From new innovations and digital transformation, growing economies to emerging startups, this week was yet again filled with exciting technology developments.
South Africans generated more than 100 000 search queries for “Budget speech 2019” as Minister Tito Mboweni presented his plans for government spending this year. This week also saw the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the S10. SAP, MTN and Cell C also appointed new executives.
Here is a round-up of some of the popular stories for the week.
Top 10 data and analytics technology trends to look out for – Gartner
Augmented analytics, continuous intelligence and explainable artificial intelligence (AI) are among the top trends in data and analytics technology that have significant disruptive potential over the next three to five years, according to Gartner, Inc. “The story of data and analytics keeps evolving, from supporting internal decision making to continuous intelligence, information products and appointing chief data officers,” said Rita Sallam, research vice president at Gartner. Read more.
Aerobotics appoints new head of Data Science
Aerobotics announced that artificial intelligence expert and thought leader Stuart Reid has joined the company as their Head of Data Science to help drive and grow their capabilities. Stuart will be based in the Cape Town office where he will establish new processes and frameworks for rapidly-prototyping and scaling state of the art computer vision models for use within existing and upcoming Aerobotics products. Read more.
AECOM promotes Artificial Intelligence with newly consolidated region
AECOM, fully-integrated global infrastructure firm, has announced it is honing its strategic focus across the Middle East and Africa by integrating regional operations as well as consolidating its African presence. “We are incredibly proud to be involved in some of the biggest infrastructure projects across Africa, including the $1.5 billion Tema Port Expansion Project for Meridian Port Services in Ghana,” said Joe Ndala, AECOM’s Managing Director of South Africa and Chief Financial Officer for the African operation. Read more.
SAP Africa appoints cloud expert for Southern Africa
SAP Africa has appointed Cameron Beveridge as Regional Director for Southern Africa. Beveridge, a seasoned professional with a 25-year pedigree in technology, had until recently led one of SAP Africa’s largest business units, with responsibility for SAP cloud and related solutions. Read more.
Look to Wi-Fi for Digital Transformation in Retail
CIOs in the retail sector are increasingly looking to location analytics provided by sophisticated Wi-Fi marketing solutions to address digital transformation. This is the view of Wade Gomes, Sales Director of Corr-Serve, a local value-added distributor that represents Cloud4Wi in the South African market, a leading provider of location analytics and marketing solutions. Read more.
$11 million tech investment puts Rwanda on the map
Rwanda is fast becoming a tech destination in Africa, emerging as a key tech and investment hub with its ease of doing business. In July 2018, Rwanda hosted the World Economic Forum on Africa in May, and work is reportedly well underway on the Kigali Innovation City, which will house innovation labs and provide training and funding for technology companies. Read more.
#BudgetSpeech2019: Budget spending has to focus on getting our country ready for technology
South African Minister of Finance, Tito Titus Mboweni, delivered the 2019 Budget Speech on Wednesday, 20 February, addressing government expenditure as set out for the year. “As we look to the future, I see the following huge shifts in society and the world,” Mboweni said on the topic of technology. Read more.
All there is to know about the new Samsung devices
Samsung has launched its new flagship smartphone series, the Galaxy S10, which will go on sale on 08 March 2019. During the Samsung Event, held on Wednesday, 20 February, the company announced that South Africans can pre-order the S10, S10e and S10+ starting from Thursday, 21 February 2019.
Samsung also revealed that they will be bringing the Galaxy Fold to South Africa but the pricing and launch date has not yet been confirmed. Read more.
Global smartphone sales stalled in Q4 of 2018 – Gartner
Top Chinese mobile phone manufacturers grew their sales across emerging markets in the third of 2018 because of their low price smartphones and the smartphones having features improved camera features and high-quality resolution displays. However according to research by Gartner, Inc, global sales of smartphones to end users stalled in the fourth quarter of 2018, totalling 408.4 million units — growth of just 0.1 per cent over the fourth quarter of 2017. Read more.
South African schools ready for digital education
Public schools in South Africa can look forward to joining the digital education revolution as some of their private school counterparts have been experiencing for the past few years, but education experts have cautioned against a rush to provide tablets and other digital infrastructure before a solid strategy and fundamentals have been put in place. Read more.
By Neo Sesinye
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