Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 12 | Page 27

PROJECT UPDATE EGYPT Huawei held a ceremony during the Cairo ICT 2017 conference to launch the Cairo OpenLab. Huawei, together with industry alliance and partners in Northern Africa, aims to build ICT ecosystem in Northern Africa in response to industry digital transformation. Cairo OpenLab focuses on the innovative areas of public safety, smart grid, smart city, smart government and smart education. This OpenLab, situated in the Smart Village office of Cairo, has been operating as a Research and Development facility for about one year and now is officially open to customers and partners. Currently, the OpenLab is approximately 400 square metres and is estimated to expand to over 1,000 square metres in the next two years. KENYA Kenyatta University has successfully completed a Pilot Solar Module Plant at the main campus in Nairobi, intended to meet part of the university’s growing power needs. The pilot project has a capacity of 100 kilowatts and is funded by the French government in partnership with French solar solutions provider, Urbasolar, at a cost of KSh17 million. The viability demonstration is expected to pave way for an even bigger second phase of the project, a 10MW solar park to be financed at KSh1.2 billion. When completed, the project will set KU apart as the first public learning institution in Kenya to produce and connect solar power to the national grid. www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 27