The Microsoft Africa Development Centre (ADC) and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Department of Computing have reviewed the university’s Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Bachelor of Computer Technology curriculum to make them more relevant to industry demands.
The new curriculum will impact the delivery of 128 units within the university’s Computer science and Computer technology courses. The curriculum is expected to start with the September 2023 students intake.
The updated curriculum will assist in preparing students for the demands of a rapidly changing technology industry by emphasizing practical skill development and simulating real-world experience within the classroom. In addition to a refreshed approach to traditional technological concepts, the reviewed curriculum will introduce new and innovative concepts, including Applied Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, Quantum Computing, and User Experience Design, as well as industry-standard tools at the education level to improve student’s familiarity with them as they enter the workplace.
Catherine Muraga, the Managing Director at Microsoft ADC said that they are delighted to have partnered with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in the curriculum review process and have their experts contribute specialized knowledge that will allow for tech industry-ready students and use of improved standards of teaching. Globally employable Kenyans boost Kenya’s attractiveness as a destination for technology companies looking to invest here. The startup ecosystem, local businesses, and entrepreneurs working on transforming technology will also benefit.
The curriculum review process is part of the ADC’s larger goal of catalyzing digital transformation by providing opportunities for skill and practical knowledge acquisition to equip Kenyans to be competitive in the global digital landscape.
“The review process has been extensive, with invaluable insights and recommendations from experienced industry experts that will add significant value to classroom instruction. We look forward to providing our students with best-in-class education that integrates practical skills building and theoretical understanding as they prepare for success in the technology industry,” said Dr Lawrence Nderu, Chairman, Department of Computing at JKUAT.
Similar curriculum review initiatives will be implemented at other institutions of higher learning as part of efforts to bridge the ever-present gap between industry and academia, particularly in the technology sector.
“We believe that by partnering with educational institutions, from primary school to the university level, we can help create a future workforce equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in a digital age. We look forward to working with other institutions of higher learning to develop curricula that will improve the whole technology talent pipeline and grow the pool of tech talent in the country to benefit the whole ecosystem,” added Ms Muraga.
Microsoft is partnering with OCP Africa through its Africa Transformation Office (ATO), with the goal of positively impacting smallholder farmers and Agri-stakeholders across Africa by 2025. OCP Africa, an African company that provides fertilizer solutions tailored to local conditions as well as the needs of soils and crops throughout the continent, will collaborate with Microsoft to strengthen and scale its digital agriculture platform. This platform improves farmer productivity while allowing them to better manage their businesses.
“In this time of increasing food insecurity, enhancing the resilience and livelihoods for smallholder farmers is needed to drive increased agriculture productivity, including reducing losses in the food production chain. With the increasing impacts of more frequent extreme weather events, adaptation, and resilience are of crucial importance to the food system’s transformation,” said Wael Elkabbany, General Manager for Microsoft Africa Regional Cluster.
The announcement was made in Doha, Qatar at the 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. The collaboration will enable smallholder farmers to gain access to skilling and information through Agri-digital services, leveraging OCP Africa programs such as the Farmer Hub concept to support millions of farmers. OCP Africa will also collaborate with Microsoft to explore the use of big data, machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to build their data and AI platform to improve operational efficiency and better serve ecosystem stakeholders.
On his part, the CEO of OCP Africa Dr. Mohamed Anouar Jamali said: “African agriculture is at a transformational moment in its history – and a time of incredible possibility and promise for farmers and industry alike. Digitizing agricultural practices in Africa allows smallholder farmers to optimize their decision-making, which in turn helps optimize production. The partnership between OCP Africa and Microsoft will allow us to increase the services provided and scale up our digital agriculture platform, expand our reach, and make an even bigger impact on food security across the continent.”
Collaboration with African AgriTech startups, agricultural firms, and partners to increase access to technology, skills, and agricultural knowledge is expected to optimize the industry and generate new revenue streams that will ensure global food security. The adoption and integration of technologies such as the Cloud, AI, Agri Data Platforms, and Azure App modernization into the agricultural space is also expected to deliver transformation in the form of precision agriculture.
