A super computing platform could help develop solutions for water and sanitation problems in Africa.
IBM will be bringing its super computing platform Watson to Africa, where it will help researchers develop commercially-viable solutions in key areas including water and sanitation. “Project Lucy,” as it has been dubbed, will give scientists and partners access to Watson’s advanced computing technologies. IBM will invest $100 million in the ten-year project with the hope that this will help scientists solve the continent’s most pressing challenges and create new business opportunities.In addition to water and sanitation, Project Lucy will help in the areas of healthcare, education, human mobility and agriculture.
Access to the computing technology will help Africa glean knowledge from big data. Analysis of big data could help the continent gain a better understanding of issues such as food price patterns, estimations of GDP and poverty number, to anticipating diseases. Director of IBM Research Africa Kamal Bhattacharya say, “With the ability to learn from emerging patterns and discover new correlations, Watson’s cognitive capabilities hold enormous potential in Africa – helping it to achieve in the next two decades what today’s developed markets have achieved over two centuries.”