Posts tagged technology

In a world where fake news has resulted in violence, government toppling and mass hysteria, the importance of spotting and flagging fake or inflammatory news is at an all-time high.

Creating a connection with his deaf niece motivated 25-year-old Kenyan innovator Roy Allela to invent a set of smart gloves, named Sign-IO, which converts sign language movements into audio speech in real time.

The first-ever original work of art created using artificial intelligence – a machine-learning algorithm that scans historical artwork – has been sold at auction. “Portrait of Edmond de Belamy” (2018) was sold for an astonishing US$432,500.

The Lion Science Park of the University of Nigeria, the first university-based science park in Nigeria, is attracting global attention with its recent induction into the global body of International Association of Science Parks in Iran. The Science Park is designed as an innovation hub, an economic transformation initiative and a sustainable development project.

A 22-year-old South African, Mpumelelo Lelo Macheke has created the continent’s first database of GIFs of “Africans being Africans for Africans”.

With no external source of funding and support, Anoziva Marindire has succeeded in teaching girls to code, opening up prospects in the job market and in their communities that they never had before.

Evariste Akoumian, a 37-year-old Ivorian, invented the “Solarpak”, a schoolbag with a solar panel and a lamp, to improve the education of young schoolchildren from rural, non-electrified areas. Using the lamp, children can now comfortably study after dark.

Archaeologists from the University of Witwatersrand have used specialised laser technology to recreate a lost 15th century city to the south of Johannesburg that was likely inhabited by Tswana people.

In Ethiopia,19 year-old Betelhem Dessie has quickly risen from a young pioneer to a leading figure in the tech community. She handles five projects and has seven patents to her name.

A startup in Nigeria is set to revolutionise drug delivery in Africa with the use of drones to reach local clinics and hospitals that urgently need the medication. This innovative use of drones to deliver medical supplies is a first in Nigeria. Arone is an example of a technology made in Africa for Africans by Africans, writes Patrick Egwu.