Data conference good for Zim

THE hosting of the Data Centre Africa Conference 2018 in Zimbabwe early next month — for the first time — is expected to boost awareness, and consequently spark huge demand for the technologies.

The conference is slated for February 7 and 8 in Victoria Falls.

TelOne, a Government-owned firm that has already ploughed $4 million into a Data Centre, believes that the conference would help organisations to understand and adopt the technologies.

Mrs Melody Harry, TelOne’s corporate communications manager, told The Herald Business yesterday that since Data Centres were a growing phenomenon across the globe valued at over $1 trillion, it was critical for firms to attend the conference in numbers.

“Africa and Zimbabwe in particular embraced data centres to bridge the digital divide. Conferences that promote adoption of Data Centres in Zimbabwe will help enhance understanding of the technologies and how organisations can adopt them to improve efficiency and reduce operational costs.

“On the macroeconomic front, Data Centres can improve the balance of payments through reducing demand for foreign currency and increase foreign currency flows to Zimbabwe as Data Centres are a lucrative business for international organisations.

“Discussions on Data Centres will also help ICT professionals on the dos and don’ts of Data Centre facilities and Cyber Security issues to be considered when constructing or looking for Data Centres,” said Mrs Harry.

The conference is also expected to provide TelOne the opportunity to be ahead in thought leadership regards Data Centres, which should influence the products and services uptake.

TelOne, which is moving towards becoming a converged telecommunications firm, launched its Data Centre in March last year.

The Data Centre is a sub-project of the Nation.