The Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has hinted the Federal Government (FG) of Nigeria is looking to work with Microsoft to make Nigeria the tech hub of Africa.
By collaborating with the multinational corporation to use technology to address issues affecting Nigerians and engage Nigeria’s youth.
The vice-president met virtually with Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Akin Banuso, Microsoft country manager, Nigeria. When Microsoft called on him to offer support for the Digital Transformation pillar of the Federal Government’s economic sustainability plan.
The meeting saw Microsoft disclosing plans to partner with the Nigeria FG for the benefit of the Nigerian people especially the youth. The finer details of this partnership are yet to be agreed on.
Microsoft president Brad Smith notes, the vision for Microsoft’s investment in Nigeria is one that will lead to the creation of Africa’s most viable technology ecosystem.
The vice-president has on various occasions appealed to global technology multinationals to build capacity and employ Nigerians.
I have always wondered how Microsoft can be a much more effective partner with us as a country, Prof. Osibanjo asks.
“Beginning with the African Development Center which I think is excellent, I think it shows the commitment of Microsoft in developing the digital centre here in Nigeria. And it also shows the company’s confidence in the sort of talents that we have and the commitment of the government to ensuring that we develop that talent in the best possible ways that we can.”
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Jeff Teper, Microsoft Corporate Vice President called the pi-top [4] one of the “coolest” new computer devices of last year. That’s after seeing the device in action at the annual .NET Conf in November last year.
The pi-top [4] Robotics Kit is a Robotics Kit and Expansion Plate designed to introduce robotics and mechanical engineering to new developers. It will officially launch today at the first-ever virtual edition of CES.
The unique robotics toolset combines all the power of the Raspberry Pi with the robust modularity of LEGO Technic. It works when plugged into the pi-top [4], the world’s first Raspberry Pi 4 powered, go anywhere, do anything computer.
The pi-top combo caught the attention of Teper, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, at the .NET Conf in November 2020. After catching a sneak preview of remote Computer Science with pi-top smart rover, .NET interactive Microsoft Bot & Microsoft Teams, Teper said that “in the last year of seeing so much creativity in remote education via #MicrosoftTeams this is one of the coolest yet.”
The pi-top [4] has already become a popular portable computer amongst the making community and in schools worldwide since it was launched in 2019. Makers and pupils alike are able to create a wide variety of electronics projects using an ever-expanding range of kits and accessories. These include a ‘bento box’ of components including LEDS, buzzers, connectors and sensors, the pi-top FHD Touch Display and Bluetooth Keyboard.
Coupled with the revolutionary new pi-top [4] Robotics Kit, makers will now be able to go that one step further in their creations thanks to the device’s own amazing electronic components such as a wide-angle camera, servos and motors. The kit itself is made up of strong metallic build plates and brackets that snap together with rivets in a limitless number of configurations.
Whether designing an automated vehicle, creating a smart city, or making the coolest drone in the class, pi-top [4] Robotics Kit will be able to help.
Jesse Lozano, the co-founder of pi-top, said: “We’re really excited about the launch of the pi-top [4] Robotics Kit. It’s the culmination of years of work by everyone at pi-top and feels like the final piece of the puzzle. Our pi-top family is complete (for the moment)!
“The sky’s the limit for anyone using our pi-top [4] computer in conjunction with the pi-top [4] Robotics Kit. Whether it’s a robot you’d like to make, or an environmental station or autonomous vehicle, they’re the only tools you need.
“We can’t wait to see what makers will create with our Raspberry pi powered toolset.”
Another factor that makes the pi-top [4] Robotics Kit stand out from other products on the market is that it offers users unique access to a powerful suite of open-source libraries. Makers will have the choice of working in any open-source software from Python to Robot Operating System (ROS) and even full deployment in a .NET environment.
Pi-top’s Robotics Kit is the culmination of more than six years of work which began in 2014 when Lozano and co-founder Ryan Dunwoody set out to create the world’s first 3D printed laptop. pi-top now employs a global team and their products are used around the world in thousands of homes, maker spaces and schools.
The pi-top [4] Robotics Kit with Expansion Plate will be available to buy in the US for $199.90 from Amazon, b8ta stores, Newark, Digi-Key, Chicago Electronics and Arrow. Other international outlets include Elmwood Electronics in Canada, Farnell in the UK and The Brainary in Australia (pi-top [4] required and sold separately).
The 51st edition of CES – the world’s most influential tech event – will take place exclusively online from January 11th to 14th 2021. To find out more about the event, go to the website here
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Blue Prism announces a new offering of intelligent automation software on Microsoft’s AppSource and Azure Marketplaces. Enhancing access for both Blue Prism and Microsoft customers.
The partnership underwrites Blue Prism’s position as an intelligent automation and robotic process automation (RPA) leader in the cloud.
Blue Prism customers already have access to a scalable, enterprise-ready platform. That combines robotic automation and smart workflows with technologies like machine learning, advanced analytics, natural language processing, process mining, and cognitive capabilities.
This offering allows Blue Prism robots greater access to Microsoft Azure Apps too. With access to over 175 accelerators for Microsoft products within Blue Prism’s Digital Exchange.
The new Bring Your Own License (BYOL) offering for Azure Marketplace and AppSource is pre-loaded with select Azure Cognitive Services. This includes Azure Text Analytics, Azure Form Recognizer and Azure Computer Vision. All of which customers can license directly through Microsoft.
This combines with Blue Prism Digital Exchange where users can access more than 175 accelerators for Microsoft products to further enhance their enterprise automation.
