2020 saw the sharpest rise in digital transformation across the globe. The pandemic accelerated the introduction of online education workflows in an unprecedented fashion. The effects of the crisis-induced change in teaching and learning are permanent.

“When the worldwide lockdowns started, every school was scrambling to see how they can deliver value and ensure learning continuity during this terrible time. The crisis exposed the technology access gap between the poor and rich in many societies”, stated Edzai Zvobwo, the Founder and CEO of MathsGee a peer to peer learning platform for learners to help each other through subject-specific questions and answers.

Online learner support platforms like MathsGee, Brainly and Byjus among others saw experienced exponential growth as learners and teachers were scrambling for scalable solutions to help them weather the “learn from home” phenomenon.

The common feature among platforms that gained the most users during this period is the availability of free content. This inclusive approach to business enabled learners from all walks of life to have access to quality educational resources at no cost.

This trend is evidence that there is a need for new and innovative business models that serve all learners regardless of their economic situation.

One prevalent business model that has enabled inclusivity is the ads-based model whereby learners can consume all the content but are exposed to advertising from third parties.

Another model that has grown is the freemium model whereby learners have access to basic content or free trials for a given period and then to access more features they have to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee.

“The freemium model is half-good because it gives you access but not full access thereby depriving learners of the quality information behind the paywall, this is exclusivity”, said Zvobwo.

MathsGee is committed to providing tools that enhance learner outcomes regardless of extenuating circumstances like poverty thus it has maintained a “full buffet” model. The EdTech startup currently uses an ad-based model to get revenue but is in the process of phasing out this method. They now have a “Sponsor/Tip-jar” model that seeks to optimize information sharing among learners and tutors on the platform.

In line with trends in the open-source world, which have seen the emergence of companies such as Patreon, who facilitate for the payment of creators by fans. This is a new model that allows for fans to give back to creators who are freely adding value in their lives. Github, Reddit, Pixabay and many other open-source platform now have a “Sponsor” button.

MathsGee has decided to make peer to peer sponsorships and donations the main revenue model for both the platform and content creators. Every user has a unique link on their profile that allows for other users and visitors to donate to them. The platform gets a 10% commission inclusive of transaction charges from the payment gateways.

This model ensures that no content is hidden from anyone and if a creator is producing quality content, they are guaranteed to be supported by beneficiaries on a willing donor basis.It is vital that education tool providers continue innovating for the benefit of the learner.

Website: https://mathsgee.com

Example Profile and Donate Button: https://mathsgee.com/user/MathsGee

Education is too expensive and does not prepare students for the workplace. These are the lamentations of both employers and students across Africa. Why are educational institutions not changing their curricula fast enough to provide relevant education that satisfies industry skills demands? What do students really pay for when getting an education?These are some of the questions that Edzai Conilias Zvobwo has been asking for years.

Out of disgruntlement from the rhetoric and low pace of change, Edzai, popularly known as “The MathsGenius” has decided to be the change he would like to see.Edzai is on a mission to facilitate the free delivery of relevant skills to anyone who wants to learn. “In the information age, knowledge is free, and students are merely paying for accreditation and associated prestige that comes with institutional names”, said Zvobwo who has created an online platform that offers free courses and educational insights on all subjects.According to information on the platform’s homepage, MathsGee is an online content recycling initiative.

The platform serves as a bank for educational content in the form of courses.

The content on MathsGee is free for everyone, everywhere and anytime. The courses are being developed in conjunction with organizations that are willing to share knowledge and contribute in solving the educational crisis across the continent.To bridge the expectation gap between students and employers, it is necessary to co-create learning paths that are focused on skills and not necessarily labelled as degrees or diplomas.

What industry needs are skills and not qualifications. MathsGee offers this opportunity to employers to communicate their expectations to the future workforce to avoid discord.In line with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals, MathsGee is also tackling the exclusivity of education by providing all courses for free. If one has an internet connection, then they will be able to learn any skill anytime and anywhere.It is important that all stakeholders rethink about what education is relevant and how it should be delivered.

For more information on the initiative you can send an //mathsgee.com/joburg-social-entrepreneur-on-a-mission-to-democratize-education-delivery-in-africa/This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">email  or simply use the “Contact Us” form on the platform.

