ICT Excellence Centre CENIT@EA Collaborates

CENIT@EA signed an agreement with IBM for Digital Skills

On 29 November, the regional Centre of Excellence for Information and Communication Technology in East Africa (CENIT@EA) and IBM entered into a cooperation to jointly build digital skills for the East African Community (EAC).

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Vice-Chancellor of the Nelson Mandela African Institution for Science and Technology (NM-AIST) that is hosting CENIT@EA, Prof Emmanuel Luoga, and General Manager of IBM East Africa and Chairman of the East African Business Council (EABC), Nicholas Nesbitt, at the occasion of the EABC Business & Investment Summit in Arusha, Tanzania. The two institutions set out mutually identified areas of interest for this cooperation that include: training, entrepreneurship promotion, internships, collaborative research and publications.

CENIT@EA cooperation with IBM demonstrates the importance of collaboration between academia and the private sector to support young talent from across the EAC. With the academic quality of a Centre of Excellence and the technical expertise of IBM, CENIT@EA will be able to provide the relevant, targeted and practical skills the EAC needs for its digital transformation. Read More

Source: https://www.cenit-ea.org/

 

CENIT@EA and Kiira Motors Corporation  signed a Memorandum of Understanding

The Centre of Excellence for Information and Communication Technology in East Africa (CENIT@EA) and Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to advance Digital Mobility Solutions Research and Innovation in the East African Community (EAC) in line with global automotive technology foresight for enhancing mobility safety, security, operational and energy efficiency.

Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) is a state enterprise established to champion value addition in the nascent domestic automotive industry for job creation and diversification of the economy as Uganda aspires for economic transformation to an upper-middle-income economy by 2040 with Industrialisation as the foundation of this vision. The medium-term goal is the construction and operationalization of the Kiira Vehicle Plant by July 2022 through Technology Transfer Partnerships with seasoned Automotive Industry Actors and progressive enhancement of automotive local content participation, import substitution and supply chain localization. The KMC equity partners are the Government of the Republic of Uganda represented by the Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation (96%) and Makerere University (4%)

The mutually defined areas of collaboration include Advanced Driver Assistance Systems; Smart Mass Mobility Solutions; Traffic Assessment, Forecasting and Management Systems; Fleet Management Systems; Autonomous & Connected Vehicles; and Smart Charging Infrastructure Management Solutions.

This collaboration between KMC and CENIT@EA will encompass Applied Research; Internship Placements; Guest Lecturing; Pilot Projects; Joint Staff Capacity Building; Outreach; Exchange of Personnel; Seminars, Conferences and Joint Short Courses; Entrepreneurship Activities such as Hackathons or IT Boot camps; common use of research devices, facilities and equipment and other activities as may be mutually agreed by the parties.

This initiative shows the importance and opportunities of collaboration between academia and industry for the promotion of innovative solutions that contribute to the digital transformation of the economies in the EAC.

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CENIT@EA Internship Young Professionals

Artificial Intelligence – A Game Changer for the Health Sector in Uganda

For a period of 6 months, the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI), through the Ugandan Academy for Health Innovation at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, gained valuable contributions from the young professionals of the Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA). CENIT@EA is a digital transformation project spearheaded by the German Development Cooperation in collaboration with the East African Community (EAC).

“Working with Young Professionals whose expertise in Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning and Data analytics to mention but a few, supported by the state-of-the-art curriculum of Masters in Embedded and Mobile systems offered by CENIT@EA, is quite unique to find in the East African context highly in demand of tech-enabled solutions for long existing health challenges” as stated by Dr Martin Balaba, Senior Academy Lead for Adaption and Partnerships at IDI.

During the 6-months internship programme, the Health Innovation Academy engaged two CENIT@EA interns who were keen on taking complex challenges to drive health innovations using ICT. One of the interns, Hillary Kaluuma, has successfully developed a mobile application that enhances the capacity of existing software being used in the national covid-19 response, a project that has been presented to the Ministry of Health for implementation, currently being integrated into IDI’s existing systems.

