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Home Blog Page 4522

Microsoft is Betting $10bn on OpenAI, ChatGPT’s Parent

By
Samuel Nwite
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0

Microsoft is in talks to invest $10 billion into the owner of ChatGPT, the wild-growing AI-powered chatbot that has taken the world by storm, Semafor reports, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Microsoft is considering investing as much as $10 billion in OpenAI — the creator of viral artificial intelligence tools ChatGPT and Dall-E 2 — according to numerous news outlets. Microsoft (parent company of LinkedIn) will reportedly get 75% of OpenAI’s profits until it recoups its investment, Semafor reports; it would then take a 49% stake in the startup. OpenAI’s ChatGPT generative language technology could be used to help power Microsoft’s search engine Bing, and also be incorporated into Office applications such as Word and Outlook, according to The Information. Microsoft was an early backer of OpenAI, investing $1 billion in the startup in 2019. (LinkedIn News)

If the deal goes through, it will expand Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, to about $11 billion.  The tech company had in 2019, betted $1 billion in OpenAI, and has an exclusive license to use its text generator AI GPT-3.

Per Semafor, Microsoft’s new funding, which would also include other venture firms, is expected to shoot the value of OpenAI to $29 billion, the people familiar with the deal said. The report said it’s not clear if the deal has been finalized but documents sent to prospective investors in recent weeks outlining its terms indicated a targeted close by the end of 2022.

Semafor, quoting the people, said Microsoft’s infusion would be part of a complicated deal in which the company would get 75% of OpenAI’s profits until it recoups its investment. The report further noted that it’s not clear whether money that OpenAI spends on Microsoft’s cloud-computing arm would count toward evening its account.

“After that threshold is reached, it would revert to a structure that reflects ownership of OpenAI, with Microsoft having a 49% stake, other investors taking another 49% and OpenAI’s nonprofit parent getting 2%. There’s also a profit cap that varies for each set of investors — unusual for venture deals, which investors hope might return 20 or 30 times their money. The terms and the investment amount could change, and the deal could fall apart,” the report said.

ChatGPT has become popular among internet users since it was launched last year, due to its ability to add context to queries. It uses GPT-3.5, a large language model released last year, to generate answers and authentic-looking responses to queries about all topics. With the GPT-3.5-powered ability, ChatGPT helps users to accomplish tasks such as creating poems, composing college essays and writing code.

Last week, Microsoft reportedly moved to incorporate ChatGPT into Bing, its search engine, in a push geared toward wrestling more shares of web queries from rival Google. Bing believes that using the technology will help its search results provide more humanlike answers to queries.

The swift rise of ChatGPT to the spotlight has ignited a wave of interest in OpenAI. With its push toward a $29 billion valuation, ChatGPT is reportedly allowing early investors and employees to sell their shares. It is not clear if there are other Silicon Valley big names, besides Microsoft, queuing behind OpenAI.

It isn’t clear whether the deal has been finalized but term sheets sent to prospective investors indicated the plan was to close the deal by the end of 2022, Semafor reported.

Microsoft will reportedly get a 75% share of OpenAI’s profits until it makes back the money on its investment, after which the company would assume a 49% stake in OpenAI.

Microsoft and OpenAI were not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

News Abuse in Nigeria’s Digital Media Ecosystem: The Vulnerability of the Audience and the Need for a Radical Shift

By
Mutiu Iyanda
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0

Online news outlets are growing rapidly in various economies along with the yearly increase in internet users worldwide. In the past ten years, a number of digital news platforms have been developed from the global north to the global south in an effort to challenge the dominance of traditional outlets. Many traditional media organizations have converged with emerging technologies, particularly the internet and social networking sites, and are still doing so in order to avoid being absorbed by technological trends. This allows them to reach sizable global audiences.

The Reuters Institute, like other countries, notes in its yearly digital news consumption report that in 2022, more than 90% of surveyed educated English-speaking Nigerians access news weekly via digital and social platforms. This clearly demonstrates that the country’s digital media ecosystem is thriving, necessitating the production and dissemination of news with long-term value for all audiences.

