technology - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

West Africa’s coast was a haven for piracy and illegal fishing – how technology is changing the picture

THE Gulf of Guinea – a coastal region that stretches from Senegal to Angola – is endowed with vast reserves of hydrocarbon, mineral and fisheries resources. It is also an important route for international commerce, making it critical to the development of countries in the region. IFESINACHI OKAFOR-YARWOOD, Lecturer, University of St Andrews For a long time, however, countries in the Gulf of Guinea haven’t properly monitored what’s happening in their waters. This has allowed security threats at sea to flourish. The threats include illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, piracy and armed robbery, and toxic waste dumping. For…

Jun

2023

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

How the cookie crackdown plays to Africa’s text messaging strengths

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

AFRICAN businesses are continuing to find value in a technology that is largely being forgotten by the latest offerings of the metaverse, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies. Despite a whirlwind of digital advancement, including a surge in smartphone penetration across the continent and the emergence of world-leading mobile money solutions, Africa remains a huge market for feature phones, which offer text-based communications and are not reliant on an internet connection. Consequently, "old-school" USSD or Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (known by most of us as text messaging services) have remained a cornerstone for many African companies' sales and services offerings.…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Khartoum’s yellow taxis stand idle as technology trumps tradition

NEWS

THE yellow taxis of Khartoum were once an enduring part of its colonial legacy. Now the vehicles, introduced in Sudan's capital under British rule in 1937 and last renewed as a fleet in 1978, bear the signs of numerous repairs, their paintwork chipped - and their often elderly drivers wait in vain for customers. They say they've been left behind by competitors who advertise using unregulated ride-hailing apps, and who drive newer cars. "We've raised generations of children off the back of this taxi. But our taxis are old now," driver Alrasheed Ahmed, who has had his since 1980, told…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Technology and sustainable development: a hamlet in rural South Africa shows how one can power the other

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

IT'S hard to imagine that the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the fourth industrial revolution can be part of the same conversation. But, as a briefing paper by the World Economic Forum in collaboration with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) points out: Over 70% of the 136 SDG targets could be enabled by technology applications already in deployment. To be achieved, both ideas – sustainable development and the fourth industrial revolution – require innovative thinking and a change of attitude. Authors SAURABH SINHA, Professor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, University of Johannesburg MDUDUZI MBIZA, Research Associate, University of Johannesburg The fourth industrial…

Jan

2023

By The African Mirror

Africa eyes more broadband networks in 2023

NEWS

CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY AFRICAN countries are looking to roll out more broadband networks in 2023 as mobile and internet service providers expand their investment in undersea and land-based cables and internet services originating in space become a financially viable option for some consumers. Broadband is a technology widely defined as one that gives users access to faster internet with a minimum of 25 Mbps in download and 3 Mbps in upload speeds. The recent landing of a 45,000-kilometer subsea cable in South Africa by mobile network provider,MTN South Africa and its subsidiary, MTN GlobalConnect in the Western Cape…

Jul

2022

By The African Mirror

Technology and home visits can help South Africans with diabetes cope with insulin

HEALTH

APPROXIMATELY 4.5 million South Africans have type 2 diabetes – a condition characterised by high levels of sugar in the blood. It can be treated with drugs and managed through healthy eating and exercise. But if it’s not managed well, it can be life-threatening. Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in South Africa. Blood sugar levels rise to dangerous levels when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin, a hormone that regulates the movement of sugar in the body. Authors PATRICK NGASSA PIOTIE, Project Manager, Tshwane Insulin Project, University of Pretoria ELIZABETH M. WEBB, Associate professor, University…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Your smartphone is not making you dumber — digital tech can enhance our cognitive abilities

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

DIGITAL technology is ubiquitous. We have been increasingly reliant on smartphones, tablets and computers over the past 20 years, and this trend has been accelerating due to the pandemic. Conventional wisdom tells us that over-reliance on technology may take away from our ability to remember, pay attention and exercise self-control. Indeed, these are important cognitive skills. However, fears that technology would supplant cognition may not be well founded. Technology alters society Socrates, considered by many to be the father of philosophy, was deeply worried about how the technology of writing would affect society. Since the oral tradition of delivering speeches…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

In a world first, South Africa grants patent to an artificial intelligence system

SCIENCE, TECH AND INNOVATION

AT first glance, a recently granted South African patent relating to a “food container based on fractal geometry” seems fairly mundane. The innovation in question involves interlocking food containers that are easy for robots to grasp and stack. MESHANDREN NAIDOO, PhD Fellow and LexisNexis Legal Content Researcher and Editor, University of KwaZulu-Natal On closer inspection, the patent is anything but mundane. That’s because the inventor is not a human being – it is an artificial intelligence (AI) system called DABUS. DABUS (which stands for “device for the autonomous bootstrapping of unified sentience”) is an AI system created by Stephen Thaler,…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Racist’ facial recognition sparks ethical concerns in Russia

WORLD

UMBERTO BAACHI FROM scanning residents' faces to let them into their building to spotting police suspects in a crowd, the rise of facial recognition is accompanied by a growing chorus of concern about unethical uses of the technology. A report published by U.S.-based researchers showing that Russian facial recognition companies have built tools to detect a person's race has raised fears among digital rights groups, who describe the technology as "purpose-made for discrimination." Developer guides and code examples unearthed by video surveillance research firm IPVM show software advertised by four of Russia's biggest facial analytics firms can use artificial intelligence…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

‘Use technology, enabling infrastructure to harness resources and build the Southern African economy’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MATHEWS PHOSA OPPORTUNITIES for growth and development will always present themselves naturally, but economic dynamism is critical. As such, the key to real economic dynamism is about leveraging opportunities into real sustainable value. Value for our people, our neighbours, our region and our Continent. The real economic boons or revolutions have been based on converting opportunities into value. The Industrial Revolution was about effectively deploying vast amounts of capital for productive capacity to stimulate industry, goods and related services. Converting opportunity, which is access to capital, into real sustainable value, is the backbone of sustainable infrastructures such as rail, seaports…