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How to Build Innovation Ecosystems in Africa

Takreem El-Tohamy — Wed, 08 May 2013 10:00:31 +0000

Takreem El-Tohamy, GM, IBM Middle East and Africa

By Takreem El-Tohamy

There’s a wonderful word in Swahili that I think expresses one of the imperatives for the future of Africa. The word is “harambee.” It means pulling together, collaborating and supporting each other. I believe that one of the key factors in the ability of African countries to create sustainable and equitable economic growth will be the emergence of innovation ecosystems. Harambee perfectly captures an essential element of such ecosystems—the ability of institutions and individuals to pull together and build a mutually supportive environment.

Innovation ecosystems are complex organisms that are difficult to create yet tremendously powerful when they work. Think Silicon Valley. They require a melding of all of the capabilities of governments, businesses, financiers, universities, and individuals. Together, these organizations and individuals provide the web of support that makes it easier for startups to launch and grow quickly, and for established companies to innovate more aggressively. With that kind of support, African entrepreneurs and businesses will find it easier to produce new products and services, or even create whole new industries. You can think of an innovation ecosystem as a collective intelligence—harnessed for the good of society.

IBM is committed to helping Africa build successful innovation ecosystems. The latest sign of this willingness is our new IBM Innovation Center in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s a place where people from established companies, universities and startups can tap IBM technology and expertise to help them create solutions to the country’s business and societal challenges. We’re dedicated to helping Kenya fulfill its Vision 2030, which provides a strategy aimed at helping large numbers of Kenyans emerge into the middle class. Here’s a video about the center..

Click here to view the embedded video.

Our company has been doing business in Africa since 1921, when we helped out with the South African census. Today, we are expanding rapidly. We have offices in more than 20 African countries, including South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and my native Egypt. The company has helped deliver everything from online banking and dependable mobile phone services to technologies for improving city services and government transparency.

In 2012, IBM established its first research laboratory in Africa—in Nairobi. It’s one of only one dozen such labs worldwide. Here’s a video about the impact we believe the Nairobi lab will have across Africa.

Click here to view the embedded video.

My IBM colleagues and I understand that expanding in Africa comes with a unique set of challenges. Our company must aid in building the capacities of Africa’s people and institutions—including knowledge, technology infrastructure, business sophistication and governance. These are the underpinnings of innovation ecosystems.

What’s the key role for IBM in Africa? To help feed the momentum. As a strategic partner with governments, universities, established businesses and startups, IBM can provide a wealth of technology know-how and problem-solving expertise that helps kick start initiatives and accelerate the speed of change.

Africa is coming into its own. The spirit of harambee is helping to drive progress. And IBM is dedicated to helping African countries, companies and individuals achieve their aspirations.

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Here’s an IBM Blue Paper about what it takes to build innovation ecosystems in Africa.

Technorati Tags: africa, IBM

Meet Osamuyimen Stewart: Another Person for a Smarter Planet

Richard Silberman — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 05:01:20 +0000

Uyi Stewart, Chief Scientist, IBM Research-Africa

By Richard Silberman, Writer/Researcher, IBM Communications

When Osamuyimen (Uyi) Stewart left his native Nigeria 23 years ago to attend graduate school at Cambridge University, computer science was still just a concept in Africa. Although Stewart had learned some programming languages in college, he had never actually used a computer to develop an application.

This year, Stewart will return to a very different Africa, moving his family to Nairobi, Kenya to serve as chief scientist at IBM Research-Africa, IBM’s first research lab on the continent. In his new role, which he officially started in August working from the T.J. Watson Research Center in New York, Stewart spearheads innovation for a vast emerging market that is rapidly growing and embracing new technologies.

For Stewart, who previously worked at the IBM Services Innovation Lab and was responsible for technical strategy and program management across eight global labs, his return to Africa is filled with meaning and emotion. Whereas a quarter century ago using an actual computer was just a dream, today Stewart leads development of advanced systems to help solve some of Africa’s most pressing challenges.

Furthermore, one of the mandates of the lab is to nurture IT skills and provide opportunities for young Africans, helping lay the groundwork for Africa to become a global IT leader.

“There is a massive wind of change going on in Africa right now,” Stewart said. “This is my chance to give back and make a difference.”

