IBM Expands Global Research Network into South Africa
Dr. Solomon Assefa (left) and Wits University Professor Zeblon Vilakazi at site of IBM’s new South Africa research lab in Braamfontein, Johannesburg
IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced its plans to expand IBM Research – Africa with a new laboratory in Johannesburg beginning April 2015.
It will focus on advancing Big Data, cloud and mobile technologies to support South Africa’s national priorities, drive skills development and foster innovation-based economic growth, said the company.
As part of a 10-year investment program through the Department of Trade and Industry and working closely with the Department of Science and Technology, the new research facility will be based at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits).
The new lab will be located in the Tshimologong Precinct in Braamfontein – an inner-city area which, according to IBM, is today re-emerging as one of Johannesburg’s most dynamic and vibrant districts.
The new South Africa research team will be led by Dr. Solomon Assefa, formerly a research scientist at IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York.
