Executive Interview
Executive Interviews
An Interview with
Evarist Fangnikoue
DARA
Founder & CEO
Digital Advanced Research Agency (DARA) is an internet-based research and development company located in Hong Kong and Africa. Our team has decades of experience in software and cyber solutions.
At DARA, We go beyond the simple thoughts of what can be done and provide what should be complete. Providing the most efficient solutions to the most challenging problems is our hallmark. We pride ourselves on understanding the needs of businesses and organizations through research and development. The number of our IT services is by no means limited to only what you read. We partner with reputable IT or telecom companies to solve our client's problems.
We provide valuable services to our clients in the area of cyber solutions, applications development, IT consultancy, cloud computing, Payment System integration, Blockchain, Data Analysis, and Machine learning application.
Our goal is to help governments, organizations, and small businesses in other to turn their nagging issues into opportunities.
Publish Date:
8 September 2022
Hong Kong
Location:
Tell us about your background, and how you came to found your company?
Evarist Fangnikoue began his career as a computer programmer when he was 18. With 20 years of personal and industry experience in software development and Cybersecurity for government, education, financial, and insurance institutions. He has helped various companies with software projects, big-data integration, and solution using Machine Learning & Blockchain technology to connect world information and finance.
He has supported tech startups on their journey to launch their products.
Before founding DARA, he was the project manager & Lead Solution Architect for the Student Response System at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. When working on his Ph.D. thesis, titled National Database of a Country, where he describes advanced research on how one country should collect data for its security and survival. He came across a paper titled "POWER+" from JPMorgan about the future of the payment system. After reading the document, he decided to create AFRO, programmable money based on blockchain technology with various features to connect the world financial institution. Within the same research, he realizes the danger to applications and networkssecurity with the rise of AI, robotic, and IoT devices with vulnerabilities integrated into those systems. Having decades of experience in software and Cybersecurity, he decides to create a research & development company that can be capable of solving those problems.
What is most important to you and your organization – mission, vision, or core values? Why?
The most important thing to our organization is the ability to help clients solve their problems and connect the world’s information through research & development. The most important thing to me is to support my team in all areas so that together, we can focus on the company’s mission. Our mission: is to connect the world’s information and make it available. Our Vision: is to allow easy access to information.
Can you explain briefly how your service(s)/product(s) works?
DARA's service is the ability to provide software and cybersecurity solutions to our clients. For software (https://tech.daragroups.com/) solutions, we offer IT consultancy, applications development, Blockchain solution, and Data analysis, and we also have a partner in a different area of IT. For cybersecurity (https://sec.daragroups.com/), our methodology is unique and allows us to hack hardware and penetrates software. We also can support your software team, from white box testing to the security integration in the application right from the start.
For our products, we're currently on a testing stage of programmable money called AFRO (https://afro.daragroups.com/) using Blockchain technology and the ability to offer an offline transaction without an internet connection.
How has the industry been changing in recent years?
The past ten years have shown a significant increase in technology, not only with an increase in computing power but also with more open-source technology and packages availability. With these advances, the software is changing the world. From the time we get up to the time we go back to bed, everything is all about software. It is good to have a working application, and how often do we check whether those applications do not cause harm to others? An example of a self-driving car allowing an attacker to change its direction. Winston Churchill said: “Where there is a great power, there is great responsibility” and our responsibility is to help companies protect their infrastructures and create secure software applications.
What makes you different from what’s currently available in the market?
For us is not about the differences or that we are better than others, but a collaboration with others to solve problems for advancing the human race. Our company has a team of unique talents, great vision, and hard-working who are ready to face any challenges. For any software project, we explore various ways to provide an efficient solution toour client’s business needs. We organize and plan the development cycle of the solution to implement. When tasks are assigned, execution follows with a goal-oriented strategy. Budget and time are the most significant factors we evaluated for project delivery. Because every business has a unique need, we provide customized IT solutions that make our client’s business stand against the competition.
What does the future hold for your company?
With the strong leadership of our Founder & CEO, the company has a great future. As technology grows, so are we. With more technological challenges ahead of us, we believe in the future. We cannot define the future without our clients and partners who trust us and also those who are using our products.