Oman Data Park (ODP) announces the deployment of Microsoft Azure Stack solutions in its facilities. The new partnership with Microsoft and Cisco will see the company offering Azure services on their data centers. Bringing customers cloud computing to build and deploy hybrid applications. Oman Data park plans to launch Azure Stack by September 2019.
CEO of ODP describes storing data locally as one key challenge the IT managed services provider company faced. The platform was jointly developed by engineering teams of Microsoft and Cisco to launch hybrid cloud offerings.
Sheikh Saif Hilal Al Hisni, Microsoft Country Manager Bahrain and Oman says this will propel the country forward on its Vision 2040 journey.
“As Oman Data Park works to move digital transformation forward across the sultanate, Microsoft will continue its commitment to the government, people and business community of Oman. The ability to engage customers, empower employees, optimise operations and transform products and services will undoubtedly propel the country forward on its Vision 2040 journey.” – Sheikh Saif Hilal Al Hosni, Country Manager, Microsoft Bahrain & Oman
Cisco
“The ability to dynamically deliver business critical applications is a key requirement for all organisations in the age of digitization. Cloud computing is one of the main technologies driving this change. By deploying the Cisco Integrated System for Microsoft Azure Stack for the first time in Oman, ODP now has a comprehensive and pre-integrated cloud platform to accelerate service delivery and thus contribute to the development of the country’s digital economy.
This platform was jointly developed by the engineering teams of both Cisco and Microsoft and brings the agility and fast-paced innovation of cloud computing to on-premises environments. Cisco has the breadth and depth of product and service offerings which have already been tested and consistently used for public, private and hybrid cloud solutions. We are pleased that together we are able to put this cutting-edge platform at the disposal of ODP and its customers.” – Ali Al Lawati, General Manager Cisco Oman
Microsoft announces the availability of Office 365 on its datacenters located in South Africa. Customers in the region can now migrate their accounts starting today according to the announcement.
“We are proud to announce that Office 365 is now available on the local datacenters! Migrate your current Office 365 account today!“
In March this year Microsoft announced its cloud datacenters in Africa. To be located in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa. With Azure being the first of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud services to be delivered from the new datacenters.
At the launch event Microsoft said its cloud based productivity solutions; Office 365 and Dynamics 365 intelligent business application services were expected to launch by quater three this year. However Microsoft now says customers should expect Dynamics 365 and Power Platform to be available in the fourth quarter, 2019.
What this means is that African customers can now have their data stored on datacenters in Africa. They can also expect better services with regards to latency, data residency and regulations.
Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for business are services Microsoft shares will be made available. As well as “many of the Microsoft Services that work in conjunction with this data, for example, but not limited to, Exchange Online Protection, Delve, Office Online, and Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection.”
With the availability of Microsoft’s cloud services delivered from Africa, it will mean local companies can securely move their business to the cloud.
Yousef Khalidi Corporate Vice President of Azure Networking
Clint-Roy Muvirimi-Mukarakate, Zimbabwe and Joshua Ndemenge, Kenya are Insiders2Campus 2019 contest Winners. The Zimbabwe and Kenya Windows Insiders are part of 10 selected winners of the competition across the globe.
The Microsoft Windows Insiders2Campus Contest awards Windows 10 Insider Program fans with an exclusive experience at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond. A Microsoft campus tour and an opportunity to see cool stuff still in development. This year Insider2Campus winners will join Microsoft employees and interns for their global Hackathon. Which will include hearing from Microsoft leaders including CEO Satya Nadella.
Watch the contest videos made by the Zimbabwe and Kenya Windows Insiders
Microsoft is awarding new grants to fellow pioneers in the Middle East and Africa through a new partnership with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and the National Geographic Society
The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation (LDF) aims to create a world where both nature and humanity coexist in harmony. Over the past twenty years, LDF has awarded over $100 million in grants, funding 200+ high-impact projects in 50 countries across Asia, the Americas, Africa, the Arctic, Antarctica, and all five oceans.
LDF has achieved this success through active collaboration with a broad network of effective organizations to find and support the best, results-driven projects in the world’s most wild and threatened ecosystems.
Microsoft’s AI for Earth program supports organizations who are working to solve global environmental challenges using artificial intelligence.
