LATEST TECH NEWS: Nigeria’s OjaExpress enters Techstars Kansas City accelerator. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, June 5, 2020

These 5 latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Nigeria’s OjaExpress enters Techstars Kansas City accelerator

OjaExpress, a Nigerian digital platform that allows users to shop online has made public its entry into the Techstars Kansas City accelerator. This opens OjaExpress to an opportunity to gain access to US$120,000 in seed funding and additional support.

As OjaExpress works with independent grocers, such as mom-and-pop shops, helping to sell online and acquire more customers; this effort is giving current customers a convenient way to shop from their store. With the new accelerator entry, Techstars is expected to connect OjaExpress and its team with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help the startup grow.

2. UNOPS Global Innovation Challenge seeks tech solutions to address SDGs

The UNOPS Global Innovation Challenge has, on Friday, June 5, announced interested seeking for innovators, entrepreneurs, programmers and developers with tech-driven creative ideas and solutions needed to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

While this will goes further to intensify works of UNOPS, it will also help the UN and its partners to leverage technology in providing peace and security, humanitarian and development solutions. In selecting applications, UNOPS has, however, stated that solutions need to demonstrate how technology is able to build climate resilience, helping societies prepare for and adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.

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Tech Trivia:

Which of these is the most efficient keyboard layout?

A. QWERTY
B. Dvorak
C. Colemak
D. AZERTY

Answer: See end of post.

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3. Ethiopian food delivery startup closes funding round

Ethiopian food delivery startup Deliver Addis has reportedly closed a follow-on funding from VC, Impact Angel Network. According to the startup, the fund is expected to help its delivery initiative increase its capacity and efficiency by bringing on new products and services and expand market share.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: Snapchat takes action against President Trump. 4 other things and a trivia you need to know today, June 4, 2020

For 5 years now, Deliver Addis has focused on online food delivery. Only until April 2020, which came in response to increased demand caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, did the company expanded services to include an online marketplace that enables Ethiopian consumers to shop for groceries and other essential goods online. Today, the startup provides food from over 100 restaurants, groceries, flowers, and other consumer products.

4. Cloud infrastructure company acquires network security firm Lastline

VMware, a global leader in cloud infrastructure and digital workspace technology has stepped forward to acquire network security firm Lastline. Data from industry report reveals that Lastline, in 8 years, has raised about $52.2 million, a robust sum to scale its enterprise.

With investors including Thomvest Ventures, which led the company’s $28.5 million Series C round in 2017; Redpoint and e.ventures, which led the company’s 2013 funding round; and Barracuda Networks, NTT Finance and Dell Technologies Capital, Lastline has been competitive over the years to attract the cloud infrastructure company.

5. Facebook looks to add labels identifying state-controlled media

Social networking giant, Facebook, is kickstarting a media labelling project to identify platforms with links to government or politicians. According to Facebook, it intends to add labels to news outlets owned or otherwise controlled by a government. This way, the social media platform, noted it would help page visitors ascertain its origin while not categorically marking any information published on it false or unreliable.

Under the new policy, according to Facebook, news organizations “that may be under the influence of a government” will have a subtle but clear label as such, as will their posts. As a provision to be inserted in the “about” and details page, a warning will read: “This publisher is wholly or partially under the editorial control of a state. This is determined by a range of factors, including but not limited to funding, structure and journalistic standards.”

Tech Trivia Answer: Colemak

Designed by Shai Coleman, Colemak is an alternate QWERTY layout that changes the position of 17 keys to reduce the movement of your fingers by over 50% (the ZXCV keys are the same on the bright side, so undo, cut, copy and paste should be the same).

As shown in tests run by Carpalx, Colemak uses the home row 74% of the time versus 34% for QWERTY, not to mention that the latter requires a 193% increase in base effort.

Dvorak also beats QWERTY in efficiency but its layout isn’t as intelligent as Colemak, which distributes loads more evenly between your left and right hands, places a greater burden on your strongest fingers (index and middle) while simultaneously putting your pinkies to greater use. Additionally, Dvorak changes more keys on a QWERTY board than Colemak does, making it harder to learn with less potential results.
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