Microsoft, AGRA, partner to co-create technology solutions in agriculture to improve food security in Africa

Microsoft, AGRA, partner to co-create technology solutions in agriculture to improve food security in Africa

Microsoft through its business and market development engine in Africa, 4Afrika is partnering with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The collaboration will see Microsoft co-create technology solutions in agriculture. Supporting AGRA’s digital transformation initiative to improve food security in Africa.

In a report, continued use of outdated technologies and practices is the biggest hurdle to increasing farmer productivity in Africa. Microsoft will therefore work with AGRA to build locally relevant technology solutions. Solutions that are mindful of challenges local farmers face says Microsoft 4Afrika director Amrote Abdella.

We’re excited to work with AGRA in building locally-relevant technology solutions that are mindful of challenges local farmers face. Offering solutions to farmers and policy makers alike to deliver meaningful impact.”

Amrote Abdella

The partnership is part of Microsoft’s ongoing investment in agritech across Africa. This year the company introduced a $100 million Africa Development Center investment with sites in Lagos and Nairobi. The center according to Microsoft will help to advance AI innovation in agriculture.

Technology to transform sector

The collaboration will see Microsoft supporting farmers to adopt new technologies through digital training. As well as help them develop digital skills in agriculture through an internship program. Microsoft will also support policy advocacy and government engagement around the design of national agriculture digitization strategies in the region.

Agriculture is a priority sector of investment for us not only because it sustains some 70 percent of livelihoods. But because we believe technology can significantly contribute to the transformation of the sector.

Africa has many farmers with varying farming practices. We believe technology can augment this knowledge to improve crop yields.

Amrote Abdella

Microsoft will begin to expand its FarmBeats initiative across Africa, having piloted it in Kenya.

AGRA’s digital transformation in agriculture wants to improve food security for about 30 million farming households across 11 African countries by 2021. These are Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.

AGRA president, Dr. Agnes Kalibata says “digital technologies are now firmly with us. It is increasingly important that we keep finding use of such innovations in our farms“.

Going forward, digitalization will transcend every sphere of our life and it is highly likely that most of our farming investments will gain more yields as a result.
Overall, with more innovation, farmer-centric products and services can now be deployed with great success. The goal, ultimately, is to adopt digital technologies in ways that positively impact whole agricultural and food systems
.”

Dr. Kalibata
October 2 Microsoft Event: Surface, Windows, Office, Mixed Reality and Gaming

October 2 Microsoft Event: Surface, Windows, Office, Mixed Reality and Gaming

Microsoft will host an event on October 2 and make some announcements. In such recent events, the company showcased new hardware as well as announced Windows updates. I’m not expecting this format to change even though Microsoft will mix things up.

The company sent out a “save the date” invite. With details being only date; 10.02.2019, venue; New York, NY and hashtag #MicrosoftEvent.

October 2

A mobile-first, cloud-first strategy
this is our focus for every device and every service that we launch at Microsoft.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

Last year the company announced a refresh of the family of devices and new accessories. The Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio and Surface Headphones.

October 2, 2019, Microsoft Event

I’m expecting Microsoft to announce new devices. A refresh of the Surface Pro, Laptop, Book and Surface Go devices to meet the latest hardware specifications. Fully adopting USB C as many have called for and expanding to new markets.

You will expect Microsoft to brief the media on what’s happening with HoloLens and the world of mixed reality.

Windows and Office will as in the past also get time to share new product updates and cross-device features.

You can also read what other Microsoft watchers think will happen at the event. Read what Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet and the guys at Windows Central have shared.

Let’s know what you think. What are you looking forward to seeing or hearing?

TechSoup launch Microsoft Digital Skills Center for Nonprofits

TechSoup launch Microsoft Digital Skills Center for Nonprofits

The Microsoft Digital Skills Center for Nonprofits seeks to empower organizations do more good with the help of technology tools.

Microsoft Digital Skills Center

TechSoup is introducing Microsoft Digital Skills Center for Nonprofits in a new collaboration with Microsoft. The digital skills center will have a focus on nonprofits and will exist within the TechSoup course platform. Offering trainings on using Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Power BI and PowerApps.

TechSoup shares that “Strengthening digital literacy, enabling cloud adoption and building technology-forward strategies are critical to nonprofits working on social, environmental and educational issues“.

In February 2109 Microsoft Philanthropies announced a $1 million impact investment to support TechSoup. An initiative Microsoft says is to nearly double the number of nonprofit organizations it serves worldwide. Microsoft believes it will help nonprofits utilize technology to amplify their mission and impact.

