News
Technology brings change but labour can shape its direction
Increased capital investment and productivity need not result in job losses. Industrial policy can link investment incentives to job preservation and creation.
Top nuclear physicist to lead Wits
Professor Zeblon Vilakazi appointed as the Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal from 1 January 2021
The world is flat: Covid-19 becomes the driving force for 4IR
The most profound change is the accelerated of way in which digital transformation and the Fourth Industrial Revolution have moved at warp speed.
Wits students’ research on cover of leading world optics journal
Wits Master’s students create best practice guide for efficient and accurate use of DMDs in structured light laboratories.
JCSE Listening Circle Series
Join South Africa’s Grand Geek’ and leading digital experts as they explore Africa’s Digital Future.
Wits COVID-19 dashboard gets grant award from the IEEE
New features added as inter disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration data on the pandemic grows.
COVID-19 Update 24: Data access: All four major mobile service providers on board
Students will get 30GB of data if registered on MTN, Vodacom, Cell C or Telkom.
COVID-19 Update 24: How to access your data
COVID-19 Update 23: Wits opens online on Monday, 20 April 2020
Wits will commence with emergency remote online teaching and learning from Monday, 20 April 2020.
Process to apply for mobile computing devices
This communique outlines the process through which students who require assistance with a loan device can apply.
Wits switches to remote online teaching and learning from 20 April 2020
Wits institutes an emergency remote teaching and learning programme as one measure to help minimise the time lost in the academic project.
Wits COVID-19 dashboard goes continental
New features added as inter disciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration data on the pandemic grows.
Wits researchers launch most comprehensive COVID-19 dashboard in South Africa
The dashboard is aimed at informing government, scientists, the media and general public with quick, easy-to-understand information on the current situation.
Wits team and industry closer to final LVPS prototype
Team visits Jemstech to view progress on first SA-made prototype for Tile Calorimeter of the ATLAS Detector at CERN.
Fibre communications on steroids: Wits student breaks the code
A team from Wits (South Africa) and HUST (China) show that multi-dimensional quantum communications with twisted light is possible down legacy fibre networks.
The digital economy is becoming ordinary. Best we understand it
The digital economy will, soon, become the ordinary economy as the uptake - and application - of digital technologies in every sector in the world grows.
Wits leads Quantum Computing National Working Group
“Investment in quantum technologies in South Africa is crucial if we want to leverage the next level of discovery research,” says Professor Zeblon Vilakazi.
Engineering pivotal moves
Top marks are due for a bionic hand engineered by Wits University postgraduates, who have made mobility more accessible to the 1 million amputees in SA.
Wits innovation set to light up lives
PeCo Power, a new spin-off company, is a home-grown electrical off-grid solution that will radically change lives and impact local communities.
Information Security is a leading skills priority
The 10th ICT Skills Survey shows that the Fourth Industrial Revolution is still waiting in the wings.
Enabling the future by decoding the past
The eighth issue of Wits University’s research magazine, Curios.ty is themed: #Code, and is available download or read online.
Decoding Wits’ innovations the past 100 years
EDITORIAL: It is only through understanding yesterday that we can shape today and create tomorrow.
Surfing the data tsunami tomorrow
Humankind is facing an ever-growing data tsunami that could swamp us as a species – or provide us with unheard of opportunities.
Fair trade: Your soul for data?
In an increasingly data-driven world, are we just walking data sources for the benefit of giant multinational corporations?
Plugging digital leaks
Data are gathering in pools and lakes. As we dip our toes into these murky waters, we see a sign that says, ‘Here be dragons…’
Do kids need to code?
Preparing for a digital revolution is as much about getting the basics right as it is looking to the future.
How knitting won the war?
Craftivists have been savvy cryptographers for aeons longer than any computing geek.
Editing disease in South Africa
Gene therapy – there is a long road ahead to mainstream techniques and ensure that the technology is cost-effective.
Diagnosing the dead and predicting mortality
A new generation of apps could soon help health professions to decode the causes of death, and predict the likelihood of dying.
Recreating Earth through code
The first Earth System Model developed and based in Africa are creating one of the most reliable and most detailed modulations of climate change.
Reptile laundering
PhD candidate Shivan Parusnath plans to use social media and machine learning to help stop illegal reptile trade on global scale.
Lingua franca of mathematics
Speaking to visitors from outer space would one day require a common language and one not found in a dictionary.
Data and dominance
COLUMN: Data domination by Big Tech, both nationally and internationally, has ominous implications for economies – and privacy.
When computers came to Wits
The University bought its first computer from IBM 59 years ago. Today, Wits and IBM are partners in quantum computing.
