Rogan Flitton Joins NML

Rogan Flitton is a young, energetic and passionate software developer that joins the team with 6 years experience and a B.Com Informatics degree for R.A.U.  Deputy Head Boy at both primary school and high school, a keen cricketer, traveller, avid snowboarder, beginner surfer and part-time guitarist, it is Rogan’s all-round ability in life and his passion for technology and web2.0 that makes him a perfect fit into the NML puzzle. Rogan was previously at Global Vision and before that was at Bytes Technology Group.

The Trust Portal of Giving Completed

NML have completed development of The Trust portal of giving. NML built the backend technology for the site. The idea is that the portal gives the charities a means to illustrate the good work they are doing. It also gives the donor a single trustable portal to decide which charities to apportion the money to. Complex reports are generated out of the system to illustrate donation and spend apportionment.

The trustees are Alan Knott-Graig (MD IBurst), Tracey Lee Cohen (ex-Marketing Head of Blue Label Telecommunications), Gordon Douglas Stuart (Sentinel International Advisory), Dr Andile Ngcaba (Council of the University of South Africa (UNISA) and was an advisor to the Digital Inclusion Programme at Harvard University Law School), Jonathan Ackerman (Marketing Director Pick n Pay).

NML have integrated with the MyGate payment gateway and also MiMoney and UKash payment methods. We also integrated EFT back into the payment assurance processes.

NML have developed and commisioned this project at reduced rate as part of our corporate social responsibility.

Who is The Trust?

The Trust is a web portal that aims to make it easy, affordable and risk free for individuals and corporates to find and contribute to charities throughout South Africa and other African countries. The Trust provides a network for reputable and accountable South African charities who have been qualified through ongoing due diligence - irrespective of size, purpose or geographical location.

The Trusts’ web portal is your helping hand. The Trust aims to streamline the act of giving by creating a single access point for a range of causes. The idea is to boost the fundraising ability of charities by consolidating marketing efforts under one umbrella. By focusing on international celebrity endorsement through its many high-level contacts, The Trust is able to marshal significant support around several causes, from animals in distress to women and child abuse.

Charities affiliated to The Trust are expected to adhere to strict reporting and accountability guidelines in order to continue receiving support from us. Every cent of every rand donated to our causes is tracked, accounted for and distributed to charities with maximum efficiency and transparency. In addition, to all of the above, The Trust has the active support and buy-in of many of South Africa’s leading businesspeople. This means we are able to benefit from literally decades of cumulative business experience and the result is a charity run on business priorities for maximum effect.

New Media Labs win pitch to Develop the Niche Social Network for a South African Bank

New Media Labs has won a pitch to develop a large niche social network for a South African bank. The project will be developed in conjunction with Stonewall+. Stonewall+ will develop the front end flat designs and NML will convert these flats into Silverlight XAML. Silverlight Rich Internet Application presentation layer was a prerequisite of the bank.

The social elements are tied into the business model of this division of the bank, making this a complex development and integration exercise.

This will be NML’s second large Silverlight implementation and is being touted by Microsoft as the largest implementation in the EMEA region. Even thought this project is in the early stages it is being looked at closely as a case study by Microsoft.

Given the number of databases and stored procedures the system has to tie into Microsoft Repository Factory was the natural choice for Middle Tier. The service layer was developed using the Web Service Software Factory and the WCF .NET3.5 implementation technology.