtech policy and regulations

Regulation of healthcare, including the medtech industry, plays a critically important role in all circumstances and certainly during health emergencies. However, there is a need to review and reform regulatory processes and overhaul related administrative systems to attain the agility required in times of crises.

Robust problem-solving, agility in introducing new policies and regulations, and capacity to fast-track licensing are critical to ensure supply in times of crisis and should be considered in crisis planning.

The pandemic has highlighted an urgent need to review, align and improve regulatory processes across government agencies before another health crisis occurs. SAMED impressed upon policy makers the need to formulate a joint response to future health emergencies and include input from all key stakeholders. Scenario planning and pressure-testing, with the participation of all stakeholders would identify gaps and help build solutions that can be efficiently implemented, and avoid the unintended consequences of regulation that does not fully appreciate the diversity and complexity of the medtech sector.

Most crucially, the complexity, resilience and variety of medical technology supply chains needs to be appreciated by policy makers. The complexity of the medical technology industry value chain should be considered together with job creation and innovation which creates more jobs. With a more enabling policy and regulatory environment, the medtech sector’s current estimated R20 Billion market value could be significantly increased to re-position South Africa’s role and contribution to the sector across the rest of Africa.

Universal Health Coverage and NHI

Attaining Universal Health Coverage is a laudable and necessary policy objective now regarded as international norm. NHI is merely one type of funding mechanism of which there are dozens of international variants. SAMED recognises that the inequities of the current fragmented healthcare system are untenable and that a well-formulated NHI is crucial to advancing universality and social solidarity in a patient-centric, equitable health system. The reality is that both private and public healthcare face enormous challenges and that failed implementation will have catastrophic consequences for patients and the economy.

From a medtech perspective, SAMED highlighted a number of aspects in the context of the NHI bill, including the pitfalls of a single payer/single buyer system which will not ensure optimal outcomes for price or supply of medtech due to its monopolistic nature. Furthermore, the nature of medtech must be taken into consideration. Medtech hasrapid cycles of improvement, clinical variation and innovation, there is a need for data management, software upgrades, replacement of consumables, after sales service, maintenance and training, service contracts, sub-specialities of devices and bespoke products made per patient. The role of healthcare practitioners also comes into play as the main users and specifiers of medtech fit for each patient’s needs – all of which is mismatched to a single buyer/payer model proposed under NHI.

South Africa’s worsening fiscal constraints and eroded tax base also have significant implications for a purely public-funded system. It was pointed out that no public funder/single payer system has achieved universal access anywhere in the world, and that the private sector plays a significant role to close the gap. 

Collaboration for a comprehensive response

“Collaboration among a wide range of role-players is fundamental to strengthening the South African health system, which is the country’s best defence against future pandemics and health crises. It is crucial to sustain and deepen the relationships forged in the heat of the COVID-19 response, contributing to common initiatives to “build back better” in an authentic and, when necessary, constructively critical manner. In all efforts, the patient should be at the centre to ensure preparedness not only for future national and global health emergencies, but also in advocating for the continuity of health services that are not linked to the pandemic crisis. Ongoing and long-term patient care cannot be sacrificed, and therefore policy makers must consider models and mechanisms for patients to receive the care and consultation they require, even during a pandemic.

“We support the funding and implementation of health innovation as a tool to meet diverse and challenging health needs within all communities. Most of all, as the representative body of the medtech industry in South Africa, SAMED stand ready to engage with government and all its agencies on measures aimed at accomplishing and building an improved and agile healthcare sector,” concludes Burgess.

Cyber risk topped the list as the number one risk globally

• Long-tail risks have become an important part of the risk landscape
• COVID-19 has highlighted the interconnectivity of risk

Aon, a leading global professional services firm, today announced the results of its 2021 Global Risk Management Survey, which gathers input from thousands of risk managers across 60 countries and 16 industries every two years to identify key risks and challenges their organisations are facing. The past two years have proved to be incredibly volatile, with the global COVID-19 pandemic having had a ripple effect across other types of risk, such as heightened awareness of reputation and cyber, as long-tail risks have become increasingly important to manage.

The 2021 edition surveyed more than 2,300 respondents in 60 countries across 16 industries at both public and private companies.

With more emphasis and reliance on technology, cyber risk topped the list as the number one current and predicted future risk globally, its highest rank since the inception of the survey. Cyber was also cited in the top 10 list of risks across each region, industry and respondent type.