Wits to host human capacity development workshop in big data and artificial intelligence
The two-day workshop will be part of the National Conference of the Centre of High Performance Computing.
South Africa is one step closer to processed titanium alloys
Low-cost titanium alloys in South Africa could be used in non-aerospace sectors, such as car parts, medical devices, implants, jewellery and kitchen appliances.
Structured light promises path to faster, more secure communications
Quantum mechanics is embracing patterns of light to create an alphabet that can be leveraged to build a light-based quantum network.
WitsQ to hold first Summer School
The WitsQ Quantum Computing Summer School takes place from 2 - 10 December at the Science Stadium.
Enabling the future by decoding the past
The eighth issue of Wits University’s research magazine, Curios.ty is themed: #Code, and is available download or read online.
Wits researcher wins international award for infection control innovation
Wits academic Michael Lucas took top honours at the International Conference on Prevention and Infection Control in Switzerland, 10-13 September 2019.
The future is innovation
"Wits and Tshimologong are the pioneers driving Gauteng to a modern economy in the new age of the digital revolution," said Premier David Makhuru.
Can robots decide on right and wrong?
The '4IR: Philosophical, Ethical, Legal Dimensions' conference explored the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
School of Chemistry launches new AI research initiative for Africa
Africans should be the contributors, shapers and owners of the coming advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, says Professor Zeblon Vilakazi.
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Digital makers invited to ‘Own Your Force’ as Fak’ugesi
Cross-sector digital creative technology at 2019 Fak’ugesi Festival – Africa’s best creative digital workshops, talks, pitches and digital art exhibitions
Fak'ugesi and Smart City Office - a natural fit
The 2019 Fak’ugesi Festival has partnered with the City of Johannesburg’s Smart Cities Office to bring an exciting African-centric programme line-up.
Technology and creativity by Africans for Africa
Cultural Economies Conference at 2019 Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival.
Wits superheroes at Sasol TechnoX 2019
What do you need to become a superhero? Certainly not superpowers, we can all be superheroes according to a team of Witsies.
New research initiative will be announced at this year's AI Expo Africa
Major machine learning research initiative will serve as a model for innovation and growth in Africa.
An eye on assistive tech at home
Eye-gaze devices as assistive tech have the potential to empower people with disabilities by improving their independence at home.
, Michael Westgate (PhD Candidate), Mpofana Sihoyiya (MSc candidate), Prof.jpg "Kenneth Rapetsoa (MSc Candidate), Michael Westgate (PhD Candidate), Mpofana Sihoyiya (MSc candidate), Prof. Musa Manzi (Director, Wits Seismic Research Centre), and Philip Staley (Senior project geologist, Sibanye-Stillwater)")
Sibanye-Stillwater donates R50m worth of seismic data to Wits
Sibanye-Stillwater has donated their 2D/3D reflection seismic data worth R50m to the Wits Seismic Research Centre of the School of Geosciences.
You and Big Brother @Home online
Technology and surveillance cause a sense of moral panic, but such scrutiny has the potential to enhance society.
Neglected challenge of the 4IR debate
The roles and practices of companies like Google and Facebook must be investigated.
Huawei awards bursaries to Wits postgraduate students
Huawei South Africa has donated almost 2 million in scholarships to ICT and Engineering postgraduate students at Wits.
Building real world solutions in Minecraft
Students in the School of Therapeutic Sciences and the School of Education at Wits competed to build a world in online game, Minecraft.
Legitimation Code Theory Conference a success
The third international LCT (Legitimation Code Theory) conference hosted at Wits was huge success with 160 delegates in attendance and 98 papers presented.
Technology can make collecting and analysing evidence for policy easier
There is more and more research being produced around the world every day. In total, about 3 million articles are published every year.
Embrace 4IR to address poverty, inequality and unemployment - Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at South Africa’s first #4IRSA Digital Economy Summit.
South Africa takes a quantum leap and joins the race
Quantum technologies are exploding and no longer the purview of laboratory experiments only.
SA students win world supercomputing competition once again
Wits students are part of South African team to take first prize at the International Supercomputing Conference.
Wits enters the quantum computing universe with IBM Q
IBM expands its quantum computing program with Wits as its first partner in Africa on the IBM Q Network.
Becoming quantum ready in Africa
With rapid progress over the last couple of decades we are entering a new era of computing and Africa needs to act now.
Equipping Wits’ ICT students for future jobs
Leading Chinese telecommunications company injects more than R1 million towards student funding at Wits.
