The Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services, Dr. Jenfan Muswere has praised President Mnangagwa for launching the National Data Centre that he said is one of the grand strategies in successfully implementing the National ICT Policy and the e-Government Programme. Dr Muswere said the launch of the data centre is also…
Huawei has partnered NetOne to ensure the improvement of existing information communication technologies (ICTs) to enable Zimbabweans to experience better network services. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Companies are playing an increasingly important role in national economic and social development in terms of ICT development. The Government of Zimbabwe is committed to providing access…
Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) has announced the expansion of their advertising business into overseas markets including the MEA (Middle East, Africa, and Pakistan) region. HUAWEI Ads is a supply-side and demand-side, real-time advertising marketplace through which media companies transact ad impressions with accountability, using programmatic technology, and includes a monetization tool for app publishers. The beta version of…
Chris Donkin Facebook reportedly targeted 2022 for the release of a smartwatch the social media giant already has under development, with the device set to feature various links to its messaging platforms. Technology publication The Information claimed Facebook was already in the process of creating the wearable, which would be another foray into the hugely competitive consumer…
The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) offers new opportunities to transform Zimbabwe into a digitally enabled society by the year 2030, Dr. Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services has said. He made the remarks during a virtual 4IR summit which is running under the theme” towards a developed economy…
By Joyce Mukucha Following the commissioning of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT’s) Plant that is the brainchild of the Office of the President and Cabinet in Msasa, Harare, Vice President Kembo Mohadi stressed the need to embrace more digital initiatives. He emphasised that digital initiatives play a pivotal role in the easy access to…
Bernard Marr AI can do incredible things, but just because something is possible doesn’t mean it’s right. There’s enormous potential for backlash against the misuse of AI, and policymakers and regulators will no doubt take an increasing interest in AI. This means it’s vital organizations pursue an ethical use of AI. Here are four ways…
Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD Anti-vaccination (anti-vax) movements lure increasingly more people into skipping potentially life-saving immunisation against infectious diseases, such as measles, mumps, or rubella; highly impairing herd immunity for entire communities. You might have encountered such sentiments on social media, but people living a century before also experienced similar resistance to vaccines during the…
New version available for users in Southern Africa Huawei Mobile Services has launched its latest version of HUAWEI AppGallery, featuring a new and enhanced way to discover content – for users in South Africa. The newest update empowers users to smoothly discover an array of new apps, games, and resources on the platform and delve…
By Joyce Mukucha Capgemini Group, a global leader in consulting, digital transformation, technology, and engineering services, has partnered with another global player and the leading European cloud provider, OVHcloud in empowering public and private organisations with secure cloud transformation needs. The new alliance builds on the companies’ long-term relationship in France is aimed at bringing…
The high quality of cameras on smartphones these days mean that you no longer need a professional camera in order to create a masterpiece video. This was proven at the 2020, 48 Hour Film Project competition, held in Durban, where 50 aspiring filmmakers were tasked with creating a short film over a weekend. The competing…
By Bernard Marr We certainly have a global food challenge that is exacerbated by environmental concerns. But could new technology such as artificial intelligence, machine vision, and 5G networks help us find a solution? Norwegian salmon farming company Cermaq has launched its first-of-its-kind iFarm project. This five-year experiment will run until 2025 with tech partners BioSort and…
The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdowns have underlined the importance of reliable data services in keeping people, communities, businesses and the nation at large connected, and in ensuring essential commercial and public services continue unhindered. Authorities have had to impose lockdowns to arrest the spread of the deadly coronavirus, with recorded cumulative cases…
Joseph Waring Double-digit growth in Australian iPhone sales in the second half of 2020 fuelled a modest rise in the overall market despite lower Android demand, data from analyst company Telsyte showed. Sales increased 3 per cent year-on-year to 4.55 million units, with iPhones 12 per cent higher at 2.1 million units and Android down…
