Intel puts Galileo in SA universities

Intel has selected the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and University of Cape Town (UCT) for the roll out of its Intel Galileo Board, which offers students a development environment for the so-called Internet of Things.

The boards are based on Intel’s 32-bit Quark system-on-a-chip (SoC) X1000 application processor.

Each institution has received 40 Galileo boards for an Innovation Week, which is taking place from 23 to 27 June at UJ and 30 June to 4 July at UCT. This forms part of a bigger global outreach programme tasked with supplying 50,000 Intel Galileo boards to 1,000 universities across the globe over the course of the next 18 months.

Through this initiative, Intel aims to enable students to create locally relevant technology solutions to addresses local socio-economic challenges that exist within their respective communities. This will be achieved by enabling students to create innovative technology solutions powered by the Galileo boards.

The board allows for the creation of intuitive solutions that can be utilised for virtually unlimited practical applications. These can range from an autonomous pesticide spraying project, through to monitoring the quality of water within protected wetlands area, or remote meteorological monitoring applications. The immediate benefit of these boards, however, will be their ability to empower universities to help foster programming- and technology development skills amongst their students.

“Intel aspires to make a difference to millions of Africans through relevant content and industry-leading programmes such as the Galileo initiative to provide the continent’s inhabitants with the tools they need to thrive and grow in modern society,” says Thabani Khupe, Corporate Affairs Director at Intel South Africa. “For Intel, it’s much more than simply about providing technology – it’s about empowering bright students and assisting them in creating a brighter tomorrow for the people in their respective communities.

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