Salt Essential IT partners with the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in creating awareness of cybersecurity.
On Thursday, 21st of July 2022, at the Theo Ben Gurirab Building in Windhoek Namibia, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the two parties to collaboratively undertake a joint National Cybersecurity Strategy and Awareness Campaign to attain the goals and objectives of the National Cybersecurity Strategy and Awareness Creation Plan. This is done with the view to influence the adoption of safer online behaviour and instil a culture of cyber-hygiene in citizens with the aim to avert the incidence of cybercrime in the Republic of Namibia.
Mr Mbeuta Ua-Ndjarakana, Executive Director of the Ministry of ICT themed the milestone event in Maroon, a colour that represents depth, passion, and thoughtfulness. The colour Blue represents sensitivity, imagination, inspiration, and the colour Black which represents mystery, power, and sophistication. This initiative, he stated, is crucial because dealing with cybersecurity requires passion, sensitivity for dealing with the nation's sensitive information, and sophistication for dealing with a sophisticated adversary. The Executive Director concluded by commending Salt Essential IT - "a Namibian child” for partnering with the government “to catch this invisible bull by the horns".
Ms Sonja Coetzer, Managing Director of Salt Essential IT concluded by saying “The world needs more initiatives between government and the private sector to drive 4IR and 5IR opportunities to challenge, empower and impact the citizens of the world. Cybersecurity plays a major role in technology advances to create job security, economic development, and growth”. She thanked the Ministry for the opportunity to be part of this cybersecurity strategy and awareness campaign.
The Salties will be hosting cybersecurity awareness sessions for the public which will expose Namibians to the types of cybercrimes and how to protect themselves from them. The training sessions will also be made available on the Ministry’s public forums, there will be no cost or fee for attending these sessions. For more information, please contact Grace Katjivena at grace.katjivena@salt.na or 0614339900.
#DoItTheSaltWay #5IR #TechRev #OnsGeeOm #ThisIsHowWeRoll #Saltoftheearthpeople
By Grace Katjivena
We’re no strangers to reactions of puzzlement, or even bemusement, at our brand and marketing antics. It’s been like that from the beginning. When we changed our name from Logical Networks to Salt in 2008, we created a conversation starter that lasts to this day. Much has been said and written about naming our information tech company after a chemical compound most commonly known for its essentiality in food, its value as ancient currency, and its critical importance in neurological and other biological functions. Selah.
More recently, our marketing campaigns featured us, the humans of Salt Essential IT, the Salties, as the models and actors. Over the past 18 months we’ve been cast as superheroes, fairies, magicians, and mad scientists. And now, farmers.
Let’s start at the very beginning. It’s a very good place to start, just ask Julie.
Our reason and messaging behind the uncommon marketing approach is twofold: First (do), IT-services advertising is rather dull. Same-old perfectly beautiful people in same-old perfectly beautiful office spaces, smiling with sets of perfect teeth, apparently perfectly happy with how well the laptop in front of them is connecting them to all the systems they require. Meh.
Secondly (re), and rather more importantly, we have been shifting our business focus over the years to human-centricity. We firmly believe that the tools of our trade, technology, has one purpose: serving humans. Making the work humans do more productive, more efficient, safer, and smarter. Many of these tools and tech are a dime a dozen, and can be procured anywhere, from anyone. What we want to do is be the humans with the experience and knowledge of all things business-tech-related, and deep understanding of the needs of your business and your humans. We’re the humans you trust to enable your humans to build, grow and operate your business as effective, sustainable, and profitable as possible. We’re very much into building relationships of more than mutual benefit, but rather as partnerships of trust.
Sometimes you need a superhero to keep your data safe. Sometimes a mad scientist to conjure up brand new solutions, and sometimes fairies to bring a little magic and joy to collaboration.
Which brings me to the farming theme.
