Johannesburg, 13 Mar 2014
Over the past two decades, technology has given businesses the opportunity to decentralise and conduct business efficiently from locations all over the world. Factories can be based in China while head offices operate out of North America. Highly distributed business operations are dependent on efficient communications and face the challenge of minimising travel costs to be profitable.
Africa's geography and historically poor Internet connectivity means people have had to travel long distances to attend meetings and places of learning. However, as mobile devices proliferate and Internet infrastructure improves, people are starting to communicate more efficiently, creating knowledge pools and learning as a result. A report by TA Telecom found that in early 2013, mobile penetration in Africa was 80%.
Increased connectivity brings with it possibilities for creating platforms on which knowledge workers can share resources, conduct meetings and provide training - saving travel costs and removing barriers that may have prevented knowledge sharing in the past.
One such platform, Adobe Connect, uses ubiquitous Web technology and mobile apps to connect many different devices to one central meeting platform, hassle free. Adobe's online platforms provide users with the ability to access meetings, Webinars and classes from anywhere in the world. The platform allows for rapid non-technical content creation of videos, slideshows and chat rooms which can be presented or recorded for users who cannot make the live events. Adobe Connect's platform can host thousands of users enabling rapid communication to large, highly dispersed groups.
Specialist Adobe distributor, Dax Data, is seeing a major take-up of the technology by both commercial and academic organisations.
Old Mutual's Personal Finance Advice (PFA) Division is home to a large number of brokers specialising in the delivery of financial service solutions. Now, thanks to Adobe Connect, broker training costs have been significantly reduced.
"Adobe Connect is an enterprise e-learning platform that is highly scalable. It's cost-effective due to its scalability and the modular nature of the components; it's possible to customise the solution to meet the client's needs exactly - modules can be added as and when required," says Dimitri Merritt, PFA's IT Manager.
The University of Cape Town (UCT), one of Africa's premier teaching and research institutions, is renowned internationally for its scope of study and the calibre of its graduates. Professor Alp Numanoglu, head of the university's Department of Paediatric Surgery, recently implemented Adobe Connect to encourage collaboration among peers.
"Thanks to Adobe Connect, participants now have immediate access to information and are no longer affected by the limitations of their environment. Attendance and participation in meetings is possible with no specialist hardware or software - all that is required is an internet connection," explains Professor Numanoglu.
Other local academic institutions see the value too - users include North-West University, The University of Johannesburg and The Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
Dax Data, Adobe Connect distributor, aims to make knowledge sharing easier and overcome barriers to e-learning. "Africa's increased connectivity, Adobe Connect's cross platform functionality and its proven track record locally makes the software a strong contender to facilitate growth and education on the continent," says Jeremy Matthews, CEO of Dax Data.
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