Latest news with #CNME
Tahawul Tech
05-05-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
'We don't just want to create technology, we want to have a positive impact on the world.' – Stefan Leichenauer, SandboxAQ
CNME Editor Mark Forker sat down with Stefan Leichenauer, VP of Engineering at SandboxAQ, to find out why more and more industries are increasingly opting to adopt Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) to solve their complex challenges, as opposed to LLMs. Leichenauer also outlined that ultimately their mission is to not just create technology, but instead to have a positive impact on society. Stefan Leichenauer is a man on a mission. He is driven by the fact that he works for a company that is committed to making the world a better place. That company is SandboxAQ, a B2B company that delivers AI solutions that addresses some of the world's greatest challenges. SandboxAQ was born out of Alphabet Inc. as an independent capital-backed company in 2022. Over the last number of years, it has grown exponentially across multiple global markets, and has a major partnership here in the Middle East region with Aramco. Leichenauer spoke to CNME, about why the company wants to deliver technologies that have a positive impact on society, and the critical role played by LQMs in enabling the transformation pf industries such as the Oil & Gas sector. In a recent op-ed, the VP of Engineering at SandboxAQ made the case for enterprises to shift their focus away from LLMs and to look at the LQMs to foster real change across their organisation. According to Leichenauer, LLMs have limitations, and in order to solve the really complex challenges facing the world then businesses need to start looking at LQMs. 'Firstly, let me say that I think LLMs are fantastic, and we are not working to get rid of them. However, LLMs can't do everything by themselves, and I think that's the point that I am making, and I think more and more people are starting to realise that LLMs have their limitations. If you look at the latest LLMs that have been released over the last 3 years, then it seems like every release has a new set of capabilities that can do so much more, but we have sort of hit a ceiling of late. If you examine the latest releases of Llama 4 and GPT4.5 they are only incrementally better than what has come previously. So, I think there has been a realisation that LLMs as a capability are great, processing text and generating images then it is fantastic, but there is a whole set of capabilities that LLMs are just not going to get to by themselves,' said Leichenauer. The capabilities that LLMs are not going to be able to get to by themselves is associated with quantitative reasoning, and this is where LQMs come to the fore. 'LQMs is designed to model the physical with chemistry, physics, and medicine, and is essentially focused on doing things that has absolutely nothing to do with language-based content. You need other tools in the tool box, and that's where LQMs come in. LQMs are basically providing those other tools in toolbox and they compliment the capabilities provided by LLMs,' said Leichenauer. In his op-ed, Leichenauer also claimed that when precision is paramount then LQMs are indispensable, and said momentum was beginning to swing in favour of LQMs. 'We're now seeing more proof points that LQMs. I think in the past people would have deployed LLMs on to any given problem to see what works, and what doesn't, and I think everyone has been doing proof of concept trials with LLMs, but they've fallen short for a couple of reasons. As I stated earlier, in some areas they are fantastic, but in other areas they have fallen short. One of the reasons for this is the fact that LLMs are very non-transparent in terms of their reasoning. LLMs will give you an answer, but why is it true? And the LLM could be hallucinating, and we know that's been a big problem in some areas. Hallucinations are fine when it comes to generating an image, maybe it has the wrong number of fingers, but when it comes to creating a new molecule for Aramco, that is designed to making their processing plants more efficient, then you can't get that wrong because that's going to cost you a billion dollars. You need your answer to be correct, you need it to be grounded in real understanding of the problem, and LQMs can provide that verifiability and transparency,' said Leichenauer. As aforementioned above, SandboxAQ have enjoyed great success since spinning out of Alphabet Inc. in 2022, and are working with some of the biggest companies in the Middle East, including Aramco, who are the biggest integrated energy and chemicals company in the world. He spoke about their partnership, and again reiterated their mission which is to build purposeful technology designed to improve society. 'Our goal at Sandbox at the end of the day is not to create technology, of course we love to create technology, but we are doing it for a purpose. Ultimately, our goal is to have a positive impact on the world, and it just so happens that LQM technology is a great way to have a positive impact. The impact areas that we care about the most such as the medicine, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and GPS free navigation is something that we are very passionate about. These are all powered by LQMs. In terms of our collaboration with Aramco, the oil & gas industry is a really important industry in the world. However, we are all acutely aware that as we move forward, we need to be better about being environmentally friendly, and more efficient with our energy and more sustainable. We need to always be looking at better techniques, and Aramco is a real leader and pioneer when it comes to these sort of techniques,' said Leichenauer. He went into more detail in relation to how LQM technology is enabling Aramco to transform, and how the technology is helping the global energy incumbent to be more sustainable and efficient. 