The top 10 risks also strongly reflect the current landscape, namely COVID-19 and its impact on organisations. Amidst a backdrop of challenging market conditions, this is testing the ability of firms to manage volatility and make better decisions. Organisations are shifting their focus from event-based to impact-based risk assessments: for example, business interruption was once seen as a linear risk, but the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how it can affect multiple industries and companies simultaneously and globally.

“The world is a more volatile place and the importance of better decision making has never been greater,” said Lambros Lambrou, Aon’s CEO of Commercial Risk Solutions. “Long-tail risks are not single events. They’re innately interconnected, as we’ve seen with the COVID-19 pandemic, fundamentally changing the way the world works, revealing new risks and re-ordering priorities in the C-suite. A preoccupation with managing these immediate risks may be compromising the ability of firms to invest in the risks of tomorrow.”

Exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and highlighting the interconnectivity of risk, the top 10 global risks according to the 2021 Global Risk Management Survey are:

1. Cyber Attacks/Data Breaches 
2. Business Interruption
3. Economic Slowdown/Slow Recovery
4. Commodity Price Risk/Scarcity of Materials
5. Damage to Reputation/Brand
6. Regulatory/Legislative Changes
7. Pandemic Risk/Health Crises
8. Supply Chain or Distribution Failure
9. Increasing Competition
10. Failure to Innovate/Meet Customer Needs

“Historically, risk managers and insurers have learned and made decisions by analysing data from loss events as they have occurred. This approach must evolve in order to proactively manage emerging exposures such as complex supply chains; we can’t rely solely on the past to inform future risks,” said Rory Moloney, Chief Operating Officer for Enterprise Clients at Aon. “Several of the top risks identified in this year’s survey highlight four key areas of client need we’ve identified, particularly unmet needs in the form of long-tail risks that are no longer on the horizon. Those risks are on our doorstep. There is an increasing realisation of the need to address these ‘known unknowns.’ As we face unprecedented events, the challenge will be how to best develop solutions to properly prepare for and manage through them.”

The report highlights the top 10 risks by industry and region, as well as risk readiness, associated losses and mitigation actions for each of the top 10 risks. In addition, the report includes the predicted top 10 risks in the next three years and Aon’s analysis of underrated risks. Highlights of key findings by region and industry include:

• Pandemic Risk/Health Crises risk jumped to number seven, up from number 60 in the 2019 survey, and was listed in the top 10 for every region except North America.

• Business Interruption ranked as the second-highest threat globally — and respondents in some geographies (Asia Pacific and Europe) ranked it as the number one risk.

• Commodity Price Risk/Scarcity of Materials is a predicted future top risk globally.

• Four risks consistently ranked in the top 10 risks in each region: Cyber Attacks/Data Breaches, Business Interruption, Economic Slowdown/Slow Recovery and Regulatory/Legislative Changes.

• Supply chain or distribution failure re-entered the top 10 and ranked highest in Europe and North America, in large part to its linkage to the pandemic and geopolitical impact.

• Though not a top global risk, workforce scarcity and retention issues ranked highly in Asia Pacific and North America.

• Energy, Utilities & Natural Resources; Hospitality, Travel & Leisure and Life Sciences ranked Business Interruption as the number one risk.

• Commodity Price Risk/Scarcity of Materials was ranked as the number one risk by respondents in the Food, Agribusiness & Beverage and Industrials & Manufacturing industries. It’s predicted to rise to the top five both globally and in Europe by 2024.

The 2021 Global Risk Management Surveyalso includes a deep dive on key issues, including risk management and assessment techniques, controls and mitigation and key risks underwritten by captives. Additional findings from the survey include:

• The 2019 survey revealed that global businesses had the lowest risk preparedness scores in 12 years, averaging 53 percent globally. According to the 2021 survey, despite increases in reported levels of risk readiness for traditional risks, growing volatility and the changing nature of top 10 risks led to the highest ever reported loss of income for businesses.

• Though businesses didn’t list climate change as a top risk (number 29), it’s inherently tied to other, more tangible risks, where the immediate impact is measurable – such as business interruption, material scarcity, damage to reputation, regulatory changes and supply chain issues, which are all top 10 risks. Another underrated risk, Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), ranked at number 31, up from number 39 in 2019. ESG is predicted to enter the top 15 risks globally in the next three years.

• Only 29 percent of survey respondents plan on increasing their investment level in risk management resources.

Conducted every two years since 2007, Aon’s Global Risk Management Surveyprovides data and insights to enable better decision making around risk in an increasingly volatile and complex business environment. The full report is available here.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Our colleagues provide our clients in over 120 countries with advice and solutions that give them the clarity and confidence to make better decisions to protect and grow their business.

