Information and communications

Focus on human language technologies This edition of eNews covers recent research highlights and developments within the human language technologies research group of the Meraka Institute at the CSIR. These include the release of OpenSpell, a spelling game in all 11 official languages, a report on the successful OpenPhone pilot in Botswana and the IBM internship opportunity that researcher Christiaan van der Walt has taken up in the US.

South Africa's first computer spelling game in all 11 languages Researchers at the Meraka Institute of the CSIR have released a spelling game in all 11 official South African languages. The game, OpenSpell, can be adapted for additional languages.

OpenPhone project piloted in Botswana The OpenPhone team of the CSIR celebrated a project milestone (and a first for the human language technologies - HLT - research group) when its automated health helpline was piloted at the Botswana-Baylor Children's Clinical Centre of Excellence in April 2008.

Talented young HLT researcher accepted for IBM internship programme Christiaan van der Walt, a researcher in human language technologies (HLT) at the Meraka Institute of the CSIR, was recently accepted for an IBM internship and has since joined researchers at the TJ Watson Research Center in New York. He will be in the US from June to August 2008.

More news

Digital Kids: grabbing the attention of the Digital Generation through ICT As part of the initiation and development of a science, engineering and technology (SET) pipeline, the Young Engineers and Scientists of Africa is exploring a broad range of interventions to tap into the latent potential of the youth. A new intervention is the Digital Kids project.

African and European ICT delegates converge in Tshwane Mutual benefits can be derived through collaboration in the information and communications technology (ICT) domains between European countries and countries in Africa and the Caribbean. This was one of the messages shared during the EuroAfrica-ICT Awareness Workshop, which was held in Tshwane from 17 to 18 June 2008.

Sensor Web workshop in Geneva a resounding success Research done by the Meraka Institute at the CSIR in the field of ICT for earth observation has been well received at a GEOSS (Group on Earth Observations System of Systems) Sensor Web Workshop held on 15 and 16 May 2008. The workshop was organised jointly by GEO Task DA07-04 and the European Commission (EC).

Finding innovation outcomes through Living Labs Utilising sociological methodology to encourage technological innovation is a fruitful process that takes place in the Living Lab (LL) context. This was the backdrop for an April 2008 workshop organised by the LL research team of the CSIR. The Department of Science and Technology is funding this research.

Scifests feature cross-continental rope pulling contest between Finland and South Africa Rope pulling (also known as tug-of-war) is, as one may assume, a very physical activity involving teams together in one place. Yet with the aid of ICT and a dose of physics, a rope pulling contest was held between two teams - one in Finland and the other in South Africa.