'Aramco is not an AI company, they are an oil & gas company, so we are here to help our partners like Aramco to advance their operations to be able to do things in a much better way. SandboxAQ provides software tools, AI models and the LQMs that really help them to transform the way they operate their business. What we're doing with Aramco specifically is partnering with them to look closer at the oil & gas processing facilities. Ultimately, a lot of what is happening there is you've essentially got liquids and gases flowing through pipes and going through various kinds of processes, refineries and machines. However, in order to make those processes more efficient, one way to make them more efficient is to model them computationally better,' said Leichenauer. Leichenauer conceded that these processes are complex, but insisted that in order to make them more efficient and sustainable then companies like Aramco had to implement LQM technologies. 'It's a complex physical process, and if you want to make your plants more efficient, and reduce emissions and waste then modelling that process computationally allows you to make tweaks and changes virtually to enable you to implement them in real-life. Modelling all of those processes computationally is something that our software is helping Aramco with,' said Leichenauer. Leichenauer is delighted at the progress SandboxAQ has made with Aramco since their collaboration started, and believes that by 2030, it will fundamentally be a completely different business. 'The part that Sandbox has control over, and the computational modelling that enables these kinds of changes, the good news is, well from our perspective anyway is relatively simply compared to actually implementing these things physically. We have been working with Aramco for several months now, and we've already achieved significant milestones with our modelling. The LQMs that can do that sort of modelling and give you the answers and the playbook that what you need to do to make the changes those exist, and in a matter of months we have made huge progress on that. If I had to speculate a little bit then I'd guess that in the next 5 years we'll see a lot more changes coming through and being implemented. It may take longer to become 100% sustainable and 100% green, but in the oil and gas industry and other industries we can affect real changes and see real progress in a sort of 5-year timeline. By 2030 or so, a lot of the work we are doing today will have real tangible impact by then,' said Leichenauer. Another industry that SandboxAQ is looking to transform in order to ensure they are having a meaningful impact on society is the healthcare industry. 'The healthcare sector is a major industry for us. It is a major source of grand challenges for the world, but we have seen a lot of progress in the last years in terms of how technology is being used to transform healthcare. When we are talking about real positive impact on the world then there's almost no better place to have that impact than in healthcare. Within healthcare, there is obviously the pharmaceutical industry, and there's always a lot to do in that space, and in terms of medical diagnostics that is a space that also can be transformed. The MRI machine is an amazing machine, it transformed medicine when it was invented several decades ago, but it is big, it is expensive, and it's clunky, and it takes a lot of expertise to use it. The next-generation of medical diagnostic devices can bring the kind of transformative impact of the MRI machine, but in a form factor that is more like an ultrasound machine, where it can something that can be much smaller and can be in every hospital emergency room. That kind of technology is coming, and some of that is what we are working on and using LQMs to enable,' said Leichenauer. Leichenauer outlined that SandboxAQ is working on a diagnostic designed to tackle the issue of heart disease. 'We're working on a device right now using LQMs that is specifically for diagnosing heart disease, and various kinds of heart disease in an emergency room setting in a way that you could actually apply it to every patient that walks in complaining of heart problems, or persistent heart pain. One of the first things that you do is take five minutes to give them a scan using the machine, and that really improves the care of the patient, and heart disease is one of the biggest killers in the world, so this is a truly transformative device. At the minute, we have a prototype device being tested in hospitals right now, and within a couple of years I'd expect this device to be used on a everyday basis in hospitals. Early indications of the prototype is that we are on the right track, and appear to be doing a good job. However, you have to prove you're doing a good job and pass regulations and so on before you can actually go to market with such a device, but the technology is there and we are actively working on it,' said Leichenauer.
