Recently, the company underwent a rebrand to become Liquid Intelligent Technologies from Liquid Telecom. What is the thinking and or dynamics behind the rebrand?
This rebrand reflects our extensive business transformation from a telecommunications and digital services provider to a full one-stop-shop technology group. Over the last two decades, we have firmly established ourselves as the leading pan-African infrastructure provider. The rebrand highlights the expansion from simply Connectivity to Cloud business, Cyber Security, and Managed Services technologies added to our existing telecoms and connectivity capability.
Does it affect your operations in any way? And what is in there for your stakeholders?
The rebrand is a reaffirmation to our customers in Uganda that we are a one-stop-shop technology organisation bringing African Intelligence to the country. Over the last 20 years, we have seen immense investment focus by the Government towards the ICT sector as the country steadily transforms into a digitally led economy.
Vital to this transformation is the strategic public-private partnerships with organisations that have helped create an ICT framework and introduce a holistic approach to cyber security. The golden thread that ties all these technologies seamlessly is the National IT Authority (NITA-U) backed National Backbone Infrastructure (NBI) that the World Bank-funded.
With our intelligent technology offerings, Liquid Intelligent Technologies Uganda will help customers embrace modern technologies and ideologies, especially in improving organisational excellence. Our customers in the country will benefit from our pan-African presence and our extensive African Intelligence that has been bringing local solutions to local challenges
Take us through the various solutions offered by Liquid Intelligent Technologies for the Ugandan Market.
We offer digital solutions like Retail and Enterprise Connectivity; Cloud Computing; Managed Services and Cyber Security. Liquid helps local businesses embrace modern technologies and ideologies with intelligent technology offerings, significantly improving organisational excellence. Our customers benefit from our pan-African presence and our extensive African intelligence bringing local solutions to local challenges.
The pandemic has forced many a business to readjust their working protocols, with the Home Office becoming almost a permanent fixture on every business’ workspace strategy. Being a technology company – what specific solutions do you have for facilitating this?
Liquid Intelligent Technologies has adopted different approaches to keep our Work-from-Home customers working, communicating, collaborating, expanding, and secure.
However, when it comes to the tools keeping our teams and customers working together, virtually – we are using the following, but not limited to:
Microsoft 365: Smarter collaboration and communication solutions.
Microsoft Exchange Online: It’s an easy online service that is both secure and reliable and provides you with a professional email service no matter the size of your business.
Microsoft Teams: This tool provides employees complete control over the customisation of their collaborative workspaces and encourages greater creativity and productivity.
Microsoft Azure: Provides an ever-expanding set of cloud services to help organisations meet their business challenges. It gives the freedom to build, manage, and deploy applications at any scale and on-demand, using a pay-as-you-go plan.
The recently launched OneVoice for Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams with further enhance business collaboration with affordable unified communication services for voice and data.
The world over the Internet has become a must-have tool for competitiveness – both at the business and national level. How well countries compete will depend on how well and how fast governments are in creating an enabling environment on the one hand and how well organisations embrace the opportunities and changes brought in by technology. In your view, what do you think the Government needs to be doing to make Uganda competitive?
You are correct. The Internet has become an essential component of our everyday social and business lives. By all definitions, for the modern citizen, it is a fundamental utility.
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Amanda Ayebare, AutoXpress CFO: Balancing Survival and Growth in the Adventurous SME LandscapeWe have proposed a few actions to governments to potential consideration such as:
Establish Specific Plans and Policies – Based on evaluating the supply and demand challenges that exist, develop specific policies and strategies to address those challenges. This will entail setting concrete, measurable objectives for improving broadband supply through infrastructure build-out and promoting demand for broadband services and applications.
Build Infrastructure: Promoting the Supply of Broadband – Uganda, like most developing countries, has not yet seen its broadband markets penetrate more than a small segment of its population. Hence the Government’s role is critical in promoting and accelerating the growth of the broadband market.
However, we must not forget that taxes play an essential role in any country. And, careful consideration must be given to the broader and long-term economic and social benefits of digital inclusion versus a short-term focus on the Internet for domestic revenue mobilisation.
What is the future of digital transformation in Uganda?
Access to digital technologies remains limited for many Ugandans, who find mobile services unaffordable. In 2019, less than 70% of the population had access to mobile phones compared to an average of 84% of the population in other similar countries in the East Africa region. This is partly a function of the high cost of devices and services. Continued government infrastructure investment is in part addressing this issue.
The recent adoption of the National Payments Bill is a milestone in further improving the regulatory environment, and its practical implementation will expand digital financial services in Uganda. The next step should be to enhance the environment for venture capital and private equity to allow for increased investments in the digital sector. Regional integration is another area that could benefit Ugandan businesses in the recovery period.
The development of the Single Digital Market would allow Ugandan enterprises to gain access to an additional 200 million consumers and increase choices for Ugandan consumers as well.
How can Uganda meet the rapid-growing need for affordable, reliable, and fast Internet to enable Ugandans to have a seamless work and study-from-home experience?
- Investment in infrastructure
- Revision of policy environment to promote investment in ICT
- Public-Private Partnerships to spur investment
- New data packages that target poorer segments of society
Where is Uganda on the world scale insofar as connectivity options go? What does the country have to do to improve its position in the digital world?
As Uganda steadily transforms into a digitally led economy, it can further intensify the transformation with a robust public-private partnership with organisations that have helped create an ICT framework and introduce a holistic approach to Cyber Security for organisations.
In 10 years, how will Uganda’s digital transformation processes compare with the rest of Africa?
The World Bank is financing to Uganda to expand access to high-speed secure, reliable, and affordable Internet will significantly strengthen digital inclusion in the country. Such plays create space for entities like Liquid Intelligent Technologies to partner. We will support the implementation of the governments’ geared towards contributing to the objectives of Digital Uganda Vision and the Digital Transformation Program under the National Development Plan.
With our intelligent technology offerings, we will continue to help customers in Uganda embrace modern technologies and ideologies, especially in improving organisational excellence, thereby playing an irreplaceable role in the country’s digital transformation journey. Our customers in the country will benefit from our pan-African presence and our extensive African intelligence bringing local solutions to local challenges.
How is Liquid Intelligent Technologies uniquely placed to be the connectivity provider of choice for professionals and students in Uganda?
Liquid’s purpose and mission is to make Africa’s Digital Future an Intelligent one. To do this the Enterprise, Retail and Educational sectors are front and centre. We have developed several initiatives such as the Whitelisting of educational content sites and creating Wi-Fi Hotspots at different University hostels and faculties. In the retail and SME world, we developed bundled (connectivity, security, and productivity) packages that offer customers an additional two months with a one-year service commitment and revised our enterprise packages in line with the competitive market demand. These initiatives have made Liquid, the go-to service provider in both the educational and business world.