A lab to leapfrog the competition

Today IBM has locations in more than 20 African countries. IBM Research-Africa is the latest sign of Africa’s importance as a market and potential as a seedbed of innovation. The lab is not only IBM’s first in Africa, but one of the first research facilities for any major IT company on the continent.

“This lab gives us a foothold to develop local solutions to Africa’s challenges in an African way and truly leapfrog the competition,” Stewart said. Solving challenges in an “African way” means understanding and working with African governments; appreciating the nuances of African cultures; and, above all, delivering solutions on a mobile platform.

“Many people don’t have PCs in Africa. They have mobile phones — and only a fraction of those are smart phones,” Stewart said. “How do you innovate and deliver solutions with such infrastructural constraints? That’s the challenge we face and I am so excited about it!”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Eager to innovate on a mobile platform

IBM chose Kenya for this lab because the country is eager to support innovation and has a strong information and communication technology (ICT) policy and history of mobile technology innovation. Nairobi is a key hub for IBM’s business coverage of East African countries.

Kenya is home to the revolutionary M-Pesa mobile payment system, which is used widely across East Africa. Stewart hopes to build upon this foundation of innovation to provide solutions for a host of Africa’s challenges, including water shortages and traffic congestion.

One of Stewart’s first solutions as chief scientist exemplifies his concept of a uniquely African problem and solution. The e-government solution provides crucial information, via mobile phones, about obtaining a Kenyan national ID. The solution also empowers citizens to report corruption in the ID application process.

For Stewart, the opportunity to lead innovation of this nature is a pinnacle of his career. “Everything comes together in this role as chief scientist,” Stewart said. “My focus has always been the interface between human and computer, and now Africa provides a living laboratory to do this work.”

Keeping talent on the continent

Leaving Africa to study or find work in the United States or Europe, as Stewart did years ago, has often been the norm for bright young Africans. IBM Research-Africa is committed to help reverse this exodus of talent through initiatives like its Resident Science Program and collaboration with local universities, government agencies and companies.

“We want to train Africans, help them innovate and keep them here,” Stewart said. “I’m already getting unsolicited emails from Africans in the diaspora who want to come back and be a part of this lab.”

To illustrate the significance of this one new research lab on a huge, complex continent, Stewart cites a southern African word, Ubuntu, which means, “All for one and one for all.”

“As an African, I know that we have 54 countries, but there is truly a shared feeling across the continent of each country being part of a greater whole,” Stewart said. “With IBM Research-Africa, I’m able to return home and be an agent for change. My goodness, I am living out the true African spirit!”

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Read more about IBM’s commitment to Africa.

A Smarter, Healthier Economy Starts with Enabling Small Business

Guest — Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:20:39 +0000

Marcelo Lema, General Manager, Client Financing, IBM Global Financing

By Marcelo Lema

The fact that small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) are a cornerstone of economic recovery and growth is a global truth. In China, SMBs represent two-thirds of the country’s industry, in the European Union, member states have adopted a Small Business Act and in the U.S. they’re the primary source of jobs.

For both mature and growth economies, SMBs are an economic engine, and to fuel their growth, technology is arguably today’s most transformative catalyst. Companies today are gaining competitive advantage through analytics and tackling complex, data-intensive business challenges efficiently and economically through the cloud.

For many SMBs, however, accessing such technology requires not only the resources, but the ability to maintain a healthy cash flow at the same time.

According to the World Economic Forum’s Financial Development Report, more than 90 percent of the countries surveyed said they have not returned to economic pre-crisis levels in terms of their access to capital. This access has been one issue preventing a return to prosperity, at least in the U.S. and China. A National Small Business Association survey indicates that cash flow issues continue to plague a significant number ofAmerica’s small businesses. Among the findings: nearly half of small-business owners report they needed funds at one point in the last four years and were unable to find willing sources.

Meanwhile, in China, Premier Wen Jiabao recently said that banks should prioritize credit support for small businesses and that SMBs should begin to receive preferential tax policies to help foster their growth.

With this environment as a backdrop, IBM Global Financing last year made $1 billion available to IBM Business Partners, who primarily serve SMB clients. The funding was to be spread over an 18-month period, however, it was used up within 12 months, underscoring the SMB’s appetite for capital. To continue the momentum, we recently made $4 billion more available to assist small and medium businesses in their pursuit of new technologies and innovation.