Values
One of Salt’s most fervent beliefs is that happy, balanced, and healthy humans are any organisation’s most business-critical asset. We’re moving on from ‘work-life-balance’ (easily warped into a Jekyll and Hyde existence) to ‘work-life-harmony’, where work isn’t just a necessary evil to live. Happy, balanced, and healthy humans are inspired, committed and productive team members. Essential humans.
The result of an internal survey amongst the Saltie-tribe this year had the following values ticked in almost every submission: Growth, respect, trustworthiness, honesty, balance, and authenticity.
We had the answer to the question of what the theme of our next campaign would be.
The revolution that planted the seed for all other revolutions
‘Industrial revolutions’ is quite the trendy topic. As we enter the 5th (Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and Augmented Reality, etc), I bet you learned in school that the first revolution that forever changed humanity happened in 1784. In Europe, nogal.
School was wrong.
12,000 years earlier, in Mesopotamia, humans figured out how to domesticate grains, and shortly thereafter the tools and tech to continuously enhance our skills followed. And with it, our lives. Not bound by an existence of spending every waking hour hunting and gathering to feed themselves enabled humans to pursue other things. Every industry, every modern job owes its existence to the development of agriculture.
Small family groups became villages, villages became tribes, and tribes became societies and civilisations.
Nothing has changed. Every revolution since is a continuance of that first one. Humble, authentic, human.
And if you leave city-slicker and socio-political biases at the door, what other profession in the world is as humble, authentic, and human as farming? From the women tending vegetable crops in Rundu, to commercial sheep farmers in Keetmanshoop, to the goatherd outside Gobabis. Essential humans.
We tip our hats in appreciation to every single one.
Join our tribe
With this campaign, we’re inviting businesses that share our values to join our tribe. Bring your seeds, know-how and zesty humans. Let’s build a civilisation that thrives in whatever the future can throw at us. A future of bumper crops and happy, healthy humans.
#DoItTheSaltWay #5IR #TechRev #OnsGeeOm #ThisIsHowWeRoll #Saltoftheearthpeople
By Vanessa Maresch
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PS. City Slickers: After our video and photo shoot for this campaign, all the Salties at the studio that day suffered a few days of hayfever. From, yes, you guessed it, the hay bales we used as props. Everyone except Frans and Grace, who happen to know a thing or two about farming. 🙂
See the Salties working the earth on billboards across Windhoek
In my recent round table chats with my peers, the dialogue was focused on the importance of having the right type of conversations that drive solutions that could get the world back on it's feet.
Looking at it through the rose tinted goggles of the media citizens of the world are held prisoner by who they have become. Can this be labeled as an infernal meltdown?
"Free speech without consequences, rights for all and to hell with the law". These are one of the many cringe-worthy statements people utter, yet expect to be respected for the professionals they regard themselves as.
Humanity is held hostage by captors created by themselves. Reality TV, influencers, fake news, propaganda, disrespect or rather disdain for opinions and views that does not align with their own, because suddenly everyone is a specialist on every topic out there.
We are still fighting for equality in the workplace, equality in society, equality over everything. We are so absorbed by this, that we neglect the individual's value and contribution. It all seems as if the emphasis on equality has devalued the concept.
It is time to break the chains - to stand-up and to claim our seat at the table - to be the difference we want for ourselves and especially for the generation after us. We need to recalibrate, we need to address the true challenges of our times.
It is time for us to claim our seat at the table! To discuss solutions that will impact and change our nations and the world at large. It is much more fruitful to put our differences aside, acknowledge and respect each other. We should rise up as one! Let's be at the forefront of creating tangible solutions available to us for our education, health and distributed wealth. We need to talk about technology and what it can do, to change all lives, now and tomorrow.
There is a dire need for the government and it's citizens to discuss how to prosper in coming together, collaborating and optimizing to deliver a better future.
#DoItTheSaltWay #5IR #TechRev #OnsGeeOm #ThisIsHowWeRoll #TechnologyRevolutionist #Romanity
By Sonja Coetzer