USIU student team qualifies for Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship

USIU student team qualifies for Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship

Kenya’s student team TAWI has qualified for the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship set to take place in May. The team emerged winners in the education category of the 2023 Imagine Cup world finals qualifying round. Beating 15 other teams to become the top-scoring team and 2023 Europe Middle East and Africa(EMEA) champions. They won USD5,000 in prizes.

Team TAWI also qualified from 48 competing global teams to be selected among the top 3 that will compete in the 2023 Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship. Where they will compete for the Imagine Cup trophy, the grand prize of USD100,000 to develop their project, and a mentoring session with Microsoft Chairman and CEO, Satya Nadella.

Microsoft Imagine Cup World finalist from Kenya Team TAWI

Team TAWI consists of Muna Said Nomy, John Onsongo Mabeya, Syntiche Musawu, Applied Computer Technology, and Zakariya Hussein, Data Science and Analytics undergraduate students of the United States International University (USIU) – Africa in Nairobi, Kenya. Their innovative solution TAWI looks to make a difference in the lives of those who struggle with auditory processing.

The USIU student team will become the second from the institution to make it to the finals of the Microsoft student technology competition in three successive years. The former became the first student team from Africa to win the competition in its history.

The home-based software leverages real-time speech recognition technology to help children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) communicate more effectively. Instead of traditional hearing aids, TAWI uses earphones to amplify speech and cancel out background noise, making it easier for children with APD to engage in conversations and interact with others. It includes noise cancellation, sound amplification, speech-to-text conversion, and auditory training exercises.

The team will present TAWI at Microsoft Build 2023 where the Microsoft Imagine Cup World Championship takes place. They will compete against the winning teams from the Americas and Asia regions. Eupnea from the United States and CS-M Tool from Thailand, both from the Health category.

Student teams, Smart Farmer and iBoost from Kenya also emerged as EMEA winners in the Earth and Lifestyle categories respectively.

Hongera to these incredible young developers and all the best to Team TAWI in the championship!🎉

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UPDATE: 05/04/2023
– corrected the MEA winning prize value from USD50,000 to read USD5,000.
– corrected study program

Check out other Microsoft stories making the news across Africa and the Middle East region.

Microsoft trains Omani youth in cloud, data, and AI

Microsoft trains Omani youth in cloud, data, and AI

Microsoft has launched a training programme targeting the Omani youth that focuses on developing cloud, data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) skills dubbed ‘Build the Skills of the Future’ in partnership with The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), Oman.

This initiative comes as part of the MoU signed between both organizations in May this year. It is also in line with The Digital Competency Qualification Initiative (Makeen) to empower Omani youth with advanced digital skills needed to succeed in the digital era as well as provide them with income-generating opportunities in the digital sector. The initiative aims to train ten thousand Omani youths in digital skills by 2025.

Through the ‘Build the Skills of the Future’ programme, Microsoft will equip students, academia, SMEs, startups and government employees with the necessary skills to succeed in the ever-evolving technology and innovation ecosystem. The training also aligns with the government’s digital transformation programme, set to run until 2025. This complements one of the National Digital Economy Programme initiatives – a key facilitator toward accomplishing Oman Vision 2040 for sustainability and economic diversification.

The ‘Build the Skills of the Future’ training programme kicked off on November 6th and will continue until December 7th 2022 at the Middle East College in Knowledge Oasis Muscat, Rusayl, offering five Microsoft Azure certification tracks.

omani youth seated and listening to a microsoft intructor teach oman ai cloud

Omani youths can choose from a range of skill levels and course topics that will enlighten them on the fundamentals of cloud, Data and AI, as well as designing and implementing a complete Data and AI solution.

Commenting on the launch of the initiative, Sheikh Saif Hilal Al Hosni, General Manager for Microsoft in Oman and Bahrain, said, “The significance of combining academic qualifications with digital capabilities and professional certifications has become imperative for current employees, entrepreneurs, and those aspiring to join the workforce.”

We at Microsoft remain committed to encouraging lifelong learning, skilling and upskilling the workforce to fill professional gaps and ensure wholesome digital and economic transformation. With Microsoft’s unrivalled expertise, this training initiative with MTCIT will ensure government employees, students, as well as other professionals, are equipped with valued skills to accelerate the country’s digital transformation programme and ultimately drive the actualization of Oman Vision 2040”, he added.

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GITEX Global 2022 – Microsoft showcases mixed reality, security solutions

GITEX Global 2022 – Microsoft showcases mixed reality, security solutions

GITEX Global 2022 took place in Dubai and Microsoft participated in the annual technology exhibition. As a Silver Sponsor and a founding partner to DEVSLAM the newly introduced meetup community for coding developers. Highlighting solutions across tourism, fintech, retail, education, cybersecurity, and smart cities alongside its partners.

Microsoft showed participants what the future of mixed reality will look like under the theme “Believe the hype, it’s real”. This year at Microsoft’s GITEX 2022 hub, it hosted 26 partners to jointly showcase the latest Microsoft and Microsoft partner innovations and products.

GITEX Global 2022 Microsoft  hub with Microsoft Partners and participants

For its flagship showcase, Microsoft partnered with Kagool to introduce a new use case for its HoloLens 2 device, which utilizes advanced Metaverse technologies to create a unique experience for tourists, allowing visitors to experience Dubai attractions virtually using Microsoft AI capabilities.

GITEX remains the preeminent technology showcase in the region,” said Naim Yazbeck, General Manager, Microsoft UAE. “It is here that we predict and project. It is here that we showcase the new, whether it be a product, a service, or an opportunity. Microsoft has been the UAE’s partner on this journey for more than three decades and our involvement in GITEX Global 2022 will see our biggest presence yet as we look ahead towards a digital, connected future.”