To further their missions, LDF and Microsoft are collaborating on the AI for Earth innovation grant to support applicants in creating and deploying open source machine learning models, algorithms, and data sets that directly tackle environmental problems faced by the world today.
AI for Earth Innovation Grant Priorities:
With the latest IPCC Special Report outlining the level and urgency of broad action required to prevent global temperatures from exceeding 1.5 degrees, we would like to request a call for proposals that can deliver impactful solutions to immediate matters in the following four categories:
· Climate change · Biodiversity conservation · Agriculture · Water
Applications that also include the following will be prioritized for review:
· Demonstration that the work will lead to implementation of proposed solution (whether directly by applicant or in collaboration with others);
· Solutions that are developed in and/or will be implemented in developing countries or underserved geographies;
· Solutions that demonstrate ability to rapidly scale and create lasting impact.
Details:
Proposal requests can be up to $100,000, for support over one year only. In addition to financial support, successful proposals will receive free access to AI for Earth API’s, applications, tools, and tutorials, and support for their computational work on Microsoft Azure. Applicants must demonstrate a plan for continued support of the work beyond the grant period.
Applicants must consider how to utilize AI for global environmental impact in at least one of the following core categories:
Biodiversity conservation: Species are going extinct at alarming rates, and our planet’s oceans and last wild places need protection. We would like to see how AI can help, particularly in the following areas:
· Protected area identification, management and restoration · Sustainable supply chain management · Illegal trade and poaching control Wildlife tracking and ecosystem health monitoring · Realizing natural capital (including valuing natural capital, species identification)
Climate change: Extreme weather events, rising sea levels, higher global temperatures, and increased ocean acidity threaten human health, infrastructure, and the natural systems we rely on for life itself. We would like to see how AI can help, particularly in the following areas
· Climate resilience · Extreme weather and climate modeling · Measuring carbon sequestration through natural climate solutions · Pollution monitoring and reporting on air quality · More efficient energy and transportation systems
Agriculture: To feed the world’s rapidly growing population, farmers must produce more food on less arable land, and with lower environmental impact. We would like to see how AI can help, particularly in the following areas
· Sustainable land use planning and management · Natural resource conservation · Sustainable, closed loop food systems · Climate-resilient, regenerative agriculture · Food recovery
Water: In the next two decades, demand for fresh water—for human consumption, agriculture, and hygiene, as well as for the well-being of natural systems and species—is predicted to dramatically outpace supply. We would like to see how AI can help, particularly in the following areas
· Beneficial water supply strategies for human and natural systems · Water quality and sanitation · Water source monitoring · Water use efficiency · Extreme-event (droughts, floods, disasters, etc.) water management
All models supported through this grant must be open source, and grant recipients must be willing to share their models for use by other environmental researchers and innovators. More specifically:
(1) Grant recipients must make their solutions available for publication on the AI for Earth website through a designated open source license;
(2) Grant recipients must make the training data on which their solutions are developed publicly available in standard digital format;
(3) Grant recipients must include with their solutions a standard description template, including information on the machine learning data on which the solution was trained, summary statistics about solution performance, example use cases, and a disclaimer about the prototype nature of the solution; and
(4) Grant recipients must implement and deploy their solutions on Microsoft Azure.
Applicant Qualifications:
Applicants must be nonprofit organizations or academic institutions. We recommend that the main applicant has a demonstrated background in environmental science and/or technology, and we require that at least one member of the team has strong enough technical skills (such as machine learning, statistical data analysis, scientific modeling, software development, and/or remote sensing) to complete the proposed project successfully.
Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation believe great ideas spring from a diversity of experiences, and thus encourage applications from all over the world.
Timelines:
The AI for Earth innovators grant will begin accepting applications beginning May 21, 2019. The application period will close on July 31 2019 at 11:59pm PST. Only applications received during this period will be accepted.
Applicants will be reviewed and awarded within 2-3 months of application close. It is anticipated that the selected projects will commence on January 1, 2020 and will be completed by December 31, 2020.
Please note this RFP application, deadline, and anticipated project timeline is different from other LDF grant programs.
Several Kenyan government and public service websites were hacked early this year rendering services unavailable. According to the Communications Authority of Kenya, cyber-attacks in Kenya increased by 167% from October to December 2018. This cybersecurity firm Serianu Ltd says cost the Kenyan economy about 29.5B KSH [286M USD]. The firm also shared from their report that African businesses lost US$3.5bn in 2018 from cybercrime. With Kenya being one of the hardest hit countries in the region per the report.
