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NOTAP, AISA, DTCA Partnership to Strengthen STI Development in Africa

A partnership that would lead to the rapid transformation of African Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and indigenous knowledge into products and services for the socio-political and economic benefit of Africans is underway.

The partnership proposed by the Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA) with the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and support of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA) would ensure a common platform to share scientific knowledge between South African and Nigerian Researchers leading to enhanced scientific and socio-economic development of Africa.
Receiving a delegation from AISA led by the Director General of DTCA, the Director General NOTAP Dr. DanAzumi Mohammed Ibrahim said AISA shares similar vision with NOTAP in promoting the development of indigenous research activities.
He said NOTAP was established 30 years ago to regulate the inflow of foreign technology into the country and motivate indigenous technology development and has developed several programmes and projects to ensure technological growth in Nigeria.
Dr. Ibrahim pointed out that many Nigerian researchers develop academic papers for promotion purposes but most of them are not tailored towards providing solution to critical problems.
He noted that as a result, NOTAP initiated the Intellectual Property Technology Transfer Offices (IPTTOs) in Nigerian Universities and Research Institutes with the support of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to ensure that research activities are tailored towards solving problems.
The NOTAP boss said so far the Office has established 62 IPTTOs which are positively contributing to the emergence of many patents from Nigerian researchers prior to their establishment.
He noted that 65 percent of patent certificates released by the Patent Registry in recent times came through NOTAPs intervention in assisting researchers file and patent their inventions and innovations free of charge.
Dr. Ibrahim also informed the delegation that the Office has also established the NOTAP-Industry Technology Transfer Fellowship (NITTF) programme to ensure the development of critical manpower through PhD programmes sponsored by Industry to solve critical challenges they are facing.
He said a total of 23 candidates have enrolled under the programme and that the NOTAP is also upgrading research laboratories facilities with the support of Industry.
He said NOTAP is passionate about the development of Africa which explains why the office frowns at the continuous reliance of the continent on imported technologies and has initiated deliberate policies to build capacity of researchers.
He commended AISA for initiating the Africa Continental Research Foundation (ACRF) pointing out that it will be critical in translating African Research and Development(R&D) outputs into products and services.
Earlier, leader of the delegation and Director General DTCA Ambassador Rabiu Dagari, said the two top research fellows from AISA are in NOTAP to seek collaboration on Science, Technology and Innovation development which is critical for economic liberation, good governance and the much-needed security for the continent.
He said the visit holds much promise for the rapid development of South Africa, Nigeria and by extension Africa when a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is put in place.
Dr. Thokozani Simelane, the Research Director, AISA, said the institute was established 51 years ago and has been in the forefront of research and training on African affairs and how to make the continent great through enormous contributions in knowledge.
He said AISA wants to share ideas with Nigeria through collaboration with NOTAP to ensure the technological advancement of the continent and the MOU being proposed by AISA is all encompassing with education, free flow of humans and the African Continental Research Foundation as vehicles to achieve this.
The visiting international research fellow AISA and former President African University of Science and Technology Abuja, Professor Hilary Inyang said since the world is heading for the 4th industrial revolution, there is great need for Africa to utilize its inherent knowledge to grow goods and services for the benefit of the continent.
He opined that the intellectual system is a mother of invention stressing that Africa needs intellectual independence to compliment political independence in order to make any headway in the developments we aspire for in Africa to catch up with the rest of the world.
Professor Inyang noted that South Africa cannot achieve much without Nigeria and there is great need for Africa to create a continental research system, close some international markets for indigenous technologies to grow and engage the intellect of African nations especially those that survive on foreign aids.
He revealed that much of the ideas for development have been seeded in South Africa through the National Research Foundation (NRF) and that Africa can no longer wait for solutions from Europe, China or U.S.A noting that small businesses innovation programmes have huge potentials of encouraging the rapid development of the continent as is the case with the USA.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is expected to be drafted and signed by NOTAP, AISA and DTCA to formalize the working partnership.
News
OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Health

OpenAI maker of ChatGPT is rolling out a health-focused feature to the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool that’s used by nearly a billion users.

Named ChatGPT Health, the new feature aims to provide users with health and wellness information. This, as health is one of the most common ways people use ChatGPT, according to OpenAI.
In a blog post, Microsoft-backed OpenAI says de-identified analysis of conversations show that over 230 million people globally ask health and wellness-related questions on ChatGPT every week.
ChatGPT Health will also “securely” connect medical records and wellness apps to ground conversations with a user’s own health information, making responses more relevant and useful.
“Designed in close collaboration with physicians, ChatGPT Health helps people take a more active role in understanding and managing their health and wellness – while supporting, not replacing, care from clinicians.”
According to OpenAI, health information is often scattered across portals, apps, wearables, PDFs, and medical notes making it hard to see the full picture, and people are left to navigate a complex healthcare system on their own.
“ChatGPT Health builds on these so responses are informed by your health information and context. You can now securely connect medical records and wellness apps – like Apple Health, Function, and MyFitnessPal – so ChatGPT can help you understand recent test results, prepare for appointments with your doctor, get advice on how to approach your diet and workout routine, or understand the trade-offs of different insurance options based on your healthcare patterns.”
According to the company, ChatGPT Health is designed to support, not replace, medical care, adding that it is not intended for diagnosis or treatment. “Instead, it helps you navigate everyday questions and understand patterns over time – not just moments of illness – so you can feel more informed and prepared for important medical conversations.
“To keep your health information protected and secure, Health operates as a separate space with enhanced privacy to protect sensitive data. Conversations in Health are not used to train our foundation models. If you start a health-related conversation in ChatGPT, we’ll suggest moving into Health for these additional protections.”
OpenAI adds that access to ChatGPT Health has started with a small group of early users to learn and continue refining the experience, adding that users with ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, and Pro plans outside of the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK are eligible.
“As we make improvements, we plan to expand access and make Health available to all users on web and iOS in the coming weeks.
“Medical record integrations and some apps are available in the US only, and connecting Apple Health requires iOS.”
News
Kaspersky Shares AI Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

Kaspersky experts outline how the rapid development of AI is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape in 2026, both for individual users and for businesses. Large language models (LLMs) are influencing defensive capabilities while simultaneously expanding opportunities for threat actors.

