Technology
Facebook Partners African Tech Agencies for Safer Internet
By Dipo Olowookere
Social media giant, Facebook, has teamed up with its partners across Africa to provide safer internet for users on the continent.
This is part of efforts to mark the Safer Internet Day (SID) under the connected theme of ‘Create, connect and share respect: A better internet starts with you.’
Facebook announced a number of partnerships across Africa with over 20 non-governmental organisations and government agencies-with the aim of raising awareness of emerging online issues and helping to explore ways to make the Internet safer for all.
Launching a series of initiatives, including a specially created family-friendly animation, which directs viewers to the Parent Portal in the Facebook Safety Centre, parents and caregivers can access a variety of information and tips on how to discuss issues of online safety with teens, developed in partnership with safety experts from around the world.
Part of these resources are the Facebook Safety Centre (mobile friendly and available in over 50 languages, including step-by-step instructional videos); the Parent Portal; local resources for parents, teachers and caregivers; bullying prevention hub with advice for teens, parents and educators looking for support and help for issues related to bullying; practical advice in Online Wellbeing; and tools on how to control user experience.
Commenting on Facebook’s work as part of Safer Internet Day, Akua Gyekye, Public Policy Manager Facebook, Africa said: “Every day, millions of people across Africa come to Facebook to talk about their special moments and to stay connected with the people they care about.
“We recognize the important role we play in creating a better and safer online community for all, with this year’s growing partnerships across the continent further demonstrating our ongoing commitment to supporting organisations that raise awareness on these important issues.”
This year in Africa, Facebook is working with partners such as: Rudi International, Internet Society – Uganda Chapter, Watoto Watch in Kenya, Malawi Internet Governance Forum, Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre in Nigeria, South Africa’s Film and Publication Board, JOXAfrica Association in Senegal, Tech Women Zimbabwe, as well as the J Initiative in Ghana to address the needs and ongoing education of various communities.
Watoto Watch Network in Kenya
“In connection with the theme ‘create, connect and share respect’, our focus this year is on cyberbullying. We’re working with Facebook to share messages that encourage positivity and respect on social media,” says Lillian Kariuki, Executive Director at Watoto Watch Network. “On Safer Internet Day we will also be sharing Facebook’s newly translated (Swahili) online safety content directly to the children and ICT partners in Kenya.”
JI Initiative: Ghana
“Our main priority at JI Initiative is to ensure digital citizens especially children and young people are responsible in their use of the space. Resources and materials provided by Facebook as a partner help to empower our audience in Ghana on how to make the Internet better. We will continue to work hard in educating people to become good digital citizens” says Awo Aidam Amenyah, Executive Director at JI Initiative.
Rudi International: Democratic Republic of Congo
“We are spearheading the drive to promote a safe and better Internet environment in DRC,” says Arsene Tungali, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Rudi International. “Partnerships with organisations such as Facebook are key in our efforts to harness the positive impact of technology for DRC’s young people.”
W.TEC: Nigeria
“We believe in the positive uses of technology and are happy to play a role in helping to create a better, safer and more productive online community,” says Adeyemi Odutola, Communications Officer at W.TEC. “Safer Internet Day is a great way to create a global conversation about how we make the Internet work better for everyone, especially girls and women.”
Film and Publication Board: South Africa
“Parents, educators, guardians and industry must all be part of the conversation about keeping children online safe,” says Manala Botolo, Acting Manager Communications and Public Education at the Film and Publication Board. “Addressing challenges such as inappropriate content and cyberbullying demands partnership and cooperation between everyone involved in creating and consuming online content.”
Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over 100 countries and coordinated by the joint Insafe/INHOPE network, with the support of the European Commission, and national Safer Internet Centres globally. SID calls upon young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement agencies, companies and policymakers to join together in helping to create a better internet.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) computing firm, NVIDIA, has made an undisclosed investment in Cassava Technologies.
NVIDIA joins Cassava’s impressive roster of investors comprising Econet Group, British International Investment, DFC, Finnfund, Fund for Export Development in Africa (Afreximbank/FEDA), Gateway Capital, Google LLC, International Finance Corporation (IFC), Public Investment Corporation and Royal Bafokeng Holdings.
Cassava operates across Africa, the Middle East and Latin America through a strong portfolio of business units comprising Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Liquid C2, Cassava.ai, and Sasai Fintech, all of which are leaders in their respective sectors.
