October 2013 - Namibia Computing Technologies

Rwanda rolls out free wireless broadband, when will Namibia follow?

The Rwandan government last month rolled out an ambitious plan to cover 95% of the country’s landscape with free 4g broadband access. Starting with covering the lush rolling hills of Kigali with hotspots in their ‘Smart Kigali’ project, the country aims to transform itself into an ICT hub for East Africa and get rid of the usual connotations associated with its recent history. The country partnered with South Korean KT Corp to roll out the 4g network and access is granted freely in line with a new business model they are testing in the hopes that the Rwandan economy will grow fast and strong enough to justify the resources spent on providing free wireless broadband access. Continue reading “Rwanda rolls out free wireless broadband, when will Namibia follow?”

Namibia sets out to be most competitive tech economy in SADC by 2017

Namibia has set itself a target in the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP4) of becoming the most competitive economy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region by 2017. This was the message of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Joel Kaapanda at the Polytechnic of Namibia’s first annual Technology Day here on Wednesday. His special advisor, Mvula ya Nangolo, read the Minister’s speech on his behalf at the day being hosted under the theme “Innovative technologies for enhanced teaching, learning and assessment in Universities of Science and Technology”. “You will all agree with me that without proper investment in education, and especially higher education, this will not be possible. Knowledge and intellectual property are key to achieving national development,” Kaapanda said.
For the country to achieve Vision 2030 and become a knowledge-based society, it is vital that its citizens engage in continuous lifelong learning to acquire knowledge and remain relevant and competitive. He added that monitoring and evaluation reports of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have also shown that some progress has been made in increasing enrolments in primary, secondary and tertiary education.

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Meet the Raspberry Pi, a computer the size of your debit card.

Rasperry Pi is a credit card sized computer that runs on Debian developed by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in the UK. It It sports

a Broadcom SoC (System on a Chip) that provides for CPU, GPU, SDRAM and USB
a 700Mhz ARM11 CPU
a Broadcom 250Mhz GPU with 1080p HD output capability
Audio&Video in/out (HDMI, RCA, 3.5mm and more)

Continue reading “Meet the Raspberry Pi, a computer the size of your debit card.”

A Look at Mutlipath TCP

Multipath Router is an example of a device in development that uses the mutlipath TCP.

Multipath TCP is is an effort towards enabling the simultaneous use of several IP-addresses/interfaces by a modification of the TCP protocol that presents a regular TCP interface to applications, while in fact spreading data across several subflows. Benefits of this include better resource utilization, better throughput and smoother reaction to failures. This means, for example, that your mobile device which up to now would utilize each of its connection methods (3g, 4g, Wi Fi) in isolation could potentially use each connection simultaneously making full use of multipath TCP’s intelligent load balancing algorithms to ensure the most stable and efficient connection.

This has big implications for the retail broadband/mobile market as now devices could be developed that manage to link all of the currently isolated methods of internet access and give customers a vastly more reliable, faster and efficient internet connection than current TCP methods.It was developed by Sébastien Barré in 2009 and has now seen adoption by major companies such as Apple in small but interesting ways.

What could this mean for Africa?: Continue reading “A Look at Mutlipath TCP”

Polytechnic of Namibia make electronic voting history

In keeping with its reputation as a progressive entity that recognises the value of technology in delivering a superior student experience, the Polytechnic of Namibia recently scored another technological first. At the end of September, the institution elected its Students Representative Council (SRC) members by means of electronic voting, thanks to a Mobi Election System developed by Adapt IT.

According to the outgoing SRC Secretary General, Kyllikkie Hamutumwa the fact that the election was done this year using electronic means is very exciting for the institution. She suggests that this is a milestone for the Polytechnic, one which comfortably falls in line with its transformation into the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST). Continue reading “Polytechnic of Namibia make electronic voting history”

Namibian government amends regulations to give entrepreneurs access to venture capital

THE Namibian Government is injecting huge stimulus into the Namibian economy in order to accelerate the growth of local enterprises. The recent promulgation of the amended Regulation 28 and 29 of the Pension Funds Act has the potential to unlock capital and channel its flow towards entrepreneurial businesses.Amended Regulation 28, which limits the extent to which retirement funds can invest in specific asset categories, stipulates that of the 35% compulsory investment in Namibian assets, the exposure in dual listed shares is required to reduce to 10% over the next 4 years. Amended Regulation 29 requires Pension and Provident Funds to invest a minimum of 1,75% of total assets under management in unlisted investments by 2017. This could lead to a massive boost for entrepreneurship in Namibia, as the availability of capital for private enterprises will surge and the Namibian Stock Exchange could see a gradual increase in listing activity of local companies.Nothing ventured, nothing gained

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Gamma astronomy in Namibia

Namibia would normally not be mentioned in the same breath as astronomy. Few are aware that one of the world most powerful telescope networks exists in Namibia. The H.E.S.S. is a system of Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes that investigates cosmic gamma rays in the energy range from 10s of GeV to 10s of TeV. The name H.E.S.S. stands for High Energy Stereoscopic System, and is also intended to pay homage to Victor Hess , who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936 for his discovery of cosmic radiation. The instrument allows scientists to explore gamma-ray sources with intensities at a level of a few thousandths of the flux of the Crab nebula (the brightest steady source of gamma rays in the sky). H.E.S.S. is located in Namibia, near the Gamsberg mountain, an area well known for its excellent optical quality. Continue reading “Gamma astronomy in Namibia”

African inventor makes a functioning 3D printer from scrap!

Kodjo Afate Gnikou has imagination, talent and ambition. Using rails and belts from old scanners, the case of a discarded desktop computer and even bits of a diskette drive, he has created what is believed to be the first 3D printer made from e-waste. It has taken him several months to put together his experimental device. Lifting designs off a computer, the 3D printer produces physical objects. He shows us by “printing” a small round container.

And it doesn’t stop there – the 33-year old says he believes this model is only the prototype for something much larger. His aim is to one day transport e-waste to Mars to create homes for mankind. Continue reading “African inventor makes a functioning 3D printer from scrap!”

AfricaOnline Namibia rolls out satellite internet

Powered by the SES geostationery satellite network that reaches 99% of the globe, AfricaOnline’s NawaSat is aiming to become the most affordable satellite internet solution available in Namibia.

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Scientists create self assembling robot

In 2011, when an MIT senior named John Romanishin proposed a new design for modular robots to his robotics professor, Daniela Rus, she said, “That can’t be done.”

Two years later, Rus showed her colleague Hod Lipson, a robotics researcher at Cornell University, a video of prototype robots, based on Romanishin’s design, in action. “That can’t be done,” Lipson said. Continue reading “Scientists create self assembling robot”