Cybersecurity is a central challenge of our digital age says Microsoft East and Southern Africa Manager Sebuh Haileleul.
At Microsoft, we are committed to educating, empowering and enabling individuals and organisations. To digitally transform in a secure online environment. As organisations continue to pursue a fully digitally transformed future, threats within the cyberspace will continue to become more advanced. This will leave individuals and organisations alike with no choice but to turn to the ever-improving capabilities that advanced technologies and solutions bring with it.
Cybersecurity trends in Kenya
Speaking about the cybersecurity trends in Kenya, Sebuh shares that ransomware attacks had declined.
“We found that in the past year ransomware attacks as a vector declined. Software supply chains became a risk, cryptocurrency mining prevalent and that phishing still remains the preferred attack method. While this may indicate progress in blocking ransomware attacks against organisations, it also draws our attention to new avenues now being identified for attacks.”
Microsoft Business Group Director, Pratik Roy, chipped in that the global cost of online crime is expected to reach $6 trillion by 2021. He says organisations now, more than ever, need to continue building organizational resilience and meaningful risk reduction.
For the Microsoft Kenya country manager, Sebuh Haileleul companies need to take immediate action to address security concerns. This he says improves their security postures.
“It is critical for companies to strengthen their core security hygiene. (Across things like monitoring, antivirus, patch and operating systems), adopt modern platforms and comprehensive identity, security and management solutions“.
Organizations can improve their security by moving to the cloud, adopting modern platforms and embracing comprehensive identity, security and management solutions. – Kellington Kituku, Enterprise Business
Using AI and Quantum Computing
The Microsoft manager shares on how emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing help tackle cybersecurity.
“The use of AI to combat cybersecurity to fill crucial gaps by analyzing a vast ocean of threat data to prevent attacks before they occur is a factor that organisations, through partnering with the correct solutions provider, remains pivotal. Furthermore, the cloud is and still will be imperative to securing the modern workplace. Lastly, quantum computing, although still in its infancy will require threat analysts to keep an eye on what advances in quantum computing would mean for security in 2019 and beyond.”
Microsoft hosts 32 women in technology in a hackathon event in Nairobi.
9th July 2019, Nairobi: Kenya
Furthering its commitment to diversity and inclusivity in the engineering and technology space, Microsoft hosted the LEAP Hackathon. The event, which strives to increase technology skills, facilitate learning through challenges as well as strengthen the place of women in the technology sector, focused on solutions in the agricultural and health sectors.
“Research shows that the average productivity of major crops in Kenya has only increased by 17% over the last 10 years.
The lack of digitally enabled agripreneurs, inputs and quality data are sited as the reasons for this slow growth.
Microsoft endeavors to close the gap that exists in this sector by training ‘women hackers’ from non-traditional ICT backgrounds in the LEAP Hackathon programme who competed for the top spot in the hackathon”
Amrote Abdella, Regional Director for Microsoft 4Afrika.
The LEAP Engineering Acceleration Program is a 16-week program – launched to increase diversity within Microsoft. The program provides real world experience through development and project management apprenticeships and combines traditional classroom learning with hands-on projects.
32 Female hackers were identified to participate in the hackathon using a strict recruitment process which helped gauge the abilities of the applicants through 2 rounds of evaluation of the applications.
Participants of the hackathon received Azure credits while the overall winning group was awarded prizes.
The hackathon was a success, many novel solutions
were brought forth by the participants, but the group called The BugSlayers took
centre stage with their innovative AgRight presentation. AgRight is a
web application that uses Microsoft AI (Azure Custom Vision) for pest and
disease prediction. The app can also predict harvest time, connects farmers to
buyers and monitors farm activities. The bright minds behind this invention are
Clara Nashipai, Sylvia Achach, Rosianah Musyoka and Bethany Jepchumba.
Post hackathon, Microsoft will work with the
winning group on an ongoing internship program where they will be mentored and
helped to further build and develop their solution and skills.
“We are thrilled at the outcome of this year’s LEAP hackathon! As we continue to work to upskill and educate women across the continent – the endless opportunities and unprecedented innovations this brings is something we are excited to be a part of” Amrote Abdella.
