In accordance with their support for open source software and technological independence, the Venezuelan government recently launched the ‘Bolivarian Computer.’ The computers, which are assembled locally, come in four different models, all of which run on Linux. The computer is about 40% cheaper than other similar brands, but has added value since it comes with open-source software and a three year guarantee, while other brands offer only a one-year guarantee. The Venezuelan government, which has taken a strong position in support of open-source software, hopes that this venture will develop local industry and work towards technological independence for the country. The Venezuelan initiative follows in the wake of Brazil’s declared desire to create a ‘continent of open source’. The new computers are produced as a joint venture by Venezuela de Industria Tecnológica (VIT), which is owned by the Chinese company, Inspur Group, and the Venezuelan ministry of light industry and commerce. This year, the factory is expected to assemble 80 000 desktop units and 6 000 laptops. The factory can potentially produce 150 000 units a year. The first units have been donated to the public sector, including universities and various government departments and missions, but the new computers will also be sold both inside Venezuela and on the export market.
Earlier this month open source veteran Dwayne Bailey, who also heads the award-winning Translate.org.za project addressed an Open Tuesday gathering on the topic of translating software. The rationale behind the importance of translating software was that, as South Africans with English as a first or second language, we tend to focus on the USA and the UK. For anyone looking to market their software beyond the South African market, it is to these countries that people generally approach first. The problem is that these countries have well established and highly competitive markets. Moreover, English is only the third most spoken language in the world, leaving vast opportunity for software in other languages. In particular, countries in the East have enormous potential as a rapidly growing market with an appetite for open source software (OSS). However, to enter these markets, a lot of careful attention must be paid to the format in which the software is developed. Many encoding formats are limited in their ability to represent some characters, such as the ISO8859, which is used in most South African documents. Bailey recommended the Unicode format as it allocates a specific code to each of the many characters used in the languages of the world. In his experience, it is the only format that can correctly represent Venda. Another issue in translation relates to the representation of dates and numbers. One example was the USA's 9/11 event, which did not happen on November 9, as our own dating system would suggest. Bailey is on the committee that will be meeting with the SABS to discuss and vote on whether or not Microsoft's OOXML document format should be accepted as a standard. Presently Microsoft is moving to have its format accepted as an international standard.
The world’s fastest residential internet connection has been installed in Sweden. The connection makes use of a new modulation technique which allows data to be transferred between two routers up to 2 000 kilometres apart, with no intermediary transponders. In theory the distance could be unlimited as long as the fibre is in place. The 40Gbps internet connection is over 10 000 times faster than the 4Mbps which is the fastest connection available in South Africa. With the bandwidth available, it would be able to download a full high definition DVD in just two seconds.
An early version of the Linux-based OpenMoko NEO 1973 has been released to allow developers to begin writing applications and device drivers. With the slogan ‘The clean form fits your fist. The open system frees your mind,’ the NEO has been optimistically punted by some as a potential iPhone killer. However, it is unlikely to compete with iPhone's popularity and trendy image built on the back of its worldwide multi-million dollar marketing campaign. It is perhaps more realistic to describe it as an iPhone injurer. The phone has been criticised by some for not being as slick looking as the iPhone; however, for the average Linux supporter its functionality and open-ended customisation are likely to make it attractive none-the-less. The consumer version will be available in October, with the addition of wifi, 3D motion sensors and graphics accelerators, at a price of $450 (about R3 100).
In Africa, few can afford broadband Internet services; nonetheless demand is so great among those who can, that mobile operators feel they have a viable business case for third generation technology in the continent's big cities. According to some market players 3G, which delivers high-speed data to cellphones, is the best way of providing fast Internet service in countries where viable fixed-line infrastructure is often scarce and millions of people are unable to access the web. At least 15 mobile operators in Africa either operate or have announced plans to launch 3G services, including existing networks in South Africa, Egypt and Tanzania and others planned in Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria. However, a chief executive of an African operator said the expense of rolling out a new network to run 3G services did not make good business sense on a continent with the lowest average revenue per user in the world. According to some estimates, only 5% of subscribers in Africa used 3G voice and data service by the end of 2006. But a Rwandan operator said demand for Internet access would rise in coming years as literacy rose and prices fell. He said Rwanda had already embarked on a project to connect 300 schools, most in rural areas, to broadband Internet service using wireless technology. This, says Chris Lundh, chief executive for Rwanda's Terracom and Rwandatel, is ‘the perfect road. Lots of people cannot read. What we are trying to do is kill two birds with one stone - provide Internet access for people to get an education on line.’
