Angola Cables steps up digital inclusion in Africa

ITRealms:

A multinational telecommunications company, Angola Cables, has advanced plans to step-up digital inclusion and empowerment of Africa by the use of subsea internet cable connecting Africa to the Americas, reports ITRealms.

This is coming as the company is building a new data centre in Fortaleza-Brazilian, ITRealms reports would provide high speed internet at some of the lowest latency speeds between the two continents.

ITRealms gathered that Angola Cables was launched in 2009 with the mission of becoming the leading driver of digital enablement in Africa.

The Fortaleza centre, ITRealms gathered, represents another important step in developing international routes for digital traffic between the Americas and Africa.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Anglo Cables, António Nunes, said there are two key routes running from the data centre.

The SACS system, Nunes said, would connect the Fortaleza centre to Luanda and is expected to be completed by mid-2018.

“The Monet Cable will connect Miami with both Fortaleza and Sao Paulo Brazil and is due to be completed by the end of 2017. However, the data centre aims to accommodate more cables from the cable dense region of Fortaleza,” Nunes said, stressing that the systems would enhance Africa’s global communications networks, provide a ‘meet me’ point with high connectivity and access to larger markets.

“They will also deliver the lowest latency routing between Africa and South America,” Nunes said, emphasizing that by partnering with Brazil to establish this data centre, has been a productive journey so far.

“We were delighted to be a part of the ceremony to mark the start of the building of the centre. This is a Brazilian tradition we were honoured to share in.” Clients who have already signed in Brazil include Prefeitura de Fortaleza, Claranet and AmLight.

Nonye Dom/GEE

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Pre-WTDC-17: Americas identify priorities on telecom development

ITRealms:

Participants at the Regional Preparatory Meeting (RPM) for the Americas ended Friday in Asunción, Paraguay, with the meeting assessing the ongoing implementation of the Dubai Action Plan adopted at ITU's last World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-14) and identified priority areas for information and communication technology (ICT) development strategies in the Americas, reports ITRealms.

Minister of Finance of the Republic of Paraguay, Mr Santiago Peña, stressed the importance of technology to connect everyone in the country, declaring "Information and communication technologies are key elements of the National Development Plan 2013 to achieve inclusive growth."

For the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Mr. Houlin Zhao said that 2017 is a very important year for the ITU's Telecommunication Development Sector.

"The World Telecommunication Development Conference, to be held later this year, will forge a global plan for telecommunication and ICT development over the next four years. I am pleased to see that significant efforts have been made to engage Members in the preparation of key documents of the Conference," he said.

Also speaking, Ing. Teresita Palacios, President of the National Telecommunication Commission (CONATEL), said that participants at the just concluded regional preparatory meeting were renowned experts, pointing out that the real protagonists of this meeting are the people - the people of the Americas.

“We are all working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through information and communication technologies," CONATEL boss said.

Five draft regional initiatives for the Americas region for the years 2018-2021 were identified at the RPM for discussion and consideration at the upcoming WTDC-17:

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Communications; Spectrum Management and Transition to Digital Broadcasting; Deployment of Broadband Infrastructure, especially in Rural and Neglected Areas, and Strengthening of Broadband Access to Services and Applications; Accessibility and Affordability for an Inclusive and Sustainable Americas Region; Development of the Digital Economy, Smart Cities and Communities (SCC) & Internet of Things (IoT), promoting innovation.

Equally speaking, Director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau, Brahima Sanou, said, every day ITU reaffirms the tremendous potential of ICTs to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

"As we embrace a new ecosystem, our actions must go beyond the ICT sector. The ITU's Development Sector will continue to be an active player and facilitator of innovations for sustainable development," he said.

ITRealms recalls that the RPM for the Americas was preceded by the Regional Development Forum (RDF).

Nonye Dom/GEE 

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Breaking News: University of Manchester to develop vaccine for Zika virus

Breaking News@ITRealms: 

A team of experts from the University of Manchester have been commissioned to develop a new vaccine against the Zika virus as part of an initiative to counter the disease which has spread rapidly across the Americas in the last few months, reports ITRealms.

The team, ITRealms gathered would create and test a vaccine based on a safe derivative of a pre-existing smallpox vaccine – the only disease to have been successfully globally eradicated.

Dr. Tom Blanchard, Honorary Senior Lecturer at The University of Manchester and Fellow of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and Consultant in Infectious Diseases at North Manchester General Hospital and the Royal Liverpool Hospital will lead the project. 

Professor Pam Vallely and Dr Eddie McKenzie are University of Manchester experts involved in the project and the work will be done in collaboration with Professors Miles Carrol and Roger Hewson from Public Health England.

“As we have seen in the case of Ebola there is now a real need to react quickly to fast spreading tropical diseases.  Zika can cause serious illness, but it often has no visible symptoms, so a vaccine for those at risk is one of the most effective ways we have of combating it,” Dr. Blanchard said.

ITRealms recollects, Zika virus was first identified in Uganda in 1947 and the disease is mainly spread by mosquitoes, though there have been reports of human to human transmission.  It is particularly serious for pregnant women, as it's been linked to birth defects – in particular, microcephaly, a condition where a baby’s brain doesn’t grow properly and it is born with an abnormally small head and serious development problems.

A recent and particularly severe outbreak which began in South America and has since spread north to United States Territories prompted the Medical Research Council, The Wellcome Trust and the Newton Fund to launch a £4m rapid response funding initiative at the beginning of February. 

Media Relations Manager at the University, Mr. James Brown, informed ITRealms that the results of this call for proposals were announced Monday and Dr Blanchard and his team were awarded £177,713 to build and test a vaccine as part of this.

It is expected that the results will be delivered within 18 months and although the first target will be the Zika virus, the nature of the vaccine candidate may enable it to combat many infectious diseases simultaneously.

Dr Blanchard added: “We know that there’s an urgent need for this vaccine but we’ll be working carefully to deliver a product which is safe and effective and which can be quickly deployed to those who need it.

“If we can also use this vaccine on multiple targets then this will represent an exciting step forward in dealing with these kinds of outbreaks.”

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) 

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