Tahawul Tech
22-04-2025
- Automotive
- Tahawul Tech
automotive industry Archives
CNME Editor Mark Forker spoke to Hidetoshi Kaneko, Head of Systems and Solutions Department at Panasonic Middle East, to find out how the Japanese electronics company is positioning itself to play a key role in the electrification of the global automotive industry, the diversification of its portfolio, its approach to sustainability – and its renewed focus on smart city solutions.
Tahawul Tech
18-04-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
'We are committed to developing AI that can be trusted to drive progress for both business and society' – Shukri Eid, IBM
Shukri Eid, General Manager of IBM Gulf, Levant, and Pakistan, spoke to CNME Editor Mark Forker, ahead of Dubai AI Week, to find out what IBM will be exhibiting at the event, the role it is playing in helping the UAE achieve its lofty AI objectives, the impact of its IBM z17 solution across the enterprise space – and the need for greater governance on Gen AI. IBM is a strategic partner of Dubai AI Week. Can you provide us with more information on what attendees can expect to see and hear from IBM during the event? Our involvement in Dubai AI Week reflects our broader partnership with the Dubai Future Foundation and the Emirate of Dubai overall, focused on advancing AI for real-world impact. Our objective is to showcase how AI can drive productivity gains, deliver significant return on investment, and help reinvent the way organizations work in the digital age. Over the week, IBM will host expert sessions and speaking engagements covering critical priorities for businesses on their AI journey — from identifying quick-win use cases, to building a strong data foundation with fit-for-purpose models, to ensuring trust and governance throughout the AI lifecycle. We'll further present early findings from the Global Chief AI Officers Study, a joint report we are working on with the Dubai Future Foundation, highlighting how global leaders are approaching AI strategy and implementation. Organizations with a CAIO see a higher ROI on AI spend compared to those without one and as per our interim findings, 26% of organizations have a CAIO and 65% of CAIOs believe most organizations will have a CAIO within the next 2 years. This is a key audience we are working with to advance AI for enterprise and government in line with UAE National AI Strategy. Dubai has made no secret of its aspirations and ambitions to become a global leader when it comes to AI. The Dubai Universal Blueprint for AI has been engineered and designed to accelerate the adoption of AI technologies into every facet of society. IBM, as a global tech leader, has long been a partner of the UAE Government, but can you tell us the role IBM is playing in terms of achieving the goals and objectives of their AI vision? We are proud to support Dubai and the UAE's bold vision to become a global leader in AI. Our collaboration with leading UAE entities is focused on accelerating the adoption of AI in ways that align with national agendas and business priorities. Globally, we're seeing incredible momentum. Our generative AI book of business surpassed $5 billion inception-to-date, with $2 billion of that growth happening just in the last quarter. That's a clear signal that enterprises aren't experimenting with AI anymore—they're implementing it at scale. And that's exactly the kind of transformation we're supporting in the UAE. We recently partnered with e& to co-develop an AI governance framework, one of the region's first, designed to help organizations in the UAE and beyond adopt AI responsibly and at scale. This framework offers practical guidance to embed governance, transparency, and accountability into every stage of the AI lifecycle. At the World Governments Summit 2025, we signed an agreement with the Dubai Future Foundation to support the Dubai Economic Agenda D33 and the Universal Blueprint for AI. The partnership includes building a sovereign cloud, launching an AI innovation center, and deepening our role in startup mentorship, Tech Talks, and advisory services — all to help position Dubai as a global AI hub. Additionally, we're collaborating with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) to apply IBM's geospatial foundation model to map and reduce urban heat islands in Abu Dhabi. This work has already led to a reduction of over 3°C in affected areas, offering valuable insights for sustainable urban planning in a region heavily impacted by climate change. Our ongoing collaborations in the UAE reflect IBM's commitment to supporting national AI ambitions and helping shape a future where AI serves society responsibly and equitably. IBM recently announced the next generation of their iconic mainframe in the form of the IBM z17, designed to bring AI to the core of the enterprise to enable new workloads. Can you outline the capabilities of this product in more detail, and the impact you believe it will have across the industry? The IBM z17 isn't just another iteration of our mainframe, it's a response to how enterprise computing is evolving. So, with the z17, we've built AI directly into the hardware and software stack, starting with the Telum II processor. That gives it the ability to run AI models efficiently and securely, right where the data lives. We're seeing over 250 AI support use cases for the z17 that are very real for our clients—fraud detection that happens in milliseconds, smarter customer service with AI-powered chat, even helping radiologists interpret medical images faster. And with the new IBM Spyre Accelerator, it's not just traditional models—we're talking large language models and generative AI running securely, at scale. The z17 continues to lead in security and resiliency. And with tools like watsonx Code Assistant for Z, we're making it easier for developers to build and manage on the