Tag: Machine Learning (ML)

Public cloud has taken centre stage in the global IT space, thanks in large part to the pandemic forcing accelerated adoption of next-generation technology solutions. According to Forrester Research, the global public cloud infrastructure market will grow 35% to 120 billion USD in 2021, as several new trends emerge around cloud technology.

Higher education institutions have long been considered to be the repositories of knowledge and learning and the structures through which knowledge is produced and disseminated. They have survived sweeping societal changes created by technology – the moveable-type printing press, previous industrial revolutions, information and communication technologies, electronic media and computers.

For those who survived the initial shock of the COVID-19 crisis, the question is: Now what? Since there is no going back to business as usual, it is time for companies to turn the page and concentrate on planning for mid- to long-term priorities.

Over the last few decades, technology has slowly shaped our world into one our grandparents wouldn’t recognise. Some of that change has been about the gadgets in our homes and in our pockets. Much else has been driven by researchers and scientists using powerful supercomputers to answer life‑changing questions and make ground-breaking discoveries in life sciences, physics, chemistry, and astronomy.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been a hot topic for a number of years, but the pervasive and affordable connectivity required for successful deployment has held back its progress. This is rapidly changing, with the rollout of fibre to the home, 5G and even Elon Musk’s recently launched Starlink satellite.

Over the last few months, I have found it increasingly difficult to verify information. The Tembisa 10, the story of the alleged decuplet birth is case in point. It was accepted as fact and reported around the world. But it was fiction and rightfully condemned by the South African Editors Forum (SANEF).

Buzzwords like automation, mechanisation and digitisation can sound like the end of the human workforce and the loss of personalisation, but in fact they offer a bright and efficient future for the assurance industry. The lexicon of technology buzzwords has become, for many sectors, representative of complexity, unwanted change and negativity.

Most people’s first association with voice recognition technology is Siri, Apple’s now-ubiquitous personal assistant. 10 years on though, the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning initiatives suggest that voice integration has a bright future ahead.

Innovation is the driving force of modern business. In a rapidly changing world, organisations need to be able to adapt and transform at speed: in fact, change management is the most important soft skill for businesses of today.

Is South Africa ready for artificial intelligence (AI)? What about the role of humans in AI? Is AI really going to take over our jobs? Where do companies start, when it comes to AI readiness? These were just a few of the questions that were put to three experts at a recent webinar we hosted together with Synthesis Software Technologies.