Smart devices are a massive part of our children’s lives. They spend much of their time devoted to communicating with their friends and peers through cell phones and social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter.

Sadly, the lack of boundaries combined with too much freedom and a dash of ignorance has resulted in children becoming more vulnerable to cyber bullying and cybercrime than ever before. In fact, a study by the World Economic Forum puts South Africa in the list of top 10 countries that are at risk when it comes to children and cybercrime.  It comes as no surprise then that some schools and parents have taken to ban these devices altogether.

On the other hand, there is no denying that smart devices provide a powerful learning platform with a wealth of information available at your fingertips. And then of course there is the comfort that comes with knowing that you can contact (and keep track) of your child, where ever, whenever. “Because it’s not only the cyber criminals that you need to be protecting your child from, it’s the real-life ones too!” says Erika Truscott, Owner and Founder of PingMe.

“Just last month, two incidents of intended abduction of children by strangers from shopping centres in Pretoria East went viral,” she adds.So, what do parents do? Is there a way to protect our children from the dangers that lurk in cyber space whist still reaping the advantages that come with these devices in the real world? Erika believes there is. She offers the following smart device advice to parents:

1. Add social media accounts to your phone: As a rule of thumb, children younger than 13 shouldn’t have social media profiles – they simply don’t possess the skills to discern potential threats. If your older child is on social media, insist that you have their account on your phone so that you have instant access to chats and posts.

2. Check privacy settings: Automatically set all your child’s social media profiles to private, non-negotiable.

3. Download filtering, blocking and information security software: Control unwanted content and apps by investing in software that allows you to selectively filter what your children are exposed to.

4. Watch WhatsApp: Much of the cyber bullying that takes place, happens on WhatsApp. You can use the WhatsApp web/desktop application to track your child’s history and messages.  

5. Get them safety savvy: Teach your child that the ‘Stranger Danger’ rule applies for cyberspace as much as it does for ‘real life’ and remind them not to give out any personal information like phone numbers, home address etc. (even to friends) over social platforms. “It may seem intrusive to have your child’s social media profiles on your phone or to watch their WhatsApp, but as moms and dads, our number one responsibility is to protect and nurture our children. It is integral that all these interventions are not done in isolation of an open and loving conversation with your child. Trust is the basis of every relationship and this is no different,” says Erika.She adds that for parents who are still erring on the side of caution in terms of smart devices that perhaps they should consider a Smart Watch. “That way, the internet is completely restricted BUT you can still contact your child (and they can contact you!) plus you have the added benefit of being able to know where your child is at any given moment.

South African innovation consultancy enhances services for long-lasting business impact Johannesburg, South Africa 22 March 2018:  iShack Innovation Consultancy, leading technology and marketing consultancy, has redefined its website and product portfolio to provide enhanced solutions and services to its clients. With a proven track record and exemplary client list, the company now provides hands-on consulting expertise across both online marketing and innovation engineering.

“We are committed to providing a digital customer advisory service that’s designed to fit in with our client’s business objectives,” says Richard Bensted, Managing Director, iShack Innovation Consultancy. “We provide a full-service consultancy with highly skilled professionals and we focus on maximising client return on investment.” The online marketing division of iShack Innovation Consultancy focuses on strategic advice, advanced search engine optimisation, Google advertising and social media advertising. The innovation engineering division focuses on mobile application development and enhancement, artificial intelligence, blockchain tech

nology, exponential technology consulting and enterprise software engineering. Each division delivers measurable results to clients, crafting tailored solutions that focus on the challenges and pain points experienced by business.

“We are committed to supporting the growth and expansion of your business,” concludes Bensted. “Through our use of exponential technologies, innovation and digital consulting, and our extensive expertise in SEO and digital advertising, we can help you to reach more customers, expand your brand and take your business to new levels and into new markets.” iShack Innovation Consultancy has an impressive client list that includes Abland, TUHF Limited, Dodo Shoes, CTU Training Solutions, Bidserv Industrial Products, JLL, One on One Productions and Cliff Central, and High Street Auctions.