However, similar to what is obtainable in other countries, media practitioners (journalists, bloggers, content writers) are not immune from practicing repetitive journalism. A practice that involves the use of the same stories, phrases, or content in multiple times. This type of journalism often occurs when a news outlet is trying to capitalize on a popular topic or trend. Repetitive journalism can be seen in many different forms, from copy-and-pasted articles to regurgitated news stories. It is often criticized for contributing to the spread of misinformation and for diluting the quality of reporting.

While many scholars and practitioners regard it as repetitive journalism, our analyst believes it is more appropriate to view the practice as news abuse. It is an abuse because media practitioners manipulate the minds of their audiences and create confusion in the minds of readers and viewers who lack critical skills and knowledge for dissecting repeated frames and issues.

Our analyst specifically reiterates that news abuse is a type of media manipulation that involves the misuse of news content, including the creation of false news stories and the misrepresentation of facts and events. It is often used to advance an agenda, influence public opinion, or manipulate the press. News abuse can take the form of false stories, selective editing of stories, misreporting of facts, or the promotion of particular stories over others. It can also involve the use of sensational headlines, biased language, and other tactics to manipulate the news.

After compiling and analyzing several news stories from popular online newspapers such as The Punch, The Guardian, The Nigerian Tribune, and The Nation, our analyst concludes that editors engage in the practice primarily by rewriting headlines and changing images that accompanied previous news stories on their websites. These approaches make it easier for the audience to reach a hasty conclusion because headlines and illustrations are the primary attention-grabbers.

Unfortunately, many media outlets are ignoring this issue. To address the problem, governments, social media companies, and civil society organizations must collaborate to develop new policies and regulations that protect vulnerable audiences while also combating online news abuse.

Households across Nigerian Cities Scout for Electricity while in the Village it’s Telcom Network

By
Paul Ugbede Godwin
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0

The state of communication in the village is quite often relegated to poor telcom infrastructural maintenance. In most rural communities Electricity is somewhat prominent compared to the urban shift.

Just recently, I was opportune to visit my ancestral home in Ofabo, Kogi State, Nigeria. The major Telecommunication infrastructure I could pin point to — is the shallow presence of GlobalCom Nigeria but in the vast majority of times the network isn’t efficient due to its proximity to the town.

Ofabo is a town in Igalaogba district of Ofu Local Government of KOGI State, Nigeria. Politically it is in Ogbonicha ward, Ofabo is mainly inhabited by Emodu people. A very peaceful place, it has a Community owned Secondary School, Government public Primary school and a host of private primary schools.

Ofabo as a town is bordered by many outpost autonomous communities numbering upto 40 with a population of approximately over 400,000 people with diverse cultures and economic activities. It has a big market that caters for the economy running of the town and it’s environs while the indigenes are predominantly farmers with few of them into petty trading.

From my interactions with Locals, I observed there’s a lacuna in the communication configuration of that area, the network setup in the Community is being subjugated to a pattern switch more like a job resumption window (Time shift 8—12). Once its past schedules the telecom network facilities goes off.

Coming through Alloma via Ijabe a 7km stretch to Ofabo, there’s presumably high concentration of the 3 dominant Telecom network infrastructures; MTN, GLO and Airtel but due to the hilly terrain at Ofabo, the network wave isn’t strong.

Upon conducting oral examination, it is crystally clear that the major reason why there’s GLO network outage in Ofabo is due to the fact that the site maintenance personnel engaged in arbitrary conduct— whereby the bulk spare of Diesel allotted for operations is being diverted for personal gains.

I, witnessed a motorcycle accident involving a juvenile on the eve of Christmas— like you all know it’s a holiday season and some facilities goes for recess, if not for the quick intervention of some stakeholders, the inefficient communication gap would have led to the untimely death of this promising young lad because health personnel could not be reached.

Locals here believe it’s an orchestrated effort targeted at benefiting some few, one even said; “In Cities ‘You’ people scout for Light i.e Electricity while here in the village ‘We’ are being faced with poor and inefficient TelCom network configuration”.

