Author: Staff Writer

The South African Artificial Intelligence Association (SAAIA), an industry body focused on promoting the advancement of responsible AI in South Africa, will officially be launched  in partnership with the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), one of the AI Institute of South Africa Hubs, on 19th July 2023. SAAIA seeks to encourage stakeholders to adopt responsible AI for the commercial and societal benefit of the citizens of South Africa with a primary focus on economic growth, trade, investment, equality and inclusivity by uniting practitioners across commercial, government, academic, start-up and NGO sectors. Dr Nick Bradshaw, the founder of SAAIA, states: “From…

Eskom said on Monday that Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 today until 05:00 on Tuesday, as previously communicated. Thereafter, Stage 1 loadshedding will be implemented from 05:00 until 16:00, followed by Stage 3 loadshedding from 16:00 until 05:00 on Wednesday. This pattern will continue to be implemented daily until further notice. Eskom will publish another update should any significant changes occur. Eskom said breakdowns have reduced to 15 747MW of generating capacity while the generating capacity out of service for planned maintenance is 1 946MW. Since Friday, a generating unit each at Kriel, Lethabo, Majuba, Matla and…

MyBroadband Insights has released its 2023 Mobile Voice Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has the best mobile voice service in South Africa. The report is based on South Africa’s biggest-ever mobile network quality test, conducted between 20 March and 24 April. Over the testing period, MyBroadband Insights travelled over 10,000 kilometres, made 93,912 calls, and recorded over 41,000 call minutes. MyBroadband Insights partnered with Analytico and Keysight distributor Coral-i for the extensive, country-wide network testing project. This project used Keysight’s world-leading network testing platform, Nemo, to test a range of voice network quality variables. Network performance was also…

Over a year after its planned implementation was ruled unconstitutional, Aarto will soon be on the cards for motorists again. Yesterday, the Constitutional Court overturned the High Court’s ruling of Aarto as invalid and unconstitutional. What does this mean for South African motorists? The CEO of MasterDrive, Eugene Herbert, says the efficacy of Aarto in bringing change to the high fatality rates, needs motorists to have faith in the Act as well. “Yet, even before the High Court overturned Aarto, the public had little faith in Aarto. There are concerns there is too much opportunity for corruption to creep into…

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa today officially opened the Huawei Innovation Centre in Woodmead, Johannesburg. President Ramaphosa said that facilities like this innovation centre, along with the adoption of a range of cutting-edge technologies being pioneered by companies such as Huawei, will enable South Africa and the wider African continent to leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution. According to Huawei South Africa, the newly launched Innovation Centre serves to foster and encourage joint innovation with Huawei’s South African partners, app developers, and SMMEs in the ICT space. It also showcases Huawei’s latest and most innovative digital technologies and solutions such…

Wits University and Sibanye-Stillwater (tickers JSE: SSW and NYSE: SBSW) have launched the newly refurbished and rebranded Wits Sibanye-Stillwater Innovation bridge (‘the Innovation bridge’), a Wits Centenary Project funded by Sibanye-Stillwater. The launch on 12 July 2023 was accompanied by an additional commitment of R51 million from Sibanye-Stillwater to Wits for study bursaries, learnerships within the Group’s mining operations, graduate internship programmes and staff development within the Wits Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment (FEBE). The refurbished Innovation bridge is both a symbol of the past and a gateway to the future. It represents shared value and a strengthening of the partnership…

Google today announced the expansion of Bard, its conversational AI service, to 40 new languages including Swahili- the first African language to be included and 59 new countries and territories. The expansion includes new features that allow users to better customize their experience, boost their creativity, and get more done. With the expansion, Bard is now available in most of the world, including countries in the European Union (EU), and in the most widely spoken languages, including Swahili, Chinese, German, Spanish, Arabic, and Hindi, and Spanish. Users can now access Bard in their preferred language with text-to-speech also enabled in…

Design thinking is a problem-solving methodology and approach that originated in the field of design but has since been widely adopted across various industries and disciplines. It emphasizes a human-centered and iterative approach to tackling complex problems and finding innovative solutions. Design thinking places a strong emphasis on understanding the needs and perspectives of the end-users or customers and uses empathy as a key driver in the problem-solving process. In recent years, design thinking has gained widespread acclaim as a powerful tool for navigating the AI revolution. Its proponents argue that it brings a human-centered approach to the development of…