One example of a small business that leveraged new access to funding to fuel growth is Bishop Company, of Whittier, California. This 15-employee tools and equipment distributor serves authorized retailers across the country. With stagnating online sales and a lagging economy, Bishop Company needed to create a stronger online presence to deliver a shopping experience to meet the needs of a younger generation of sophisticated consumers. Working with IBM Business Partner Zobrist Consulting Group, Bishop was able to secure IBM Global Financing within minutes. The online retailer was then able to create a robust site that has become the driving force in its growth and has helped it increase sales by 200 percent.

Bishop found success through technology financing. I urge other established institutions to do the same. When SMBs benefit from financing, technology and growth, we all do.

Technorati Tags: cloud, Global Financing, IBM Smarter Planet, innovation, small business, Smarter Financing

Paving the Road for Electric Cars

Guest — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 12:57:01 +0000

Charles Vincent, Chief Architect, IBM Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities

By Fabienne Guildhary, IBM Communications, Energy & Utilities/Media & Entertainment

Often, history serves as a tool to teach us valuable lessons and help us avoid repeating the same mistakes. As Chief Architect of the IBM Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities, Charles Vincent is leveraging his considerable knowledge of Electric Vehicles (EVs) to better shape the future of transportation.

Charles’ passion for EVs was sparked long before his career in electronic transportation took off. Fascinated by the technology at an early age, Charles devoted a lot of time poring over vintage publications on the subject, such as American Electric Vehicle Association newsletters from the early 1900’s. Then in the 1980’s, Charles got the opportunity to put his knowledge and passion to work.

An early 20th century advertisement for the Baker Motor Vehicle Co.

Today, as an IBMer for 26 years and counting, Charles is a key contributor in the development of smart grid technology. Originally dubbed “intelligent grids,” Charles recognized early on the potential for these systems to adapt and respond to fluctuating energy needs. Even at the beginning stages, Charles and his team had a clear focus: work towards building a “Smarter Energy” infrastructure, one that could support increasing populations, new technologies and other unpredictable circumstances, such as extreme weather. The more the development evolved, Charles began to realize the crucial role the smart grid could play in creating a more EV-friendly environment.

Since then, Charles has seen the general public’s interest in EVs wax and wane, depending largely on fluctuating fuel prices. However, he believes the industry has a strong future.

“I think it’s obvious that plug-in electric vehicles will have a significant presence over the next 10 to 15 years,” he said. “Customers are becoming more aware of the benefits, utility companies are implementing new business strategies that will help support growing EV adoption, and even cities are taking the necessary steps to become “EV friendly.”

To help spur that future on, Charles and his team have developed IBM’s Intelligent Electric Vehicle Enablement Platform, a cloud-based energy solution that streamlines the charging process for utilities and consumers. The platform allows utilities to collect energy data via the EV charge-posts, and as a result, accurately measure energy needs and keep the power grid balanced. While, for consumers, the platform provides flexible payment options in the form of pre-paid billing and pay-per-use accounts – all key aspects in driving EV adoption.

Charles says the EV Enablement Platform is the most challenging project he has undertaken thus far and he’s pleased to see it being applied to smarter EV infrastructures across many countries around the world – including Ireland and in the U.S.

What’s next? Charles hopes to increase EV momentum by working closely with all sectors such as consumers, utilities, automakers and stakeholders, to ensure the EV transition is as smooth as possible. With continued advancements, Charles and his team are preparing to harness smarter energy and leave their mark on transportation history.

Technorati Tags: electric cars, electric utilities, electric vehicles, EV, IBM, IBM electric vehicles, IBM Intelligent Electric Vehicle Enablement Platform

Leading the Charge with Electric Vehicles in Ireland

Guest — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 18:00:24 +0000

David Lee, Executive Partner, IBM Global Business Services, Ireland

By David Lee

Internal combustion engines fueled by petroleum continue to power the vast majority of vehicles around the world and continue to produce the largest percentage of CO2 from the transportation sector.

Since transportation is one of the largest sectors in Europe, it’s no wonder the mission of the European Green Cars Initiative is to support research and development on technologies that help advance such things as renewable, non-polluting energy, transportation safety, and traffic flow. In other words, the group’s objective is to help create a smarter, greener, integrated transport system.

As part of this effort is a campaign to increase the number of electric cars on our roads.

