Image: Nasa The design for Africa2Moon, the African radio telescope selected to fly to the lunar south pole aboard China’s Chang’e-8 mission in 2029, has been published in Nature Astronomy. The paper sets out how the instrument is meant to work – and the mechanism is stranger than the mission summary suggested. The three Bounced…
AI presents teaching opportunities, but VUT warns universities need stronger governance, ethical guidelines and lecturer training. (Image created via ChatGPT) Artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in higher learning, teaching and assessment is outpacing the policies, skills and ethical safeguards needed to govern it responsibly, according to research presented by Vaal University of Technology (VUT). The study,…
A large executive sedan has to do two things. It has to be comfortable, and it has to be comfortable competing for road space with the ubiquitous SUV. At R1.8-million for the ES90 Ultra I drove, the stakes are higher still, because it also has to justify the asking price. It does. The ES90 is,…
Solly Malatsi, minister of communications and digital technologies. The state of governance in some entities within the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) portfolio remains a pain point, says minister Solly Malatsi. The DCDT portfolio comprises 11 state-owned enterprises: Broadband Infraco, Film and Publications Board, Independent Communications Authority of SA, NEMISA, Postbank, the South…
Airtel Africa has switched on what it says is Africa’s first commercial direct-to-phone satellite service, going live in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 14 August in partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Branded Starlink Mobile, it lets Airtel DRC customers with a compatible LTE Android smartphone connect straight to Starlink’s low-Earth orbit satellites, which act…
The Department of Public Service and Administration wants to establish a training programme for information security officers across the public sector. National Treasury’s eTenders Portal offers a mixed bag this week, with a broad range of public sector requirements spanning software, hardware and services. It is a tender from the Department of Public Service and…
Sars has published a long-awaited consultation paper on VAT modernisation, setting out a five-corner e-invoicing model intended to pre-fill VAT returns and, in time, automate VAT assessment. The detail that will surprise many businesses is the timeline: on the road map Sars has published, no vendor is required to do anything until the 2030s. The…
South Africa’s growing shortage of engineering and information technology skills is putting pressure on the country’s infrastructure, digital economy and innovation ambitions. The Ikusasa Student Financial Aid Programme (ISFAP) is calling for stronger collaboration between government, schools, universities, industry and funders to help address the gap. Source: Supplied. Recent reports indicate that only 42% of…
Tapiwa Mudungwe, iOCO business unit manager: data and analytics. South African businesses are racing to adopt AI, advanced analytics and automation, but many organisations are finding that their investments aren’t delivering the outcomes they expected. This is particularly true in projects where the outcomes required are in fact critical business insights or autonomous AI agents….
The communications department has told parliament that no date has been set for South Africa’s analogue television switch-off, and that it is concerned communities may believe otherwise. Director-general Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani told the portfolio committee on communications & digital technologies on Friday, 14 August, that a date would be considered only after engagements with stakeholders had…