The organisation will continue collaborating with its partners and customers on the continent and beyond, establishing it as a leading technology company of African heritage.
“Cassava is Africa’s leading technology company, driving the continent’s digital transformation with digital infrastructure and digital services.
“Securing this investment is an important milestone that we expect to unlock additional value from and catalyze the further expansion of our digital infrastructure and services to bridge the digital divide on the continent,” the chief executive of Cassava, Mr Hardy Pemhiwa, stated.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
To deepen access to smartphones and digital services for underserved communities, Airtel Africa Foundation has joined forces with others to train some persons in Rwanda.
This aligns with Rwanda’s ambition to become a knowledge-based economy and complements national programmes such as Connect Rwanda.
The organisation is collaborating with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA) and Cisco on capacity and digital skills development under the Digital Transformation Centres (DTC) Initiative.
The parties will bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion by providing free Internet connectivity and digital skills training to underserved communities in the country, in connection with the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
ITU will provide digital skills training content to the DTCs under the Initiative along with other ITU regional capacity development activities. In addition, ITU will facilitate networking opportunities related to promoting digital literacy and inclusion, which will enable access to expertise and best practices.
It was disclosed that Airtel Africa Foundation, through Airtel Rwanda, would equip DTC locations with routers, Wi-Fi and data packages at no cost, ensuring the effective rollout of training and access to digital educational platforms.
According to the chief executive of Airtel Rwanda, Mr Sujay Chakrabarti, the collaboration marks a significant step forward in bridging the digital divide and empowering Rwandan youth with digital skills.
He described the partnership as “a powerful example of what happens when government, private sector, and international organizations come together to empower communities.”
“This partnership reflects our commitment to supporting national development goals and closing the digital divide through meaningful collaboration,” said the Head of Programs at Airtel Africa Foundation, Ms Esi Asare Prah, said on behalf of the chairman of the foundation, Mr Segun Ogunsaya.
“We are honoured to partner with ITU to bring this vision to life and contribute to Rwanda’s journey toward becoming a digitally empowered society,” he added.
Also, the Regional Director for International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Mr Emmanuel Mannaseh, said, “Our partnership with Airtel Africa Foundation begins in Rwanda, where we are joining forces to strengthen digital skills in underserved communities to advance connectivity. This initiative lays the groundwork for broader regional collaboration, as we aim to expand this work to other Digital Transformation Centres across Africa.”
On his part, the chief executive of Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), Mr Antoine Sebera, said, “What we are seeing here today is partnership in action. Statistics show that 900 million people in Africa remain unconnected, extra effort needs to be made to make sure that no one is left behind.
“This positions Rwanda a step ahead by being intentional to involve the youth. These centres are going to play a transformative role in educating the youth to leverage AI. Digital Transformation is driving the world and Africa or Rwanda cannot be left behind.”
By Faridat Yusuf
OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, has launched a new web browser called ChatGPT Atlas, powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and is said to be a big competition to Google Chrome and other browsers.
The new browser, which was announced on Tuesday, aims to change the way people search and browse online. Instead of typing keywords like on Google, users can just talk to ChatGPT inside the browser, and it will summarise information or even do tasks for them.
According to Reuters, OpenAI already has about 800 million weekly users on ChatGPT, and with Atlas, the company is now trying to bring AI into people’s daily internet use.
Atlas allows users to open a ChatGPT sidebar in any browser window to summarise web pages, compare products or even analyse data from websites.
Business Post gathered that there is also an “agent mode” for people who pay for the premium version of the service. This feature lets ChatGPT perform online tasks, to make “improvements that make it faster and more useful by working with your browsing context.”
During the demo, OpenAI developers showed how ChatGPT used Atlas to go on the Instacart website and add items to the cart all by itself.
For now, the browser is available globally on Apple computers (macOS), but OpenAI says it will soon release versions for Windows, iPhones, and Android phones.
Experts say Atlas could become a serious challenge to Google Chrome, which currently controls about 71.9 per cent of the global browser market. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, saw its shares drop by 1.8 per cent after the announcement.
Google, which has majority of the online search market share, has also been trying to improve its browser using its Gemini AI model, which is now part of Chrome for US users.
Analysts believe OpenAI’s new browser might later start showing ads, which could make it compete directly with Google’s advertising business.
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