You don’t need statistics to tell you there are severe inefficiencies in the South African healthcare system. You just need to look at the long queues at clinics and hospitals. Or if you’re fortunate enough to afford private healthcare, try and make an appointment with specialists (months’ long waiting lists aren’t uncommon). It is worth noting, however, that the waiting list at one Eastern Cape Hospital for knee and hip replacements is over a decade long. Across the Gauteng public healthcare system, meanwhile, wait times for the same operations can be up to five years long. That’s to say nothing of the long clinic…

Vuma, one of South Africa’s biggest Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) provider, has announced the integration of next generation fibre technology and innovation to the South African market, through its latest partnership with Huawei. As a next-generation PON technology defined by ITU-T, the 50G PON effectively supports 10Gbps Everywhere. It provides high-density symmetrical 50G PON to meet the increasing bandwidth requirements in future campus, industrial interconnection, enterprise, and home scenarios. And it integrates GPON, 10G PON, and 50G PON into one port, allowing for service upgrade on demand. The partnership sees the launch of 50G PON capabilities – significantly higher than the existing…

The Shoprite Group invites technology students and seasoned Information Technology (IT) professionals to join Africa’s largest retailer by applying for its bursary programme or various available job opportunities. The retailer’s comprehensive bursary programme covers tuition fees and on-campus accommodation, provides a grocery allowance, and guarantees employment upon graduation. Youth studying scarce and sought after skills are invited to apply by visiting www.shopriteholdings.co.za/careers.html before 30 September 2023. Home to some of the brightest industry talent, the Group’s Shoprite Technology division uses technology, data, insights, systems and processes to take advantage of and unlock new opportunities. Greytown-born Percival Phakathi (28) joined the…

Vodacom Eastern Cape region will invest over R500 million into the network and power backup upgrades across the province during the 2023/2024 financial year. This significant investment into the network will help the region expand connectivity in deep rural areas and townships that had no connectivity before. This will enable hundreds of thousands of people to participate in the digital economy for the first time. This coupled with a concerted effort to drive down the cost to communicate through innovative platforms such as Just4U and Just4YouTown has lowered voice and data rates across the province and enabled scores of people…

South African-based aviation group Pegasus Universal Aerospace has announced that it has launched a new shares sale to raise capital for the next developmental stage of its ground-breaking Vertical Business Jet (VBJ) project. Aimed at raising a minimum of R200,000 in funding, the sale will remain open for three months until 21 August 2023. The company has made some six million Class A, seven-year preference shares available at an issue price of R2,900 per share, offering a fixed interest rate of 10% per annum. With a minimum transaction requirement of four shares per investor, this means that South Africans can…

Take Note IT, a leading provider of innovative IT solutions – is thrilled to announce the launch of the Cyber Excellence Academy, in collaboration with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and with the support of the Media, Information, and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICTSETA). The Cyber Excellence Academy aims to revolutionise the cybersecurity landscape by empowering individuals with advanced skills and knowledge to combat evolving digital threats. The Cyber Excellence Academy is an intensive training programme designed to equip participants with industry-leading expertise in cybersecurity. By fostering a deep understanding of cybersecurity principles, strategies…

During his keynote speech on the afternoon of July 7, at the opening of HUAWEI Developer Conference — HDC.Cloud 2023, Zhang Ping’an, Huawei’s Executive Director and CEO of Huawei Cloud, announced the launch of Huawei Cloud Pangu Models 3.0 and Ascend AI cloud services. Guided by its three stated purposes — reshaping industries, honing technologies, and sharing success — Pangu Models 3.0 will focus on building up core competitiveness and helping customers, partners, and developers operationalize AI and drive real value creation across industries. With Ascend AI cloud services, a single compute cluster can provide 2,000 petaFLOPS of compute capacity,…

Huawei this week hosted its flagship Eco-Connect Sub-Saharan Africa 2023 event, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Run under the theme, ‘Leading Digital for New Value Together’, the event brought together nearly 3 000 delegates from more than 10 countries, representing a wide variety of industries and organisations. Huawei has long recognised Africa’s potential. It has operated in Africa for 26 years and has worked with partners to help Africa achieve inclusive and reliable network connectivity and support the digital transformation agenda in various industries on the continent. In his opening address, David Wang, Executive Director of the Board, Chairman of ICT…