The company was started by two South Africa entrepreneurs, Richard Bensted and Wayne Berger, and the freshly designed website and portfolio reflect their awareness of the new digital landscape and the demands it places on the business. To find out more about iShack Innovation Consultancy visit https://www.ishack.co.za/ or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About iShack Innovation Consultancy
iShack Innovation Consultancy has been providing clients with exceptional service, solutions and innovative ideas for more than ten years. Established in 2005, the agency has a long list of well-known clients and success stories that showcase how both Richard Bensted, Managing Director, and Wayne Berger, Chairman – the founding entrepreneurs – have focused on client service, deliverables and measurable return on investment. To find out more about iShack Innovation Consultancy visit www.ishack.co.za, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 082 823 8618.   provides a range of solutions and services that are ideally suited to subscriber-based companies in Africa. Our comprehensive portfolio of services and our extensive technology-driven expertise help companies streamline their business

For more press information or images please contact:Tamsin OxfordCoffee This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   

24 October 2017, Johannesburg, South Africa

“Maths is to the mind what love is to the heart”, Edzai Zvobwo, Chief Genius at MathsGenius Leadership Institute (MGLI) strongly stated in his seminal book entitled The Mathematical Genius in You. The self-anointed maths genius has graced many a stage in South Africa and beyond in his bid to change people’s attitude towards mathematics and has used all sorts of platforms to preach the gospel of mathematics.

The 1873FM, an online radio station run by the leadership development network, The 1873 Network, announced on its social media pages that Edzai Conilias Zvobwo a.k.a MathsGenius will be joining the lineup of hosts as he tackles issues pertaining to problem solving and critical thinking for success. According to the reports, the MathsGenius will have the first show on the 24th of October 2017 at 9 PM South African time.

The show will be run every day at the same time.The show is a culmination of his efforts and passion for mathematics; this is evidenced by his motivational works across schools in South Africa. He has participated in intervention programs in the townships through workshops and camps assisting struggling learners.  Edzai called himself The Mathematical Evangelist on a Mindset TV programme.

A lot of MBA students from leading institutions of higher learning have benefited from his tutoring of research methods and statistics. His dream is to demystify mathematics and ensure that learners become good problem solvers. Edzai is a firm believer of the theory that Africa can be liberated if her people are mathematically literate and apply the problem solving thinking methodology to find solutions to social, political and economic problems that have long hounded the “Mother-Continent”. Good problem solvers will eradicate poverty in Africa. To become a good problem solver, one needs to be trained to think like a mathematician to achieve this.

He possesses a BSc Honours in Applied Mathematics, Diploma in Business Analysis and Certificate in Data Analysis, Certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation. Edzai has a good understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle and the value of keeping projects on time and within budget and meeting client requirements. His appreciation of methodologies for succeeding in the studying and applying mathematics in real world situations has led him to become a crusader for South Africa’s most feared subject.

Tune every night at 21:00 South African time on http://the1873fm.com

Johannesburg, Thursday January 12th, 2017-- Today, Furnitureshop.co.za introduced a revolutionary new way to connect furniture shoppers and craftsmen all across South Africa. Through Furniturespot, artisanal craftsmen get access to an online platform and shoppers finally are able to order their one-of-a-kind furniture with incredible ease. Why compromise, and buy expensive imported furniture from a big company, when you can have your furniture custom-made by local artisans at a fair price? Because local is lekker!

Only the best craftsmen are given access to the platform. Furniturespot’s makers make all types of furniture including tables, cabinets, chandeliers and even custom made braais.  

Furniturespot.co.za helps customers realise their furniture ideas by connecting them to talented artisanal craftsmen. Customers can upload a picture of their desired furniture they have seen on Pinterest or somewhere else. Furniturespot will send the customer three different quotations. Based on price and previous reviews, the customer decides which craftsman to take for the job.  

The founders of Furniturespot, Wouter and Lizet, spent months to find the best craftsmen Johannesburg has to offer for their platform. Wouter: “It took much more time than expected. We drove hundreds of kilometres in the city of Johannesburg. These artisanal craftsmen are difficult to find because they don’t have a website and there is no rating system available where you can pick the best furniture makers.”  

The founders got the idea when they were redecorating their home but couldn’t find what they were looking for. “It was either too expensive, too big, too small or just not the right colour. To create exactly the pieces we had in mind, we went custom. But we couldn’t find furniture makers to be trusted. This is how we got the idea to start Furniturespot.co.za,” said Lizet.  

