Kenya, the first East African nation to successfully deploy a mobile digital wallet and banking system a decade ago, has no intentions of slowing down in terms of smart technology adoptions. Similar to the way M-Pesa empowered thousands of Kenyan families to overcome the challenge of not being able to access the banking system,…
The 2016 biographical film Hidden Figures celebrated the important contribution made by a group of young African-American women whose mathematical prowess supported the United States Apollo Space Program. The film has been a box office hit and has received critical acclaim. Thanks to Hidden Figures, the American public is paying closer attention to the…
In Lilongwe, capital city of Malawi, the Vice President of World Bank Africa recently watched a video produced by a young man who built a wind turbine in his own backyard to provide supplemental electricity for his family. The young man, William Kamkwamba, also presented the World Bank official with a book about his…
Artificial intelligence (AI) was among the technologies receiving the most attention at the Consumer Electronics Show last month. AI was prominently on display in the form of digital assistants such as Microsoft Cortana, Google Home, and Amazon Alexa, which are consumer-ready for smart home automation. Two other AI applications promoted at CES 2017 also…
One of the most unusual and intriguing computers introduced at the 2017 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January was Project Valerie—a new laptop by Razer, an esteemed purveyor of technology products aimed at the PC gaming community. In essence, Project Valerie is a triple-display gaming laptop with enough computing and graphics processing…
A More Convenient Way to Vote? Around the world today, advocates for mobile voting systems have recently urged lawmakers to change conventional polling booth technology to permit mobile voting. Estonia became the first nation to adopt Internet voting in 2005. Unfortunately, many security obstacles remain as governments consider this form of voting. Some election…
For the last five decades, the Consumer Electronics Show has been showcasing the latest and greatest in technology and innovation. Over the last few years, CES has settled into a rhythm of starting off early in the New Year and hosting the event in Las Vegas; it has also become the most important expo…
Korean electronics giant Samsung is off to a great start in 2017 as the company reported operating profits of $9.2 trillion in the final quarter of 2016. This represents a quarterly improvement of 50 percent, which is impressive even for companies that operate in the competitive sector of consumer electronics. What makes the quarterly…
Jessica O. Matthews is more than just a business woman who was named the Scientist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation in 2012 and cracked the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2014. She’s also the creator of that soccer ball that produces electricity. Better known as Soccket, it’s the energy-harnessing soccer ball…
Under-banked Senegal, home to 15,830,490 people, is about to become the second country to introduce a national digital currency, called the electronic Central African Franc (eCFA), which will have the same legal tender status as the CFA, Senegal’s traditional government-backed currency. In Tunisia, the first country to adopt a national digital currency, citizens discovered…