platform, whether they've been working on Z for years or are just getting started. In short, this is about giving businesses a way to move fast with AI, without compromising on the things that matter: security, scale, and trust. Finally, when it comes to Gen AI, understandably, there is huge excitement at the potential it has to completely transform industries, but that being said, there are growing calls for more robust frameworks and governance around AI in order to ensure it is being used responsibly. Can you give us an overview from an IBM perspective on your approach to responsible AI? At IBM, we are deeply committed to developing AI that can be trusted to drive progress for both business and society. Our approach to responsible AI begins with watsonx, our enterprise-ready AI and data platform, which provides the tools, governance, and transparency needed to develop and deploy AI responsibly. It helps organizations track data provenance, ensure model explainability, and mitigate bias at scale. We also recognize that building trust in AI requires global collaboration. That's why we co-founded the AI Alliance, a coalition of over 100 organizations across industry, academia, and government, including partners like CERN, NASA, Hugging Face, and MBZUAI. All are committed to advancing open, safe, and inclusive AI innovation. Together, we are focused on keeping AI open-source, promoting responsible development, and ensuring the benefits of AI are broadly shared. We also actively engage with governments worldwide to shape smart, risk-based regulation that focuses on high-impact use cases rather than underlying algorithms, in order to support innovation while safeguarding society.
Tahawul Tech
17-04-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
'We're integrating our engineering and digital capabilities to develop unique value propositions.' – Walid Gomaa, Omnix International
CNME Editor Mark Forker spoke to Walid Gomaa, Chief Executive Officer at Omnix International, in an effort to learn more about their decision to integrate their engineering and digital solutions in a bid to drive unique value propositions for their customers, the unique capabilities of its Omnix Metaverse, the impact of their AI monetization consultancy services – and how their HOT Systems are completely optimising software performance. Walid Gomaa has cultivated a reputation for himself for his ability to leading organisational reform and change during a decorated career in the technology industry across the Middle East. Gomaa has worked for some of the world's biggest technology companies such as IBM, Dell, HPE, and Huawei – and he was officially appointed as the CEO of Omnix International, in January 2024, after joining the digital solutions services provider in 2021. It could be argued that despite the fact he has an incredibly impressive CV, and that he has been in the industry for almost 40 years, that he has never been more enthused, or driven to succeed now, than at any other point in his career. The last time CNME caught up with Omnix International, was during LEAP 2024 in Riyadh, so there is plenty to catch-up on, and Gomaa began the conversation by highlighting how the company has decided to take a more unified approach when it comes to their engineering and digital solutions portfolio. 'Since we last spoke, Omnix International has embarked upon a lot of transformation internally as a company. We recognised that as a digital services provider we need to streamline our current product offerings to make sure that they are able to support the current initiatives that are happening in the marketplace. Traditionally, Omnix has two different DNAs as a company. We have an engineering DNA and a digital DNA, but what I started to see over the last 2-3 years was more of a link between the two. Ultimately, what that enabled me to do was to take some of the engineering solution offerings and some of the digital solution offerings and bundle them together to make sure that we are providing a unique value proposition to our customers that nobody else in the marketplace can do,' said Gomaa. Gomaa highlighted the creation of their Omnix Metaverse Platform, as an example of the new value proposition they are delivering since infusing their engineering and digital DNAs. 'We decided to create our own Omnix Metaverse Platform, and if you recall, initially when it came to the Metaverse space everybody was talking about wearable technology. However, what we quickly realised following consultations with our customers and partners is that you need lots of other things in addition to just wearables. You need networks, back-end integration, and ultimately you need to provide a whole host of different services, it's not enough to be focused solely on wearables. We decided to line up our offerings in a way that we don't say engineering, and digital anymore, we're now providing specific solutions that are tailored to meet the unique needs and challenges of customers, and we leverage our technology to help them address those obstacles. That's where we introduce and start to talk about the Digital Twin Metaverse, which is essentially the way in which we can integrate the virtual world with the physical world,' said Gomaa. Gomaa added how part of their own transformation and restructuring of their product and solution offerings, saw the company create solutions that helped customers with their data domain, and he also highlighted how that approach has now put them in contention to land large-scale smart infrastructure projects in both the UAE and KSA. 