Stimulating the local economy

Furniturespot.co.za wants to stimulate the local economy by bringing more business to craftsmen. Lizet: “When you go shopping at one of the major furniture stores you will find that most furniture is imported, and with a quality that is average at best. We believe that the lack of trust and the inconvenience to order custom made furniture are important factors for people not using local talent. Our platform connects talented artisanal craftsmen with all those customers looking for that one-of-a-kind piece of furniture. Furniturespot.co.za supports the “Local is lekker” movement.  

The website takes away the fear of trust that so many people have when they are looking for a furniture maker. Furniturespot’s craftsmen have been screened by Furniturespot on quality and trustworthiness. Wouter: “Customers want to go to a one-stop-shop they can trust”. Custom made is much more affordable than what people would think. Wouter: “Everybody thinks that custom made pieces are expensive. I would say it is quite the opposite. Our makers are much more affordable than your mainstream furniture shops, because we have cut out the middlemen. And when it is custom made, the pieces meet our customers’ exact specifications. Why buy something not quite right when you can have it custom made?”  

About

Furniturespot.co.za is a new online marketplace in South Africa for custom made furniture. Furniturespot.co.za has built an exciting platform for turning customer furniture ideas into reality by connecting them to the best artisanal craftsmen South Africa has to offer. By delivering great customer service through creative and manufacturing expertise at an affordable price point, furniturespot.co.za is making custom made furniture accessible to everyone. At furniturespot.co.za we bring one-of-a-kind ideas to life.

PIETERMARITZBURG, KWAZULU-NATAL, 16 MAY 2016 - Jowetts Cycles, based in Pietermaritzburg, is celebrating its 84^th year in the cycling trade this year. It is South Africa’s oldest and arguably the most well-known cycling shop in KwaZulu-Natal.

How does the oldest cycle brand celebrate this auspicious occasion? By adding one of the oldest bicycle brands to its stable - LAPIERRE bikes.

Founded in 1946 by Gaston Lapierre, and passed down over three generations, Lapierre combines innovation, aesthetics, attention to detail, and its experience with pro riders, to offer the most efficient and beautiful bikes to cycling enthusiasts everywhere. Based out of Dijon, France, the headquarters remain the centre for development and testing. A team of engineers are dedicated to the research and innovation for every frame that is developed and actively engage in bike tests with Lapierre’s pro riders.

Jowetts Cycles is proud to add a small range of LAPIERRE BIKES to its existing stable of world class brands, SCOTT, MERIDA, SILVERBACK and TITAN bikes.

Owners, Wally and Ingrid Flint, and their dedicated staff, have a reputation in the industry for always going the extra mile, which has seen them do some amazing extra-mile feats for customers in desperate times. These include, but are not limited to, opening the shop at 2am (and countless other different hours) for customers to get parts, bikes, bits and pieces; for the past 10 years travelling 4000km to Cape Town and back with about 100 bikes in tow for customers riding the Argus; and putting up a large, well-stocked mobile shop at many races around the country in good and bad weather over the past umpteen years, to ensure cyclists can ride their races safely, plus much more.

The well-stocked cycle shop has seen many famous, and not so famous cyclists, from around the world, but Jowetts Cycles is most loyal to its large customer base in Pietermaritzburg and KZN, priding itself on its ability to provide world-class customer care and products for all.

Jowetts Cycles recently launched its online shop,www.jowettscycles.co.za, which is proving to be very popular already with clients from all over South Africa, and from as far afield as Finland and other European countries.

Says Ingrid Flint, “We have created something very special that affords people from all over South Africa, and the occasional international customer, the ability to buy from us online from the luxury of their home, office, or wherever they may be. You would be amazed at how many bikes we sell online. I love the ease of these transactions and it makes sense that this is the future. Bikes are packed in bike boxes so they’re safe and sound and couriered using a well-known international courier that ensures our delivery service is excellent, even overnight for most orders. Our physical shop serves its purpose as a retail outlet and as a social hub where daily, cyclists and bike lovers visit to chat, browse, socialise, and do what makes bike-lovers happy, peruse over our beautiful bikes!”