“We believe that precision farming, brought about by the adoption of advanced technologies into the agricultural sector, will revolutionize food production and help to eliminate hunger and poverty in Africa. Technology is the key factor in enabling and increasing access to finance, equipment, and sustainability for rural farmers, empowering local farmers in Africa. Our partnership with OCP Africa will help to directly impact smallholder farmers and improve production,” added Elkabbany.
The Microsoft Africa Development Centre (ADC) and Microsoft Leap are delighted to launch an inaugural workshop intentionally designed for university lecturers, proficient in leading technology-focused courses. University lecturers will be provided with an opportunity to engage with fellow educators in skill enhancement modules and identify best practices to incorporate into their curriculum. The 12-week program, which begins on March 6th, will use a hybrid classroom model and practical training to provide instructors with a better understanding of industry requirements and inspire a curriculum change that will align university classrooms with the needs of the technology industry.
“This program is the result of collaboration on many fronts, including university lecturers and their students. The training has been designed to provide lecturers with hands-on experience with industry needs, allowing them to design effective teaching for their students in an equally practical manner. The course will also expose them to advanced topics and allow them to learn and experiment with effective teaching techniques while obtaining essential aspects of carrying out research studies,” said Catherine Muraga, Microsoft ADC Managing Director, at the program’s launch.
Yolanda Natal-Santos, Microsoft Leap’s Senior Business Program Manager says “Rooted in our culture of the growth mindset and the belief that digital skills are for everyone, we are grateful for our partnership with the Microsoft ADC, as we extend Microsoft Leap’s global reach to a region that is rich in culture and talent. The growth of our partnership with the Microsoft ADC, has provided our program with a platform to continue identifying, engaging, and aligning with changemakers in Africa, as we impact and elevate together.”
Working collectively with Engineers from the ADC, Nairobi, the program will enhance skills, based on a curriculum developed and taught by Microsoft Leap instructors.
In addition to technical programming aspects and teaching a hybrid classroom, educators will receive training on specific Microsoft tools that are already being used in classrooms around the world and can be introduced to Kenyan lecture halls. The program will also provide technical educators with the tools they need to introduce popular Microsoft resources like Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Power Platforms, and Microsoft Dynamics. “JKUAT’s Department of Computing is thrilled to participate in the Microsoft Skilling Program, as it will provide our staff with access to cutting-edge technologies and a leading global company. This opportunity to engage with industry-relevant skills and knowledge
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brings great joy to the university”, Dr. Lawrence Nderu, Chairman/Lecturer, Department of Computing, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology said. “The world is changing quickly, and if we are to mould tomorrow’s leaders, we as lecturers must evolve too. Each day, there are new tools and methods being devised that are becoming increasingly crucial to operating within the tech industry. For the sake of our students, it is best that we learn how to leverage industry-standard and emerging technology from industry leaders.”
Githinji emphasised a multi-pronged approach to improving technical education in Kenyan universities. “Improving lecturers’ capacities is line with the ADC’s digital skilling initiatives that range from elementary school-level all the way into the workplace. We held several campus tours last year, which prompted us to begin a curriculum review process with JKUAT. Improving all aspects of the training ladder is critical if we want to create a tech talent pipeline that is not only robust enough to meet today’s needs, but also propels Africa to compete on a global scale,” she added.
The first cohort of 23 educators is drawn from both private and public universities, including Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Multimedia University, and Kirinyaga University. Strathmore University, KCA University, Kabarak University, USIU- Africa, Zetech University, and Africa Nazarene University are the others.
This course is designed to magnify the lecturer’s delivery of core general management and drive engagement with advanced technology topics. Lecturers will be able to experiment with alternative teaching techniques and glean additional essential insight and research studies best practices.
