“AI at the service of territories and sustainable cities in Africa: state of play, challenges and perspectives” was the theme of the second Francophone Forum on Artificial Intelligence which took place on December 16, 2010 at the initiative of Afria (Francophone Agency for Artificial Intelligence) and the CCIB, (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Benin). This forum brought together participants in face-to-face as well as video conference around the impact of AI in cities and territories.
For this second French-speaking forum on AI, Afria and Promethee Newspace aimed to open new perspectives on the digital world. Promethee Newspace is a French start-up involved in the digital world of nano-satellite development. It has created a digital platform based on big data and AI, bringing together digital innovations that allow its users to build locally and autonomously “tailor-made” applications that aggregate spatial information and field indicators.
The applications covered by Promethee Newspace are very broad and range from forest fire detection to the fight against desertification, including water and food management, but also urban planning, crisis management, etc. For Sei Cabrol, promoter of Newspace:
“It is a necessity to invest more in the digital field by equipping ourselves with tools that assemble the characteristics that can help to address the ecological and planetary crisis. It is about the alliance of Newspace and digital, space technologies and artificial intelligence. […] By initiating Newspace, we are able to offer the applicant government the potential of nano-satellite to make earth observation, a fantastic means of observation to take the pulse of our planet.”
Eric Adja, president of Afria did not fail to welcome“this great opportunity” and “this frank collaboration with Promethee Newspace” . This collaboration will, according to him, lead to a training program in 2022 of a graduate cycle in AI and Newspace for senior executives of administrations and business leaders in Africa, for partnership and business opportunities in the new space.
He thanked the Government of Benin and the Afria team for the organization of this forum which will lead to new opportunities for the promotion of partnership between Newspace and Afria. For his part, Adrien Houngbédji, President of the Federation for the Digital, was pleased with the upcoming launch in Cotonou of a Newspace training thanks to the partnership with Afria in order to contribute to the training of young people on AI. He took the opportunity to commend the efforts of the Government of the Head of State, Patrice Talon, which displays its ambition to make Benin one of the most dynamic countries in training on AI. Present at the opening of the Forum, the 1st Vice President of the CCIB Casimir Migan, recognized the merits of Afria for its commitment in building the capacity of young Beninese and Africans in the transformation of digital and AI. According to him, this is a real opportunity to acquire knowledge and know-how to better manage and protect Beninese resources.
At the end of the speeches, participants considered three themes: “Governing with AI: What challenges of transformation for local authorities in Africa”; “Smarter African cities: challenges and opportunities in research and training”; “Entrepreneurship and Living Together: AI for cities and territories of tomorrow in Francophone Africa”.
Translated from « L’IA au service des territoires et des villes durables en Afrique » était au programme du second forum Afria