Follow Aon on Twitter and LinkedIn. Stay up-to-date by visiting the Aon Newsroom and sign up for News Alerts here.

Johannesburg |October 2021- i-LEAD has been announced as the third winner of the ongoingBrand South Africa 2021 Play Your Part Awards in the category - Women Empowerment.

The focus of this category was to highlight women empowerment programmes that aim to uplift, protect and empower women mentally, physically and socio-economically.

i-LEAD is an initiative that excels on all those fronts. I-LEAD teaches women self-defence for social good. Their programmes are designed to help those affected by gender based violence and human trafficking overcome trauma, with the end goal of equipping them to re-enter the world with confidence and strength.

Risha Patak-Harie, the founder and executive director of i-LEAD, was very grateful upon hearing the good news, and hoped that the publicity for the initiative would allow for a wider audience reach.

Patak-Harie was appreciative for the recognition, saying, “We are excited to be receiving the Women Empowerment award! Thanks to your recognition, more women and children will be reached through our Violence Prevention programs. It matters to every one of them that we take the power we have and use it to create change. Thank you Brand South Africa for championing this!”

Patak-Harie noted that there are two upcoming events in October that i-LEAD is facilitating in order to combat gender-based violence, and that the i-LEAD team has already made plans on what to do with the R5000 cash prize that comes with the award.

Nominations in the Nation Pride category are now open, and if you know someone deserving of this recognition, nominate or enter the Brand South Africa 2021 Play Your Part Awards today.

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For daily insight on the Play Your Part Awards

Follow: BrandSouthAfrica on Twitter: @Brand_SA , @PlayYourPartSA.
Follow us on Facebook: Official Brand South Africa

Visit: www.brandsouthafrica.com
For more on the winner visit: https://i-lead.org.za 

About i-LEAD

i-LEAD Self Defense provides free self-defence workshops for women and children. It is there mission to create a safer world, and empower women and children (especially those affected by domestic violence, gender-based violence and/or human trafficking) through life skills training; with the ultimate goal of bringing hope through self-reliance. Their slogan is BE STRONG. BE SAFE. BE FABULOUS.

About Brand South Africa

Brand South Africa is the official marketing agency of South Africa, with a mandate to build the country’s brand reputation, in order to improve its global competitiveness. Its aim is also to build pride and patriotism among South Africans, to contribute to social cohesion and nation brand ambassadorship.

About Play Your Part

Play Your Part is a nationwide programme created to inspire, empower and celebrate active citizenship in South Africa.  It aims to lift the spirit of our nation by inspiring all South Africans to contribute to positive change, become involved and start doing. A nation of people who care deeply for one another and the environment in which they live is good for everyone.

Play Your Part is aimed at all South Africans – from corporates and individuals, NGOs and government, churches and schools, from the young to the not-so-young.  It aims to encourage South Africans to use some of their time, money, skills or goods to contribute to a better future for all.

Many software quality engineers (SQE) give a little shudder when they hear the term ‘AI’, associating it with potential job loss. Today’s testing and software quality assurance (SQA) industry relies on a human workforce to manage tasks such as manually-driven exploratory testing and to create automated functional tests. The promise and potential of AI, namely its ability to overhaul manual tasks with greater speed and efficiency, is why so many SQEs give it a wide berth. While nobody wants to be replaced by a bot, avoiding AI is not going to help ensure job security. In fact, SQEs who take the opposite approach and investigate how AI can turn them into super-SQEs, are giving themselves a solid competitive edge.

Nadine du Toit, Chief Services & Innovation Officer at Inspired Testing, says that advances in the application of AI in software testing simply can’t be ignored.

“AI helps to reshape the future world that we know and work within today,” says Nadine. “AI-enabled software can superpower your real-world business by enabling intelligent automation to oversee repetitive tasks and optimise processes. This enables your human workforce to focus on customer relationships, solve complex problems, make fast, smart decisions and deliver exceptional work. AI put to good use really does give a business a solid competitive advantage.” 

Inspired Testing invites you to learn from its journey into AI

At this year’s AI Expo Africa, Sastri Munsamy from the Technology and Innovation team at Inspired Testing will present a sneak peek into findings from the global software testing company’s research and development department.

In his talk, Sastri will cover some of the current common challenges in the SQA industry such as script maintenance, test results analysis, defect classification and automated exploratory testing -  and discuss how AI can help resolve them.

