IBM announced today that it will lend its Watson supercomputer platform to Africa to help researchers develop commercially viable solutions in key areas such as healthcare, education, water and sanitation, human mobility and agriculture.
Watson computing systems came to the fore when the supercomputer “won” the Jeopardy quiz in the US, demonstrating the capabilities of its artificial intelligence. The computer uses systems and software that enhance learning, and as a result, can provide solutions to complex questions by analyzing massive amounts of data.
Africa's Big Data analysis could help the continent gain a better understanding of issues such as food price patterns, GDP estimates, and poverty numbers, to predict diseases.
Kamal Bhattacharya, director of IBM Research in Africa, says: “With the ability to learn from emerging patterns, discover new associations, Watson’s cognitive capabilities have enormous potential in Africa, and will help achieve in the next two decades what today’s developed markets have achieved in two centuries.”
