Phumla Mkize
Top innovators and scientists have challenged students at the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) to develop smartphone applications (Apps) to respond to local problems and needs. Among the scientists who threw the gauntlet at students was Dr Livhuwani Masevhe.
Masevhe, a scientist and the deputy director of science communication at the Department of Science and Innovation, urged students to identity challenges in their communities and then develop Apps to deal with the problems that exist in society.
“Take out your smartphones,” he quipped, “You will realise that for the past month or year you have not opened 80% of the Apps on your phone. They are just taking up space. They are redundant simply because they are irrelevant to our needs and our daily lives,” he said.
Masevhe said the Apps were not created for the South African consumer and therefore did not deal with local needs and challenges.
Masevhe’s call was asserted by Dan Masethe in his presentation on challenges experienced in building data-driven models for low-resourced languages such as Sepedi.
Young tech entrepreneur and founder of Analytics X Talifhani Banks chats to students at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Pretoria Campus.
Vernacular-language considerations in technology highlighted
“Bantu languages have a different sentence structure, for example, ‘How can I help you?’ is ‘Ngingakusiza?’ in isiZulu. It is one word instead of a sentence. That automatically creates lexical ambiguity,” he said highlighting the need vernacular-language considerations in technology.
Masevhe said it was high time scientists and universities, as knowledge generators, responded to the challenges that exist in areas such as Venda and Mafikeng.
“We know the challenges that people face and we must come up with Apps that talk to that,” Masevhe said.
Founder and CEO of Analytics X, Talifhani Banks, was testament of Masevhe’s assertion that there were entrepreneurial opportunities for youngsters in solving local problems.
Analytics X is a cloud, software and data technology provider for large and emerging enterprises. It offers tailor-made solutions to help its clients make informed decisions using coding, statistical models and artificial intelligence technologies.
Banks also called on students to use technology to find solutions to problems that exists in underserviced communities.
Dr Katlego Phoshoko, data services and applications manager at the CSIR, shared insights on how researchers can access data storage facilities offered by the Data Intensive Research Initiative of South Africa – a programme of the CSIR.
Lerato Mamabolo – an ergonomic technologies specialist at Ergo-Tech, which is division of Armscor – presented an exciting demonstration of the role of data-modelling in ergonomic technologies.
The discussions happened at a workshop hosted by the he Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in conjunction with Department of Science and Innovation to mark National Science Week 2024. Held at TUT’s Pretoria Campus on October 2, the workshop attracted experts from the CSIR, local universities and the private sector. It examined the societal benefits and drawbacks of emerging technologies.
Tshwane, a senior researcher at the CSIR and the event organiser, said TUT was chosen as co-host because of an existing collaboration between the CSIR and the university.
“The university is considered a strategic research partner in harnessing digital technologies to address societal problems,” said Tshwane, adding that the first workshop was held in 2023.