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Microsoft Adds Ways for Customers on AI with Azure
Elevators that respond to voice commands, cameras that notify store managers when to restock shelves and video streams that keep tabs on everything from cash register lines to parking space availability.
These are a few of the millions of scenarios becoming possible thanks to a combination of artificial intelligence and computing on the edge. Standalone edge devices can take advantage of AI tools for things like translating text or recognizing images without having to constantly access cloud computing capabilities, according to John Roach, Executive Architect, Digital Transformation Services, Microsoft.
At its Ignite digital conference, Microsoft unveiled the public preview of Azure Percept, a platform of hardware and services that aims to simplify the ways in which customers can use Azure AI technologies on the edge – including taking advantage of Azure cloud offerings such as device management, AI model development and analytics.
Roanne Sones, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s edge and platform group, said the goal of the new offering is to give customers a single, end-to-end system, from the hardware to the AI capabilities, that “just works” without requiring a lot of technical know-how.
The Azure Percept platform includes a development kit with an intelligent camera, Azure Percept Vision. There’s also a “getting started” experience called Azure Percept Studio that guides customers with or without a lot of coding expertise or experience through the entire AI lifecycle, including developing, training and deploying proof-of-concept ideas.
For example, a company may want to set up a system to automatically identify irregular produce on a production line so workers can pull those items off before shipping.
Azure Percept Vision and Azure Percept Audio, which ships separately from the development kit, connect to Azure services in the cloud and come with embedded hardware-accelerated AI modules that enable speech and vision AI at the edge, or during times when the device isn’t connected to the internet.
That’s useful for scenarios in which the device needs to make lightning-fast calculations without taking the time to connect to the cloud, or in places where there isn’t always reliable internet connectivity, such as on a factory floor or in a location with spotty service.
The Azure Percept platform makes it easy for anyone to deploy artificial intelligence on the edge. Devices include a Trusted Platform Module (center), Azure Percept Audio (left) and Azure Percept Vision (right). Photo credit: Microsoft
In addition to announcing hardware, Microsoft says it is working with third-party silicon and equipment manufacturers to build an ecosystem of intelligent edge devices that are certified to run on the Azure Percept platform, Sones said.
“We’ve started with the two most common AI workloads, vision and voice, sight and sound, and we’ve given out that blueprint so that manufacturers can take the basics of what we’ve started,” she said.
“But they can envision it in any kind of responsible form factor to cover a pattern of the world.”
Making AI at the edge more accessible
The goal of the Azure Percept platform is to simplify the process of developing, training and deploying edge AI solutions, making it easier for more customers to take advantage of these kinds of offerings, according to Moe Tanabian, a Microsoft vice president and general manager of the Azure edge and devices group.
For example, most successful edge AI implementations today require engineers to design and build devices, plus data scientists to build and train AI models to run on those devices. Engineering and data science expertise are typically unique sets of skills held by different groups of highly trained people.
“With Azure Percept, we broke that barrier,” Tanabian said. “For many use cases, we significantly lowered the technical bar needed to develop edge AI-based solutions, and citizen developers can build these without needing deep embedded engineering or data science skills.”
The hardware in the Azure Percept development kit also uses the industry standard 80/20 T-slot framing architecture, which the company says will make it easier for customers to pilot proof-of-concept ideas everywhere from retail stores to factory floors using existing industrial infrastructure, before scaling up to wider production with certified devices.
As customers work on their proof-of-concept ideas with the Azure Percept development kit, they will have access to Azure AI Cognitive Services and Azure Machine Learning models as well as AI models available from the open-source community that have been designed to run on the edge.
In addition, Azure Percept devices automatically connect to Azure IoT Hub, which helps enable reliable communication with security protections between Internet of Things, or IoT, devices and the cloud. Customers can also integrate Azure Percept-based solutions with Azure Machine Learning processes that combine data science and IT operations to help companies develop machine learning models faster.
In the months to come, Microsoft aims to expand the number of third-party certified Azure Percept devices, so anybody who builds and trains a proof-of-concept edge AI solution with the Azure Percept development kit will be able to deploy it with a certified device from the marketplace, according to Christa St. Pierre, a product manager in Microsoft’s Azure edge and platform group.
“Anybody who builds a prototype using one of our development kits, if they buy a certified device, they don’t have to do any additional work,” she said.
