Making connections and innovative ideas accessible is the key strategy of Research and Development Network (RDN). The meeting held on 25th November 2016 between Resource Mobilization and Management Centre (ROMME) and RDN at RDN office - C&G Plaza- Mikocheni, Dar es Salaam initiated strong linkage between the two organizations. The discussion was based on linkage between ROMME and RDN.
Mr. Heri Marco - Chief Research and Innovation Coordinator for RDN discussed about the capacity of RDN which is established to build radically thinking connections between Research, innovation and real-world experience, making innovative ideas accessible and usable. The company engages network of researchers, innovators, practitioners, policymakers, investors, entrepreneurs and all professionals / experts to rethink how research and innovation can be delivered to provide solutions and increase productivity and prosperity. RDN’s overall objective is to be a think tank platform for research and innovation in Tanzania, Africa and Worldwide. Mr. Heri Marco further introduced four major services offered by RDN which includes; Collaborative Innovative Consultancy, Research Consultancy, Capacity Development training programs and Online service (www.rdnplatform.com).
According to Mr. Agape Ishabakaki- Researcher from RDN, Online Service(www.rdnplatform.com) is well positioned as an engine for other RDN services and partners. Its mission is to connect experts/professionals, investors, entrepreneurs and enterprises to make innovative ideas accessible and usable. RDN believes that great success can be achieved through proper connections.
Mr. Ruta G. Mutakyahwa- CEO of ROMME, introduced the Organization and its activities. ROMME is established as a private researching, consulting and training firm based in Dar es Salaam. It is a nonprofit-oriented organization. It is intended to provide expert and technical services to Non Profit Organizations and other public and private institutions. ROMME Centre focuses on capacity building and skills transfer in the areas of mobilization and management of resources.
Mr. Marco explained that, by using RDN Platform (www.rdnlatform.com) ROMME can leverage its expertise and reach more people. He further explained that according to the World Internet Statistics - Miniwatts Marketing June, 2016 shows that 50% of the world population are using internet with average growth rate of 905.6% from 2000-2016. In the context of Africa, the continent is one of the fastest growing regions in terms of internet usage with average growth of 7, 448.8% from 2000 - 2016. It counts for 9.4% of the total population of internet users with 28.7% penetration rate. Therefore, with the high pace of growth, RDN Platform positions itself as an accelerator and connector of internet usage in Tanzania, East Africa, Africa at large and Worldwide. By using RDN platform, ROMME has a great chance to increase its productivity, since it will be easy to establish connections and work with different experts/ professionals/organizations/investors/experts.
In addition, based on Mr. Mutakyahwa professional expertise, Mr. Agape of RDN explained that RDN will increase the level of reach of that expertise to ensure it reaches more people and help the society as a whole. He further explained that Mr. Mutakyahwa's long experience since 1984 has played a significant role in helping organizations, CSOs and the Private Sector on issues related to capacity building and skills transfer in the areas of mobilization and management of resources.
To expedite their expertise, the two organizations agreed to partner on different programs in the future.
Israelites are intelligent people to live in earth. As we know that the world is trying to sustain Development in different areas of the economy. Flux an Israel Startup Company has done a research on how to solve number 2 SDG which is No Huger. They have introduced a product called Eddy product which will be able to grow plants indoors.
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Technology is boosting up in most of the African countries. Recently there is news on three teenage girls from South Africa who have designed and built payloads for a satellite that will orbit over the earth's poles scanning Africa's surface. Once in space, the satellite will collect information on agriculture, and food security within the continent.
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The University of Carnegie Mellon plans to create a research center focusing on Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Previous decade, faster computer chips, cheap sensors and large collections of data have helped researchers improve on computerized tasks like machine vision and speech recognition, as well as robotics. For further readings please click here
According to a 98-page report released on Thursday, Uber described the potential of autonomous flying cars to free frustrated commuters from clogged highways. Uber believes that within a decade it will be possible to build a network of affordable, electric flying cars that take off and land vertically at speeds of up to 200 mph. Uber doesn't plan to build its own flying cars but wants to collaborate with companies, governments, and communities to push the nascent field forward. Uber's report is the latest example of mounting hype surrounding technology's impact on transportation, ranging from autonomous taxis to flying cars and self-driving trucks. Read more…
Global warming is a gradual increase in the overall temperature of the earth's atmosphere generally attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by increased levels of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons, and other pollutants. There has been report from Live Science saying that there are five deadly diseases emerging from Global Warming and these are Anthrax, Zika, Zombie diseases, Tick-borne illness and Cholera.
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Most of us think of a placebo as a simple psychological trick --a fake pill might give us hope, but it produces no real effects. Yet, recent research has shown an increase in the placebo response over the past couple of decades. Just last week, the results of a new study published in the journal Pain suggest that a placebo can have real, even profound, physical benefits.
People with chronic lower back pain were recruited to participate in research at a public hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. First, they filled out questionnaires describing the intensity of their pain and their degree of disability. The researchers randomly assigned the patients to two groups. One continued with treatment as usual: the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) they were currently taking to prevent pain. The other group received their usual pain drugs as well as placebo pills in a typical prescription medicine bottle. They were told that a placebo pill contained no medication, and the bottle's label read "Placebo pills. Take 2 pills twice a day."
"We were very careful about making sure that they understood that there was nothing in the pill that could affect pain," said Irving Kirsch, senior author of the study and a professor at Harvard Medical School. After three weeks, both groups filled out a second questionnaire about their pain. On average, the pain medication group experienced a 9% reduction in usual pain, a 16% reduction in maximum pain and no reduction in disability. By contrast, the placebo group averaged a 30% reduction in both usual and maximum pain, while reporting nearly the same reduction, 29%, in disability. Read more.... http://journals.lww.com/pain/Abstract/publishahead/Open_label_placebo_treatment_in_chronic_low_back.99404.aspx
The fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 has done heavy damage to Samsung's reputation and profits. Its next victim could be the environment.
Greenpeace is blasting Samsung for failing to detail how it will dispose of the millions of Note 7 smartphones it's recalling around the world. If the South Korean tech company chooses to dump them, it would create the equivalent of about 28 shipping containers of toxic waste, according to the environmental advocacy group. And that doesn't even include the battery chargers.
Samsung decided last month to permanently halt sales and production of the Note 7, one of its flagship smartphones, after persistent reports of the devices bursting into flames.The world's largest smartphone maker has said it sold more than 3 million Note 7 devices worldwide. Greenpeace cites reports suggesting another 1.3 million were produced but not sold. That amount of phones would contain 20 metric tons of cobalt, one metric ton of tungsten, about 100 kilos of gold and more than 1,000 kilos of silver, according to a report Tuesday from Greenpeace and a German research institute. Read more....http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/dumping-4-3-million-samsung-phones-is-an-environmental-disaster-warns-greenpeace/
Scientists in the US Department of Energy- Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have accidentally discovered a method to convert carbon dioxide into ethanol for use as a fuel for internal-combustion motors.
What happened?
Scientists were trying to study the first step of a proposed reaction but they realized that the catalyst was doing the entire reaction on its own. By putting copper and carbon together to create manospikes on silicon exposing matter to carbon dioxide dissolved in water and electrifying it and the solution was transformed into a highly concentrated blend of ethanol. This newfound ability to recycle the greenhouse gas could potentially help slow global warming. Currently, the research behind this new process is still in the early stages. The scientists are continuing to study the method to make it even more efficient and to learn more about how it could be put to use in a large-scale operation. Read more
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