'We are helping customers in relation to their data domain. Data is becoming a big, big issue for a lot of customers, and naturally we decided to focus on the data domain space. As a result of that pivot, we have landed a number of sizeable projects in terms of data visualisation and data management, and this allows us to diversify our business model, and from a forward-looking perspective this also positions us differently in the market. We are competing for the big smart infrastructure projects in the marketplace now, whether that be in Saudi Arabia, or the UAE, we are putting ourselves in the frame. We want to demonstrate the unique value propositions that we can provide when it comes to smart infrastructure,' said Gomaa. AI is everywhere, and unsurprisingly Omnix have invested heavily into AI, but as Gomaa pointed out they have decided to approach it from a different angle in terms of its implementation. He highlighted the growing impact of its AI Monetisation Service. 'Look everyone is talking about AI. We are approaching it two-fold, both from a knowledge perspective, and from the fact that we have started to implement AI in different ways. Firstly, we looked at AI from a use-case based approach, which I believe is fundamental. Essentially, when we say use-case based AI approach, it means we have done this, and we know how to do it pretty well in fact. However, now we're going to implement it and scale it from a customer perspective. Now to do that, we recognised a gap, a big gap actually in relation to business users and technical users. What we started to do was create a specific service to address the issues that exist around POC and validation, and we have called it our AI Monetisation Service. It's basically a consultancy service with customers, we engage with them directly, and create ideation workshops. We identify the use-cases, we map out how we ensure that these use-cases yield a positive ROI. We want to help customers develop AI use-cases that deliver tangible business outcomes for them, and that is what the AI Monetisation Service provides,' said Gomaa. Omnix International has drawn acclaim for the performance of its HOT Systems. According to Gomaa, the HOT System has been purpose-built for industries like AEC, Media, and Manufacturing — which is driving higher productivity and lower operational costs. 'The inception of our HOT System was driven by a customer requirement. We are dealing with engineers across every domain, but these engineers are using very heavy software on their machines, and we witnessed first-hand the struggles they were encountering when they were trying to open a model. I mean in many cases it was taking them 2 hours to open a specific model. Now if we can reduce this process from 2 hours, to say around 15 minutes, then I can give these engineers back 75% of their time. This was the starting point for us, but we decided to do a lot a of R&D around it, and we quickly discovered that it was not going to be enough to bring CPUs and GPUs and bundle them together in the hope that the system will perform better. We realised that we needed to understand the path of the software within the machine, so with that in mind, it became evident that the software needs to be optimised. The O in the word HOT, stands for optimisation. We are optimising the path of the software in the machine to make sure the performance is where it should be,' said Gomaa. Gomaa stressed that HOT is a breakthrough solution that incredibly delivers up to 30% better performance for 3D designers, CAD/BIM engineers, simulation developers, and content creators. 'We want optimise performance. We've done the benchmarks for the customers, and they can see the value we are delivering in terms of performance. We are partnered with a major player from the construction industry, who has over 500 machines in operation. Now the unique selling point we have is the fact that other vendors like Dell and HP will have machines that are optimised, and they are extremely powerful in terms of CPU and TPU, but they're not optimised when you run the software and set the benchmarks. We deliver a 30% result in terms of higher performance,' said Gomaa. The dial of the conversation turned back to the data pipeline that is needed for digital transformation, and as Gomaa pointed out if the data is incorrect then the AI business use-case being pushed forward is going to be completely redundant. 'The entire technology landscape is fixated on AI, and rightly so, and a huge element within the AI conversation is the role of data analytics. However, when its comes to AI, if the data is either incorrect, or inconsistent, then it is going to be useless. So, businesses need to go back to the drawing board to ensure that their data is correct. And this is why at Omnix, we talk so much about the concept of the data pipeline and the need for it, any engagement we have with customers we advocate for the data pipeline approach. You have to understand the data in the various different stages in that data pipeline, and you need to have the right tools and solutions to help you on that data pipeline journey. The first part of the process is to have the right data framework, data management and data governance models in place, because you have to understand who is using the data, and who is actually authorised to change the data,' said Gomaa. Gomaa concluded a superb discussion that highlighting the key role the start-up ecosystem will play in terms of helping businesses with their data pipeline. 'When we were looking at the marketplace, we weren't just looking at the major vendors, we scanned the start-up ecosystem because there are some brilliant start-ups producing some great output when it comes to the data pipeline space. When you look at solutions, I'd advise businesses to not only look at the large vendors, because some of the start-ups have the solutions that are a perfect fit for many enterprises about to start on their data pipeline. The data pipeline starts with data collection, so you need comprehensive data collection engines, and again, that's where AI enters the game, because these collection engines are now becoming powered by AI,' said Gomaa.