Throughout the month of February, discounts, coupons, and free subscriptions are up for grabs for users who own a Huawei device and have a HUAWEI ID. You can enjoy a wealth of HUAWEI Mobile Services benefits with just one click. These spectacular deals are available across five of Huawei’s applications, including the following: HUAWEI Themes: Get…
US-based The @ Company (The At Company) is bringing the @protocol Appathon II to Zimbabwe, targeting young developers and technology enthusiasts. The challenge: to build innovative consumer applications on @protocol, an open, permission-based protocol that makes great user experience and automatic privacy compliance easy. This initiative, being run in association with the Computer Association of…
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe has launched a customer service enhancing Chatbot named Yamurai, to empower its customers and improve their customer experience. Econet said the Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Chatbot will give customers an additional digital customer support channel as the company steps up efforts to optimize efficiencies and manage the surge in caller-based customer queries amid…
Bernard Marr Did you know that scientists have identified only 1.5 million species out of the 10 million estimated on Earth? And many of those species are vulnerable to extinction. Thanks to the efforts of the non-profit organization Wild Me, the gargantuan task of wildlife preservation is getting a much-needed assist from citizen scientists who photograph…
By Kavit Majithia The smartphone market returned to familiar ground in Q4 2020, with figures from a quartet of analyst companies indicating a recovery for the segment, fuelled by 5G and mid-tier devices. IDC placed shipments at 385.9 million units, up 4.3 per cent year-on-year, driven by a record period for Apple. The company noted the…
Nigerian content creator Adekola ‘McKennie’ John Kehinde has been voted the first monthly winner of Sasai’s #ThisIsMyAfrica campaign and is set to pocket US$2 000 in prize money. The campaign, which is being run by Cassava Fintech International (CFI), the developers of the Sasai super App, comes on the heels of the successful #African&Talented online promotion,…
By a Special Correspondent With smartphone penetration in Sub Saharan Africa set to grow by 67% by 2025 buoyed by increasing internet penetration, the opportunity to lead the digital revolution, drive inclusivity and uplift people’s quality of life through technology has never been better. Sasai, Africa’s first all-in-one super app developed by Cassava Fintech International,…
Africa50, in partnership with US based Foreign Policy magazine, has launched an exciting new podcast series called Africa Forward. Africa Forward tells the largely untold story of how infrastructure is transforming the lives of people in Africa. The four-part series, which begun on Tuesday 26 January 2021, brings major African infrastructure projects to life. It highlights…
The Brave Generation Academy (www.BraveGenerationAcademy.com), a disruptive approach to education that will change the course of schooling, is now looking for people with the passion to make the difference to become partners in opening new educational Hubs across Africa. With an online curriculum that is recognized by the world’s leading universities as the gold standard…
By Joyce Mukucha As the International Day of Women and Girls in Science is just around the corner, the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), UN Women, and other UN agencies have urged for commitment to bring and recognize the critical role women and girls play in science…
By Chris Donkin Huawei issued a strenuous denial of media reports claiming it was in talks to sell its flagship smartphone brands to a consortium backed by the regional government in Shanghai. In a statement, a representative for the smartphone manufacturer said the claims were unsubstantiated: “There is no merit to these rumours whatsoever. Huawei…
By Joyce Mukucha The COVID-19 crisis has imperiled progress and impacted a large number of countries and is turning out to be even worse than the critical economic, strategic, and political clashes happening around the world. The outbreak has and still is impacting all industries, including the Information & Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Despite the…
The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Dominic Raab, has visited an East African Data Centre in Nairobi owned by Econet subsidiary Liquid Telecom. The Foreign Secretary announced the visit on his Twitter handle in a message in which he also unveiled British support for developing countries to shift to clean energy and transport: https://twitter.com/dominicraab/status/1351894900543991810?s=21 Mr Raab…
Speculation of the future of LG Electronics’ troubled smartphone division intensified, with The Korea Herald reporting a review was underway to define if it would downsize, sell or withdraw from the market completely. A representative told the newspaper a “cold judgement” on the best choice needed to be made following continued “fierce” market conditions in the smartphone…
By Own Correspondent Recentlyy, facial recognition systems have made a big splash in China, spreading across the country like wildfire. The rapid acceleration of these applications in recent years has shown that 50% of the respondents think the technology is being abused while 40% suffer privacy losses due to leaks and abuse of facial information….