“This combination of Blue Prism and Azure Cognitive Services gives our customers a greater choice with AI-enabled, self-service experience that is provisioned via Microsoft Azure,” says Chief Partner Strategy Officer at Blue Prism, Linda Dotts. “Advanced intelligent automation in the cloud provides multiple advantages for our customers. Most notably the ability to instantly scale to meet enterprise demands.”
Blue Prism accelerators now exist for Microsoft Power Platform, Microsoft’s Power Automate gallery, Microsoft’s Healthcare Cloud; with Form Recognizer, Text Analytics and Azure Computer Vision.
It also adds to the company’s growing portfolio of cloud offerings, which include its Blue Prism Cloud SaaS platform. Expanding a cloud strategythat not only centres on making intelligent automation more accessible. But that also aligns with customer desires for interoperability, expanded automation solutions, consumable and extensible artificial intelligence, and a seamless intelligent automation journey.
“Customers can embrace the transformative potential of intelligent automation and drive impactful change within their organisations. This is now fully supported by Microsoft,” says CEO and Executive Chairman of Blue Prism, Jason Kingdon.
“We are offering customers more flexible cloud deployment options. Delivering on Blue Prism’s vision of giving customers end-to-end automation solutions that cover the broadest range of IT environments, including on-premises, hybrid, public cloud, and SaaS.
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You go to a shop, purchase an item and want to pay with M-PESA. You look around to find the notice with the till number and take turns looking up and down to enter the number on your phone. More often going over the number one more time or twice if you got it wrong initially. We’ve all been there, especially when you are in a haste.
How will you like a situation where you can just launch the Safaricom, KCB, Equity, I&M or your bank or Sacco’s app and using your camera it gets you that information? You only enter the amount you are paying, your pin number, et voilà you are set to go.
Unfortunately, Safaricom doesn’t have that feature in their app yet. The app, however, allows customers who prefer to use the voucher card to scan the 16 digits and it will automatically pick the digits.
That might change soon with this genius innovation from Jama Mohamed. A Business Information and Technology student graduate of Strathmore University.
Jama created an android detection library that uses Microsoft Azure Computer Vision service Read API to detect M-PESA business account numbers from images.
With this, it will be easier, faster and more accurate than typing an M-PESA paybill and till number. It is also able to know the exact category the image falls under, so no mix match there.
The software engineer’s open source project opens the door for financial service organizations in Kenya using the M-PESA API to add this plug and play android library to their app. Making it easier for customers using their app to use this functionality for payments.
Computer vision innovation
Jama shares the idea for the project came after having to confirm about five times for something he was purchasing.
I was purchasing something from the web that had M-PESA paybill as a payment option. The account number was a long randomly generated string that I basically had to confirm like five times.
And that’s where the idea came from, just to take some form of picture and use machine learning to extract information that was important.
The idea was to get these details a little faster than just typing them all the time since some businesses don’t have QR codes.
Hopefully, Kenyan financial organizations will add Jama Mohamed’s library to their app. Or work with him to create a unique one. So that next time you open your Standard Chartered, KCB, Equity, Ecobank, etc. or Safaricom app to pay for a purchase you just use your camera.
Jama welcomes contributions from other developers to improve the library. Check out the library on GitHub.
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The partnership program with Microsoft Nigeria has seen women trained in coding and deep tech skills. Through an experiential learning initiative called the Nigerian Women Techsters.
With partners like Microsoft we have been able to train 2475 women across 12 states in Nigeria for free, says Diwura Oladepo, Executive Director Tech4Dev.
Nigerian Women Techsters takes women from varying backgrounds through a cohort of 12 weeks.
Training them in coding and analytical skills. As well as exposing them to available employment and entrepreneurship opportunities within the technology space.
The digital skill tracks covered include, web and mobile application development, games development and embedded systems.
Fatima Ahmed a participant of the Tech4Dev Nigerian Women Techsters program shares her experience.
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Fatima is a chemistry graduate from the University of Ilorin. Like many other Nigerians, she couldn’t get any job after her national youth service program. She recalls a friend telling her about the opportunities in tech.
“Coincidentally at that time another friend told me about the Nigerian Women Techsters program. Where she learnt how to code and build websites. Seeing what she could do i was motivated to apply.”
She shares gaining technical and soft skills. Learning how to code and build websites, communicating effectively and working in teams.
I thought i was just coming to learn new skills and go back to apply for jobs. But during the training, i started getting job opportunities. Today, i work as a technical support engineer at Tek Experts, where i provide cloud-based solutions. I am glad i took a bold step to come for the Nigerian Women Techsters training.
Microsoft is supporting literally the lifecycle of a developer in the Middle East and Africa says Julien Bertin, Azure Business Lead for Middle East and Africa for Microsoft.
From the time you graduate to the time you retire literally. At every single step of the journey, we have programs to re-skill yourself. Microsoft is fully embracing this journey with the different programs we are launching. Like student certifications. If you are coming out of university and looking for jobs we do placements as well.
Julien made this revelation during an interview with Seth Juarez, Principal Cloud Advocate at Microsoft, for an episode of CodeStories on Channel 9. Where Seth asked Julien what Microsoft is doing to empower developers in the Middle East and Africa region.
Microsoft, Julien notes is one of the first cloud providers to invest in development skills on the African continent. With the launch of two development centers in Kenya and Nigeria.
This enables us and the people in the region to create the skills and generate the value here in the region for Africa.
We want to accelerate digital transformation and the capture of wealth that comes out from digital information. We want to invest in infrastructure, skilling(students and non-graduate students) and enabling innovation in the region.
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![The “coolest” new computer device, meet Raspberry Pi-powered robotics kit, pi-top [4]](https://microsoftcaregh.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/pi-top-Robotics-Kit-CES-2021-3.png)