Tahawul Tech
17-04-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
'We want to unleash the potential of ‘differentiated connectivity' across Africa' – Majda Lahlo, Ericsson
CNME Editor Mark Forker spoke to Majda Lahlo, Vice President of Ericsson, and President of Ericsson West Africa and Morocco, during GITEX Africa, in a bid to get a better understanding of how the Swedish ICT vendor is hoping to unleash the potential of differentiated connectivity to address the digital divide that exists across the African continent. Majda Lahlo has spent her entire professional career working for Ericsson across the African marketplace, so there are few better placed to comment on both the progress that has been made, and what still needs to be done to provide internet access to the 40% of the African population that remain disconnected. CNME spoke to Lahlo during GITEX Africa, which is now in its 3rd edition, and it's the first time Ericsson has exhibited at the tech conference. She kickstarted the conversation by highlighting how the event provided them with the opportunity to reinforce their 'Africa in Motion' strategy. 'Our presence here at the event is very important to us, and we want to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to the continent. By being here at GITEX Africa, it allows us to reinforce our Africa in Motion strategy that we launched a few years ago, where we can show how we can leverage on the power of differentiated connectivity to unleash the potential for both consumers, customers, CSPs, and developers. The key message that we really want to project at GITEX Africa, is that what's next for Africa starts now. Ericsson is ready to enable the power of 5G across Africa, and we are bringing the innovations and technologies that we believe can unleash the potential of differentiated connectivity,' said Lahlo. Lahlo used the agricultural industry as an example of where huge progress has been made thanks to the implementation of cutting-edge technologies, which have dramatically increased productivity and efficiency. 'If you look at the agricultural sector, which is a very important industry across the continent of Africa. It's not that long ago that a farmer would rise in the morning and perform his daily tasks based solely on his own instincts and experience. Today, thanks to the power of 5G connectivity he has access to fixed wireless technology, and that allows him to have secure access to check weather forecasting through AI-powered applications, monitor crop prices in the marketplace, or apply for a micro loan through our mobile platform. There are so many new opportunities for farmers to tap into, and with access to the collective power of 5G, combined with AI and cloud computing, it has fostered an ecosystem that is empowering farmers to be work more effectively and efficiently,' said Lahlo. Again, in terms of the messaging at the event from Ericsson, Lahlo outlined how they wanted to demonstrate their capabilities from a B2B, B2C, and B2D perspective, highlighting the role played by their new joint-venture Aduna. 'At the stand here at Ericsson, we are approaching all of our messaging across three different dimensions. The first is, what it brings to B2B, what it brings to B2C, and finally what does it bring to B2D. The B2D element is designed to expose the capabilities of the network to developers, who usually outsmart us by finding new use-cases and applications that respond to the needs of the consumers and enterprises. We are doing this through our newly-formed joint venture Aduna, which is backed by 16 global CSPs, and we are committed to continuing to collaborate in this sphere to create a platform for development that enables the aggregation of all the APIs, to apply it in any network anywhere. This gives users the ability to scale-up, and bring applications that can be deployed everywhere in the continent,' said Lahlo. Ericsson has been connecting Africa for over 100 years, and has played a critical role in building wireless networks from the 1st generation to the 5th one. However, as Lahlo pointed out, Ericsson along with its ecosystem of partners need to find a way to make devices more affordable in order to bridge that 'digital divide'. 