by Tech Talk | Mar 15, 2023 | Articles
A new forecast from IDC’s Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Spending Guide shows that global spending on artificial intelligence (AI) – including software, hardware, and services for AI-centric systems – will reach $154-billion in 2023, an increase of 26,9% over the amount spent in 2022.
The ongoing incorporation of AI into a wide range of products will result in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27% over the 2022 to 2026 forecast with spending on AI-centric systems expected to surpass $300-billion in 2026.
“Companies that are slow to adopt AI will be left behind – both large and small,” says Mike Glennon, senior market research analyst with IDC’s Customer Insights & Analysis team. “AI is best used in these companies to augment human abilities, automate repetitive tasks, provide personalised recommendations, and make data-driven decisions with speed and accuracy.
“Suppliers of AI technologies need to know which are the largest and fastest-growing opportunities, but without data they become just another opinion. IDC’s AI Spending Guide provides the foundation for marketing strategy through its comprehensive coverage of AI opportunities and gives a robust basis for a market focus that ties with companies’ capabilities.”
One indicator of how broad spending on AI-centric systems will be over the next five years is that only one of the 36 AI use cases identified by IDC will have a CAGR of less than 24% over the forecast period.
Three of the leading AI use cases in terms of spending focus on sales and customer service functions: Augmented Customer Service Agents, Sales Process Recommendation and Augmentation, and Programme Advisors and Recommendation Systems. These three use cases will see investment from nearly every industry and, combined, will account for more than a quarter of all AI spending in 2023.
The other use cases that will see the largest spending this year support a more diverse set of tasks: IT Optimisation, Augmented Threat Intelligence and Prevention Systems, and Fraud Analysis and Investigation.
The two industries that will deliver the largest AI investments in 2023 and throughout the forecast are banking and retail. The next largest industry for AI spending will be professional services, followed by discrete and process manufacturing.
Together, these five industries will account for more than half of all spending on AI-centric systems this year. The fastest growth in AI spending will come from the media industry with a five-year CAGR of 30,2%. However, much like use case spending, only two of the industries in the spending guide will have CAGRs of less than 25%.
“AI technology will continue to bring empowering effects to users and industry sectors,” says Xueqing Zhang, senior market analyst with IDC’s China Enterprise Research Department. “With the support of pre-trained large models, multi-modal, and other technologies, AI capabilities will be applied to the whole process of production on a large scale, promoting the technology from the concept to large-scale application of landing.
“In the future, both government-level urban issues and life issues that are closely related to everyone will enjoy the dividends brought by AI technology and eventually usher in AI for all,” Zhang adds.
From a geographic perspective, the US will be the largest market for AI-centric systems, accounting for more than 50% of all AI spending worldwide throughout the forecast. Western Europe will account for more than 20% of worldwide IT spending accompanied by a five-year CAGR of 30%, one of the fastest growth rates over the forecast period. The People’s Republic of China will be the third largest AI market with the slowest growth rate (20,6% CAGR).
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by Tech Talk | Mar 15, 2023 | Articles
Microsoft has added 13 new African languages to its Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services Translator enabling text and documents to be translated to and from these languages across the entire Microsoft ecosystem of products and services.
Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho), Setswana (Tswana) and Xhosa are the latest of South Africa’s official language to be supported, following last year’s release of Zulu. The other languages are chiShona, Hausa, Igbo, Kinyarwanda, Lingala, Luganda, Nyanja, Rundi and Yoruba.
This brings the total number of supported languages to 124 and adds language support for millions of people in Africa and worldwide.
“This release highlights our mission to build meaningful cognitive products and services that improve accessibility and empower local communities,” says Lillian Barnard, CEO of Microsoft SA. “As the benefits and value of translation support become more evident, particularly for African languages, we will see it help break down language barriers and enable more people to connect with each other and technology in a way that empowers them to do and achieve more.”
Integrations across Microsoft’s ecosystem include Microsoft 365 for translating text and documents, the Microsoft Edge browser and Bing search engine for translating whole webpages, SwiftKey for translating messages, LinkedIn for translating user-submitted content, and the Translator app for having multilingual conversations on the move, among others.
Using Translator, people and organisations can add African languages’ text translation to apps, websites, workflows, and tools – or use Translator’s Document Translation feature to translate entire documents, or volumes of documents, in a variety of different file formats preserving their original formatting. They can also use Translator with Cognitive Services such as Speech or Computer Vision to add additional capabilities such as speech-to-text and image translation into their apps. Educators can create a more inclusive classroom for both students and parents with live captioning and cross-language understanding.
Translator aims to break the language barrier between people and cultures all over the world. To achieve this, Microsoft has continuously added languages and dialects to this service while ensuring the translation quality of the supported languages by using the latest neural machine translation (NMT) techniques.
“The addition of new African languages means that more people are able to connect and that language will become a seamless feature of using technology,” says Barnard.
