Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Egypt and South Africa link up for telecoms R&DCAIRO: Tuesday, 2nd May. 2004
By Guy Berger
Highway Africa News Agency
Countries at the tips of South and North of Africa linked up yesterday (1 May) with a memorandum of co-operation between two university-based technology research centres based in South Africa and Egypt.
The partnership is between telecoms-related institutes attached to the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, and Cairo University (CU). The signing of the memorandum is timed to coincide with the Africa Telecom conference taking place in the Egyptian capital.
As a result of the agreement, there will be visits, video-conferences and joint projects to pool the power of the two bodies in developing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Africa.
South Africa’s Telkom and Alcatel are the driving forces behind UKZN’s eight-year-old Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Wireless Radio Technologies which signed the agreement for the South African side.
The Egyptian partner is the Digital Communications System Centre of Excellence, which is based within CU’s Development Research and Social Technology Planning Centre - a 25-year-old facility that does market-driven research and consultancy.
At a signing ceremony in Cairo, UKZN’s CoE head Prof Fambirai Takawiri said his 40 post-graduate students were researching what he calls “4th generation” wireless Internet. These would allow speeds of 100 megabits a second, compared to 3rd generation rates of 2mb a second.
His counterpart in Cairo, Prof Osman Lofty El Sayed, said that the start of the partnership was an important example of South-South co-operation. “It brings universities into development issues and co-operation with industry,” he added.
Telkom’s Chief Technology Officer, Reuben September, told the occasion that the South African centre was one of 14 supported by Telkom. “We need solutions on a continental scale,” he said. The partnership symbolised north and southern Africa wrapping arms around a continent that shared similar problems. “We need our collective power and a synergistic approach to resolve these problems,” he said.
Referring to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), September said that this continental initiative would not succeed if it stayed only with governments. It needed levels such as the partnership evident in the memorandum of co-operation.
Alcatel SA CEO Thoko Mokgosi said her company’s involvement with the South African CoE was driven by the quest for African technology solutions and to build skills for the sector. Her company has contributed R3m to the UKZN centre and would continue to support it.
“What’s in it for Alcatel?” she asked. “The answer is that if you don’t help build solutions and skills, you may as well be outside the industry.”
Highway Africa reports from Cairo are made possible with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Editorial decisions are solely the responsibility of Highway Africa.
By Guy Berger
Highway Africa News Agency
Countries at the tips of South and North of Africa linked up yesterday (1 May) with a memorandum of co-operation between two university-based technology research centres based in South Africa and Egypt.
The partnership is between telecoms-related institutes attached to the University of Kwazulu-Natal (UKZN) in Durban, and Cairo University (CU). The signing of the memorandum is timed to coincide with the Africa Telecom conference taking place in the Egyptian capital.
As a result of the agreement, there will be visits, video-conferences and joint projects to pool the power of the two bodies in developing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Africa.
South Africa’s Telkom and Alcatel are the driving forces behind UKZN’s eight-year-old Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Wireless Radio Technologies which signed the agreement for the South African side.
The Egyptian partner is the Digital Communications System Centre of Excellence, which is based within CU’s Development Research and Social Technology Planning Centre - a 25-year-old facility that does market-driven research and consultancy.
At a signing ceremony in Cairo, UKZN’s CoE head Prof Fambirai Takawiri said his 40 post-graduate students were researching what he calls “4th generation” wireless Internet. These would allow speeds of 100 megabits a second, compared to 3rd generation rates of 2mb a second.
His counterpart in Cairo, Prof Osman Lofty El Sayed, said that the start of the partnership was an important example of South-South co-operation. “It brings universities into development issues and co-operation with industry,” he added.
Telkom’s Chief Technology Officer, Reuben September, told the occasion that the South African centre was one of 14 supported by Telkom. “We need solutions on a continental scale,” he said. The partnership symbolised north and southern Africa wrapping arms around a continent that shared similar problems. “We need our collective power and a synergistic approach to resolve these problems,” he said.
Referring to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), September said that this continental initiative would not succeed if it stayed only with governments. It needed levels such as the partnership evident in the memorandum of co-operation.
Alcatel SA CEO Thoko Mokgosi said her company’s involvement with the South African CoE was driven by the quest for African technology solutions and to build skills for the sector. Her company has contributed R3m to the UKZN centre and would continue to support it.
“What’s in it for Alcatel?” she asked. “The answer is that if you don’t help build solutions and skills, you may as well be outside the industry.”
Highway Africa reports from Cairo are made possible with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. Editorial decisions are solely the responsibility of Highway Africa.
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