Security and responsibility
Because Azure Percept runs on Azure, it includes the security protections already baked into the Azure platform, the company says.
Microsoft also says that all the components of the Azure Percept platform, from the development kit and services to Azure AI models, have gone through Microsoft’s internal assessment process to operate in accordance with Microsoft’s responsible AI principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability.
The Azure Percept team is currently working with select early customers to understand their concerns around the responsible development and deployment of AI on edge devices, and the team will provide them with documentation and access to toolkits such as Fairlearn and InterpretML for their own responsible AI implementations.
Ultimately, Sones said, Microsoft hopes to enable the development of an ecosystem of intelligent edge devices that can take advantage of Azure services, in the same way that the Windows operating system has helped enable the personal computer marketplace.
“We are a platform company at our core. If we’re going to truly get to a scale where the billions of devices that exist on the edge get connected to Azure, there is not going to be one hyperscale cloud that solves all that through their first-party devices portfolio,” she said. “That is why we’ve done it in an ecosystem-centric way.”
Kaduna State Government, in partnership with Google and Data Science Nigeria (DSN), introduced the inaugural “AI for Beginners in Hausa,” marking the first instance of artificial intelligence (AI) training in a local language.
In Northern Nigeria, various challenges can impact access to tech education and career opportunities. These include diverse socio-cultural dynamics, infrastructural limitations, and language barriers. Photo: @Gov Uba Sani X handle
Sen. Uba Sani, Kaduna State governor, expressed profound gratitude to the partners for building support for women to use technology in harnessing the socio- economic development of the state and the country as a whole.
Represented by Dr Hadiza Balarabe, deputy governor, at the launch of Arewa Ladies for Tech and the mural unveiling of the AI for Beginners Learning Video series, Sani, said AI is not just the future; it’s the present.
According to him, Google pledged a $1.5 million grant to empower 20,000 Nigerian women and youths from underserved communities with essential 21st-century skills. This includes a plan to train 5,000 women and girls in areas such as data science and artificial intelligence through the Arewa Tech4Ladies initiative.
Mr. Olumide Balogun, director of Google in West Africa, said in his welcome address that Google’s mission was to organise the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Balogun said that this initiative was a commitment to enhance the representation and inclusion of women in the tech sector.
Dr Bayo Adekanmbi, chief executive officer of DNS, explained that by making AI education accessible in Hausa, the partnership was creating opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact.
Presenting a paper tagged, “AI in Education”, Dr Kashifu Inuwa, director-general of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), said a lot had been missed because AI was not being taught in the local language.
The DG was represented by Dr. Ahmed Tambuwal, head of the Digital Literacy and Capacity Building Department of NITDA.
Chowdeck, Nigeria’s on-demand delivery service, has secured $2.5 million in seed funding to optimize its operations and support expansion into more cities across the country.
The seed funding round included investment from YCombinator, Goodwater Capital, FounderX Ventures, Hoaq Fund, Levare Ventures, True Culture Funds and Haleakala Ventures. Simon Borrero and Juan Pablo Ortega (co-founders of Rappi – Latin America’s largest online delivery platform), Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi (co-founders of Paystack – one of Africa’s leading fintech companies. Acquired by Stripe for $200m), Sudeep Ramani (Sportybet), Ayo Arikawe (Thrive Agric) and Karthik Ramakrishnan (Amazon) also participated as angels.
Since launching in October 2021 after the COVID-19 lockdown in Lagos, Chowdeck has acquired more than 500,000 users and more than 3,000 riders (typically earning the same as senior civil servants in Nigeria) that serve 8 Nigerian cities (Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Ilorin, Benin City, Abeokuta and Asaba).
This new funding will enable Chowdeck to double down on its market leadership in these cities and lay the groundwork for further expansion into other Nigerian cities.
Driven by a combination of increased smartphone and internet penetration, improved payment systems, evolving consumer preferences and a range of other factors, there has been a significant growth in on-demand delivery services in Nigeria in recent years.
For example, heavy traffic in major cities makes it challenging for people to shop for groceries, meals, or other goods, increasing the attractiveness of delivery services that can save time.
This growth trajectory is poised to continue as many of the challenges that hampered previous attempts at providing on-demand delivery services are fixed.
