AfricaLead with Veronica Motloutsi

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The future of cloud computing and machine learning: Solution for Africa Cloud computing has come a long way over the last several years. Innovation is increasing at rates never experienced before and will continue to do so. Cloud computing started as a way to abstract physical infrastructure and data centers. The next generation of cloud computing is focusing on abstracting virtual infrastructure and the operational processes that go along with managing that infrastructure. Through cloud computing, complex technologies like machine learning will be made simple, so data scientists can focus on the data, and developers can enable the data scientists without having to become experts at the underlying machine learning technologies. Most tech companies have been blazing the path for big data for almost two decades.   Now they are shifting the conversation from big data analytics to deep learning.   I believe that machine learning is the next layer of programming.   ...

Fintech refers to a new emerging financial technology sector focusing on delivering better, more innovative products and services than traditional financial institutions, and by reducing costs to the consumer. FinTech help drive improvements in traditional financial services and promote disruption through innovative new products and services, which can offer benefits to consumers and other sectors of the economy. FinTech offer solutions that are efficient and effective at lower scale which benefit small businesses and provide them with increased access to more diverse funding options. Innovative FinTech products can be better tailored to the needs of small businesses. These include marketplace (peer‑to‑peer) lending, merchant and e‑commerce finance, invoice finance, online supply chain finance and online trade finance. Smarthome connect is a digital disruptor working on FinTech platform, SmartMali – www.smarthome-connect.co.za . This will drive digital economy for t...

Driving digital democracy in Africa. Africa has pressing problems that can hinder digital democracy and evolution - that of digital inclusion and education. We are making great strides in connecting people but the education of opportunities of digital is still lacking. I am calling for private companies and government to unite on this issue of education. Furthermore, we are calling for the National Digital Inclusion strategy that will firstly, increase awareness, skills a nd opportunities presented by digital. Secondly and most importantly, we need national strategies to grow the economy through the use and creation of digital products. Thirdly, improve access by revisiting the costs of connectivity. Its important for all players to understand that digital products and services are becoming the default option for accessing public services, information, entertainment and communicating with other people. Our next report is - Is financial inclusion linked to digital inclus...

Digital skills for Africa The evolution of digital realm has been so rapid that it has become all consuming in some areas. The reality is that most people are struggling to keep up moreover lack digital skills to take their business to another level.  I found this tool from Google which aim to equip Africans with with skills to help them build an  online  presence, create content, understand web design, user experience, social media and app development.   Training is provided free of charge and every member who attends will receive a digital skills certificate.   Follow this link to receive training :  https://learndigital.withgoogle.com

Drones are introduced as innovative way to help with the continent’s development.   They are one of the next big things of Africa’s technology revolution.   According to Tom of ITWeb drones could provide the technology that allows Africa to leapfrog other types of infrastructure – for example more extensive road or rail networks – when it comes to deliveries of commercial or humanitarian goods.    We have also started to see drones being used to help solve some of our biggest issues such as poaching and delivering aid to remote areas.   Key issues to consider: Strict regulations and requirements Most African countries have strict rules regarding the use of drones – these regulatory regimes make it impossible to advance with the development.   For example In Kenya, a private wildlife conservation has been planning to use drones for the last three years, but regulatory barriers have made the project practically impossible.   South Africa ...

Clouds of Data present an opportunity for African Researchers and scientists   As the cost of data storage goes down more data will be created.   The adoption of cloud computing will drive this phenomenon.   This will allow our researchers to use rich data available at a lower cost to solve most of Africa challenges while creating more opportunities.   Data intensive research is changing the way African researchers can work and the impact they can have.   As a side issue, it is also opening up new career path in the field of data science.    While the potential of big data in Africa undoubtedly opens up opportunities, the need for accurate information gathering is still a key link in the chain that ultimately can produce big data sets.   When the Ebola epidemic spread through West Africa.   A Kenyan start-up created a reporting sms-based system called Echo mobile that allowed communities in Sierra Leone to alert the gove...