The benefits of electric cars go beyond transportation. By adopting more sustainable transport methods such as electric vehicles (EVs), we could save kilotons of C02 each year while achieving annual net cost savings for consumers and governments, alike. EVs offer a viable solution to the problems faced byEurope’s auto sector.

Yet, the introduction of any new technology such as electric cars requires extensive research and pilot projects. In Ireland, ESB Networks is involved in a number of trials and projects to analyze the charging infrastructure and collect data on ongoing consumer behaviors and trends.

ESB Networks is also a member of the Green eMotion research project that aims to develop and deploy interoperable charging solutions for electro-mobility across Europe. This project focuses on achieving mass-market adoption of EVs through the development of standards, policies and interoperable systems so that motorists can easily charge their vehicles anytime and anywhere throughout Europe.

The selection of Ireland as one of the ten demonstration regions within Green eMotion was an obvious one, since it already operates an advanced charge point network that covers 82 percent of the country’s main towns and cities.

To be sure, Ireland has many natural advantages that make it an ideal location for the successful adoption of EVs. There are short distances between urban centres, we have the capacity to generate high levels of renewable energy, we have a single service provider that operates a unified distribution network across the country, and we have high levels of home ownership for overnight charging.

In addition to all of this, there is a growing desire by Irish consumer to maintain a responsible lifestyle and to embrace the EV opportunity. For example, in June 2012, ESB Networks invited citizens and organizations to apply to join a team of EV ambassadors and drive an electric car for one year. The hugely positive response of more than 12,000 applicants highlighted the level of interest the has in this innovative driving technology.

In support of this campaign, ESB Networks, in collaboration with IBM, which has worked extensively on EV technologies including batteries, is implementing a charging infrastructure as well as the IT and communications systems needed to support EVs across Ireland. Beginning this month, the system will have open accessibility for all energy supply companies and all types of electric vehicles.

(Left to Right) Peter O’Neill, IBM Country General Manager, Ireland; ESB Chief Executive, Pat O’Doherty; and Allan Schurr, Vice President, Strategy and Development of IBM’s Global Energy and Utilities Industry, announce joint partnership in which IBM will help ESB ecars implement a fully-integrated smarter charging IT system. The system will manage electric vehicle public charge points, which are being rolled out across Ireland by ESB ecars. The IBM EV platform will enable EV drivers to select convenient payment options and access all charge points using a single ID card.

Technorati Tags: Battery 500, electric vehicle, electric vehicles, green energy, ireland, sustainability

Transforming Indian Cities: How to rein in the wrath of rain gods?

Guest — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 04:12:02 +0000

This is part of a series on how India cities are transforming to become smarter.

By Dhamodaran Ramakrishnan, Director, Smarter Planet Solutions, IBM India/South Asia

How can we rein in the wrath of torrential rains, and be better prepared even before they strike havoc disrupting city life? Well, when heavy rains lash the cities, causing traffic snarls, hit train and other services, we are forced to venture out of inertia. It’s time to wear the thinking hat. Why can’t our cities get accurate and timely weather forecasts that matter? How are cities across the world dealing with such a scenario?

Consider this…Life in Mumbai was thrown out of gear as the city received the heaviest rainfall of the season. Many local trains were cancelled or delayed, major roads got submerged and citizens returning home or going to hospital got stranded on roads and in trains – causing much public agony. Citizens were caught unaware till they hit the roads, only to get stuck.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Is there a way technology could be leveraged to prevent such recurring incidents that causes widespread public agony? Can our cities weatherproof the day to day operations to avoid such disasters? It’s great to know how the weather is going to be in our city two days from now. But, what does it take to devise a system that can help better prepare to fight such emergency? The challenge is while traditional weather forecasting can predict general weather conditions with some accuracy, it doesn’t always give government agencies and utilities the kind of information they can take action on.

Predicting the weather for a specific location down to a square kilometer, and how it will affect the people and infrastructure there, is a tough computing problem. And it’s that sort of hyper-local forecasting that advanced technologies like Deep Thunder can provide. This can offer high–resolution forecasts for a region, ranging from a metropolitan area up to an entire state, with calculations as fine as every kilometer, including the impact of the weather.

Advanced supercomputing models can help our cities leverage short-term forecasts, predicting everything from where flooding and downed power lines will likely occur to where winds will be too high. Forecasts are made up to a few days ahead of time. The reports can be customized to visualize the specific weather elements or impacts a business may be concerned about, such as wind speed and direction for a disaster management crew.