For more information, download the pdf below:

Harnessing the Power of Digital Technologies for Health Solutions

East Africa and the continent of Africa at large has faced a varying number of diseases outbreak in the past and the year 2020 brought with it the new unpredicted covid-19 pandemic, that has affected livelihood and marginalized communities in the region, leaving many with the quest for reliable health information that will help safeguard lives. There is a need to scale up access to health services in the region and organizations such as the Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organisations (EANNASO) are spearheading regional exchange platform for knowledge sharing on health-related matters. Headquartered in Arusha, Tanzania, EANNASO is a regional network of national networks of Civil societies and community-based organizations in seven Eastern Africa Countries, namely: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania (including Zanzibar), Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Southern Sudan. A collaboration between the organization and the Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA) was established to draw attention to the need to develop a regional platform for the purpose of dissemination of information, assisting border communities, citizens and residents that travel in the region to locate medical facilities.

“For Eastern Africa National Networks of AIDS and Health Service Organisations (EANNASO), the Young Professionals programme came in quite timely and has proved to be fruitful in filling in the gaps that existed with the organization’s efforts in pioneering digital solutions and amplified our plans on scaling new innovative products and services to the regional communities we serve”, explained Olive Mumba, Executive Director at EANNASO.

Happyness Alexander, a CENIT@EA master’s student specialized in Mobile Systems, has successfully implemented the project on the transformation of the Afya Digital web-based platform to a mobile application now known as Wananchi Afya Digital, integrating Android Operating System in the design of algorithms and features of the Mobile App. For more information download the pdf below:

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Tech Turns Transportation into a Customer Experience Journey with Digital Mobility Solutions

The transport sector in East Africa is at the beginning of a period of significant technological disruption through the rise of digital transformation, with digital products and services fundamentally shifting customer expectations and opportunities. Technology is fuelling a dramatic acceleration in the pace of change across the industry, including the transport industry, as technologies like AI, data science, and machine learning are advancing how vehicles are likely to operate. These fields act as the backbone for digital mobility solutions. With growing cities, there is a need to improve public transportation with a focus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). An example of transportation technology is the Kayoola EVS electric bus, designed and engineered by Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC).

Kiira Motors Corporation (KMC) is a state-owned enterprise established to champion the development of the Ugandan automotive value chain for job and wealth creation. KMC has designed Africa’s first electric vehicle, the company’s market entry product is the Kayoola EVS, a fully electric, low floor city bus with a range of 300 kilometres on the battery charge.

 “The realization of this system is also aimed at utilizing technology to improve efficiency, increase productivity and capitalize on the existing technological and expert local human resource to help realize Uganda vision 2040” said Paul Isaac Musasizi, CEO of Kiira Motors,

In line with the company’s pillar of ensuring customer satisfaction, Kiira Motors has engaged ICT experts and students from the Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA), Ivan Koojo and Jevinarlys Shabuyanga, in a 6-months internship programme, working on a project that focuses on developing an Integrated Digital Mobility System for the Kayoola EVS Passenger Experience System (KPES).

For more information download the pdf below: 

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Efficient Operations and Production of Goods Through Automation of Industry Processes

In today’s era, it is important that the needs of the industry are met by the result of the practical teaching curriculum and research initiatives of academia. Organizations are constantly in search of skills that will accelerate the digital transformation efforts, solving challenges brought by the effect of traditional processes that hinder efficiency in production. The Centre of Excellence for ICT in East Africa (CENIT@EA) worked in close collaboration with AtoZ Textile Mills, through the Young Professionals Programme, matching the digital skills of students to drive innovations for the advancement of the organization’s operations.

Due to covid-19, AtoZ is shifting its focus from manual operations and processes with regards to tracking of delivery. With the mobile application the organization is able to remotely track goods in real time. “We want to improve customer experience and service delivery by helping clients plan for the sales being informed on the delivery route of their goods avoiding delays”, stated Srinivasan Kumar, Information Systems Lead at AtoZ.

With the support of the CENIT@EA Young Professionals, the developed mobile applications will still undergo a series of coding, system testing, and validation even after the completion of the internship. The platform is planned to be effectively open for use in the organization’s systems integration in the month of April. Hillary Rambo whose speciality is in mobile systems has been engaged in analyzing the web-based gate pass management systems, providing AtoZ with enhancements of the system by integrating a mobile application to meet user demands and requirements. For more information download the pdf below: