RTI International, a non-profit research institute and IBM’s Africa research lab have announced a partnership to deploy big data analytics and cognitive technologies to transform development approaches in Africa.
In one of the first projects, IBM and RTI are developing and testing intelligent systems to capture data about schools in Mombasa County, Kenya, the two organisations said.
[blockquote right=”pull-right” cite=”Dr. Kamal Bhattacharya, Vice President IBM Research – Africa”] “A dearth of data on Africa in the past has led to misunderstandings or misrepresentations of the continent’s history, economic performance and potential. Over the past few decades, even simple facts have been misrepresented – the size of a country, its economic performance, the amount of poor people, the volume of exploitable resources” [/blockquote]
According to to the two partners, under the partnership, RTI and IBM Research – Africa will explore ways of using advanced technologies to capture accurate data about challenges in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, water and education. Drawing on the power of big data analytics, researchers will provide insight to governments, aid agencies and other organisations who are looking to make more informed decisions about investment and development while having greater visibility of results.