 Editor’s Notes

For higher res photos, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

All photo credits to Quick Pix.

PIETERMARITZBURG, KWAZULU-NATAL, 16 MAY 2016 - Jowetts Cycles, based in Pietermaritzburg, is celebrating its 84^th year in the cycling trade this year. It is South Africa’s oldest and arguably the most well-known cycling shop in KwaZulu-Natal.

How does the oldest cycle brand celebrate this auspicious occasion? By adding one of the oldest bicycle brands to its stable - LAPIERRE bikes.

Founded in 1946 by Gaston Lapierre, and passed down over three generations, Lapierre combines innovation, aesthetics, attention to detail, and its experience with pro riders, to offer the most efficient and beautiful bikes to cycling enthusiasts everywhere. Based out of Dijon, France, the headquarters remain the centre for development and testing. A team of engineers are dedicated to the research and innovation for every frame that is developed and actively engage in bike tests with Lapierre’s pro riders.

Jowetts Cycles is proud to add a small range of LAPIERRE BIKES to its existing stable of world class brands, SCOTT, MERIDA, SILVERBACK and TITAN bikes.

Owners, Wally and Ingrid Flint, and their dedicated staff, have a reputation in the industry for always going the extra mile, which has seen them do some amazing extra-mile feats for customers in desperate times. These include, but are not limited to, opening the shop at 2am (and countless other different hours) for customers to get parts, bikes, bits and pieces; for the past 10 years travelling 4000km to Cape Town and back with about 100 bikes in tow for customers riding the Argus; and putting up a large, well-stocked mobile shop at many races around the country in good and bad weather over the past umpteen years, to ensure cyclists can ride their races safely, plus much more.

The well-stocked cycle shop has seen many famous, and not so famous cyclists, from around the world, but Jowetts Cycles is most loyal to its large customer base in Pietermaritzburg and KZN, priding itself on its ability to provide world-class customer care and products for all.

Jowetts Cycles recently launched its online shop,www.jowettscycles.co.za, which is proving to be very popular already with clients from all over South Africa, and from as far afield as Finland and other European countries.

Says Ingrid Flint, “We have created something very special that affords people from all over South Africa, and the occasional international customer, the ability to buy from us online from the luxury of their home, office, or wherever they may be. You would be amazed at how many bikes we sell online. I love the ease of these transactions and it makes sense that this is the future. Bikes are packed in bike boxes so they’re safe and sound and couriered using a well-known international courier that ensures our delivery service is excellent, even overnight for most orders. Our physical shop serves its purpose as a retail outlet and as a social hub where daily, cyclists and bike lovers visit to chat, browse, socialise, and do what makes bike-lovers happy, peruse over our beautiful bikes!”

 Editor’s Notes

For higher res photos, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

All photo credits to Quick Pix.

Event organiser Kinetic has confirmed that industry-giant Performanta has signed on as platinum sponsors for this year’s anticipated 6th edition of their successful flagship event; the IT Leaders Africa Summit.

The event, taking place from 18 - 19 March 2015 at The Maslow Hotel in Johannesburg, is set to go beyond your usual routine business conference, evolving to deliver on a more exciting, topical, trendy and current platform, utilising both the latest technologies coupled with the latest in conference trends internationally.

Together with Performanta, the event aims to deliver an expert-lead agenda that features an educational conference program backed by the latest in technology workshops and demonstrations. 

Performanta’s workshop; Safeguard your organisation now, your wallet will thank you later; focuses on measuring your organisation against the industry on 10 information security and privacy measures, derived from real-world assessments.

Performanta Consulting was established by Anthony Olivier 4 years ago, aligning information security consulting services to the Performanta Technology & Services stable. Performanta Consulting has provided services to primary South African banks, insurance companies, brokers, mining companies, service and retail organisations. Their key differentiator: senior, qualified, experienced consultants, integrated frameworks and fair pricing. Furthermore, the team has assisted in addressing security problems in seventeen African countries and has a thorough understanding of the continental landscape.