First 5G training in SA for ICT postgrads at Wits
Huawei South Africa has launched free 5G training for ICT postgraduates at Wits University.
Structuring SA’s digital government: the road not traveled?
The potential capabilities afforded by digital technologies should not be ignored in the current stage of design of the future government administration.
The "big data mess" and how to clean it up
A rethink of operational processes as a complex system, and the application of machine learning as an adaptive analytical framework.
Software licence donation advances Geosciences
Petroleum Experts Ltd has donated an academic software licence worth R25m to the School of Geosciences.
DigiMine strikes gold
Sibanye-Stillwater commits additional R30 million to further mining 4.0 research and development.
4IRSA announces 1st Digital Economic Summit for SA
"We are the pioneers who can reimagine how digital innovation can transform our world.”
The year ahead: From legal rights for robots to a Cyber 9/11
Artificial Intelligence will be maturing over the next 18 months with Africa becoming ground zero for 4IR disruption.
Make apprenticeships sexy again
South Africa 4IR-readiness and the case for tech-savvy artisans.
Africa cannot afford to take the back seat in one of the most important pursuits of modern science
The continent needs its own experts to harness Artificial Intelligence towards our local challenges and priorities in Africa.
Economic growth impaired by poor ICT data
Academics and business must partner to help government understand what skills pupils and workers require for 4IR.
Wits students create genetics app
Wits science students have created an app to teach people the basics about genetics.
The brain as a network device
Research by Wits biomedical engineers that incorporates the human brain as part of a computer network is believed to be a world-first.
#4IRSA Digital Economy Summit 2019 dates announced
The Fourth Industrial Revolution Partnership for South Africa (#4IRSA) hosts a Digital Economy Summit in Johannesburg in June 2019.
Wits hosts unique e-Science teaching platform
Wits is the hub of a unique cross-disciplinary postgraduate e-Science training platform.
Wits’ supercomputing students win big
Our teams excel in Centre for High Performance Computing Student Cluster Competition.
Why screen time needs to be limited
High levels of screen time, among babies, children and adolescents, are associated with potential harm.
New research shows lasers can create fractals
Wits researchers prove the long-held theory by making the first direct observation of fractal light from lasers.
We are facing our biggest leadership challenge yet
It is not the robots that will take our jobs but a crisis of imagination and leadership, says futurist Valter Adão.
South African-Scottish research team demonstrate fractal light from lasers
Team confirms a 20-year-old prediction that “nature’s geometry” could be recreated by the use of laser technology.
Shedding a new light on optical trapping and tweezing
Wits physicists demonstrate a new device for manipulating and moving tiny objects with light.
10 years of SA-CERN
Collaboration on Fundamental Physics celebrates a decade, of among others, Wits’ involvement in accelerated technology development.
#4IRSA – Creating the future we want
First round table set the stage for South Africa to formulate a collective response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Siemens launches Digital Mining Incubator
Digital technologies to boost skills and transform South Africa’s mining processes.
Making SA’s techentrepreneurs future ready
Why we should stop chasing the Silicon Valley dream and rethink what Africa needs, especially in the incubator space.
Africa is changing, radically, and digitisation is playing a pivotal role
The outcomes from the 2018 Fak’ugesi Festival and collaboration with the Wits Art Museum will be shown on Digital Imaginaries: Africas in Production in Germany.
WitsX launches new online course: Digital Transformation and the IT team
Wits University’s has released a new online course aimed specifically at IT and business professionals.
How the humanities can equip students for the 4IR
An understanding of the interaction of humans with technology and technology with humans are key to grasp the impact of the fourth industrial revolution.
The hidden technology
Automatic control is a technology that modern society cannot live without.
New MOOCs for agents of change
Wits University has added two new courses to its free, online WitsX/edX learning platform.
Wits Team eFundanathi and eZone in Learning Idols
A lecturer in the Wits School of Therapeutic Sciences was in the top three vying in Learning Idols at the Learning Innovation Africa Conference 2018.
Creating collective memory
Creating a collective memory in a country with a fragmented past and persistent inequality needs money, skills and political will to preserve its history.
Bootcamp for startups
IBM SA and Wits’ Tshimologong Precinct launch six week acceleration bootcamp for startups.
#SA4IR to explore how the 4th Industrial Revolution could shape SA
Wits, UJ, Fort Hare and Telkom to develop a national response to the Fourth Industrial Revolution that could shape the futures of South Africa.
Engineering solutions for tomorrow
Final year engineering showcased their design-and-build projects which provided solutions to everyday life challenges.
Unpack the source code of your African Identity
Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival announces its 2018 line-up.