“Today’s leading software testing and SQA tools like Selenium and ReportPortal have started integrating elements of AI technology with exciting results,” says Sastri. “At Inspired Testing, we’ve had a lot of fun testing and trialling these tools, among others, and have found a number of important benefits – not to mention learnt a lot of valuable lessons – that could be of great interest to our peers.”

Sastri’s advocacy for AI in SQA is underpinned by his extensive experience of real-world testing and automation projects. His expertise and enthusiasm on the subject of integrating elements of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) with artificial intelligence and machine learning to create AI empowered testing tools that will help supercharge the SQA industry is well worth hearing.

“At Inspired Testing, we have a very clear vision for the future of SQA,” says Sastri. “We see an AI empowered human workforce that is able to deliver results faster and more efficiently. Imagine SQEs able to test at the speed of DevOps with little reliance on technical skills because they have a bot assistant doing all the grunt work. We’ve still got some way to go before realising this vision but we are making enormous headway in unlocking the benefits of meaningful AI driven automation in software testing.”

AI Expo Africa is a three day live online event that runs from the 7-9 September 2021. Sastri Munsamy will present his talk: Behind the scenes of Inspired Testing’s journey into AI on Wednesday 8 September at 11:30am.

The destructive riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng have highlighted the importance of putting measures in place to ensure business operations can be maintained as far as possible.

Cape Town  – Looting and destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng cost South Africa an estimated R50-billion, according to the Presidency.

The week-long deadly violence came at a time when the country could least afford it, as the nation continues to battle the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic. It essentially has meant government and the private sector have to fight an economic war on two fronts. 

More than 150,000 permanent jobs in KwaZulu-Natal alone have been put at risk by the unrest, with many more affected in the informal sector. 

The country is already gripped by record unemployment rates of 32.6% and 46.3% among the youth, and these events will have obliterated what little gains had been made in terms of job creation.

In Durban, thousands of businesses were impacted either directly or indirectly, and it will take the city months – if not years – to get back on an even keel given the ongoing struggles with the coronavirus. 

The root cause of the violence is as much economic as it is political.

While the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma to begin a 15-month prison term for contempt of the Constitutional Court may have served as the catalyst, frustrations over decades-long low income levels and unemployment exploded on the back of the initial protests. To many analysts, this catastrophe was inevitable. 

While a game of political football continues to be played in the corridors of power, with fingers pointed this way and that, businesses are desperately trying to pick up the pieces. 

The riots have been a wake-up call to many that no matter how well-intentioned government might be in terms of providing reassurances and emergency funding to the private sector, uprisings of this nature can and do occur.

While it may not have reached the point where they are completely on their own, enough has happened to cause them to seek out ways to safeguard their operations, financially and otherwise, in the future.

While extreme violence leaves business owners with no option other than to close their doors, there are avenues available to them that can ensure disruptions are mitigated as far as possible. 

One of these is to adopt ISO 22301 Business Continuity, an offering falling under the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) bouquet. 

Each standard within the ISO range indicates the tools required - policies, process flows, procedures, work instructions, business continuity plans, forms reports and statistical analysis, for example - to guide the organisation to fulfill its goals, targets and objectives.  

Muhammad Ali, managing director and lead auditor of South African ISO standards training and implementation specialist WWISE, explains that ISO 22301 has never been more important for South African organisations. 

“ISO 22301 establishes a framework for planning, establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining, and continuously improving a business continuity management system (BCMs), which ensures a business maintains its operations during a disaster like the pandemic or civil unrest,” he says.

“It is expected to assist companies in protecting against, preparing for, responding to and recovering from disruptive situations.”

“A business continuity strategy combined with a management system should keep your employees aware of their duties and obligations,” Ali says. 

“It is critical to be ready to adjust to established protocols and approved procedures in the event of an unforeseen incident, such as the unrest that has taken place as well as what has happened with the pandemic.”

Businesses benefit from business continuity management in a number of ways. These include: 

• Complying with all applicable laws;
• Gaining a marketing advantage;
• Reducing reliance on individuals;
• Avoiding large-scale damage;
• Resilience in operations;
• ISO 22301 identifies and manages current and future business threats; and
• ISO 22301 shows customer, supplier and tender request resilience.

A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP), Ali explains, describes the procedures organisations must follow in the event of an incident.

“A DRP is a documented, well-organised business continuity strategy that explains how to handle disruptive situations. It should include a short-term plan to repair and rebuild important business systems, as well as a problem-solving strategy that includes root cause identification and a long-term preventative strategy.