As thought-leaders in the industry, they are amongst the most active South African participants in industry conferences, blogs and podcasts.An expert-led advisory panel will lead the summit with industry giants Robert Sussman, co-founder and joint-CEO of Integr8; Hugo Timmerman, Head of IT Southern Africa at British American Tobacco; and Tunde Coker, MD of Rack Centre (A Jagal Group Company).

The event also features over 35 speakers, keynotes, panel discussions and numerous educational workshop sessions hosted by key industry providers, all sessions led by some of today’s most notable individuals who are shaping the IT landscape in South Africa and beyond.

Speakers, just to name a few, include; David Visser, CIO of Coca-Cola Southern Africa; Anthony Hlungwane, Group IT Director of Mr Price Group; Sal Laher, CIO Eskom; Rocky Gwewera, Global Head of Infrastructure Architecture at Sasol; Stephan Ekbergh, CEO and founder of Travelstart; and Sunil Joshi, MD and CEO of Neotel.

Some sponsors and partners include; Telkom Business, HP, Performanta and Blue Coat Systems, SITA, Airwatch, Kofax, Dimension Data, Neotel, Meso Systems, Sage Pastel Accounting and ERP Africa, and Blackberry.

For more information on the event to register to attend or to sponsor, visit www.itleaders.co.za or contact the event organisers Kinetic on +27 21 180 4700.Follow the event and stay up to date on Twitter. @ITLeadersAfrica and join in on the conversation using #ITLAfrica.

Neotel, South Africa’s renowned converged communications and network operator have just confirmed that they will be sponsoring a panel discussion at the 6th IT Leaders Africa Summit, produced and hosted by Kinetic.

MD and CEO, Sunil Joshi will be taking part in this panel discussion on enterprise technology in Africa during an agenda track focussing on business connectivity alongside CIOs David Visser from Coca-Cola Southern Africa and Mike Davies from Royal Bafokeng Platinum. 

In this session, they will discuss 4G supporting the real time transmission of voice, data and video and whether the technology is sufficient to improve connectivity for unified communications in organisations. Other featured speakers on this track includes Hollard Group Services CTO, Anthony Hlungwane who will focus on the new social and mobile collaboration tools that connect people inside and outside the enterprise, in a way that provides real time communications and access to supporting systems.

Also hear case studies of the alternative strategies taking shape within organisations located in areas with limited bandwidth during a panel discussion with Chandima Miyanadeniya, CIO for Aon; Johan Pistorius, CIO for African Rainbow Minerals; Potlaki Maine, Executive Head IT for Sentech ; Nkosana Mbokane, General Manager of ICT for Perishable Products Export Control Board  and Rocky Gwewera, Group Head of Infrastructure Architecture for Sasol.

The IT Leaders Africa Summit is now in its 6th year, and has for the first time been produced in conjunction with an official advisory panel of industry experts.  This advisory panel includes Rob Sussman, Co-founder and joint CEO of Integr8; Hugo Timmerman, Head of IT Southern Africa for British American Tobacco and Tunde Coker, Managing Director for Rack Centre (A Jagal Group Company)

Dimension Data, established as a world leader in ICT solutions, who serves 73% of the Fortune 100 and 59% of the Fortune 500 companies will also be powering a panel discussion.  Grant Morgan, General Manager: Cloud for Dimension data will be joined by Fundile Ntuli, CIO for ubank; Peter Oeschger, ‎Group CIO for Finbond Mutual Bank and Heinrich Kukkuk, Group Information Technology Manager for Aveng Group in a discussion on the role of the CIO in the age of the cloud. 

This session will answer questions about where the CIO features in an age when decisions to use the cloud are being made by marketing and other functions both within and outside the organisation  

Join us to hear the experts at the 6th edition of IT Leaders Africa Summit on the 18-19 March 2015 at the Maslow hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg.   For the latest ITLA Summit news on speakers, industry providers and content, visit  www.itleaders.co.za  or contact Marcia van Jaarsveld on +27 21 180 7105 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.     

Broadband will be the deciding factor as soon as Broadband becomes faster the Internet will change overnight. The Internet is destined to become a fully audio visual medium like TV but better as people will be able to interact live with each other. The future of the Internet will be a video platform.

People don’t want to have to read as much as they currently do whilst browsing. Our weakness as humans is that we expect information without having to work for it, reading is more work than just watching a video so we prefer to do that. Already youtube.com is the second largest search engine after Google for South African audiences and they are not watching YouTube they are watching a video.

