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News and Events
'Father' of mobile IP technology visits CSIR
19 September 2006
The Meraka Institute - a national research centre
managed by the CSIR - hosted a mobile connection expert, Charles E. Perkins,
who gave a talk on Mesh and other ad hoc networks. The Mesh colloquium was held
at the Institute on 11 September. Perkins, also affectionately known as a
“father” of mobile IP technology, is a Nokia Fellow in the Network
Technology Laboratory at Nokia Research Centre. He does research on mobile wireless
networking and dynamic configuration protocols. Prior to this, Perkins worked at Sun
Microsystems and IBM. Read more ...
Meraka Institute partners with AITI-KACE on developer roadshow
29 August 2006
“Localisation and Education” was the theme of a developer roadshow held jointly by the Meraka Institute (managed by the CSIR) and the Advanced Information Technology Institute of Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence (AITI-KACE). The five-day roadshow at the University of Education in Winneba, Ghana, took place on 8-13 August 2006 and drew representatives from ten countries. The objective of the roadshow was to provide an opportunity for educators and developers of free/libre and open source software (FLOSS) to interact, understand needs and assess existing FLOSS use to support education delivery in West Africa.
Read the media release
CSIR's computational science capability boosted by C4 supercomputer
29 August 2006
The Meraka Institute recently concluded installation of a supercomputer
known as the C4 (CSIR Cluster Computing Centre) at the CSIR. The Meraka
Institute is a national research centre managed by the CSIR. The C4 system
is intended as an infrastructure resource for the CSIR's researchers who will
be using it for the computational aspects of their research. Read more...
NAP portal goes live
19 July 2006
The live web deployment of the National Accessibility Portal (NAP)
takes place on Monday, 17 July 2006. The NAP initiative will provide a one-stop information, services and communications channel to
support everyone involved in the disability field - persons with disabilities, caregivers, the medical profession, and those offering
services in this domain. The aim of the deployment is to allow NAP consortium partners to evaluate, use and populate the system with
content and to provide feedback for future development. The partners working on this initiative are the Meraka Institute (managed by CSIR);
the Office on the Status of Disabled Persons in The Presidency; the Independent Living Centre; the SA National Council for the Blind;
the Deaf Federation of South Africa; the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in SA; the QuadPara Association and
the South African Federation for Mental Health. Read more...
Meraka Institute participates in National Youth Service Week Expo
23 June 2006
On request of the Department of Communications, the Meraka Institute participated
in the National Youth Service Week Expo from 13-15 June 2006. The event was organised
by the National Youth Commission and held at the ELKA Stadium in Soweto. The Meraka
Institute is a national research centre managed by the CSIR. Read more ...
Meraka Institute's Kids Club project aims to make technology fun
15 June 2006
The Kids Club project, which is being piloted by the Meraka Institute of the CSIR, gives children the opportunity to experiment with science and technology in a fun, relaxed atmosphere with none of the constraints and pressure to perform found in traditional classroom teaching. Merryl Ford of the ICT (information and communications technology) for Education Group within the Meraka Institute says, "Our extra-curricular activities let the children give free reign to their creativity and imagination." Read the media release
Meraka Institute relocates Freedom Toaster to Menlyn shopping centre
6 June 2006
Digital product aficionados will now have the option of making free copies of various Free/Libre and
Open Source Software and other offerings at the Menlyn shopping centre. The Meraka Institute has
successfully relocated the Freedom Toaster, previously in the foyer of Building 43 A, to Computer
Corporation. The Meraka Institute is a national research centre managed by the CSIR. Read more ...
Dr Andre Meyer from TNO in Holland visits Meraka Institute
Dr Andre Meyer of TNO's Defence, Safety and Security in Holland is currently on a visit to the Meraka Institute, a national research institute managed by the CSIR. Among many other things, Meyer's section is working on applications of "distributed intelligence" (DI), which covers technologies such as multi-agent systems, bio-inspired computing and semantic networks. They develop and apply these technologies for crisis management, traffic control, compound security, network-centric warfare, intelligence, etc. The goal is to support human and automated sense- and decision-making in order to improve performance in critical situations. Read more ...
Meraka Institute represented at VoIP World Africa 2006
Yusuf Kaka of the Meraka Institute's Wireless Africa initiative recently
participated in the VoiP World Africa Conference held at Sandton from 8-11 May
2006. Kaka, a specialist in wireless connectivity and MESH networking, participated
as a panelist. Read more ...
Meraka Institute showcases projects for Department of Communication
A Department of Communications (DoC) delegation was introduced to the different initiatives within the Meraka Institute during a visit.
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Patent awards for CSIR women inventors
Three women researchers from the CSIR who are pioneers in science, engineering and technology research and development have recently received recognition for their inventions.
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Meraka Institute to host Soweto’s First Open Source Workshop and set up satellite Centres
The Meraka Institute’s Open Source Centre (OSC) will host Soweto’s first ever Open Source Workshop on 13 August 2005. The workshop, to be attended mainly by computer enthusiasts who run their own computer-related businesses in that area, will be held at the Funda Centre.
