IBM announced its first research lab in Africa, which will collaborate with government, academia and industry on smarter ways to manage critical city services such as transportation and water, which remain the biggest challenges facing African cities. (Credit: IBM)Game conservationists are battling to protect the dwindling number of rhinos in Africa (Credit: IBM)Students use the Watson powered portal to develop core competencies for their diverse career paths. In association with Kenyan internet service provider Access Kenya, IBM has developed a pilot solution to enable commuters in Nairobi to use their mobile phones to get advice on driving routes through the city depending on estimates of traffic congestion.Using deep analytics and specialized algorithms to translate visual data received from CCTV cameras positioned around Nairobi, citizens can use their mobile phones to receive updates on road conditions and suggestions for alternative routes. More info: Jonathan Batty, 48-693-93-5403, jonathan.Batty@pl.ibm.comMcDonald's staff member in Johannesburg, South Africa, signing up to social networking to communicate faster. Original solutions are those which set the basis for imitation and have the unbridled potential to leapfrog the status quo. Through the THINKLab, we have a world-class facility to explore and demonstrate truly original approaches to our clients and partners,” Kamal Bhattacharya, Vice President, IBM Research – Africa.At the launch event this week in Nairobi for a select group of IBM staff, clients and partners, IBM’s research scientists demonstrated the powerful role of the THINKLab facility.
The complex nature of the data demands sophisticated mathematical models to tease out faint signals, and machine learning algorithms to separate terrestrial interference from true signals of interest. The research in this team is currently focused on two disease areas: Tuberculosis + HIV and cancer, where we apply methods and models from fields such as natural language understanding, image understanding and bioinformatics.

Since 1920, IBM has received more than 140,000 U.S. patents.

In order to help universities produce highly-qualified and technically skilled graduates, IBM Research – Africa has established a new resident scientist program for schools in Kenya and other African countries. Uhuru KenyattaThe lab's research agenda includes the development of cognitive computing technologies that can be applied to address issues in public health, education and agriculture. In partnership with local firms Flashcast and Kuza Biashara, IBM has developed a solution that offers small businesses without budgets for large advertising campaigns, to engage their customers through their mobiles. Mrs. Rometty highlighted IBM’s historic ties to Africa’s most populous nation and expressed the company’s support for Nigeria’s technology development agenda. Scientists from IBM Research have produced 6 Nobel Laureates, 10 U.S. National Medals of Technology, 5 U.S. National Medals of Science, 6 Turing Award, 19 inductees in the National Academy of Sciences and 20 inductees into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of fame.

(Feature Photo Service for IBM)At the University of Lagos in Nigeria, IBM Research Chief Scientist, Uyi Stewart (center, left) and Research Director, Kamal Bhattacharya meet with students at the University of Lagos to discuss how IBM's Watson system will be deployed in Africa. An IT infrastructure and managed services deal with IBM will help Bidco improve its business application performance by 40 percent, lower capital expenditure and improve return on investment by 20 percent. From left to right Anne Onsarigo, Nathan Wangusi and Komminist Weldemariam. Outputs of our work incude research papers, proof of concepts and patents.The Data-Driven Healthcare team is developing computational platforms for mining heterogeneous biological and medical data to change the way we prevent, diagnose, treat and manage disease. They developed mobile apps that address real-life African grand challenges pertaining to agriculture, security, micro-finance and vehicular traffic.
With only 36 cameras currently installed around Nairobi, IBM researchers have augmented data using mathematical network analytics allowing the system to predict traffic in parts of town where no data feeds are available.Dubbed Twende Twende – meaning 'Let's Go' in Swahili - the system works on traditional phones via SMS-based query system and on smart phones via an app through which users can view a map of the city showing route options and potential traffic hotspots. Humans and machines are collaborating in sensible and meaningful ways,” added Uyi Stewart.