Some few years ago, MTN wanted citing a Solar Base Station but the project has been relegated to poor execution. The absence of competition is breeding room for non performance which GLO enjoys monopoly therein.

Soaring Energy Costs, Recent Political Turmoils Have Made Britain Less Attractive to Investors

By
Ojukwu Emmanuel
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0

Following a recent industry survey, manufacturers in the U.K. disclosed that the country has become less competitive and less attractive to foreign investors, as a result of soaring energy costs and recent political upheaval.

43% of manufacturers disclosed that Britain has become less attractive, while 31% of workers think it is a competitive location.

Britain’s manufacturing industry is currently facing falling output, fewer orders, and higher prices in its worst monthly performance for two-and-a-half years, a new assessment disclosed.

Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Output contracted at one of the quickest rates during the past 14 years, as new order inflows weakened and supply chain issues continued to bite.

“The decline in new business was worryingly steep, as weak domestic demand was accompanied by a further marked drop in new orders from overseas.

“Clients are increasingly downbeat and reluctant to commit to new contracts, not just in the UK but also in key markets like the US, China, and the EU.”

He said that the number of workers employed in manufacturing had fallen for the third month in a row.

Following the survey of energy bills in the country, the number of UK households in arrears on their energy bills soared to record levels in the second quarter of 2022, with more than two million behind on their electricity payments.

A panel of lawmakers last year in December, disclosed that the UK government’s cost of living support for households struggling with sky-high energy bills may be contributing to labour shortages by discouraging people from seeking work.

On the other hand, the year 2022 was one of the most tumultuous years in modern British politics. The country went through three prime ministers, with its current prime minister Rishi Sunak coming into power after his predecessor Liz Truss resigned after just six weeks in office.

The director of the International affairs think tank Chatham house disclosed that the events of last year, with three prime ministers occupying No. 10 Downing Street, had shattered the country’s image.

Practical Solutions in Tackling Facilities Management’s Problems in Nigeria

By
David Korede
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0

Various tasks and services are used to support the organisation’s core operations to increase economic efficiency in companies or the country as a whole.

Facility management is responsible for ensuring that these support services are delivered in the proper form, correct quality, and at the right cost to produce the desired results for the organisation.

In this article, I will discuss how to tackle challenges in Nigeria’s Facilities Management Sector to unlock massive growth.

Importance of Facility Management in Nigeria

“Facility management is the integration of processes within an organisation to maintain and develop the agreed services which sustain and enhance the effectiveness of its principal activities,” according to an acceptable definition by European Standard (EN 15221.1).

Many firms see facilities management as a supplementary duty, and there is hardly any professional facilities management competence. As a result, few businesses make any impact on facility maintenance.

The operations of organisations are significantly impacted since facilities management tasks are frequently disregarded.

To boost performance, many organisations are changing their cultures.

Facilities management can play a constructive role by helping the organisation become a part of a comprehensive transformation initiative or by serving as a catalyst and paving the way for others to follow.

Furthermore, according to research conducted, organisations that employ performance assessment systems as the foundation for management to perform better. Effective performance measurement methods must be put in place by organisations if these advantages are to be achieved.

The point raised here demonstrates how facilities management performance assessment benefits the organisation.

Recent Challenges Facing the FM Industry

Recently, mixed reactions from professionals in the sector have pointed out challenges that should be addressed.

One of the articles published by Tekedia Networks on Tackling Challenges in Nigeria’s Facilities Management Sector to Unlock Growth gave a wide view of this.

One of the problems mentioned indicates that the industry’s yearly expansion is drawing quacks to it.

Furthermore, some organisations find it difficult to distinguish between property managers and providers of facilities management since the industry has a recognition difficulty.

Having a high influx of quacks and lack of recognition isn’t the only monumental endemic that has eaten deep into the fabric of the organisation; some FM providers do not always provide insightful issues on facilities to the clients, lack sustainable budget management, execute poor plan presentation and do not have sufficient supply management knowledge.

At Eliezer Group, we believe that one way to address this challenge is through better education on the effects of quacks and awareness about choosing qualified and certified professionals for facilities management services.