About Microsoft Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About the ADC Microsoft launched the Africa Development Centre (ADC) in 2019 with an initial site within Microsoft offices in Nairobi, Kenya, and another in Lagos, Nigeria. The centre’s goal is to attract world-class African engineering talent to create innovative solutions spanning the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge. Since its inception in Nairobi in 2019, the ADC has grown to over 500
Artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most revolutionary technologies of our time. It has the potential to transform every aspect of our lives, from health care to entertainment. But who will lead the AI race? Will it be Google, the search giant that has been investing heavily in AI research and development for years? Or will it be Microsoft, the software behemoth that has partnered with OpenAI, the ambitious research organization that aims to create artificial general intelligence (AGI), a level of AI that can perform any task a human can?
In this blog post, I will explore the strengths and weaknesses of both Google and Microsoft + OpenAI in their quest for AI supremacy. I will also discuss some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for both parties.
Google: The Search King
Google is widely regarded as one of the leaders in AI. It has a large and talented team of researchers and engineers working on various aspects of AI, such as natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, speech recognition, machine learning, and deep learning. Google also has access to massive amounts of data from its popular products and services, such as Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Photos, and Google Assistant. Data is essential for training and improving AI models.
Some of Google’s notable achievements in AI include:
Developing TensorFlow, an open-source framework for building and deploying machine learning models.
Creating BERT, a state-of-the-art NLP model that can understand natural language queries better than previous models.
Launching Duplex, a system that can make phone calls on behalf of users to book appointments or make reservations.
Building AlphaGo, an AI program that defeated the world champion of Go, a complex board game that requires intuition and creativity.
Google’s main advantage in the AI race is its dominance in search. Search is not only a lucrative business for Google but also a powerful source of information and knowledge. By analyzing billions of queries every day, Google can learn about user preferences, behavior patterns, trends, and needs. This allows Google to improve its products and services with personalized recommendations, relevant ads, and useful features.
However, Google also faces some challenges in its pursuit of AI excellence. One challenge is competition from other tech giants like Amazon, Facebook, and Apple, who are also investing heavily in AI and have their own data sources and platforms to leverage. Another challenge is regulation and ethics issues that may arise from using and developing AI in sensitive domains like health care, education, or finance. Google may have to deal with privacy concerns, bias allegations, or legal disputes that could hamper its innovation or reputation.
Microsoft + OpenAI: The Dream Team
Microsoft is another major player in the AI field. It has a long history of developing software solutions for various industries and markets. It also has a strong presence in cloud computing with Azure, its platform for hosting and managing applications and services. Microsoft has been investing in AI research and development for decades but has recently ramped up its efforts by partnering with OpenAI, an independent research organization that was founded by some prominent figures in tech like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman.
OpenAI’s mission is to ensure that AGI is aligned with human values and can benefit humanity as a whole.
OpenAI has made some impressive breakthroughs in AI such as:
Creating GPT-3, a massive NLP model that can generate coherent text on almost any topic given a few words or sentences as input.
Developing DALL-E, an image generation model that can create realistic images from text descriptions or sketches.
Building Codex, a code generation model that can write functional code from natural language commands or examples.
Microsoft’s main advantage in the AI race is its partnership with OpenAI. By collaborating with OpenAI, Microsoft gains access to some of the most cutting-edge research and talent in AI.
Microsoft also provides OpenAI with financial support, technical resources, and distribution channels to scale up its projects and reach more users. Together, Microsoft + OpenAI form a formidable team that can challenge Google’s leadership position.
However, Microsoft + OpenAI also face some obstacles in their quest for AI supremacy. One obstacle is complexity. Creating AGI is not an easy task; it requires solving many hard problems like reasoning, planning, learning from feedback, and generalizing across domains. Another obstacle is uncertainty
Microsoft is announcing the establishment of the Africa AI Innovation Council to harness the power of data and artificial intelligence (AI) to boost climate resilience and adaptation efforts in Africa. With membership drawn from organizations led by the African Development Bank, African Risk Capacity, and African Climate Foundation.