Significantly, what needs to be beefed up is not really about the weather. It’s about improving the effectiveness of a city’s weather–sensitive operations, such as emergency management, traffic management, asset management or logistics, and business continuity with very specific, up–to–the minute information.

Consider this. IBM deployed Deep Thunder for the government of Rio De Janeiro, which is used in a new operations center, designed to help the city adequately prepare people for flash floods. This was in response to catastrophic floods that occurred in April 2010. Located in Cidade Nova, the center integrates and interconnects information from multiple government departments and public agencies in the municipality to improve city safety and responsiveness to various types of incidents, such as flash floods and landslides.

Consolidating data from various urban systems for real-time visualization, monitoring and analysis, such sophisticated technologies can provide City’s incident commander and responders with a single, unified view of everything happening around the city on a video wall, including surveillance cameras, maps, simulations, news updates, resources and information that they require for situational awareness.

Certainly, if only the city planners can know with accuracy what the weather will be ahead of time, they can more effectively plan effective travel conduits, avoid traffic accidents, logistics for a sports event or a live entertainment show, emergency operations, including back–up operations. This necessitates using weather analytics to optimize our citizen-centric service chain by planning around adverse weather conditions, reducing delays, protecting and maximizing use of valuable assets, and streamlining scheduling. It’s time to act smarter, and act collectively to embrace proven technologies to beef up our cities integrated response systems.

Let not the wettest day leave us high and dry as rains are there to enjoy….

Technorati Tags: Deep Thunder, IBM, india, weather

Innovation or Investments: What can transform the cities in India?

Guest — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 04:30:16 +0000

by Sreeram Ananthasayanam, Associate Partner, Government & Education, IBM Global Business Services, India

Smarter Cities are defined as cities that provide sustainable economic growth and enhanced quality of life by leveraging information to make better decisions, anticipating problems to resolve them proactively, and, coordinating resources and processes to operate effectively.

How can cities become Smart by leveraging what they have? What kind of investments do we need to build a transformed city? Often, the thrust is on the kind of investment that needs to be pumped in to start the journey. 1 Trillion USD? You guessed it wrong.

There is a common misconception that “Smart Cities” would need tons of IT investment. While this is a truth to reach the nirvana stage, our city leaders can take small actionable steps in the right direction to imbibe smartness. What is required is a systemic thinking and a governance mechanism to engage citizens and the available infrastructure with common-sense tools to start on the journey of smart. Typically, cities have the highest mobile density and broadband penetration, and it is very easy to put these technologies to use to make cities smarter.

A strong collective will to use our resources optimally, and create infinite value out of it, can begin the journey towards a transformed planet, And, all this can be achieved by the innovative applications of the existing technologies, and available resources. How do we attain that? This needs better synergy between the ecosystem of city planners, municipalities, public and private entities.

Driving our cities as engines of economic growth would require an integrated approach, coupled with instrumentation, interconnectedness and intelligence. The above may seem to suggest that there is a need for strong infrastructure and instrumentation on top of it, so that cities can be viewed as a system of systems and can be managed accordingly.

Consider this. What do we get when social business can be put to use for citizen government interactions? The low hanging fruits on the journey to become a smarter city.

Some of the following examples cite some interesting innovations and how social business can be harnessed in the journey to smart. Imagine a scenario where there is mobile app that allows people to take photo of energy meter readings and upload to the utilities company’s website. On one hand, the citizens get a monetary discount and on the other the utility company gets accurate readings without investing in foot soldiers.

Think of a scenario where there is an app that allows people to take photos of violations (of any kind – traffic, unauthorized power tapping, water leakages and so on), geo tag it and upload to a website. Apart from allowing for faster resolution, this allows to create a pressure point on the local administration based on the number of complaints that come from any specific area (e.g. ward).

Another scenario could be where the traffic police can seek feedback on proposed one way rules (which is aplenty in many cities) or seek feedback on how to decongest certain stretches.

Well, the possibilities are enormous, and endless are the opportunities – all it takes is thought leadership and some jugaad innovation. Few steps in the right direction will ignite citizen participation in governance and that can be a self-propelling machine that takes a city to smarter level. Are we ready?

Check out other ideas for progress at India Onward, an IBM India initiative.

Technorati Tags: Crowd Sourcing, Growth Markets, india, Smarter Cities