There are numerous alternatives available to guarantee that an organisation has a contingency strategy in place that gives the optimum answer.”

Electronic Signatures by PaperTrail Sign Hub Embrace New Boundaries of Customer Satisfaction

The company provides ecologically sustainable solutions compliant with South African Common Law!

South Africa, August 3 – Content management solutions have seen a burgeoning rise in their popularity owing to the onset of a fast-paced lifestyle and the harrowing threat posed by climate heating. The upsurge in opposition to deforestation has dissuaded the use of paper and precipitated the reliance on electronic systems that bypass the use of paper. One such organisation is PaperTrail that allows its clients to electronically sign and submit documents.

The hassle-free system works in accordance with the South African law and is compliant with the ECT Act. The time-consuming process of printing, faxing, and filling can be prevented with the use of PaperTrail Sign Hub.

The Esignatures capabilities of this application can be synchronised with the business model, and the capability is adaptable to ad-hoc documents, and can also be automated, and this feature sets PaperTrail apart from its competition. PaperTrail also gives access to a template library of eforms to quickly generate daily-use documents on the go.

About PaperTrail

Since 1998, PaperTrail has been providing a robust electronic content management (ECM) system to support business-critical processes. Egis Software (the makers of PaperTrail) was founded in 1998 by Alon Feldman and Troy Ferraris

Contact:
Offices: 138 Athol Street, Highlands North, JHB, 2192
Call : +2711 880 4411
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Web: https://www.papertrail.co.za/

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) declared 2021 as a make-or-break year for climate change. Increasing temperatures, frequent droughts and rising water levels are just some of the effects of environmental damage, making the need for drastic action clear.

2021 is the first time since 2015 that world leaders came together to positively make a difference for climate change. This year, restrictions were imposed on auto-manufacturers and industrial sectors. If they fail to stick to their quotas, they will be hit where it hurts most – their pockets. As a result, organisations are switching to sustainable and renewable energy solutions.

“As South Africa’s leading energy solutions provider, we play an important role in protecting the environment. Our range of sustainable and renewable energy solutions designed and manufactured to assist business, industry and governments with solutions to make the switch seamlessly”, said Murray Long, Managing Director of First National Battery. “In addition, we have championed a nationwide battery recycling programme that reduces the need for lead-mining.”

Battery manufacturers have stepped up with the following solutions,

Solar batteries

Solar-powered storage solutions store and distribute power efficiently using a high-cycle, low discharge technology. Single solar batteries can power small appliances, while full solar solutions can power an entire house or small business and reduce reliance on the national power grid.

Renewable energy solutions

Lead-acid battery cabinets are equipped with a number of batteries, and can run basic amenities in a household or business and are an excellent alternative to constant power outages. They reduce reliance on the grid or generator power. (Which make use of coal and diesel, both high in emissions.) 

Battery recycling

Battery recycling is a smart way of reducing waste and reusing old batteries. South Africa’s leading battery manufacturerhas a programme that collects and stores old vehicle batteries, and sends them to a special recycling facility – where the lead and plastic are recycled. The benefits of the recycling programme include,

• Reducing plastic waste by repurposing plastic battery casings into pellets which are used to manufacture new batteries.
• Reduce lead-mining, which is not only labour intensive, but also has a large, negative impact on the environment.
• Safely neutralises and disposes of harmful chemicals and acids.

“By implementing smart, future-forward solutions that put the environment first, we can contribute to cleaner energy. Every solution, product and service reduces the impact on the planet, leaving future generations to enjoy a happy, healthy world”, says Murray Long, Managing Director of First National Battery .

To find out more about First National Battery’s sustainable and renewable energy solutions, visit www.battery.co.za.

-- ENDS --

ISSUED ON BEHALF OF FIRST NATIONAL BATTERY BY G&G DIGITAL.

First National Battery is South Africa's leading battery manufacturer for industries and applications rangingfrom automotive (including industrial, commercial and passenger vehicles), mining, railway and renewable energy to surfacetraction, telecommunications and standby battery solutions. Their vehicle battery solutions are trusted by all leading carmanufacturers in South Africa. They produce more than 2.2 million batteries each year and export their leading solutions to morethan 40 countries. 