The company is at the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Where world and business leaders are gathered to take action on issues critical to tackling the climate emergency. Participating as a strategic technology partner and a principal sponsor, Microsoft is unveiling action-based new climate-focused initiatives.
“The world needs to move faster and COP27 will provide an important forum to move from pledges to progress“, says Microsoft Vice Chair and President, Brad Smith.
In relation to Africa, Microsoft notes there is insufficient reliable climate data. It also lacks data scientists to work with the available data to turn them into insights for decision-making. It is therefore announcing the first global expansion of the AI for Good Lab to Kenya and Egypt. Where data scientists will close the climate data divide and work with local partners to use AI on new climate initiatives.
The Africa AI Innovation Council will convene a high-level, multi-sector group of leaders who understand the issues facing the continent. They will inform the work of the new AI for Good Labs coming to Kenya and Egypt. It will also identify opportunities to improve climate resilience through data and AI. As well as facilitate ways to generate additional climate data and drive continued research.
“Microsoft is making good on its commitment to move beyond pledges to climate action“, says Wael El Kabbany, General Manager, Africa Regional Cluster.
“Given our role as an enabler of a diverse range of digital solutions, Microsoft has a unique responsibility to help governments and organizations to achieve their climate goals through the power of technology. We are committed to accelerating digital transformation in Africa, with a view to helping the continent realize its growing innovation potential in the climate technology space and beyond.”
Wael El Kabbany
Africa-based data scientists will also get access to satellite imagery to address challenges nominated by the Africa AI Innovation Council.
In 2020, Microsoft announced plans to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove from the environment all the carbon the company emitted since its founding by 2050. The company built on this pledge by adding commitments to be water positive and zero waste by 2030. In opening its ultra-modern Africa offices it factored in solutions that reduce or prevent the emission of carbon. Using self-heating windows, solar plants, and a water treatment facility to recycle and purify water. The eco-friendly office also optimizes space utilization and lighting adjustments.
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MTN Group and Microsoft are announcing a new partnership that will see them support customers across governments and organizations accelerate value creation and drive Africa’s economic growth using Microsoft platform solutions.
The agreement centers on transforming and modernizing MTN’s communications and technology infrastructure together with harnessing capabilities and building the largest and most valuable platform business with a clear focus on Africa.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Microsoft – a company with the strength and scale to complement MTN’s capabilities and to support our Ambition 2025 strategy,” said Group Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer Chika Ekeji. “Together we will use the power of technology and connectivity to innovate and accelerate the digitalization and development of the continent.”
The two companies will develop joint go-to-market plans across the markets where MTN operates. To serve the digital transformation ambitions of African enterprise customers. Microsoft will skill up MTN Group resources to drive focused selling of Microsoft’s products and cloud services in Africa.
“Our valuable, longstanding partnership with MTN will play a pivotal role in Africa’s digital transformation, and we are proud to continue building on that decade-long collaboration with our newest venture. We recognize the potential that Africa holds to stand among the leaders of the digital world, and we are committed to maximizing our partnerships to deliver infrastructure that accelerates this transformation and enables a connected, digital-first continent,” says Samer Abu-Latif, Corporate Vice-President and President of Microsoft Middle East and Africa.
The partnership also includes ongoing knowledge-sharing, innovation, and growth opportunities. Joint initiatives will be in areas such as digital education, micro-SME digitization, fintech, and gaming. To create shared value and extend digital and financial inclusion across Africa.
“Our partnership with MTN will empower and enable the future growth of Africa through the joint development of innovative solutions; a dedicated focus on digital skilling and education; robust go-to-market strategy transformation; and the advancement of SMMEs and industries to compete on the global digital stage”
The parties will also execute a carrier agreement that will position MTN as a major provider of terrestrial connectivity to support Microsoft’s Africa-based expansion plans.
The companies believe that digital transformation presents an opportunity for the continent to leap ahead and benefit from widespread socio-economic growth. Particularly when leveraging the power of the cloud.
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