“TechSoup has been a critical partner in building a remarkable and robust societal ecosystem that brings the promise of technology to nonprofits serving on the frontlines. Those trying to solve and address the world’s biggest challenges.
Microsoft’s investment in and collaborative partnership with TechSoup is building bridges to digital inclusion and empowerment to help the nonprofit sector realize all the benefits of cloud technologies.

Justin Spelhaug,
General Manager, Microsoft Philanthropies Tech for Social Impact

Rebecca Masisak, CEO TechSoup, says this partnership empowers nonprofits to create, connect, activate and transform their organizations and communities.

We previously shared how nonprofits in Africa can apply to benefit from these offerings.

Microsoft Learn is replacing Microsoft Professional Program

Microsoft Learn is replacing Microsoft Professional Program

Microsoft is evolving its approach to helping people build technical skills and achieving technical certification. The company is retiring Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) and replacing it with Microsoft Learn platform.

Microsoft shares they are taking the best of the Microsoft Professional Program and adding the ability to earn a technical certification at the end of the coursework. The company realizes that people with certifications earn 15% more and are 20% more productive.

Three years ago, we launched the Microsoft Professional Program (MPP) with one mission: to help you build the technical skills you need to succeed in emerging jobs.
Since that time, the importance of technical skills and industry-recognized certifications has grown.
That’s why we’ve decided to evolve our approach into a program where you can work toward a technical certification
.

Early this year Microsoft announced it was retiring Microsoft Virtual Academy and replacing it with Microsoft Learn platform. A free, interactive learning platform of tutorials, interactive browser-based coding/scripting environments and task-based achievements.

As we retire MPP, Microsoft Learn becomes your destination for building the skills you need to be successful.”

MPP will officially end December 31st 2019. However you can still apply for a course or track till 15th September. You have the ability to complete pending courses by December 31st.

Wazihub, Microsoft, Zindi, Soil Moisture Prediction Challenge

Wazihub, Microsoft, Zindi, Soil Moisture Prediction Challenge

Help rural farmers in Africa predict soil humidity using sensor data from IoT.

Wazihub

Wazihub and Microsoft are partnering with Zindi Africa to create the Wazihub Soil Moisture Prediction Challenge competition. The competition seeks to create a machine learning model capable of predicting soil humidity. Using past data from the soil and getting results in a very short time.

Find out more about the Wazihub challenge

In the face of climate change, the agricultural sector in Africa needs to adapt its practices. Being able to accurately measure and predict soil humidity in their fields will allow farmers to prepare their irrigation schedules optimally and efficiently.

Sensor-based irrigation and machine learning algorithms can provide farmers with a solution to manage water usage more efficiently. However, current machine learning algorithms built on sensor data require a lot of data for proper training. Stable sensor data is difficult to obtain in rural Africa where many problems arise such as accessibility, limited battery power, lack of internet, humidity/heat problem.

The objective of this Zindi competition is to create a machine learning model. Capable of predicting the humidity for a particular plot in the next few days, using data from the past. A part of the challenge is to design algorithms that are resilient and can be trained with incomplete data. (E.g. missing data points) and unclean data (e.g. lot of outliers).

This resulting model will enable farmers to anticipate water needs and prepare their irrigation schedules.
This competition is sponsored by Wazihub[webpage] and Microsoft.

Kindly visit competition page for details and rules.

Unifying PC to mobile experience and the future of productivity using Samsung Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy Note10+

Unifying PC to mobile experience and the future of productivity using Samsung Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy Note10+

Samsung Galaxy Note10

Samsung held its Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event yesterday. Unveiling new mobile computing devices and experiences for its customers. Shilpa Ranganathan, Microsoft CVP Mobile and Cross Device Experiences joined Samsung Director of Product Strategy & Marketing Mobile Computing Hassan Anjum on stage. Talking about a unifying PC to mobile experience and the future of productivity using Galaxy Note10 and Galaxy Note10+.

Shilpa said Microsoft is excited to come together with Samsung to “innovate in hardware, software and services. We will meet you where you are“, highlighting how distracting and counterproductive switching between devices is. For Samsung it is about seamlessly integrating key services to unify consumer experiences.

Using Your Phone app in Windows 10, Shilpa Ranganathan demoed Samsung Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ specific features. Your phone app on Windows works with any android and iOS device. Allowing you to access contents of your phone straight from the PC. Making your phone’s screen available to you on your PC, so you wouldn’t need to keep switching between your phone and PC.

In the Samsung Galaxy Note10, Microsoft worked with Samsung to integrate the Link to Windows button in the quick panel.

Watch Samsung Galaxy Note10 demo

Later this year Microsoft will be introducing the ability to “make and receive mobile calls directly from your PC for all users. You will be able to accept the call, reply with a text or send the caller to voicemail.

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