Vodacom is South Africa’s ‘Most Reliable Network’. The latest biannual network report by the independent benchmarking organisation umlaut, part of Accenture, has ranked Vodacom ‘Best in Test’ ahead of competitors and scored the highest for reliability, data services and crowdsourced quality. This is testament to Vodacom’s commitment to deliver unparalleled connectivity to its valued customers and reaffirms its purpose of connecting South Africans to a better future. Sitho Mdlalose, CEO of Vodacom South Africa, expressed his pride in achieving this remarkable milestone, stating: “We are honoured to be acknowledged as South Africa’s most reliable network. This achievement reflects the tireless…

JSE-listed telecoms group Blue Label Telecoms announced on Friday the appointment of Happy Masondo as an independent non-executive director and as a member of the Social, Ethics and Transformation Committee. Her appointment is effective from 1 August 2023. Masondo is a qualified senior attorney and director, with specialist skills in renewable energy projects, information technology projects and public-private partnerships. Her expertise includes legal and regulatory project management skills including collation of relevant compliance tender documents, analysis and review of the legal and regulatory requirements. She is an experienced non-executive director and currently serves on the boards of Dis-Chem Pharmacies, Bright…

The Information Regulator (Regulator) issued an Infringement notice to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) in which it ordered the DoJ&CD to pay an administrative fine of R5 million following its failure to comply with the Enforcement Notice issued by the Regulator on 09 May 2023. The Regulator issued the Enforcement Notice following the finding of the contravention of various sections of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) by the DoJ&CD. The Enforcement Notice had required the DoJ&CD to submit proof to the Regulator within thirty-one (31) days of receipt of the Notice that the Trend Anti-Virus…

Vodacom South Africa (VSA) is the latest company and property owner to partner with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to ensure that traffic signals along major intersections operate during load shedding. This partnership spearheaded by the JRA and facilitated through a Service Level Agreement (SLA) will leverage electricity sourced from Vodacom’s adjacent buildings to power traffic lights. Through this initial phase of the partnership Vodacom will provide backup power to the traffic lights at intersections near the Vodacom campus in Midrand specifically on 13th Road and Vodacom Boulevard (entrance and exit) as well as Lever Road and Vodacom Boulevard. According to Sitho…

What is the NHI and how will it change the system? The NHI is a Fund, paid by our taxes, from which the government will buy health care services for all of us who live in the country from health care providers in the public sector and private sector. This means when you feel unwell, you can go to your nearest GP or clinic of your choice that has a contract with NHI and not worry about the cost of care.  Why do we need NHI? What are the benefits of NHI? Providing health care for all: South Africa is a…

The South African Breweries (SAB) is constantly exploring new and innovative ways to educate consumers about the positive impact that beer has on the economy – something the company has called Beernomics. Its latest campaign is a fun and engaging word puzzle game, named SABeerdle. Like its international equivalent, operated by the New York Times, Wordle, it is a free game that allows players to guess a five-letter word on a tiled grid, with each guess indicating which letters are correct or incorrect using colored squares. Consumers will need to derive clues from the Oxford Economics report published by SAB…

Cell C today announced Rachael Ayo-Oladejo as the newly appointed Chief of Staff, Strategy and Business Transformation, reporting directly to CEO Jorge Mendes. With over 17 years of invaluable experience in the telecommunications industry, she brings a wealth of expertise to the executive team. Having excelled in various roles across Enterprise, Consumer, and Customer Operations, her journey began at (Vmobile) Airtel Nigeria and continued with significant contributions across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Notably, as the former Executive for Strategy, Execution, and Performance Management at Vodacom’s Consumer Business Unit, she worked closely with Mendes as part of his executive team,…

MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo)  or e-wallet service, which was first launched in 2012, has now garnered 8 million users. Bradwin Roper, Chief Financial Services Officer at MTN, highlights the increasing demand for alternatives, especially among those in rural areas lacking traditional infrastructure. Driven by a need to reduce expenditure and service costs, South Africans are seeking connectivity, simplicity, reliability, added value, and an increasing range of services from a single source. “As more South Africans look to join the mainstream financial services sector, they encounter discouraging fees, complexity, and bureaucratic hurdles. Compounding this is the present economic situation, which is…

Huawei Eco Connect Sub-Saharan Africa 2023, which is set to take place on 6 July at the Sandton Convention Centre, will feature leading experts to discuss the latest innovations in optical, storage, and datacom technologies. The conference, which is Huawei’s flagship event in Sub-Saharan Africa, will bring together thousands of business executives, international business innovators, industry thought leaders, and partners under the theme ‘Leading Digital for New Value Together’. Following an opening keynote address by Huawei Sub Saharan Africa Region President, Leo Chen, attendees will be given insight into the latest trends innovations in optical technology by Richard Jin, President…