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OpenPhone project update showcased to funders
27 July 2005
The Open Society Initiative (OSI) and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), who are jointly funding the Meraka Institute’s OpenPhone project, participated in a collaborative workshop on 20 July 2005. The Meraka Institute reported back on progress regarding this particular project, which involves the creation of a platform aimed at developing technology and applications that allow access to information through ordinary telephones.
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Meraka Institute contributes to Open Source in scientific teaching and research
The Meraka Institute, in association with the Go Open Source Coalition, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Martin King and Cheryl Grunbock are jointly hosting a course entitled Winter School in GNU/Linux as a Tool for Science during July and August this year at the AIMS premises in Cape Town. The course hopes to encourage the use of open source solutions for educational research in the mathematical and scientific fields.
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Meraka Institute contributes to Open Source in scientific teaching and research
The Meraka Institute, in association with the Go Open Source Coalition, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Martin King and Cheryl Grunbock are jointly hosting a course entitled Winter School in GNU/Linux as a Tool for Science during July and August this year at the AIMS premises in Cape Town. The course hopes to encourage the use of open source solutions for educational research in the mathematical and scientific fields.
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Meraka Institute in IST-Africa collaboration to close the Digital Divide
The Meraka Institute has teamed up with two European partners and government agencies from Mozambique and Tanzania, in the Information Society Technologies (IST)-Africa project. Aimed at improving the digital infrastructure of Sub-Saharan Africa, the IST-Africa project is the Meraka Institute’s first research endeavour that involves collaboration and funding from the European Union.
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First Cantenna installed in a rural setting connects!
15 July 2005
The first Meraka Institute Cantenna to be installed in a rural setting was successfully mounted at a house belonging to health worker Agnes Mdluli in Peebles valley, near White River in Mpumalanga on July 6 2005 . The Cantenna, part of the Meraka Institute's Community Owned Information Network (COIN) initiative under the Wireless Africa project banner, uses a coffee tin and a section of bicycle spoke soldered into a special connector. It can connect to another point with a similar antenna about 5km km away.
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Vacation students tell of Meraka experience - 13 July 2005
A group of students, totalling 20, participated in the first vacation student programme organised by the Meraka Institute during the recent university recess. The programme is aimed at providing university students with exposure to potential research careers in Information and Communication Technology (ICT). As part of the programme a mini-exhibition was held on July 8 2005 to showcase the progress and achievements of the students in the various projects in which they were involved.
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Meraka Institute and UNDP agreement signed for promotion of FLOSS
An agreement signed by the CSIR on behalf of the Open Source Centre of the Meraka Institute, by Centre Manager, Nhlanhla Mabaso and the Regional Service Centre for Eastern and Southern Africa of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is set to boost the Open Source capacity for the region through a knowledge networking project. By selecting an indigenous institution such as the Meraka Institute to be the implementing agency, the UNDP hopes to encourage South-South cooperation and extend the benefits of the project into the African region.
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Meraka Institute at Eclectic Tech Carnival in Austria
Thotyelwa Mncongwane, an intern at the Meraka Institute’s Open Source Centre (OSC), will fly the Institute’s flag high at the Eclectic Tech Carnival to be held in Graz, Austria from 11 to 15 July 2005.The carnival will take the form of a computer skills sharing workshop, where women IT specialists in the field of Free and Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) from around the world will gather to exchange their computer and cultural skills.
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Eclectic Tech Canival Programme
Go Open Source initiative
Namibian Minister visits the CSIR
The South African and Namibian flags were hoisted at the CSIR on Wednesday, 29 June 2005, when the Namibian Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah visited the Meraka Institute, the African Network Information Centre (AfriNIC) and the CSIR Satellite Application Centre (SAC). The visit formed part of a working relationship between South Africa and Namibia.
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CSIR to participate in World Conference on Computers in Education
South Africa hosts the eighth World Conference on Computers (WCCE) in Stellenbosch from 4 to 7 July 2005. The conference, which takes place every four years, aims to explore the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in education and teaching of informatics.
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Meraka Institute Seminar Series kicks off with lecture on eXtreme Programming (XP)
The first Meraka Institute Seminar, envisaged as part of a series of Information and Communications Technology-related (ICT) seminars, took the form of a lecture by Three Rivers Institute’s founder and director Kent Beck on June 27 2005 at the Institute. The Seminar Series aims at providing a communication and learning mechanism through which the Institute can engage and share knowledge with stakeholders and other or interested parties.
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Read about Kent Beck
From brain drain to brain gain
Key statistics pertaining to the state of science and technology in sub-Saharan Africa are disheartening. Take for example the number of scientists and engineers in this region; for every million people here, a mere 83 of these are professionals; in the rest of the developing world, the figure is 514 for every million.
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ICT Institute launched on World Telecommunications Day
The date 17 May not only marks World Telecommunications Day this year, it also sees the launch of the Meraka Institute at the CSIR in Pretoria. This African advanced institute for information and communications technology is being introduced to stakeholders with a keynote address by Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Minister of Communications, and a presentation by Mr Derek Hanekom, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology.
Media Release
Speech by Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri, Minister of Communications
Speech by Deputy Minister Derek Hanekom of the Ministry of Science and Technology
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