* Technology, after all, must be used to serve the needs of people. Africa is the home of this kind of efficiency-centric innovation
* Finding solutions to make life more manageable in the face of innumerable challenges—MultiChoice Group’s chief technology officer
By Duncan Mlanjira
In recognising that innovation in Africa is not just exciting to have but it’s a survival mechanism, MultiChoice Africa is encouraging this kind of life-saving creative technology innovation on the continent by partnering with universities in incentivising students to devise artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to customer problems in the content and broadcasting space.
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This is said by MultiChoice Group Chief Technology & Information Officer, Sabelo Mwali, emphasising that this approach is about encouraging the youths to be “not just early adopters of technology, but drivers of it, customising technology to the needs of African people”.
“Technology, after all, must be used to serve the needs of people,” he says in a statement. “Africa is the home of this kind of efficiency-centric innovation – finding solutions to make life more manageable in the face of innumerable challenges.”
Entitled ‘Deploying technology for entertainment and progress’, Mwali highlights that “technology can help to deliver more relevant content – more efficiently, and more affordably — but while entertainment is about enriching lives, technology is the enabler that makes it possible”.
“In the African broadcast and content industry, technology is both an enabler and a risk. It offers almost limitless opportunities to enrich the lives of our people — but if not used intentionally, it can also be a threat to businesses, to individuals and to society.”
Chief Technology & Information Officer, Sabelo Mwali
He maintains that cybersecurity “is an eternal challenge for a technology business around the world and in Africa especially” adding that hacking of customer data and the compromising of personal information, “is never acceptable”.
“For content businesses, measures must constantly be put in place to ensure that we keep our data – and our environment – secure. Security has a compliance and a systems-defense component, and both require ever-evolving technology deployment.
“Fighting cybercriminals and digital piracy syndicates is a technology arms race; with tech teams trying to anticipate attacks, thinking like hackers, identifying vulnerabilities and addressing them.
“As a content business, one of the main MultiChoice focus areas will always be the fight against content piracy, in collaboration with Partners Against Piracy and our colleagues at cybersecurity leaders Irdeto.
“Our content is often targeted, but we’re taking the fight to the pirates since piracy destroys the livelihoods of film and TV professionals across the continent.”
He further stresses that technology is Africa’s “most powerful tool in addressing it – through back-end and front-end content protection, watermarking, take-down requests, law-enforcement engagement and other methods”.
Payment technology
On the flipside, further says Mwali, “technology can enrich and enhance the ability of users to enjoy the benefits of our content and to make it easier for our customers to access our shows, MultiChoice has long been an innovator in the payments space, having built a pan-African network of subscribers, support offices and payment partners.
“In an ambitious move, we recently launched a proprietary digital payment platform, Moment, to make payments as easy as possible, right across the content. It’s an aggregate solution that makes it easy to onboard and authenticate payment providers; to manage and monitor payments; and to scale and integrate bulk payments in real time.
“With a dedicated payment ecosystem, subscribers can also change packages, make or stop payments as they wish —within 60 seconds. Its customer-centric technology in its very bones!”
The AI dividend
Looking forward, Mwali says the OTT television revolution will continue to shape viewing habits as in the production space, “generative AI will see a growing influence — though always to enhance the human component of storytelling”.
“AI will even have a role in how we produce sports content over time. For instance, highlights packages can now be edited together in real time, while a match is happening, for sharing on multiple platforms the minute the final whistle blows.
“All of these tech innovations come with ethical and governance considerations, and we are at pains to ensure that these concerns are factored into our strategic decision-making at all times. It’s about the human factor – considering our customers; considering our staff.”
On the African solutions, Mwali says the approach to technology is similar to that of the rest of the world, although there is a behavioural difference in how the continent implements its tech solutions.
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He gave an example that nowhere are cost-of-living concerns more important than in Africa: “In a developed market, a subscriber might stay on the same postpaid subscription product for decades — but in the African environment, a customer’s financial position can change drastically from one month to the next.
“To cater to the needs of these subscribers, MultiChoice is trialing a short-term subscription package in our Ugandan market, a package which would allow customers to buy a GOtv or DStv subscription for a period as short as seven days.
“The technology solutions to support it have all been rolled out, and the ‘micro-subscriptions’ product is being embraced by many of our customers in the heart of Africa!— and it’s likely to see wider adoption if initial uptake is anything to go by.
“It is a privilege to be able to support our customers in this way. As fellow Africans, we understand the value of technology innovation, and we are mindful of the needs of our people.”
Thus Mwali concludes that in Africa, “innovation is not just great to have – it’s a survival mechanism”.
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