TECH NEWS

Paris, France | THE INDEPENDENT | The world’s capacity to generate renewable electricity is expanding faster than at any time in the last three decades, giving it a real chance of achieving the goal of tripling global capacity by 2030 that governments set at the COP28 climate change conference last month, …

GUANGZHOU | Xinhua | Once renowned for its traditional export products like silk and tea, south China’s Guangdong Province has now emerged as a crucial global manufacturing hub as the country continues deepening reform and opening-up, prioritizing high-quality, innovation-driven and eco-friendly development. Guangdong has made remarkable progress in exporting the …

ISTANBUL | TASS |Turkish Airlines has temporarily suspended operation of five Boeing 737 MAX 9 planes for inspection after the Alaska Airlines plane decompression incident in the US, the Turkish carrier’s Senior Vice President Yahya Ustun said. “Following the Alaska Airlines plane incident, five Turkish Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 …

Mbarara, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A former Mbarara University of Science and Technology Scientist is exploring possibilities of creating “artificial clouds” to induce rain in drought-hit areas. He hopes with that technology, he can help hard-hit farmers in specific areas receive rain for watering crops. Khoi Khoi thinks the science …

BEIJING | Xinhua |  China’s new energy vehicle (NEV) manufacturers closed 2023 with better-than-expected performances and optimism for the year ahead, industry insiders have said. A report from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) published on Wednesday has estimated that the country’s wholesale NEV sales totaled 8.88 million units in …

BEIJING | Xinhua | Chinese public security departments have cracked 391,000 cases of telecom and online fraud from January to November 2023, the country’s Ministry of Public Security announced Friday. To deliver a heavy blow to relevant criminal activities, the ministry in 2023 launched several law enforcement campaigns targeting telecom …

In an era of AI and blockchain, the simple text message seems distinctly old-fashioned. But text messaging’s USSD technology remains a key feature for African businesses. Here’s how a crackdown on customer information sharing suddenly makes USSD even more attractive. SPECIAL REPORT | BIRD AGENCY | African businesses are continuing …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Lubaga Catholic Diocese Chancellor, Fr Pius Male, has asked parents to protect children from technology that distracts them from the realities of life. “Be careful with technology. Do not let your children use technology devices without your guidance. Technology might be a disaster for …

Lagos, Nigeria | THE INDEPENDENT | Airtel Africa plc has today announced the retirement of the Chief Executive Officer, Olusegun “Segun” Ogunsanya, with effect from 1 July, 2024. Ogunsanya, who joined Airtel in 2012, ran the Nigeria Operations of the Telecommunications and mobile money company for nine years before his appointment …

COMMENT | ROBERT SKIDELSKY |   A little over a year ago, the San Francisco-based OpenAI released its chatbot, ChatGPT, triggering an artificial-intelligence gold rush and reigniting the age-old debate about the effects of automation on human welfare. The fear of displacement by machines can be traced back to the nineteenth-century Industrial …