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IBM to pump R700m into SA innovation

Nicola Mawson
By Nicola Mawson, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 06 Feb 2015
At the heart of IBM's R700 million investment is a research lab, for which it has great expectations. (Artist's impression.)
At the heart of IBM's R700 million investment is a research lab, for which it has great expectations. (Artist's impression.)

Global tech giant IBM will invest R700 million over the next 10 years on research, bursaries and support for the local scientific community; a move described by science and technology minister Naledi Pandor as a first for the country.

The investment forms part of an equity equivalency programme, which sees the company invest in SA instead of selling a stake of its local entity to boost its empowerment status. As part of the investment, IBM will provide bursaries for science students from undergrad to masters level, support start-up and maturing tech companies to get to the next stage, and set up a research lab, says IBM SA executive Gavin Pieterse.

Pieterse says the lab is "at the heart" of IBM's 10-year commitment to SA and its programme is a "natural next step" for the company that has been in SA for more than 55 years. "This is where the tyres hit the road."

A milestone

Pandor says the investment matters to SA because this is the first time an international company has chosen to invest in research and development as part of an equity equivalency programme. She notes the lab will be located in one of 12 countries outside the US to receive this accolade. "We welcome IBM Research to South Africa and offer our very best scientific talent to ensure its long-term success."

IBM's new lab forms part of its research initiative, which is now 70 years old and boasts more than 3 000 researchers in 12 labs located across six continents, and its scientists have produced six Nobel Laureates. Its African expansion started in 2013 when the first lab opened in Nairobi, Kenya.

Head of IBM's new research lab Solomon Assefa stands inside the location of the new lab, which used to be a night club.
Head of IBM's new research lab Solomon Assefa stands inside the location of the new lab, which used to be a night club.

The South African lab, which will launch in April, will focus on big data, cloud and mobile technologies, and will also create new technologies for global consumption, says senior VP of IBM Solutions Portfolio and Research, Dr John Kelly III. It will be based at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) at its Tshimologong Precinct in the re-emerging Johannesburg area of Braamfontein.

Collaborative approach

IBM's lab, which will collaborate with the Department of Science and Technology as well as the Council for Industrial and Scientific Research, will focus on nationally-defined issues such as digital urban renewal, transforming healthcare, big data and big science - including collaborating with scientists at the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project.

Kelly says IBM's decision to place labs is based on the availability of skills and talent, and the country's ability to work on pressing business and societal challenges "that can be best addressed through advanced information technology". He notes SA "provides an exciting backdrop as we look to expand our research efforts in the region".

Pandor notes it is "essential to increase research and development activities" to foster innovation and support the further diversification of the economy.

IBM's local researchers will partner with South African universities, research institutions, innovation centres, start-ups and government agencies, in a bid to bolster SA's emerging innovation ecosystem and help develop next-generation technology skills.

IBM's investment is the first time an international company has used its equity equivalency programme to invest in R&D, says science and technology minister Naledi Pandor.
IBM's investment is the first time an international company has used its equity equivalency programme to invest in R&D, says science and technology minister Naledi Pandor.

Professor Adam Habib, Wits vice-chancellor, says IBM's decision to locate a research lab in Johannesburg "will give a huge boost to a dynamic community of programmers, designers, developers, entrepreneurs and start-ups".

The local research team will be led by Dr Solomon Assefa, formerly a research scientist at IBM's flagship Thomas J Watson Research Centre in New York. His pedigree includes having co-authored more than 50 scientific articles and having created 45 patents. He was named one of the World's Top Young Innovators under 35 by MIT's Technology Review in 2011 and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Last year, he was named a Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

IBM's new lab will tackle:

1. Digital urban renewal
The lab's inner-city location will allow IBM's new researchers to form part of a "living lab" that will explore the role of advanced digital technologies and big data analytics in urban renewal. IBM's researchers and partner organisations will develop solutions using computational modelling, Internet of things and cognitive systems to engage more effectively with citizens and help revitalise inner-city areas in SA and around the world.

2. Helping to transform healthcare
The local researchers will explore new approaches using big data analytics and cognitive computing to increase the efficiency, scalability and effectiveness of healthcare in resource-constrained environments in South Africa and across the African continent.

3. Big data for big science
IBM's researchers will also contribute to the SKA radio telescope project which aims to answer fundamental questions about the origins of the universe. Scientists from South Africa will work with those from ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy and IBM Research Zurich to collect and analyse "unprecedented" amounts of big data from deep space that contain information dating back to the Big Bang more than 13 billion years ago.

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