https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/sisterhood/

Sedgwick, who had known Walker for a while, was brought in thanks to his “simple… yet thoughtful” design portfolio. He presented a few initial deals with various type choices and investigations into the letter ’S’. “Essentially I wanted to create a symbol and brand that represented the notions of working together,” says Sedgwick. “Sisterhood is all about creating relationships whether that be between the agency and a client, or working internally as a collective.”

Microsoft’s South African data centers are now open for Azure business

Microsoft had originally promised to bring data centers in Johannesburg and Cape Town online in 2018, but even given that brief delay it will become the first of the major cloud providers to provide local service to Africa.

IBM operates data centers in South Africa but doesn’t provide nearly the breadth and depth of cloud computing services that the other companies do, while Amazon Web Services announced plans last October to bring a South African data center online in 2020.

Location matters on the modern internet, as more and more real-time applications arrive and the demands cloud customers place on infrastructure continues to grow. Processing power and networking capabilities have never been more powerful, but the speed of light still governs internet communications, which means that end-user proximity is extremely important when it comes to serving local cloud customers.

https://www.geekwire.com/2019/microsofts-south-african-data-centers-now-open-azure-business/

IMF forecasts Uzbekistan's GDP to increase to 5.5pct

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts GDP growth at 5.5 percent in Uzbekistan in 2019 due to the investment boom in the country, however, external demand for the main commodity exports may weaken, Trend reports with reference to the head of IMF mission Albert Eger.

In November 2018, the IMF predicted GDP growth at 5 percent in Uzbekistan in 2019.

"We expect growth rate of GDP to be 5.5 percent in 2019. The main reason is investment," Eger said at the press conference in Tashkent.

He states that the growth of Uzbek economy in 2020 will be 6 percent, which is also associated with investment demand.

The mission underlines that imports of investment goods of Uzbekistan rose from $4.5 billion in 2017 to $7.5 billion by the end of 2018.

"We see large investment projects, Tashkent city itself has turned into one big construction project," said Eger.

The IMF representative placed the weakening of external demand for the main export goods - gold, natural gas, non-ferrous metals among the short-term risks for Uzbek economy. "Their prices will be lower than today," said Eger.

The mission assessed that the inflation in Uzbekistan in 2019 will remain at last year’s level at 15 percent, after falling from 20 percent in 2017. In particular, the government and the Central Bank will need to take measures to curb the credit growth in the economy, which increased 1.5 times in 2018 and exerts inflationary pressure.

"Inflation is quite high, which is not surprising for a country with transitional economy that is pursuing liberalization and trying to bring prices to the level of self-sufficiency," Eger added.

In November, the IMF said that inflationary pressure on Uzbek economy in 2019 could increase, the consumer price index could reach 17-18 percent due to rising energy prices, wages in the social sector and taxes.

The Uzbek Central Bank stressed that the baseline inflation forecast in the country for 2019 is 13.5-15.5 percent compared to 17.5 percent in 2018. Official data demonstrated that inflation in Uzbekistan at the end of 2017 amounted to 14.4 percent compared to 5.7 percent in 2016, this growth in 2.5 times was associated with devaluation of the national currency - the soum - and liberalization of the country's foreign exchange market.

https://www.azernews.az/region/146815.html

INDIA TRYING TO RE HYPNOTIZE AFRICA

How to leverage Artificial Intelligence and deep learning to enhance job opportunities in IT

Opening up one’s eyes to AI isn’t a big thing, anymore. It is an enhanced sense of consumer intelligence generated by machines to augment modern day interactions to create “experiences”.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/education/how-to-leverage-artificial-intelligence-and-deep-learning-to-enhance-job-opportunities-in-it/story-pNOLla8oM1gypHvuX1BZtI.html

CHINA TRYING TO RE HYPNOTIZE AFRICA

China wins the tech war in Africa

To understand the extent of the effect Huawei has had on information, communication and technology (ICT) in Africa, it is worth considering the major investment it has made into this sector.

In January last year, during the CES 2018 in Las Vegas, amid many product launches and reviews, a story emerged that was not well publicised in mainstream Western media. It centred on the United States president of Huawei’s consumer business, Richard Yu, lamenting the fact that Huawei was unable to forge a successful agreement with US mobile operators to launch its devices.

Yu’s statements were made against the backdrop of a complex issue. According to some media reports, the US Congress has exerted pressure on mobile operators not to do business with the Chinese telecommunications giant, so Huawei smartphones are not available from any major US mobile operator.

The reasons for this can be read in two complex and entirely different ways.

In 2012, Congress’s house intelligence committee informed the US government that Huawei was a “national security threat”, although no evidence for this claim has been made public.

Nonetheless, it has been used as the basis on which to create negativity regarding Huawei and to shut out it and prevent it from forming any meaningful partnership with US mobile operators.

Another less popular view (and something that has also received little coverage in mainstream Western media) concerns Huawei’s growth and expansion.

https://mg.co.za/article/2019-03-06-china-wins-the-tech-war-in-africa