Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 11 | Page 53

INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Data Centres of data science, big data-driven business modelling, IoT solutions design, and more. It’s time for urgent and decisive moves, from corporates, government, training authorities, and higher learning institutions. By focusing on reskilling, particularly young people, we can leverage this opportunity. Cracking open the innovation landscape The availability of local hyper-scale cloud platforms finally cracks open the innovation landscape in SA. We’re entering a truly exciting era, where there are no longer any reasons to hold back with radical digitisation plans. Local companies can unlock new routes to global markets, get involved in new value-chains, and start offering the kinds of services that are only possible in countries with powerful enterprise computing platforms close at hand. Our tertiary institutions can now access world-class infrastructure and high- speed data analysis services, helping to advance a number of specialised fields in academia, medicine, technology and industry. We need to look beyond the local economy, or our local politics, and see the opportunities at a broader, global level. As the likes of Google, Uber and Netflix have shown, with the right cloud platforms, we can create digital services that can be scaled limitlessly and exported anywhere across the world. This is certainly more than just a pipe dream. Generally speaking, Africa already has a strong reputation for solution-based innovation to tackle various everyday challenges on the continent. With this mindset, and now with the power of industrial-grade cloud platforms, we can broaden and enrich the scope of our innovation – and channel our creative energies in new ways. Cloud-based tools will unlock a world of new innovations across Africa. From intelligent soil sensors and automated irrigation systems to IV monitoring tools that address shortages in nursing care, to 3D-printed prosthetics in South Sudan, the solution-focused approach of African innovators is visible everywhere. The cloud will only stimulate further creativity, innovation and problem- solving – as we look to overcome the challenges that affect our daily lives. It’s time to think ambitiously, to take some bold, calculated risks, and transform ourselves into the digital enterprises of the future. Align this with widespread reskilling initiatives I mentioned earlier, and we may just find that our economic and unemployment woes will improve. n Hurricane Electric expands global network to East Africa Data Centre H urricane Electric, the world’s leading IPv6-native Internet backbone, has announced that it has added a new point of presence (PoP) in Nairobi at the East Africa Data Centre. This is Hurricane Electric’s first PoP in Kenya and third in Africa. The East Africa Data Centre is one of the most connected facilities in the region and boasts long-distance fibre routes to Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Somalia. Covering 2,000m 2 across four floors, the carrier-neutral data centre offers N+1 cooling and power for its tenants as well as parallel UPS systems and N+1 diesel generators to maintain uptime. Additionally, the facility has been designed to meet International Data Centre Standards as outlined by TIA-942. With the launch of Hurricane Electric’s newest PoP, customers of the East Africa Data Centre and others in the area now have a variety of new connectivity options as well as the ability to improve fault tolerance, load www.intelligentcio.com balancing, congestion management and transit of next-generation IPv6 traffic. Additionally, tenants at the East Africa Data Centre are able to exchange IP traffic with Hurricane Electric’s vast global network, which offers over 19,000 BGP sessions with over 6,500 different networks via more than 160 major exchange points and thousands of customer and private peering ports. The Nairobi PoP also provides access to Hurricane Electric’s extensive IPv4 and IPv6 network through 100 Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 1 Gigabit Ethernet ports and as a result, both new and existing customers will be able to experience increased throughput, reduced latency and improved reliability. “Hurricane Electric is delighted with the continued growth of our global network through this new point of presence and we remain committed to further expanding into even more African countries in 2018,” said Mike Leber, President, Hurricane Electric. “Because the region is so well connected, Nairobi has proven itself to be an important technological hub for Kenya and beyond. Our newest site will allow customers of East Africa Data Centre to tap into the bandwidth and reach of Hurricane Electric’s rich global network and we are grateful for the opportunity to support them.” n INTELLIGENTCIO 53