South Africa’s Photonics Prototyping Facility (PPF) which is aimed at bolstering the country’s photonics industry, will be launched at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s (CSIR) Pretoria campus on Friday, 5 March 2021.
In Singapore, there are automated meter readers and drones to detect infectious diseases, autonomous cars, assistive robots in healthcare; and one can travel with ease through the city’s train and bus system with contactless payments. In fact, Singapore has a Digital Government Blueprint, which outlines how the government will better ...
Statistics South Africa, the country’s statistical service which gathers and analyses a range of data, recently released its mid-year population estimates for 2019. The data places the country’s estimated population at 58,78 million people. But why is it important? The Conversation Africa’s Natasha Joseph asked demographer Nicole de We...
South Africa is training a group of teachers to learn how to code and how to teach coding. The subject will be piloted at 1000 schools across five provinces, starting in the 2020 academic year. The announcement has resulted in debates around the country’s ability to deliver on such a commitment, particularly when considering the low li...
The COVID-19 pandemic has precipitated a migration from physical work spaces in many sectors of the economy to online, digital services, supported by staff working from home. Parts of the economy such as mining, manufacturing and hospitality still require workers to be physically present. But other sectors have discovered that virtu...
China has enjoyed a close economic relationship with a number of African countries for many decades. It has been particularly involved in supporting African countries’ infrastructure projects. As far back as the 1960s it helped build the...
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is, ostensibly, upon us. The term was coined in 2016 by Klaus Schwab, the founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Form. Broadly, it refers to the collapsing of boundaries between the physical...