by Sylvester Addo | Apr 26, 2017 | 4Afrika, General
Microsoft 4Afrika signs a memorandum of understanding with COMESA for the full ownership and management of the IP Hub platform after it’s pilot project.
The online Intellectual Property Hub (IP Hub) project was started by Microsoft Corporation in 2014 to create and encourage an intellectual property culture in Africa. This was an initiative developed under Microsoft 4Afrika, as an online learning resource to drive awareness around intellectual property.
The IP Hub offers independent software vendors and developers the necessary skills and tools to develop, protect and monetize their innovations. The online portal pilot began in Kenya and was scheduled to be replicated in other parts of Africa. It was to be piloted for two years, after which it was to be handed over to the local government or partner companies to manage.
Today we signed an MOU with COMESA. This is the continuation of our journey in developing an env protective of Intellectual Property Rights in Africa. – Louis Otieno
Corporate Affairs Director at Microsoft 4Afrika, Louis Otieno about the memorandum of understanding said,
As we commemorate the 17th annual World Intellectual Property day, Microsoft 4Afrika transfers the scope of the IP Hub to all the 19 member states of COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa). Transferring full ownership and management of the IP Hub and expanding its reach to more African countries.
4Afrika is committed to fulfilling our promise of transferring one of the 4Afrika assets to COMESA. They will host the IP Hub portal. We developed the IP Hub with the promise to pilot it and then hand it over to local governments and authorities. The Hub seeks to educate innovators about all aspects of IP, and it is currently looking at developing 6 new learning modules around IP. More Africans will now have access to an awareness resource hosted and promoted by COMESA which promotes intra-African trade.
Entrepreneurs and business owners need to understand that without protected IP, they cannot market or sell their innovations. We believe that there are many people in Africa with great ideas but who simply don’t have the development time or resource to scale it. 4Afrika continues to collaborate with IP authorities in COMESA member states to automate their IP registration processes. Microsoft and COMESA are working together to enable the creation of new IP by promoting a trusted cloud infrastructure.
Here’s the link to the New IP Hub page : http://iphub.comesa.int/
Louis Otieno also shares the state of intellectual property (IP) rights in Africa in this article shared by TECHMORAN
by Sylvester Addo | Apr 25, 2017 | General, Microsoft, Microsoft Africa
Laurence Janssens nomme nouveau Country Manager pour les régions îles de l’océan Indien et du Pacifique francophone (IOI & PF)
Microsoft a annoncé la désignation de Laurence Janssens au poste de Country Manager pour les îles de l’océan Indien et du Pacifique francophone (IOI & PF) région.
Laurence a rejoint Microsoft en Belgique en 2015. Elle y était responsable du secteur public pour la Belgique, qui regroupe toutes les institutions gouvernementales et internationales belges (UE et OTAN).
Elle a siégé également au sein des conseils d’administration des «Microsoft Innovation Centres», qui sont des partenariats public-privé avec les régions de Bruxelles et de Wallonie, Microsoft et d’autres partenaires privés.
Il y a un vrai dynamisme et de nombreuses opportunités pour le Cloud, j’espère qu’avec mon expérience et le support de mes collègues nous pourrons contribuer davantage à l’essor de la technologie dans la région. – Laurence Janssens
Avant Microsoft Laurence a travaillé pendant de nombreuses années dans l’industrie de la technologie et des télécommunications. Elle apporte une riche expérience et expertise de l’industrie à son nouveau rôle de Country Manager pour la région IOI & PF.
Elle était une collaboratrice de Dell Computer et de Bain Consulting. Laurence Janssens est ingénieure commerciale diplômée de la KUL et a décroché un MBA à l’Université de Chicago.
Laurence Janssens prend le relais de Baudouin Urbain, qui, en l’espace de six ans, a contribué à une augmentation de plus de septante pour cent du chiffre d’affaires Secteur Public chez Microsoft BeLux.
More Info: Microsoft
by Sylvester Addo | Apr 23, 2017 | General, Microsoft, Microsoft Africa, Microsoft Nigeria, Microsoft South Africa
The Global Azure Bootcamp took place in many cities across the globe. With a number of them happening on the African continent. There were events in Lagos, Cape town, Nairobi, Durban, Johannesburg, Moka and Cairo.
The Global Azure Bootcamp is a days event which takes place in several worldwide venues each year since its inception. Yesterday 22 April 2017 was not different. There were over 250 scheduled events globally. The events are hosted by Microsoft Azure community enthusiasts, experts and Microsoft Valuable Professionals (MVP’s) from the various cities. These community enthusiast and MVP’s teach people with an interest in Microsoft Azure and cloud computing. There are deep dive’s in Microsoft Azure skills and knowhow, etc.
The Lagos event was held at the Microsoft Nigeria office, Civic Towers, Victoria Island. Sharing at this event was Andela developer and recently awarded 2017 Microsoft MVP, Toni Edward Solarin. Topics of discussion ranged from Micro services, Application Insights, Deploying Dot Net core apps on Azure and building Azure web apps.
In Nairobi the story wasn’t any different. The event was held at the Microsoft East Africa office.
Did you participate in a Global Azure bootcamp? Share your experiences with us.
Featured image ? by :@Jehoshaphatia
by Sylvester Addo | Apr 22, 2017 | Events, General, Microsoft Africa
Learn about SQL vNext as the Microsoft Middle East and Africa team hosts an interactive webinar to highlight and answer questions.
SQL vNext is currently in preview or early adoption mode. This event provides an opportunity to get to see what’s new in the data platform and how you can use it to maximise productivity.
Here’s how the invitation puts it;
One of the most powerful resources in this customer-centric world is data. However, when data is combined with analytics and artificial intelligence to fetch actionable insights, that is when we could realize its true potential.
We are excited about the launch of SQL vNext, which incorporates the data platform with advanced machine learning capabilities to deliver the real value of data.
Join us for this exclusive[[DM]] interactive session to:
Hear from Microsoft experts on What’s new with SQL vNext and what it means for you
Ask questions on the matter
Take advantage of the opportunity to Request an individual deep-dive session
We look forward to having you with us for this one of a kind Session.
Taking a step back vNext is going to be a big deal, bringing us new features such as support for running SQL Server on Linux (Red Hat, SUSE, and Ubuntu) and Docker containers, adaptive query processing, SQL graph, improvements to R Services, Analysis Services, Reporting Services, and Integration Services. – Arun Sirpal
Register to join the event here.
Also if you are interested in signing up to be an early adopter or want to trial it out click here to find out more about the program.
by Sylvester Addo | Apr 15, 2017 | Events, General, Microsoft Ghana
The West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Techsoup and Microsoft are partnering to host a tech conference for nonprofits.
The event will inform participants from civil society groups, non governmental organizations, nonprofits on how to leverage existing and developing technology in boosting performance and maximizing social impacts.
The event is themed “Leveraging Technology, Maximizing Social Impact” Will take place on Thursday 20th April 2017, from 8am – 12pm at the British Council Accra, Ghana.
This programme is geared towards enhancing the technological capacity of Non-Governmental Organizations in Ghana.
This is a major opportunity for national and international non-governmental institutions aimed at providing the tools and resources you need to boost your performance and maximise your social impact.
The event is free and you need to confirm your participation by *registering (send your details) on or before Tuesday 18 April 2017 to: fsombo@wacsi.org, cc: communications@wacsi.org. or
Phone: +233 302 550 222
