Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, has won the IT Security Sesames award for Just4YourEyes™. The winning innovation was distinguished at the 2011 CARTES & IDentification industry fair.

Just4YourEyes is a first-of-its-kind software solution which enhances secure access to emails from a variety of devices, including tablets, smartphones or laptops, using the cloud for securely sharing a common credential. The solution allows for any mobile device or a secure element (such as a UICC or secure memory card) in that device, to act as a single repository to store the PKI credentials required to encrypt or sign emails. Those credentials can be accessed remotely by the email client, native or web-based, via a secure cloud service, removing the need to store secret keys on multiple devices. Just4YourEyes is the first and only solution to enable nomadic access to email securely from multiple terminals leveraging a single credential source across cloud access. This unique model is a pioneering key milestone towards a truly secure cloud-based eco-system.

“This Sesames award recognizes Gemalto’s expertise in securing cloud computing for enterprise applications,” commented Tan Teck-Lee, Chief Innovation and Technology Officer. “Gemalto’s secure cloud services meet the increasing need to access corporate content on-the-go, while easing digital rights and identities management.”

Gemalto Press Release

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Convergence Partners successfully participated as a sponsor and exhibitor at the 14^th annual AfricaCom Conference, held in Cape Town on 9 and 10 November 2011.  AfricaCom is the largest communications conference and exhibition on the Continent, gathering together more than 5,000 telecoms decision-makers. This is the second year that Convergence Partners has exhibited at the conference.

Exhibiting on the Convergence Partners’ stand was Comsol, FibreCo, Plessey and SEACOM with each of the companies presenting their offerings in the communications infrastructure space.

Andile Ngcaba, Chairman of Convergence Partners, presented a keynote address titled: “The political economy – where fibre optic meets spectrum” which focused on the need for innovative and visionary regulation of the radio spectrum.

The Convergence Partners’ group was also represented by Craig Wilson, CEO of Convergence Wireless Networks, as a panelist at the WiMAX South Africa conference held alongside AfricaCom.  Arif Hussain, CEO of FibreCo presented at the Master Class as well as on a panel discussions in the Capacity and Networks stream on fibre capacity in Africa.

Although, the Convergence Partners stand focused on showcasing our infrastructure portfolio assets a number of other companies participated in the conference including, Gemalto, Intelsat New Dawn and Dimension Data.

A highlight of the conference was SEACOM in partnership with Main ONE winning the award for most innovative infrastructure project of 2011 at the AfricaCom Awards.

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, today announces it has been distinguished with the A.T. Kearney 2011 Best Innovator Award, in recognition for its best-in-class innovation management and leadership. The evaluation focuses on the practical “how to” in innovation practice and assesses what leading companies really do in order to achieve superior yield from their innovation strategies and investments. The jury, which is comprised of senior business executives, ranked Gemalto clearly first amongst a number of nominated global industry leaders.
The selection criteria focus on the processes in place to encourage and manage innovation. And it evaluates actual achievements at delivering innovative products and services. Gemalto demonstrated a clear vision in making the digital world more convenient and secure for businesses and consumers alike. In particular, Gemalto remarkably evidenced a repeatable and well established system of innovation management that practically resulted in a succession of successful breakthroughs towards high-growth markets such as e-Government services, machine-to-machine applications and mobile financial services.
In addition to the creativity of its 1400 research scientists, Gemalto notably developed an internal think-tank and reward system allowing all its employees from around the world to fuel its ideas funnel. By leveraging a structured evaluation framework, and a quick “try hard, fail fast” period, projects of interest are then placed in incubation and development towards future successful products and services commercialization.
“This year’s prestigious A.T. Kearney Award given to Gemalto, after highly celebrated global companies such as Air Liquide and L’Oreal, is a prominent acknowledgment of our innovation and continuous improvement efficiency. We also apply the same innovation and virtuous principles to our own processes of idea management and innovation development, in order to maximize the yield of our yearly R&D investments. This commitment to excellence, and dedication to innovation, is crucial to our leadership in digital security” highlighted Olivier Piou, Chief Executive Officer of Gemalto. “Innovation is in our DNA, our methodical approach towards research, experimentation, development and commercialization of cutting-edge technology ensures that Gemalto leverages best-in-class processes and frameworks to deliver superior security, privacy and convenience for its customers, and their end users in the digital world.”

Gemalto Press Release

The second instalment in our regular feature to introduce key executives from across the Convergence Partners investment portfolio. Bertrand is the Managing Director of Gemalto Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd. Gemalto is the global leader in digital security, providing secure personal devices, platforms and services to governments, organisations and businesses.
Before being assigned as MD in Johannesburg, Bertrand was in charge of Product, Solutions and Services group for the Secure Transactions Business Unit (€450m) with teams based in Europe and in Asia. Here in South Africa, Bertrand manages all Business units (Telecommunications, Secure Transactions and Government) as well as Operations for Southern Africa. This business comprises around 400 people with a turnover of approximately €80m.

See below Questionnaire:

Name?
- Bertrand Knopf

Company?
- Gemalto

Position?
- Managing Director of Gemalto Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd

How long have you been with the company? Tell us about your background?
- 15 years; I have been handling several positions mostly in sales, marketing and management; before my assignment in Johannesburg, I was in charge of Product, Solutions and Services group for the Secure Transactions Business Unit (450m€) with teams based in Europe and in Asia; here in South Africa, I manage the business for all Business units (Telecommunications, Secure Transactions and Government) as well as Operations for Southern Africa. It is around 400 people and a turnover of approximately 80mEuros.

What are your key skills that you bring to the job?
- I bring my knowledge of the company and of the business, and working actively on propagating. Gemalto values across the board: customers, people and innovation.

What has impressed you about Gemalto?
- Gemalto commitment to innovate and deliver secure personal solutions to ease the life of everyone. We are delivering more than 1,5 billion secure devices every year (much more than any handset or PC maker) and we are involved in many various projects such as Mobile Money with MTN (peer to peer money transfer through mobile phone), contactless payment cards roll out with banks, issuance of secure personal documents such as electronic ID or biometrics passports with governments…

How do you see your industry changing in the next 5 years?
- The industry will definitely evolve into more convergence between different sectors like Mobile and Payment or like Payment and Transport. Convenience and security will be at the heart of any solution or service to be brought to the end-users by Telecom operators, Banks, Transport authorities or Governments. Differentiation will come through value added services to the end-user.

How have you found working with Convergence Partners?
- Respect and confidence in the relationship

What are your personal interests/hobbies?
- I care a lot about my wonderful wife and kids and enjoy spending time with them; otherwise I like playing tennis and golf, and I have a strong appetite to travel and discover new cultures.

Blackberry vs. iPhone? Other?
- No blackberry; no iphone yet (I left it to my wife…)… but an other pda…..

Mac vs. PC?
- PC as it is the standard at Gemalto

View the Full Press Release