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by Tech Talk | Mar 15, 2023 | Articles
“…Persistent load shedding is impeding our recovery… We know that without a reliable supply of electricity, businesses cannot grow, assembly lines cannot run, crops cannot be irrigated, and basic services are interrupted”, said H.E. President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address recently. “Without a reliable supply of electricity our efforts to grow an inclusive economy that creates jobs and reduces poverty will not succeed,” he added.
There is no doubt that the South African power generation crisis is a tremendous challenge for the country and is endangering the country’s economy as a whole. As President Ramaphosa expressed in his speech, the trickle-down consequences of a delayed response in addressing these challenges will be dire for businesses, jobs and livelihoods.
By Janek Winand, MD: South Africa at Siemens Gamesa
As the second-biggest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa has been restricted for years in its development by constant power cuts, lasting hours at a time, undermining people’s ability to develop their lives, businesses to grow and services to function. However, the worsening of this situation over the past 12 months has made the situation unsustainable.
This is a particularly challenging reality to accept taking into consideration how rich South Africa is in energy resources, particularly renewable clean resources, that can help the country expand its power generation capacity and, in doing so, supporting its move towards a growing and greener economy.
Wind currently represents the best response to address the blackouts that are crippling the nation and mitigate the risk of a grid collapse. With the right incentives and policies, renewable energy sources, particularly wind power, could rapidly help to resolve some of the country’s most challenging energy problems.
By investing in dispatchable power, grid expansion, grid stabilizers, and energy storage, South Africa will create a resilient foundation for clean energy expansion.
These efforts will contribute to faster development and integration of new power generation plants into the national grid while addressing issues with the integration of intermittent power sources like solar and wind, while contributing to a reduction of the country’s dependence on coal-fired power generation, representing today still more than 80%.
South Africa is endowed with tremendous potential for wind power generation, which is now the most economically competitive form of generation in the country, alongside photovoltaic solar power.
Furthermore, it is the fastest to deploy. A wind project today, takes, from contract signed to production, just 24 months, compared to several years or even decades that nuclear or fossil-fuel power plants take to plan and develop, and at a fraction of the cost, and with much more flexibility. This technology is also consistently becoming more competitive.
At Siemens Gamesa, we’ve seen this evolution happening in real time. In recent years we have built 855 MW of onshore wind power in South Africa installing wind turbines with a maximum power output of 2,3MW per unit. Today, we already offer turbines in-country with an output of 6,6MW per unit.
To put it into perspective, to produce 150MW of power, a wind power plant now requires only 23 turbines, in contrast to 61 just a few years ago. The levelised cost of energy (LCoE) at the end of the day is being decreased dramatically.
The future of the energy mix will inevitably be one of combined sources of power, and in a just transition scenario, we must consider all options available to ensure access to power and economic development for all, with sustainability as a central strategic objective. As solar produces its maximum output throughout the day and wind more energy in the mornings and the evenings, both sources are complementary by nature, to have a seamless flow of power into the grid.
Also, to be noted, is that while coal and nuclear power generation might still be of strategic importance to South Africa, they use a very substantial amount of water to operate, which is a relevant concern in a country that battles regularly with water shortages.
In our experience, wind power projects in South Africa have had a tremendously positive impact not only in generating low-cost electricity to the grid, but also directly and indirectly on the communities around the projects themselves, many of them quite remote. These projects require a number of services during development, many sourced from the local communities, thereby stimulating the local economy, with a trickle-down effect.
The growth of the industry has also stimulated interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields by young professionals eager to work with and within a transition to a greener energy landscape. There are multiple opportunities for synergies and collaborations with the local communities in these developments, which we promote to a great extent in the development of our windfarms.
In terms of funding, the willingness to invest is already there. South African banks have sufficient funds to invest in renewable energies, and are also very motivated to do so. All that is needed is the political will to move forward.
The announcement of Bid Window 7 is very welcome news, as well as the Power Purchase Agreement (PPS) market picking up after the licensing cap has been lofted.
But more needs to be done. Auctions need to happen more regularly and with an established short-, mid- and long-term pipeline that can provide companies with predictability and opportunities to plan ahead. The timeframes for approval processes and evaluations need to be shortened and simplified in order to accelerate development of new capacity.
In sum, it is imperative that we implement all the possible means to tackle the energy crisis head on as well as, in the words of President Ramaphosa, “undertake our just transition in a way that opens up the possibility of new investments, new industrialisation and that, above all, creates new jobs”.
The answer is right there, blowing in the wind.
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by Tech Talk | Mar 15, 2023 | Articles
Africa is ripe for renewable energy innovation, with the adoption of wind and solar resources a key solution to addressing energy security.
According to the World Economic Forum, as of 2019, the electricity access rate was 46% with 570-million people not having access. By 2050, Africa’s population will reach 2-billion. This further shines a light on the importance of renewable energy, to not only achieve sustainability goals, but to also provide a reliable and crucial source of energy for millions across the rapidly growing continent.