Despite a sharp increase in investment in recent years, Africa's communications network remains sparse and sluggish. This has prompted the UN's telecommunication agency, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to call for a ‘Marshall plan’ to boost ICT connectivity on the continent. While annual investment in Africa's telecoms infrastructure reached $8b in 2005, up from $3.5b in 2000, this has manifested mainly in a fivefold growth in cellphones, while overall connectivity to key communications networks, including the Internet, was lagging far behind the rest of the world, including Asia and Latin America (less than 4% of Africans had access to the Internet, compared to an average of 9% for the developing world). Access to high-capacity broadband – conventionally regarded as a key economic and developmental driver – is less than 1% in Africa. These shortcomings in telecoms infrastructure are becoming a major factor in raising the costs of doing business in Africa, since 70% of all Internet traffic within Africa has to be routed through networks outside the continent. The ITU is organising a Connect Africa summit in Rwanda on October 29 and 30, involving the private sector, governments and international organisations, to promote communications growth on the continent.
A recently-released study by World Wide Worx, entitled ‘Internet access in SA 2007’ shows that despite significant growth in broadband connectivity, the number of South Africans with access to the Internet will grow by barely 3% this year – the slowest annual growth since the advent of Internet in South Africa. This will take the number of South Africans with access to an estimated 3.85m, or a rather low 8% of the population. Businesses and government claim that high tariffs for phone calls and Internet use are deterring investment in South Africa, and obstructing the roll-out of communication services to the poor. The study also concludes that the entry of new major players such as Neotel, Vodacom’s own pending new ISP, and the effect of metropolitan city councils offering wireless broadband are likely to result in a substantially changed connectivity landscape by 2010, but not in 2007.
According to Rudi Jansen, chief executive of Internet service provider MWeb, South Africa's IT industry is facing a huge skills shortage and unless radical changes are implemented in its resourcing strategy, the industry will soon be left high and dry. Addressing the skills shortage crisis is the most critical challenge faced by the IT industry, he says. ‘We are competing for a scarce pool of resources ...Many IT companies cannot afford to compete at the same level as big corporations such as the banks and cellular providers when it comes to financial benefits, which means skilled staff are even harder to come by ...Traditionally, many companies see learnerships as a corporate social investment (CSI) initiative - almost a donation towards skills development...
For us, it's a strategic imperative, and part of our creation of a pool of resources. It's a feeder scheme for many of our strategic areas... We have approximately 80 people in learnerships throughout the business in 2007, and we would like to double this over the next year, as the sector continues to demand highly skilled people.’ As part of MWeb's learnership programme, participants receive classroom theory and workplace experience.
The department of science and technology’s 4th R&D survey shows that gross expenditure on R&D has increased by R2b since 2004/05, to reach R14b. As a share of GDP, R&D spending increased from 0.87% in 2004/05 to a new high of 0.91% in 2005/06. If current trends persist, the 1% target should be achieved by 2008/09. Whilst this figure compares favourably with those for Hungary (0.94%), Portugal (0.81%), Brazil (1%) and Russia (1.1%), it lags far behind countries such as Sweden (3.86%) and Finland (3.48%). What is encouraging about the South African figures is the fact that business sector R&D spending is growing at a brisk pace, now accounting for about 59% of the total. The government sector and the higher education sector each account for roughly 20% of R&D spending. The total headcount of R&D personnel, including technicians, PhD and post-doctoral students, stands at 39 000.
Despite a 10% reduction last year, the cost of fixed-line calls in South Africa ranks third-highest in the world; this continues to compromise the ability of South African organisations to compete in the world’s major markets. Andrew Skaap, MD of Skaap, a subscription-based reduced-rate international call company states: ‘Companies like Skaap are offering reduced rates overseas from cellphones at a fraction of the cost that Telkom charges in spite of a number of commercial challenges relating to the use of Telkom’s infrastructure for bandwidth and access numbers. Surely if Skaap can do it, Telkom can’.
Initiated by the department of science and technology (DST), the Centre for High Performance Computing (CHPC) was recently officially opened in Cape Town by the minister of science and technology. The high-speed computational infrastructure, which has a performance equivalent to that of a few thousand standard desktop personal computers, would make scientific 'supercomputing' a reality for South Africa, the department said in a statement. It should be particularly advantageous to South African researchers in their quest for new knowledge and application. The project is the result of a collaborative initiative involving inter alia the DST, the CSIR, higher education institutions, government departments, major national projects, industry players, vendors and international HPC centres.
Described as a first for Europe, German public libraries recently began issuing audiobooks and e- books for loan via the Internet. As part of the pilot scheme, initially nearly 10 000 titles will be available for download from the public-library systems in the port city of Hamburg and the southern city of Wuerzburg to subscribers' personal computers. Users can ‘borrow’ titles online at any time of the day and night. After five days, the items expire and become unusable. The audio and video files employ Microsoft's WMA encoding and can be played on computers and other devices using Windows software. According to the director of the Hamburg Public Library System, libraries needed to compete with online retailer Amazon, offering loans to customers who did not want to buy.
Ioltechnology reports that Oracle has released Oracle School Express (OSE), which is software designed to assist in school administration. It is a data-capturing and reporting tool that enables school administrators to capture student statistics (eg, registrations, attendance, marks and school fees). By reducing the administrative burden of educators, it is hoped that they will be able to shift their focus to the delivery of education. The software release, which runs on a standard PC (but can be plugged into a larger database), is part of the Nepad e-Schools Demonstration Project.