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT battery.co.zaor CONTACT ANNIE HODES ON 083 325 4445 OR This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

References:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_in_climate_change
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-55498657
3. https://www.cbn.co.za/editorial-content/poweroptimal-and-electrolux-sa-partner-solar-photovoltaic-water-heating-solutions/

The time has come for banks across Africa to develop specific data management and analytics strategies that are customised and appropriate for local conditions and regulatory frameworks.  In many cases, existing models, originally imposed by parent banks from outside the country, are no longer fit for purpose locally.

This comes in the context of the rapidly evolving digital world of international business in the Covid era, where data is receiving increasing attention, not only in the financial services environment but also in a wide range of other industries. Given the potential value of data today, it comes as no surprise that many call data the “new oil” of the 21st-century economy.

For banks specifically, data helps identify new business opportunities as well as retain customers and acquire new ones, thus building a competitive advantage in the market.  Data also enables banks to optimise and streamline internal processes, improving performance and reducing operating costs.  Risk management is improved by providing data that is required by regulators and by developing and assessing customer risk profiles to enhance fraud detection and improve credit management.

The world of technology is changing rapidly and the need is to provide fit-for-purpose solutions for banks with low cost of ownership and that adhere to global standards.  In our experience with data management and data analytics we have found that vast quantities of data assets within most organizations remain undiscovered and unexploited.

Why now?

Why, then, is there a call for a brand-new look at data management and data analytics in African banks?  One reason is that many African banks have data management systems that were imported or imposed from outside, often with serious downsides in the African context.  Why is this?

Different banks have different internal circumstances and often lack specific expert skill sets.

Legislative environments differ from country to country.

Costs around centre- and industry-compliant data management systems are often high.

Centre standards are in most cases not “downwards scalable” and assume that a “one size fits all” solution will work in every bank.

Infrastructure availability and requirements differ city by city and country by country.

I would advocate that African banks need a “federated IT model” that can be applied to data management and data analytics  and tailored to the specific needs of the bank, and unique circumstances of each country.  This model:

Provides an environment where both autonomous regional IT units and a centralized IT unit share expertise and find synergies to accomplish broader IT objectives for the whole organisation.

Builds architectures adapted to the particular data volume and skills level of the bank in question.

Creates an agile data management strategy that retains its integrity regardless of infrastructural challenges.

Results in IT solutions that are scalable from large central banks to small regional African banks.

Uses existing systems that require locally available IT skills, thus reducing costs.

Employs technology partners that invest in skills transfer to improve independence and reduce reliance on outsiders.

Strategic importance of data

The strategic importance of data and the wide availability of tools available to probe it, make it an ideal time for African banks to develop their own data analytics strategies uniquely tailored to their environment. We personally love the opportunity to apply a custom solution that aligns with centre standards that addresses the local compliance and regulatory requirements of a particular country, but also takes cost effectiveness and local skills availability into account.  Using our extensive experience within the South African banking sector, there are smart ways to make real, measurable differences to banks in the African region.

This process includes:

Automation of complex data management tasks that negate the requirement for expensive experienced staff.

Working with local teams to build and transfer key skills within the organisation.

Installing systems that comply with local regulations, norms and practices and also aligns centre standards, ensuring overall organisational compliance.

Offering banking solutions that are cost-effective and affordable.

Offering flexible service arrangements that vary depending on changing requirements.  The programme sets up systems according to client’s requirements, automates complex maintenance tasks, transfers the required maintenance skills, and provides skills augmentation support.

Offering a remote monitoring and assistance facility after the initial task is complete and providing efficient 24/7 support.

The results of this approach retain the integrity of local banks and their ability to operate within their countries and their own specific contexts, while enabling integration with the systems of a parent or central bank. The key is the spirit of partnership.

Sean Taylor, Director at Insight Consulting

It is widely accepted that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated businesses’ digital transformation strategies. These investments are not made for their own sake, but to have a positive, measurable impact on a business. If one sits down with any C-suite, their reason for embarking on the journey is almost always to unlock value to become more competitive.

Using technology such as business intelligence (BI) software to create value is, at its core, fairly simple. One would look at either supporting top line growth by finding new opportunities inherent in a company’s data, such as cross-selling, upselling, and reducing customer churn, or by driving cost reduction, which supports the bottom line; or both.

However, while the concept may be simple, diving head first into patchy solution implementation without adequate analysis of the tools and technologies available to support the overall business processes won’t result in the elusive creation of value, and – as one would imagine – this leads to much frustration.

Let’s start at the beginning. One of the most common challenges in enterprises is a siloed approach to data. This is a legacy hangover where one would find business functions such as manufacturing, procurement, sales, operating almost as stand-alone entities.