If you want to fix a leaking pipe without calling a plumber then watch a video how to do it. If you want to cook a delicious meal and are looking for a particular recipe then watch a video, if you’re looking for health advice watch a video, if you want to see the latest fashion trends then you can watch a video, if you want to know how to extract DMT from Mimosa Hostilis and use it to awaken your pineal gland watch a video.

The benefits to your business If you have a business and provide a service to clients let them watch a video of what you have to offer, the same with a product show your customers how to use your product. With video on the web you can create a better relationship and more trust for visitors to do business with you from your website.

The winners will be the ones that have recognised that people would like to be “spoon fed” information rather than have to work for it by reading text. Today on YouTube there is tons of this content already, people are able to search on any topic they like and can find out more information. People make their own video about plumbing and cooking etc. No matter how good or bad the video quality is people want information and they don’t want to have to read much to be able to get it.

Do these videos have your brand on them? No they don’t. Brands in South Africa today need to wake up and produce their own content, not for YouTube alone but for all social media and more importantly for their websites. Even now before the year 2020 bandwidth has becomes faster video is growing and is starting to overtake everything you see on the web. The TV stations are already gearing up for this as well as other major media players in the South African industry.

You only have to look at DSTV, SABC and NETFLIX to see how growth in this sector has already caught on here. The massive investment in live streaming is overwhelming and new technology is created every day. Corporations are all working on video solutions it is happening all around us with new technology and new hardware being announced almost daily. Video Production for the Web. Video for the web is more like a TV news or Reality news it is more unrehearsed and instantly produced, unlike your company developing a TV commercial which has a really high degree of production values which also comes with a high budget requirement. This will affect how we communicate with each other. Cost of live streaming and video production has drastically reduced due to lower cost of entry. Companies can purchase very good quality High Definition cameras. You no longer need to bring in expensive film crews and with HTML5 video technology as well as software devices like SKYPE which exists today but other software which will be faster and better. SKYPE and Google Hangouts will not be the only Apps. to be able to run visual communications’ it will become normal on every website and web platform. With new hardware solutions you will be able to see and talk to your customer directly from your website. Or at the very least, due to privacy issues, your website visitor will be able to see and talk to you.

Imagine being able to have a one on one live video chat with a customer instead of the usual written word chat. How we will market ourselves in the year 2020 is happening now in South Africa are you ready for this? People want VIDEO they do not want to have to read tons of words, the winners in the future will be the websites that take this into account. Sure the written word will always be important but the web is going to be a video platform and nobody can stop it or even want to stop it.

Search engine optimisation in the year 2020 Visual rankings Search engines will read the video content and your site will rank accordingly. Content on the web will be in the main, how to fix a leaking pipe, how to cook the best roast duck, how to approach your bank manager, how to, how to… Reading and ranking your content Even today YouTube has significant ability to read the content of any video you upload.

Music sound tracks have a digital signature which can be read for copyright reasons however YouTube can even read background music played at a wedding reception by the DJ with the main soundtrack of people talking and generally enjoying themselves in the foreground. There is no digital signature on this “noise” however YouTube can read the music. I know because I have uploaded such a video and YouTube pointed out that I was using the exact songs in my video, how do they do that? Profanity is also recognised by YouTube. So in the future, as YouTube is owned by Google, they will rank you according to your content but this will include your Video content as well. Homeland Security in the USA uses this technology where “chatter” is monitored across the globe.

It’s not people listening for this chatter it is computers that have been programmed to monitor in various languages certain keywords or key phrases and once alerted an operator will take over and examine it. Same as you will be doing on Google by 2020 you will search for keywords and they will produce a list of “chatter” from videos in your keyword search results. YouTube Viral Video An example of the Power of video.

Here is a link to YouTube for the, Dover Police DashCam Confessional (Shake it Off), although your videos don’t have to go viral this guy has had nearly 27 million views in just 1 week, and it cost nothing to produce? Whilst these kinds of videos are exceptional it just goes to show how much interest and how large an audience and opportunity is out there for your own marketing.
Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XFBUM8dMqw

Website: www.epnet.co.za