Chowdeck is the fastest delivery service operating out of Africa today, allowing consumers to buy food and have it delivered to their doorstep in 30 minutes, on average.
The startup has built an effective logistics operation that food vendors can leverage to seamlessly deliver meals to customers while also providing consumers with an easy platform to order meals from their favourite restaurants in their city.
The startup has also partnered with a wide range of leading quick-service restaurants such as Chicken Republic, Burger King, Bukka Hut and more to drive sales, provide logistics infrastructure and other services to enable enhanced customer experiences.
Femi Aluko, CEO and co-founder of Chowdeck, said, “We know that Nigerians love good food, and we just want to make it as easy as possible for them to access the food they desire.
Chowdeck was birthed to fulfil this purpose and we are committed to delivering truly excellent experiences for our customers, vendors and riders. We are pleased with the success we have achieved to date and excited to have raised these funds that will enable us to replicate that success in more parts of Nigeria, and add value to our customers, vendors, and riders in as many ways as we can.”
Shola Akinlade, CEO and co-founder of Paystack said, “Chowdeck is not only addressing the crucial need for an efficient and reliable on-demand delivery service in Nigeria, the team embodies innovation and a commitment to excellence.
It is a privilege to be part of their journey and I look forward to celebrating more success with them in months and years to come.
Apart from investing financially into the company, our experience with building Paystack puts us in a great position to provide a lot of practical support and I am excited to see what it is to come from the Chowdeck team.”
June Angelides, Partner at Levare Ventures, said “Chowdeck has quickly become a household name across Nigeria, priding itself on very high standards of execution. They are addressing a large and complicated problem, especially in Africa, delivering goods at record speed.
I am excited that they have proven that the opportunity is there beyond restaurants and supermarkets. The team have secured landmark partnerships with Shoprite, Chicken Republic and KFC, a sign of their grit. Their customers love them, their riders love them. There’s so much more to come and I’m excited to be with them on the journey”.
Konga, Leading e-commerce giant has announced its highly anticipated Konga Tech Month starting from Wednesday, May 1, until Friday, May 31, 2024. This good news is not only for tech enthusiasts and bargain hunters but also for home appliance lovers, as this year’s edition goes beyond gadgets to feature home, office and lifestyle essentials.
Konga Tech Month has become a major event in the Nigerian shopping calendar. This annual sales extravaganza is widely regarded as one of the biggest gadget sales in the country. It offers a treasure trove of tech devices at unbeatable prices, attracting a massive audience eager to snag incredible deals on a wide range of products.
This year’s Konga Tech Month boasts an impressive selection of devices across various categories. Whether you need a reliable laptop, phone or a professional upgrade to your office and household with authentic appliances, Konga Tech Month has something to suit every need.
Throughout May, Konga’s customers will stand the chance to take advantage of special discounts on original printers, dependable power solutions and generators from companies like iTEC and iPower Inverters, mobile phones, refrigerators, inverters, and much more at up to half the price. Many freebies and deals will also be on offer for the fastest fingers in the Konga Flash Sale.
“Konga Tech Month is a testament to our commitment to providing Nigerians with access to high-quality yet affordable tech products,” said Mr Nnamdi Ekeh, CEO of Konga. “This year’s event promises to be even bigger and better than last year, so we are thrilled to get started. Thanks to Konga Tech Month, we can accomplish our mission of making cutting-edge technology available to everyone no matter their budget.”
The competitive pricing and special deals offered during Konga Tech Month are available for students, institutions, and organizations. Whether it’s outfitting a computer lab, updating office technology, or providing students with affordable laptops, Konga Tech Month offers a cost-effective solution.
A satisfied shopper from the last edition shared her excitement saying, “The Konga Tech event last year was incredible! I was able to get the high-performance laptop I’d been eyeing for months and at a price I couldn’t believe. The discounts were amazing, and the selection was huge. Plus, being able to choose between online shopping or visiting a Konga store was convenient and made shopping easier. I’m looking forward to Tech Week this year. I’ve been eyeing a new microwave and phone, and I know Konga will have the finest deals in town.”
Konga Tech Month offers a smooth shopping experience for everyone. Customers can browse the extensive selection of discounted tech products online at the Konga website (https://www.konga.com/) or visit any Konga retail outlets nationwide to experience the deals firsthand.
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