Different people in different departments extract similar information to generate reports. In essence, you may find an input in one silo is an output in another. These people extract this data and then enrich it offline, most often in the form of an excel spreadsheet, which they then prepare for reporting purposes.

It becomes apparent then that each of these data owners can become fixated on their own silo but not appreciate how it impacts everyone up and down the line in the organisation. The information value chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

At all these links in an organisation, the data owners are extracting core elements from the system and enriching it outside of the system, which defeats the entire objective of a considered BI strategy: a single version of the truth.

With this approach of end users who individually try to enrich the data and package it in a presentable format, an organisation loses the ability to disseminate important insights widely. In effect, the creator of the spreadsheet inherits ownership of that intelligence, and it tends to live with that person for the duration of their stay at the company. When they leave, this intelligence tends to get lost which creates a gap in continuity.

This is compounded by a trend gaining momentum, and which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. As people leave organisations, those that remain tend to take on more responsibility. One of the effects of this cost-saving strategy of not rehiring is that the staff who remain become stretched and begin juggling tasks. When a workforce has less time, the gathering of insights, enriching it and presenting it, becomes compromised.

How to use data to create value in this environment

It is therefore no surprise that businesses around the world have become receptive to the concept of a single source of data that has been vetted for integrity and accuracy, from which all reporting and analytics are drawn. Beyond this, by providing a workforce with a flexible tool that can take out ad hoc insights and answer specific questions, the business enables itself to become lean and agile. Further efficiencies are gained through automating targeted report distribution.  

Expose hidden insights broadly

Organisations can maximise value by making hidden insights apparent. But to whom? BI, and the insights it delivers, unlocks the highest value when it is adopted broadly, and especially when it is integrated with standard operating procedures.

Data becomes systemised

To achieve this, there needs to be a thorough review of the information value chain that identifies the existing data enrichment opportunities in the organisation, and specifically where end users enrich it offline. Ideally, an organisation wants to work with a partner that can customise a tool so that the solution extends its reach throughout the business, and the data becomes systemised into a formal governance structure.

Pulling out a single version of the truth and disseminating more widely relies on data preparation processes that ensure all data sets are relevant, accurate and usable.

Understand relationships between data sets

Naturally, there are various solutions, some of which are limited to a query-based approach. This is not ideal. It is crucial for a BI tool to understand all the relationships between different data sets in a business and then expose hidden insights that would ordinarily be missed. When a BI solution is built it must be designed so that anomalies are highlighted easily and so that hidden insights prompt users to ask the right questions.

Actionable insights

The point of this is to develop self-reliance in the organisation. This means the insights extracted must be actionable. For instance, if a retailer – for example - can use its BI software to predict out-of-stock scenarios across various sites, it is empowered to manage its stock and cash flows proactively without the burden of key human resources needing to drive this. That’s value.

With an array of products, tools and service providers in the market today, organisations should spend time carefully evaluating the options available to them in terms of their overall data and information value chain. Whilst budget is an important consideration, the cheapest solution will not necessarily yield the quickest or highest return on investment. It is important to consider the overall data landscape, and approach the BI implementation with a clearly defined strategy, choosing a toolset that will provide a single version of the truth, quick time to value and actionable insights throughout the organisation. Sean Taylor is Director at award winning Insight Consulting, which is a strategic data consulting firm that operates across Southern and East Africa.

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About Insight Consulting

Formed in 2007, Insight Consulting is a strategic consulting firm that operates across Southern and East Africa. It is a data specialist company that finds its enterprise Customers’ raw data, frees it from vertical business silos, understands its relevance, and actions it into business value for them, by using intelligent software and analytical expertise. For more information, go to www.insightconsulting.co.za.

The pressure on NGOs since the first lockdown over a year ago has not subsided by any means and the news of the continued hard lockdown could cripple the sector entirely. Especially in light of a survey by Tshikululu Social Investments in 2020, reporting income losses for two-thirds of NPOs since the beginning of lockdown and indicating that the sector could take years to recover, with some organisations not recovering at all. However, there has been little movement at a policy level to ease the burden on NGOs of delivering vital social services. While the President called on citizens to remember that “complacency comes at a high price” this is true for government too.

