On Wednesday, 31 May 2023, senior researcher Aby Louw who is the technical lead on Qfrency at the CSIR NextGen Enterprises and Institutions cluster, attended the open day of the auspicious 2023 International Symposium Telecommunication (IST) Africa Conference at the CSIR International Convention Centre.

The IST-Africa Conference was hosted by the Government of South Africa through the Department of Science and Innovation, supported by the European Commission and African Union Commission. The conference took place from Wednesday, 31 May to Friday, 2 June 2023.

This was the eighteenth conference in an annual series of Ministerial Level Technology Research Conferences. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Society on Societal Implications of Technology (SSIT), IEEE South Africa Section and IEEE Africa Council were technical co-sponsors.

Aby Louw presented in the eGovernment session about the role of voice computing in digital service delivery.

“My goal is to create awareness of the existence of voice computing technologies in our local languages and the potential to create equitable access to government services by lowering possible language barriers. Voice computing technologies can also bring many other benefits to service delivery including the streamlining of processes, faster response times, optimisation of resource allocations, enhanced service delivery, improved accessibility and many others,” said Louw.

The goals of the IST-Africa Conference series are to support the development of the information society and knowledge economy in Africa, promote international research innovation and policy cooperation and coordination, showcase African research and innovation capacity and stimulate the exploitation of research results by the public and private sectors.

The overall programme of the event incorporated plenary sessions and thematically focused sessions featuring presenters from the public and private sector, education, research and societal organisations from 25 countries. The thematic areas are eHealth, societal implications of technology, next generation computing, cybersecurity, international cooperation, technology enhanced learning and digital skills, artificial intelligence, block chain, environmental sustainability and eAgriculture, global development, eGovernment, content technologies and ICT-enabled entrepreneurship.

The Honourable Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, and Abby were interviewed by the South African Broadcasting Commission (SABC) to discuss the overview of day one of the three-day conference.