Deepfakes are becoming a mainstream technology, and awareness will continue to grow. Companies are increasingly discussing the risks of synthetic content and training employees to reduce the likelihood of falling victim to it. As the volume of deepfakes grows, so does the range of formats in which they appear.
At the same time, awareness is rising not only within organisations but also among regular users: end consumers encounter fake content more often and better understand the nature of such threats. As a result, deepfakes are becoming a stable element of the security agenda, requiring a systematic approach to training and internal policies.
Deepfake quality will improve through better audio and a lowering barrier to entry. The visual quality of deepfakes is already high, while realistic audio remains the main area for future growth.
At the same time, content generation tools are becoming easier to use: even non-experts can now create a mid-quality deepfake in just a few clicks. As a result, the average quality continues to rise, creation becomes accessible to a far broader audience, and these capabilities will inevitably continue to be leveraged by cybercriminals.
Online deepfakes will continue to evolve but remain tools for advanced users. Real-time face and voice swapping technologies are improving, but their setup still requires more advanced technical skills. Wide adoption is unlikely, yet the risks in targeted scenarios will grow: increasing realism and the ability to manipulate video through virtual cameras make such attacks more convincing.
Efforts to develop a reliable system for labelling AI-generated content will continue. There are still no unified criteria for reliably identifying synthetic content, and current labels are easy to bypass or remove, especially when working with open-source models. For this reason, new technical and regulatory initiatives aimed at addressing the problem are likely to emerge.
Open-weight models will approach top closed models in many cybersecurity-related tasks, which create more opportunities for misuse. Closed models still offer stricter control mechanisms and safeguards, limiting abuse.
However, open-source systems are rapidly catching up in functionality and circulate without comparable restrictions. This blurs the difference between proprietary models and open-source models both of which can be used efficiently for undesired or malicious purposes.
The line between legitimate and fraudulent AI-generated content will become increasingly blurred. AI can already produce well-crafted scam emails, convincing visual identities, and high-quality phishing pages.
At the same time, major brands are adopting synthetic materials in advertising, making AI-generated content look familiar and visually “normal.” As a result, distinguishing real from fake will become even more challenging, both for users and for automated detection systems.
AI will become a cross-chain tool in cyberattacks and be used across most stages of the kill chain. Threat actors already employ LLMs to write code, build infrastructure, and automate operational tasks.
Further advances will reinforce this trend: AI will increasingly support multiple stages of an attack, from preparation and communication to assembling malicious components, probing for vulnerabilities and deploying tools. Attackers will also work to hide signs of AI involvement, making such operations harder to analyse.
“While AI tools are being used in cyberattacks, they are also becoming a more common tool in security analysis and influence how SOC teams work. Agent-based systems will be able to continuously scan infrastructure, identify vulnerabilities, and gather contextual information for investigations, reducing the amount of manual routine work.
“As a result, specialists will shift from manually searching for data to making decisions based on already-prepared context. In parallel, security tools will transition to natural-language interfaces, enabling prompts instead of complex technical queries,” adds Vladislav Tushkanov, Research Development Group Manager at Kaspersky.
News
Nigerians with Albinism Reject Pity, Demand Dignity at Empowerment Forum

Nigerians living with albinism say their biggest challenge is not skin sensitivity or poor eyesight, but being seen, heard and treated as full human beings, a message that resonated at a recent empowerment session hosted by the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) and Albino Empowerment Foundation.

CADEF
The event last Saturday focused on lived experiences, self-advocacy and rights awareness rather than handouts, though participants received food, protective clothing and skin/eye care materials.
CADEF Executive Director, Prof. Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, said real progress requires respect and inclusion, not pity, adding that knowledge of human rights equips people to demand fairness.
“Dignity begins when people are seen fully and treated equally,” she said.
Ifeoma Ngesina, founder of Albino Empowerment Foundation, defined inclusion as equal rights and participation in decisions affecting their lives, not stereotypes.
“When persons with albinism are included in schools, workplaces, leadership and media, harmful myths fade,” she said, stressing it builds confidence and leadership.
CADEF Advisory Board Member, Ms Kobi Ikpo, urged participants to own their narrative: “If you do not tell people how to treat you, they will not know how to address you. Once you accept yourself as a complete human being deserving of respect, it reflects in how you carry yourself — and that confidence commands respect.”
Afolake Odudinu highlighted parental ignorance leading to school dropouts, skin damage from sun exposure and social/marital stigma, noting skin cancer treatment remains inaccessible for many.
Efosa Peter, a father and associate pastor, rejected pity for genuine empowerment: “I hate pity. I don’t want to be pitied — I want empowerment.” He described persons with albinism as creatively gifted and warned against insincere initiatives.
“Empowerment must include self-esteem and self-motivation. When you see yourself as whole, others will follow,” he said.
Teacher Rose Adudu shared overcoming school bullying through discipline and advocacy, helping enrol a young albino girl in school despite later parental withdrawal.
“Your character will speak for you,” she said.
Participants were encouraged to use content creation for education and myth-busting, with CADEF planning annual events and advancing Digital Financial Inclusion Rights for Persons With Disabilities.
The forum underscored a core demand: opportunity, understanding and respect over sympathy.
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