Its inability to roll out the vaccines has led to further trauma in the sector. Dr Armand Bam, Head of Social Impact at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB) says whilst scholars and practitioners have raised the red flag regarding an unprecedented strain on the finances of NGOs, little can be seen by way of policy development that recognises the support required in this sector.“The government has reduced social development spending by 3% in 2021 – this is a reduction of R6.5 billion from the initial allocation of the 2020/21 MTSF which will culminate into cumulative reduction of R38.5 billion Rand over the next three years. This is spending typically directed to recipients via nonprofits and needs to be seen in light of rising unemployment, currently at 32,6% and the highest since StatsSA started the Quarterly Labour Force surveys in 2008, impacting on government’s ability to gather taxes from its citizens, of which a portion is used for nonprofits to deliver services.”

“What we witnessed with the initial hard lockdown was an almost immediate suffering amongst nonprofits. NGOs had to adapt – and in many cases, expand – their programmes and how they were delivered while at the same time cancelling many fundraising events, the lifeblood of many nonprofits.“The question we must ask ourselves as a society is whether this sector can continue to absorb this pressure and what will be the true impact of a constriction of their activities that a harder lockdown will bring?” Dr Bam said a number of studies pointed to the rising calls for services coinciding with a loss in funds to provide the services.An international study in 2020 showed that more than 60% of NPO’s suffered the impact in a decline in individual donations. More significantly, over 50% of these NPOs indicated the need for retrenchment of staff, reduced working hours or reduced pay in order to stay afloat.

The situation in South Africa was no different – in the Tshikululu survey of over 300 NPOs, 66% of respondents indicated an immediate impact of lockdown on loss of income, in some instances a loss of over 75%, and two-thirds said that the impacts of the pandemic threatened their resilience and sustainability. More than a third of the local NPOs surveyed had also taken steps such as temporarily laying off staff, reducing working hours or cutting salaries.“A lasting impact was a common sentiment expressed across these studies. NPOs were due to experience at least 18 months of hardship before they might be able to revitalise their organisations. Many nonprofits have not recovered from being forced into new ways of balancing the value of their social mission with the viability of their operations,” says Dr Bam.

He says NGOs are organisations that address societal problems, tackling issues that business and government are unable and unsuited to address on their own. COVID-19 has brought their utility to the fore and the disruption of the pandemic has required nonprofits to take the lead on most of the humanitarian efforts during this time. “We need clarity in this time of crisis. While we can praise the efforts of NPOs during this time, it has also exposed the soft underbelly within this sector.

There has always been, and will always be, a reliance on business and government to finance the delivery of NPOs’ services. The liquidity of many of these organisations at the start of the pandemic was already at stake with most operating with less than three months’ operating reserves, restricting their financial flexibility. ”The BDO Nonprofit Standards Benchmarking Survey 2020 showed that in past economic downturns, it had typically taken NPOs five years to fully recover.

“Those organisations that were able to thrive and sustain themselves had at least six months of net assets at their disposal with no restrictions and were able to invest in technology. This is, and has not been, the case for many NPOs in South Africa and we have seen thrivers and sustainers become strugglers,” he said.Dr Bam says while many nonprofit organisations have been able to adapt to some degree to new ways of operating, the recent murmurings by government and political leaders of harder lockdowns is cause for concern.“Access to health, education, food security, decent living conditions, at a minimum, are expected in flourishing societies.

Our greatest challenge of addressing inequality in these areas will be further set back if NPOs cannot continue to do the work required. Understandably, the need to ensure our health care system is not overloaded must be considered, but what more then can we do to ensure that NPOs are still able to deliver on their mission and remain viable?”Dr Bam says more emergency funds are clearly not the answer. With South Africa’s economy forecast to recover to pre-COVID levels only in 2025, he says “we are in for a rough ride”.He points out that the slow vaccination rollout has contributed significantly to delaying this recovery.

“We must bear in mind that any return to a hard lockdown will subdue this economic recovery and stifle prospects of growth. We are too easily invited to ‘family gatherings’ while our government does not act with responsibility. Let the leadership once again show with intent their solidarity with citizens and put their money where their mouths are! It is time for Cabinet Ministers to do more than revisit what restrictions to impose on citizens and organisations doing good and to dip into their own pockets. A salary sacrifice should be on the cards as well.”   REFERENCES Tshikululu Social Investments NPC. 2020. The Impact of Covid-19 on non-profit organisations. https://tshikululu.org.za/partner-survey/ Deitrick, L, et al. 2020.

Unprecedented Disruption: COVID-19 Impact on San Diego Nonprofits.
https://digital.sandiego.edu/npi-npissues/5/ BDO 2020 Nonprofit Standards Benchmarking Survey. Download at https://www.bdo.com/insights/industries/nonprofit/nonprofitstandards