However, cross-border payments are traditionally slow, and costly, and hinder growth for the renewable energy sector. How can cutting-edge technology impact such an important industry in today’s climate?
Understanding Africa’s potential
According to data from Energy, Capital & Power, Africa has an estimated 10 terawatts of solar capacity, 350 gigawatts of hydro power, and 110 gigawatts of wind power. Some areas are starting to adopt expansive solar facilities, such as Morocco and Egypt, but there is ample room for further renewable energy resources to be put in place in other markets.
Ola Oyetayo, CEO of Verto, says this makes it a crucial sector to watch in emerging markets, with room for both innovation and growth. “This will require collaboration between markets, however, cross-border payments remain an issue and can hinder the development of resources and expansion across regions in need.”
He says the use of alternative payment methods, such as digital wallets, is increasing in the infrastructure industry at a compounded annual growth rate of up to 30%. “That said, the renewable energy sector seems to fall short, with the majority of cross-border payments still being made through traditional methods, such as wire transfers and cheques. Not only does this result in delays to funds landing in the recipient’s account, but transaction fees can add up quickly to make it costly and inefficient.”
Then there are also the safety risks to consider using these channels. So, what is the reason for this reluctance to catch up to more innovative payment methods, and what impact would this switch have on renewable energy businesses in emerging markets such as Africa?
Out with the old
Oyetayo believes there are several reasons why the renewable energy sector is reluctant to adopt these alternative payment methods. “Some of these include a lack of awareness, not having the appropriate technology with these capabilities, regulation concerns, and a resistance to change over concerns of interrupted operations or preference for traditional methods.
“Sticking with the traditional methods, however, may be leaving these businesses vulnerable to problems that prevent them reaching their full potential. Common issues surrounding traditional methods are the high costs associated with cross-border payments, from high transaction fees, long settlement times, and losses due to exchange rate fluctuations. There may also be the perception of digital wallets being an increased cybersecurity threat and a lack of clarity around them being a safer alternative payment method,” he explains.
Understanding the benefits of enhanced financial technology and digital payment methods such as e-wallets could be the necessary steppingstone for renewable energy companies to reach their growth goals and innovate African markets more quickly. Often, this involves a transition to a new payments provider that is not a traditional bank, but will offer the solution to the problems associated with the traditional methods.
Acceleration of digital wallets
Adoption of digital wallets is on a fast upward trajectory in emerging markets, particularly in Southeast Asia where consumer numbers are projected to reach 310 million by 2025, according to Bain & Company. This study also found that India and China accounted for 70% of the world’s 2.1 billion digital wallet users.
In comparison, it was found by McKinsey that only up to 7% of all transactions in Africa were made via digital payments, compared with 50% in Turkey. The adoption of digital wallets not only presents an opportunity for renewable energy companies to grow across the continent, but also to connect with other businesses using this payment method.
For renewable energy firms, remaining innovative with clean energy solutions to reach sustainability goals is imperative, but this needs to go hand-in-hand with innovative technology when it comes to making and receiving payments. Accessing digital financial services catered to delivering solutions to African markets provides support for business growth, an improved way of life, and ultimately, a better planet.
Opportunities for Africa’s renewable energy
According to the World Economic Forum, an estimated 60% of healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan Africa don’t have access to a reliable electricity supply. This presents a strong use case for renewable energy solutions like solar panels or wind turbines to provide a source of energy.
The use of digital wallets can improve security and flow of funds, cutting out the need to rely on cash payments, cheques, or slow bank transfers with multiple touchpoints.
There has already been attention on the growth opportunities for renewable energy from Jack Dorsey’s digital payments company, Block, and the bitcoin-focused venture firm, Stillmark, who led a $2-million seed investment into Gridless, a Kenyan-based bitcoin mining company. This investment will help open more mines across Africa. According to Gridless’ founder, Erik Hersman, the power generation and mini-grids will help solve the power access issue that roughly 600-million across Africa face.
“Evidently there is ample opportunity for renewable energy businesses to help address the issue of limited access to energy across Africa. The adoption of improved financial technology and alternative payment methods like digital wallets can bring growth opportunities for the renewable energy sector and could be transformative for people and businesses across Africa,” concludes Oyetayo.
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by Tech Talk | Mar 6, 2023 | Articles
President Cyril Ramaphosa will announce changes to the national executive at 7PM today, presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.
A cabinet reshuffle has been widely expected since Ramaphosa was re-elected leader of the ANC at a party leadership contest in December, paving the way for him to run for a second term in 2024.
“The president is finalising his reconfiguration of the national executive,” Magwenya said at a news briefing, adding that some members of parliament would be sworn in ahead of the reshuffling announcement.
Ramaphosa is expected to name a new deputy president after the presidency announced David Mabuza’s resignation from the post on Wednesday. The new position of electricity minister is among the roles to be filled.
He announced last month he would create the position of electricity minister to help address the nation’s power crisis, as state-owned utility Eskom implements the worst power cuts on record. — Reuters
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