By Our Correspondent The Chinese regulators had launched an anti-monopoly investigation into the nation’s biggest tech company, Alibaba and its affiliate fintech Ant Group in the month of November last year. The nation’s increased scrutiny is being seen as a sense of worry by other tech giants of the country, since the Chinese President Xi…
Bernard Marr Even though there were companies such as Google, Salesforce, Zillow, and others that thrived with remote teams before COVID-19, many companies still resisted telecommuting until the pandemic forced the majority of companies to shift to that reality basically overnight. Now that more companies experienced remote workforces first-hand, there are signs that remote working will…
By Bernard Marr One of the most important lessons we’ve learned from the pandemic is just how important technology is to building robust and thriving businesses. Organizations that have prospered in the last nine months have done so by leveraging cloud computing, high-speed networks, artificial intelligence (AI), and the internet of things (IoT) to push…
The response to the COVID-19 crisis builds momentum for Africa’s digital transformation to overcome the pandemic and create more productive jobs, according to the 2021 edition of Africa’s Development Dynamics (AfDD) launched yesterday. The COVID‑19 pandemic is the hardest shock to African economies in 25 years. Gross domestic product (GDP) has decreased in 41 countries in 2020,…
By Joyce Mukucha Signs of Hope Trust, an organisation that inspires, empowers, and serves people with disabilities (PWDs) is decrying the negative impacts posed by the COVID-19 pandemic during the lockdown period and is embracing information communication technologies (ICTs) to reach out to this needy group. In an interview, Signs of Hope Trust founder, Samantha…
Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD Summing up 2020 I was asked many times about the changes COVID-19 have brought about in healthcare. Well, throughout the past year, here at The Medical Futurist we were continuously posting about the technological advancements in the medical field: telemedicine, at-home lab tests, robotics and even doing sports have changed dramatically. Most of these changes are likely to…
Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD Finally, we can say that the surreal year of 2020 is behind us as we welcome a new year rich in potential for digital health and (hopefully) full of good news! Even though the year that went by was dominated with news regarding the novel coronavirus, there were also other important developments in…
The African Women in Media (AWiM) is making a concerted effort to ensure that the digital space does not present a design that erodes trust in human rights. The organization is spearheading this by engaging with different feminist movements and other constituencies to champion the feminist internet towards social justice and environmental sustainability. Cyberspace is…
By Joyce Mukucha Worldwide, hundreds of mothers are dying daily from pregnancy complications with 99 percent of them in developing countries like Sub Sahara Africa. Statistics indicate that in Zimbabwe and other African countries, the maternal mortality rate is rapidly increasing day by day being fuelled by the low uptake of maternal health services. According…
Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD Artificial intelligence (A.I.), machine learning (ML) and algorithms; if you are a regular at The Medical Futurist, you’ve come across these terms more than once whether it’s in our articles, videos or e-books. Indeed, our latest e-book about investment in digital health has a dedicated section about A.I. Even The Medical Futurist Institute’s latest…
By Chris Donkin Analyst company TrendForce predicted global smartphone production to begin its recovery in 2021 after dropping 11 per cent in 2020, although it forecast further bad news for Huawei with the manufacturer expected to exit its top six list. In its market predictions for 2021 the analyst company said it expected 1.36 billion…
Distributed Power Africa (DPA) has started deploying electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across Zimbabwe as a way of encouraging the uptake of environmentally friendly cars. This follows the government’s commitment late last year to work on a framework that promotes the use of EVs, as the country moves to embrace the emerging wave of clean…
By Sindiso Mhlophe Described as the “Democrats’ 2020 social media phenomenon” by various media outlets and research institutes in the just ended United States of America (US) elections, vice-president-elect Kamala Harris was able to generate over 27 million interactions on various social media platforms during the campaign period. Broken down, according to CrowdTangle, Harris, who…
Bernard Marr Influencer Obviously, the coronavirus has had a devastating impact on our world. The transformative effects of COVID-19 are immense, but they aren’t all negative. When faced with the reality of everything being remote from work to entertainment to education to connecting with friends and more, the technologies that propel the 4th Industrial Revolution offered solutions to…
The National Development Strategy (NDS1) with its emphasis on the Digital Economy as one of the fourteen national priorities for the period 2021–2025 is in sync with driving economic growth, Dr. Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information Communication Technology (ICT), Postal and Courier Services has said. He made the remarks at the official launch of…
The Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) seeks to advance inclusivity in the access and use of information communication technologies (ICTs) by all including persons with disabilities (PWDs). This was revealed by Dr. Gift Machengete, the POTRAZ Director-General, on the the occasion of the handover of ICT equipment to schools and institutions that…
