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University aims to resolve community problems

Sibahle Malinga
By Sibahle Malinga, ITWeb senior news journalist.
Johannesburg, 13 Nov 2015
UJ professor Bhekisipho Twala says the new project aims to resolve issues around safety, entrepreneurship and other challenges faced by local communities.
UJ professor Bhekisipho Twala says the new project aims to resolve issues around safety, entrepreneurship and other challenges faced by local communities.

For generations, scientists attempted to create a substitute that can perform the same tasks as a human. The arrival of the computer helped scientists progress quickly towards this goal, but is this ultimately possible?

"In the advent of rapidly advancing technology, it is now possible to create computer-based human-like thought processes that can solve complex problems based on big data," says professor Bhekisipho Twala, head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Science at the University of Johannesburg (UJ).

He says this is the mission of the latest project established by the UJ Institute for Intelligent Systems (IIS), which will partner with industry, government and communities on various initiatives aimed at dismantling big data problems for the economic benefit of South Africa.

"We'll be partnering with most of the universities in the country and numerous corporates, including corporate banking and financial institutions such as Standard Bank and the National Institutes of Health. Numerous other agencies expected to come aboard include the Institute of Education Sciences and government, with the intent to resolve many socio-economic challenges faced by communities while creating a positive impact for business stakeholders," says Twala, who is also director of the institute.

This project will bring together researchers from UJ and many different research areas in the field of cognitive sciences, including biology, communication sciences, computer science, education, engineering, linguistics, philosophy, physics, and psychology.

In terms of research, the institute will focus on systems intelligence (SI) and cognitive computing, big data analytics and deep learning, digital revolution and machine, learning and industrial application of intelligent systems (IS).

"A good example of an IS would be determining if borrowers are likely to default on their loans from past experiences. This in turn affects whether the loans are approved or not," he explains.

He says similar concepts of SI will be adopted and applied to business process development, in order to enhance automated workflows. "Such systems are deployed at banks in SA to deal with the huge numbers of financial transactions generated every day and also to determine credit risk."

Talking about how communities will benefit from other initiatives, Twala says solving application complexity and building systems integration will resolve issues around safety and security around the country.

He adds another priority on the list is developing IS that are cost-effective, sustainable and support business models for new entrepreneurs.

The professor emphasises the Internet of things is a transformative development which affects our everyday lives.

"Technologies that could allow literally billions of everyday objects to communicate with each other over the Internet have enormous potential to change our lives.

"These technologies are a way of boosting productivity, keeping us healthier, making transport more efficient, and making our homes more comfortable."

Anticipating future innovations in this field, he says we should expect to see electricity meters that talk to the power grid to get the best deals, health monitors that keep an eye on our heart rate, or even cars that avoid congestion and opt for alternative routes.

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