'At Ericsson, we have a long history of driving Africa's telecommunications evolution. Our promise, and commitment to Africa is always to support a world in which digitalisation is transforming the ecosystem. However, for this to happen, then you need to have the right connectivity in place, and the right 4G network to start with, and we are now seeing the emergence of 5G. Our commitment is to make sure that we will continue to play a role in expanding 4G coverage. We have seen a huge increase from 7% in 2020, to 34% by 2024 in the data traffic across the continent. That being said, we can still see that there is a gap in the usage versus the coverage that we are offering. In order for us to bridge that gap, then we need to continue to collaborate with the entire ecosystem across the Africa continent because we need to find a way in which we can make devices more affordable for consumers,' said Lahlo. Lahlo acknowledged that in order to really address the connectivity divide, then more works needs to be done to expand connectivity beyond urban areas and into rural parts of Africa. 'We really need to work on how we bring connectivity beyond the urban areas to the remote rural areas in Africa. We want to bring rural solutions that are cost-effective, in order to give remote area decent broadband coverage. At the same time with the emergence of 5G, we have the possibility to leverage the fixed wireless access capabilities to offer fibre-like experiences to small enterprises and agricultural businesses in rural areas. In summary, by continuing to collaborate with the many different players across the ecosystem, we can continue to advance the usage of the 4G network, and to support greater use-cases around 5G as it continues to grow across the continent,' said Lahlo. Lahlo conceded that in relation to the digital divide the numbers are stark, highlighting how both the cost of devices and limited infrastructure make it a challenge that isn't going to disappear overnight. 'If you look at the numbers, you can see that less that 40% of the African population currently uses the internet, and the main barrier in terms of internet access is the high cost of devices, geographical disparities, limited infrastructure, and the lack of electricity in rural areas. Urban areas across Africa continue to exhibit higher adoption of digital technologies, whilst rural communities are left lagging behind. This is inevitably creating one of the biggest digital divides in the world, and it is a huge problem, as it is preventing underserved communities from accessing meaningful economic opportunities. In terms of what we at Ericsson are trying to do, in order to bridge that gap is from a perspective of developing solutions that are specifically-designed for rural areas. We believe that we can offer very good broadband access to remote communities, and on top of that we leverage on the fixed wireless access based on 5G, which is an affordable way to access broadband compared to what fibre would deliver,' said Lahlo. However, Lahlo did cite figures from their Ericsson Mobility Report, which indicated that Africa is very much moving in the right direction. 'If you take our Ericsson Mobility Report, which we published back in November 2024, we predicted that 5G subscriptions will make up to 33% of total mobile subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, and that means that despite the disparity that exists, we will see continued growth in mobile broadband, and with the emergence of 5G, we will see more use-cases that could enable a more inclusive society across Africa. We believe that 5G-based fixed wireless access and rural solutions are just a few examples of the multiple ways that Ericsson are looking to bridge the digital divide that exists across the African continent. However, as I said earlier, we can't do this alone, you need to cultivate the right partnerships and collaborations to really advance change with the key stakeholders from across the entire ecosystem,' said Lahlo. Lahlo concluded a brilliant conversation by highlighting the unique capabilities of their 'future-ready' networks. 'When we talk about future-ready networks, first of all, we need to think about it as an end-to-end connectivity that offers differentiated experiences based on the need. I want to really underline the importance of a differentiated connectivity. When we conducted our consumer lab survey, we saw that 35% of the users acknowledge that 5G offers better experiences than 4G, but many of those users are no longer satisfied with standard performance, they are looking for a more advanced experience and are willing to pay for it. Essentially, differentiated connectivity is at the core of what we call future-ready networks, and the first step is to have the right 5G coverage. Another aspect of future-ready networks is the programmability factor that steers network behaviour towards specific business outcomes, and this will also gear us towards autonomous networks, which is a true gamechanger, as it will bring a fundamental shift in the business paradigm,' said Lahlo.
