IBM today unveiled plans to invest R700-million over the next 10 years in an expansion of IBM Research – Africa with a new laboratory in Johannesburg.
The announcement was made this morning by Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor and Dr John Kelly, senior vice-president of IBM Solutions Portfolio and Research and Professor Zeblon Vilikazi, deputy vice-chancellor for research at Wits University.
The new lab, which will open in April 2015, will focus on advancing big data, cloud and mobile technologies to support South Africa’s national priorities, drive skills development and foster innovation-based economic growth.
The new facility will be based at Wits and is part of a 10-year investment program through the Department of Trade and Industry and working closely with the Department of Science and Technology.
IBM SA’s Gavin Pieterse points out that IBM has a long history in South Africa, and has invested in the region through the years, through data centres, a massive delivery centre, an innovation centre and, more recently, a client centre.
Investment in the new research lab is being made as part of the DTI’s BEE Equity Equivalence programme, and will be accompanied by programmes to foster new business, particularly with black women, and helping start-ups, particularly in the area of ICT in health.
“At the heart of the investment is the research lab,” Piesterse says. “If you really want to be a game changer you need to have that as an engine.”
Minister Pandor adds that South Africa will become one of just 12 countries outside the US with an IBM Research Lab, and will focus on smart decision analytics, cloud and next-generation infrastructure.
“This is the first time we have an international company investing in R&D through the BEE equity equivalence programme,” she says, adding that the NDP envisages ICT underpinning a dynamic, inclusive and prosperous information society.
“This morning we are thrilled to celebrate this valuable partnership with the private sector which will help us access world-class research and capacity and help us put into action the relevant co-operation programme.”
Minister Pandor adds: “South Africa is amongst the most technologically and scientifically advanced countries in the world. However, it is essential to increase research and development activities in order to foster innovation and support the further diversification of the economy. We welcome IBM Research to South Africa and offer our very best scientific talent to ensure its long-term success.”
Dr Kelly says there were three main factors the determined the location of the IBM Research Lab in South Africa, and Johannesburg in particular.
The first of these is the availability of technical talent. “As a research organisation you are nothing more than the researchers in your lab,” Dr Kelly says. “We decided that here in South Africa and Johannesburg we have outstanding talent on the ground and will be able to attract top talent from around the world.”
The second factor is partnerships. “We need to partner with top universities and with government. This gives us the eco-system to make the lab successful.”
The final factor is the existence of big problems and challenges that require truly innovative solutions, says Dr Kelly. “We decided there are tremendous opportunities in urban development and other areas, as well as the biggest data-generating project in the world, the SKA.”
He adds that IBM Research has invented almost every major technology in the ICT industry over the last century.
“The people we employ are world class. Our researchers hold six Nobel prizes, 10 medals of technology, five national medals of science and six Turing awards – so we have world class innovators. This is the kind of talent we want to develop in South Africa.
We generate immense amounts of IP,” Dr Kelly adds. “IBM Research has been the world leader for 22 years in patents. Every day IBM is awarded 20 patents on average.”
Not only with the researchers in the new lab have access to the intellectual property of 3 500 researchers around the world, but innovation coming out of the Johannesburg lab can be quickly globalised, he adds.
IBM’s South Africa researchers will partner with local universities, research institutions, innovation centres, start-ups and government agencies, thus bolstering South Africa’s emerging innovation ecosystem and helping to develop next generation technology skills.
The company has already struck up agreements with Wits University, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to collaborate on research programmes and skills
development.
“The development of a successful innovation ecosystem is crucial to the further development of the South African economy and the country’s international competitiveness,” says Prof Habib. “IBM Research’s decision to locate in Johannesburg will give a huge boost to a dynamic community of programmers, designers, developers, entrepreneurs and start-ups.”
The new lab will be located in the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein.
The new South Africa research team will be led by Dr Solomon Assefa, formerly a research scientist at IBM’s flagship Thomas J Watson Research Centre in Yorktown Heights, New York. Dr Assefa has co-authored over 50 scientific articles and has 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.
Aligned with areas of strategic national importance, the lab’s focus areas will include:
* 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. Mobile technologies, global positioning systems, cameras and sensors are becoming ubiquitous in cities, thereby providing opportunities to re-imagine the delivery of services such as transportation, energy and security. IBM’s researches and partner organisations will develop solutions using computational modelling, Internet of Things and cognitive systems to engage more effectively with citizens and help revitalize inner-city areas in South Africa and around the world.
* Helping to transform healthcare – IBM’s South Africa-based 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. IBM Research is already engaged with the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH) to research new treatment approaches to fight tuberculosis (TB). Using Big Data technologies in bacterial genetics and drug susceptibility tests, the work is increasing understanding of the genomic mechanisms that cause resistance to antibiotics.
* Big data for big science – IBM’s new researchers will also contribute to the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope project which aims to answer fundamental questions about the origins of the universe. In one of the most ambitious science efforts ever launched, 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.
IBM has operated in Africa for almost 100 years. Today, its operations span 24 countries, including South Africa, Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana, Angola, Kenya and Tanzania. IBM’s first African research lab was opened in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013.
