The AIISA Institute of Artificial Intelligence, South Africa’s first, was launched on November 30 in a partnership between the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies at the Johannesburg Business School, one of UJ’s faculties.
The institute will be divided into two centers, one in Johannesburg hosted by the Johannesburg Business School, and the second in Pretoria at the Tshwane University of Technology.
South Africa, like many countries on the continent, has a high population but is facing economic and unemployment problems. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4RI) has the potential to help it overcome these problems, but to do so it must train its youth in new technologies.
The South African government established the Presidential Commission on the 4RI (PC4IR) in 2019, which advocated for the creation of this institute to help the country become a digital technology leader on the continent.
At the launch of AIISA, UJ Vice Chancellor and Principal, Professor Tshilidzi Marwala (who served as Vice Chair of PC4IR), said:
“In 2019, as my PC4IR colleagues and I began to establish the recommendations to help the government capitalize on the opportunities presented by the digital industrial revolution and catapult South Africa into 4RI, it was clear that the establishment of an artificial intelligence (AI) institute was central to our strategy. The recommendation to develop the institute centered on the need to establish a common foundation to focus on the application of AI to health, agriculture, finance, mining, manufacturing and government, alongside regulation.”
For Professor Tinyiko Maluleke, Vice Chancellor of TUT, South Africa could no longer allow itself to be left behind in the 4RI wave. He stated:
“TUT had no choice but to answer the Minister’s call for us to join the Ministry and UJ in creating one of the most important institutes established in this country in recent years, namely AIISA. This key institute will become the nerve center from which we will shape our connected future as a country. A digital future that attracts all countries in the world,” said Professor Maluleke.
According to the Minister of the Department of Communications and Digital Technology, Khumbudzo Ntshavhani, the institute ushers in a new era in South Africa’s digital transformation efforts, stimulating economic growth, tackling unemployment and creating a positive social impact. She further commented:
“I hope that by launching this institute, with these two universities hosting South Africa’s largest student population of learners from historically disadvantaged backgrounds, the multiplier effect will take place and have an immediate positive impact on these individuals and communities.”
AI a compulsory subject at UJ
Tshilidzi Marwala announced that AI will become a mandatory subject for all UJ students to grasp the technology and get used to working with it. He explained:
“The study of artificial intelligence is becoming a compulsory course in all qualifications at the University of Johannesburg to enable its graduates to advance in all fields of work.”
Translated from L’Afrique du Sud se dote d’un institut en intelligence artificielle