Throughout the exhibition, Microsoft shared its thoughts on Web 3.0 and the role metaverse technologies, including the recently launched HoloLens 2 device, Mesh, and Teams, will play in the future of hybrid work. Microsoft also took a deep dive into cybersecurity and what it means in the multi-cloud era, covering the latest developments in the threat landscape and the implications of the multi-cloud reality for issues such as identity and data protection.

GITEX Global 2022 Mircrosoft education tech

Microsoft speakers featured at AI Everything to explain the existing trends driving culture changes across the region in preparation for low code, no code, and the integration of smart solutions. At DevSlam, experts conducted a full-day Hackathon on day one of the exhibition and delivered a three-day certified coding masterclass.

At the Fintech Summit, Microsoft explored the challenges faced by start-ups in that space and how digital experiences have evolved in the FSI sector. Microsoft’s education experts also addressed the sector’s stakeholders on how distance learning will continue to take shape.

The next GITEX Global event will take place from the 16th to the 20th of October 2023 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

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Azure Availability Zones now generally available in Microsoft UAE datacenters

Azure Availability Zones now generally available in Microsoft UAE datacenters

Microsoft is announcing the general availability of Azure Availability Zones in its United Arab Emirates(UAE) datacenters in Dubai. The investment will enhance the competitiveness of UAE businesses through the vital provision of business continuity and disaster recovery solutions. This reinforces Microsoft’s commitment to the UAE government, its business community, and its population.

Azure Availability Zones will build on the capabilities and benefits offered through Microsoft’s enterprise-grade datacenters in Dubai which began operations in June 2019. Organizations already using the zones in the UAE include Emirates Group, Commercial Bank of Dubai, and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

Microsoft Azure Availability ZonesUAE Dubai

With the advent of the always-on economy, uptime and continuous access to critical data, applications and workloads have become front-of-mind concerns for the region’s technology stakeholders,” said Naim Yazbeck, General Manager, Microsoft UAE.

As businesses move forward amid increased industry upheavals and competition from market disrupters, competitiveness hinges on the ability to remain operational even as external issues destabilise markets and supply chains. Backups alone will not deliver such capabilities. Rapid recovery requires strategy-focused infrastructure and solutions to work effectively. That is what Azure Availability Zones delivers.”

Naim Yazbeck

Microsoft notes the launch of the zones shows its readiness to form the backbone of organizations’ futureproofing programs.

The new availability zones will allow us to enhance the way we use Microsoft Cloud, says Srinivasan Sampath, Acting Group CTO of First Abu Dhabi Bank. Offering us a greater level of data security, resilience and flexibility. Which in turn, will support our customer-centric ethos, and allow us to provide greater benefits for our clients.”

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Microsoft’s new cloud datacenter region in Qatar finally goes live

Microsoft’s new cloud datacenter region in Qatar finally goes live

Microsoft is announcing the general availability of its newest datacenter region in Qatar, located in Doha. The new Qatar Central region will start offering Microsoft Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365 and Power Platform services. The Qatar datacenter region includes three Azure Availability Zones, which will offer additional resiliency for customer applications. Other available non-Microsoft technology services are SAP, NetApp, Snowflake, Adobe, and MongoDB. The investment was first announced in 2019 in partnership with the State of Qatar.

The new Qatar region offers the following to customers:

  • Data residency in country.
  • In country Disaster Recovery through zone to zone synchronous replication.
  • High Availability of computing and storage by deploying in three zones allowing a higher service level agreement on virtual machines availability and storage durability.
  • Improved performance through minimal latency for workloads deployed within Zones, to meet our most exigent customer latency-sensitive workloads.
datacenter region in Qatar Microsoft

Microsoft says it has delivered on its promise to help in Qatar’s journey to becoming a regional data hub with the launch of the datacenter. Additionally, the company is introducing a skilling program to help improve the technical skills of Qatarians to meet the about 24,000 new jobs the industry will need.

Microsoft notes this will be its first cloud region to launch with two ExpressRoute points of presence (Edge nodes). AI and machine learning services such as Azure Cognitive Search and services, computer vision are expected in Q3 of 2022.

In June, Microsoft opened an advanced innovation hub in Lusail City as it seeks to increase its investments in Qatar.

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Microsoft opens new innovation hub in Lusail, Qatar

Microsoft opens new innovation hub in Lusail, Qatar

Microsoft has opened a new advanced innovation hub in Lusail City as it seeks to increase its investments in Qatar. The new office facility is located at the Burj Alfardan in Lusail City. One of Qatar’s planned cities along the Arabian Gulf in the southern part of the municipality of Al Daayen. The hub becomes the company’s fourth office and largest headquarters in the country.

The new innovation hub in Lusail will serve as a regional hub, serving Qatar and the Microsoft Middle East region. It will host workshops and sessions at its Customer Innovation Center to stimulate innovation and creativity among partners and customers. Microsoft says the office will also host technology startups, students and community organizations from across Qatar. It will further support the company’s effort to train, develop, attract and retain talent to build advanced solutions.

innovation hub in Lusail microsoft office qatar

The new office facility is green, sustainable, smart and incorporates Microsoft’s holistic modern campus design. To create the best employee experience and promote collaboration, productivity, innovation and creativity.

It uses the latest green technology to achieve energy and water efficiency. It also provides equal opportunities for all employees to access their duty stations through features such as easily accessible parking, automatic doors, Braille room signs and audible and video alarm systems.

With the launch of our new offices and our Customer Innovation Centre, customers and partners will have the opportunity to co-innovate, ideate, and envision groundbreaking solutions that will revolutionise their industries.

I look forward to welcoming customers, partners, visitors and Microsoft’s team members to our new office.

Lana Khalaf, General Manager, Microsoft Qatar

Featured collage photo credit: I Love Qatar

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