Rwanda has moved people into model ‘green’ villages: is life better there?: After the devastating 1994 genocide, Rwandans returning from the violence established homes and began farming where they could find land. Since then, the Rwandan government has aimed to bring people scattered across rural parts of the country into grouped settlements which they have …
South Africa’s low-cost housing model is broken – study suggests how to fix it: The backlog of subsidised public housing in South Africa is estimated at 2.4 million. In this interview, Hlengiwe Maila, a research fellow at the School of Public Management and Administration at the University of Pretoria, answers questions posed by associate professor …
South Africa’s fight against extreme poverty needs a new strategy – model shows how social grants could work: South Africa has been struggling for decades to reduce poverty, inequality and unemployment and raise the rate of economic growth. Economic growth has been slow since a recession in 2008. The annual growth rate averaged 1.1% between …
Online classrooms where students run the show: we tested how this unconventional model can work: Bringing together different ideas and experiences enhances the virtual classroom experience. Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images The Zoom meeting window opens, immediately revealing scores of smiling or anxious faces. Some people have quirky backgrounds; some are in the same room as friends …
Google’s Gemini: is the new AI model really better than ChatGPT?: MeSSrro/Shutterstock Google Deepmind has recently announced Gemini, its new AI model to compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. While both models are examples of “generative AI”, which learn to find patterns of input training information to generate new data (pictures, words or other media), ChatGPT is …
How AI ‘sees’ the world – what happened when we trained a deep learning model to identify poverty: Visualising wealth and poverty through AI. Authors, CC BY-SA To most effectively deliver aid to alleviate poverty, you have to know where the people most in need are. In many countries, this is often done with household …
My mathematical model cautions Rishi Sunak against shifting to the right ahead of the next election: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gave the strongest indication yet that he intends to call the next election for around October 2024 when he released a promotional video asking “What can a country achieve in 52 weeks?” to mark his …
Multimedia is key to distance education: I built a model South African universities can use: Open distance institutions need a comprehensive framework for multimedia teaching and learning. Moyo Studio Distance education first appeared in the United States in the 1800s. At the time, students received the relevant material through the post and then returned it …
Make new friends and become a role model: why you should consider volunteering if you’re in your 20s or 30s: Inside Creative House/Shutterstock If you’re aged between 25 and 34, you’re part of the age group least likely to take part in volunteering. Only 19% of 25-34 year olds in England volunteered at least once …
Kenya and the US are negotiating a trade deal that could be a model for Africa – but its position on workers needs a rethink: Provisions for mandatory inspections to ascertain labour practices are controversial. Noor Khamis/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images The US and Kenya announced a trade and investment partnership in July 2022. Talks have been …
Is there new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics? Our finding will help settle the question: Muon g2 experiment. Fermilab Despite its tremendous success in predicting the existence of new particles and forces, the Standard Model of particle physics, designed over 50 years ago to explain the smallest building blocks of nature, isn’t …
South Africa’s Land Bank can be fixed: change the funding model and narrow the focus: Land Bank played an influential role in the development of South African agriculture. GettyImages It is disheartening to see how many South Africans, including parliamentarians, have forgotten the simple and influential role the Land and Agricultural Development Bank (Land Bank) …
The UK wants to export its model of AI regulation, but it’s doubtful the world will want it: On AI, the UK hopes that it can strike the right balance between addressing risks and fostering innovation. PopTika / Shutterstock Recent claims that artificial intelligence (AI) poses an existential threat to humanity seem to have jolted …
The future of the sharing business model: The future of the sharing business model Ron McFarland Fri, 04/21/2023 – 03:00 Younger generations prioritize experiences over assets and quality over quantity in many areas of life, and technology has evolved to help fulfill their desires. That’s the position of Arun Sundararajan in his book The Sharing …
Participation income: the social welfare model that could help communities fight climate change: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock Universal Basic Income (UBI), a programme in which all adult citizens are given a regular amount of money to spend on what they choose, dominates the debate on the future of social policy. It is based on the idea that in …
Child nutrition programmes can feed inequality: model from South Africa shows how context shapes lives: Stanislaw Sadokhin/Shutterstock Interventions to improve nutrition, especially for children and pregnant women, can be critical for health, physical growth and cognitive development, enabling better lives and futures. Reams of policy papers will attest to the fact that if a government …
PFI at 30: it’s hard to say anything positive about this deeply flawed financing model: It was Norman Lamont who first announced a new way of paying for public buildings and infrastructure in November 1992. In a speech to the House of Commons, the then chancellor of the exchequer said he was looking to encourage …
South Africa’s prisons are a breeding ground for the spread of TB. Our model shows how: People in prison are more at risk of TB than the general population. Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images South African prisons are famously overcrowded. Prison populations are believed to exceed capacity by an overall 33%, although that number …