Effects of Quacks in the Facility Management Industry in Nigeria

Poor facility management has resulted in a number of dangers to health and safety and, in the worst cases, deaths.

There is a strong likelihood that when a property is inadequately managed, residents are at the mercy of faulty utilities, which pose a considerable risk if not addressed.

Additionally, it has been argued that good facility management lengthens the economic lives of buildings.

On the other hand, poor facility management causes building flaws and reduces building economic lifespans. This effect has been seen in building collapse, which is common in Nigeria due to substandard materials, inadequate supervision in constructing multi-storey structures, poor building practices and code violations, quackery, and lack of adequate maintenance.

Collapses were noted in some significant areas of Lagos in recent years due to poor facility management. The same had happened in the Jabi and Garki districts of Abuja, the rapidly expanding Federal Capital City.

In terms of the number of people lost and injured, property damage, and financial losses, some of the disasters were truly colossal.

Possible Solutions To Facility Management Pressing Problems in Nigeria

Find Certified Professionals

Buildings, like the first skyscraper in West Africa, the cocoa house, were primarily administered by firms and people who provided janitorial services.

This pattern persisted for a long time before some experts realised that there was a need for a specific intervention that would promote comprehensive management of the built environment regardless of the kind of building.

A unique group of professionals from the built environment, including architects, civil engineers, electrical engineers, and builders, was assembled in 1995 to give Nigeria a chance to create a maintenance culture that will influence the future of the nation.

The International Facility Management Association’s (IFMA) Nigerian Chapter was started to establish quality improvement objectives with a focus on applying global facility management standards to infrastructure maintenance.

With several initiatives and activities with both public and private organisations, IFMA Nigeria has not let up on its impact on society.

Finding certified individuals to provide facilities management services is the first step to eradicating this issue.

To ensure that the professional can perform the services, it is crucial to confirm that they are certified and qualified.

This can be accomplished by requesting documentation of credentials and certifications and then verifying them with professional associations. Some of the associations to look out for are:

  • International Facilities Management Association (IFMA)
  • World Corporate Facility Management Alliance
  • Nigerian Environmental Society (NES)
  • Nigerian Institute of Safety Practitioners (NIS)
  • Cleaners Practicing Association of Nigeria (CPAN)

Also, look out for safety standard bodies such as ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and British Safety Council.

Not only will this help to guarantee that the expert is qualified and certified, but it will also show that they are current with the rules of the industry.

Ask for References

Asking for references is another step in the right direction in locating suitable personnel for facility management services.

You can do this by requesting suggestions from professional associations in Nigeria. In addition to those listed above, the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigerian (COREN), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIMN), and Hospitality and Tourism Management (HATMAN) are related associations from which you may be able to get recommendations.

Conduct Research

You should conduct thorough research before making a hiring decision. This can include reading reviews and feedback from previous customers, checking the professional’s portfolio of work, and asking for references from former clients.

This will help to ensure that the professional is experienced and knowledgeable in the field and can be trusted to provide quality services.

Furthermore, check to see if they follow a data-backed approach. Facility Management companies must adopt a data-driven culture to unlock sector development and capture necessary benefits.

Big data can be used in various areas to improve customer-focused services, minimise corporate risks, maximise asset and equipment performance, and stay competitive.

Ask Questions

Finally, it’s imperative that you ask the professionals or organisations you are considering questions before moving forward with them.

Asking these specific questions can help you determine if they have the knowledge, skill, and experience to ensure the longevity of your facilities and the safety of your employees or building residents.

As you do that, it is important to prioritise quality over cost. While it may be tempting to choose the lowest bidder, it is important to remember that the cheapest option may not always be the best. Qualified professionals may charge more upfront, but their expertise and attention to detail can result in cost savings in the long run.

Conclusion

The FM industry is one of the industries contributing to Nigeria’s human and national development.

By using these proposed solutions, businesses and individuals can increase their chances of hiring qualified professionals who will provide cost-saving approaches and value-added solutions. On the other hand, facilities management companies that aren’t up to par will be forced to sit up or leave the market, thus mitigating the possibility of experiencing inadequate facilities management.

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