Enabling youth to power the digital economy
Hundreds descended upon Wits to hear the legendary Jack Ma, Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, address entrepreneurs, students and policy makers.
It's time to talk about tech
Technological advances are reshaping our lives, and our policies should be designed to enhance its creative and empowering potential.
Witsies win big in travel innovation competition
A cash prize of $10,000 has been awarded to Wits students for their winning travel idea.
Bridging the digital divide with photonics
Wits physicists and engineers team up to tackle Africa’s digital divide with home grown technologies
Young digital entrepreneurs showcase cool innovations
Entrepreneurs at the Wits Digital Tshimologong Precinct show Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba how creative they are.
Tech bytes
From slow sand filters and to towers that measure energy and gases.
Building the world’s most powerful microscope using particle accelerators
Bruce Mellado, National Contact Physicist of South Africa at the ATLAS experiment at CERN, says there are future plans for a bigger, better LHC.
Tech giant recognises African machine learning research
Wits robotics researcher awarded Africa’s only grant in the 2017 round of the Google Faculty Research Awards.
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We’ve come up with a TB test that’s cheaper, quicker and more accurate
Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease that kills more people due to a bacterial infection than any other disease in the world.
DigiMine, the future of mining research
Celebrating the research of the new Sibanye-Stillwater Digital Mining Laboratory (DigiMine) at Wits University.
How we recreated a lost African city with laser technology
LiDAR, was used to “redraw” the remains of the city, along the lower western slopes of the Suikerbosrand hills near Johannesburg.
First executive programme in Digital Business
Wits Business School (WBS) is excited to have launched its first executive education programme in Digital Business, the first of its kind in South Africa.
Accelerating high-tech training
Wits students contribute to the upgrade of the high-tech software and hardware at the CERN ATLAS detector.
Why it would be in everybody’s interests to regulate cryptocurrencies
Cryptocurrencies originated as an alternative payment mechanism to traditional currencies.
SA will not escape this revolution
Professor Zeblon Vilakazi’s editorial in the latest issue of Curiosity, Wits’ new research magazine:
Wits’ optics research among best in 2017
Research into optics and photonics by Wits physicists has been highlighted as some of the most influential in 2017.
Designer proteins, the new generation of HIV vaccines being put to the test
South Africa has made tremendous advances in providing lifesaving antiretroviral therapy for HIV infected people.
Energetic engineering at EIE Open Day 2017
The ‘Brainternet’, robotic arm, mosquito repeller, adaptive digital hearing aid, leaf recognition software – our future engineers show their stuff.
Wits appoints new CEO for Tshimologong
Lesley Williams will head up the tech precinct and help it to achieve its full potential.
Wits offers new post graduate courses in e-Science
Programme will create opportunities for students in a variety of fields to gain an interdisciplinary perspective on the emerging fields of Data Science.
The mud beneath the digital magic
The bones of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, like every industrial revolution in the past, come from the dirt under our feet.
Tech as eyes and ears
Wits alumnus, Elash Mistry was elated when he became the first blind person in Africa to be admitted as a fellow of the Actuarial Society of SA in 2017.
Human rights in a digital world
Digital access itself does not untangle past inequalities. In many cases, it may even increase inequality.
Death of the chalkboard and the demise of the sage on the stage
The launch of a high-tech eZone, eFundanathi – “Learn with Us”, is set to revolutionise teaching and learning at Wits.
The future of work
Tech advances are already impacting skilled white-collar and unskilled workers whereas the digital revolution affected mainly semi-skilled, blue-collar workers.
Q&A about Watson, the iHuman supercomputer
In 2011, a faceless, emotionless voice named Watson famously defeated two of the greatest champions of Jeopardy!, an American TV gameshow.
Researchers demonstrate quantum teleportation of patterns of light
Technique paves the way for high-bit-rate secure long distance quantum communication.
Virtual reality breathes new life into African fossils, art and artefacts
More digital avenues are being added to South Africa’s museums – and now the country has its first full VR exhibit.
Light to break bandwidth ceiling
The rise of big data and advances in information technology has serious implications for our ability to deliver sufficient bandwidth to meet the growing demand.
(Hu)man vs. Machine
In a world controlled and dominated by robots, is there still space for humans?
Improving the accuracy of TB testing
Wits scientists have developed technology that ensures the efficacy of equipment that tests for tuberculosis (TB).
Can you read my mind?
In research thought to be a world first, biomedical engineers at Wits are connecting a human brain to the internet in real time.
Using high tech to tell the story of ancient man
Origin Centre's new Virtual Reality experience uses state of the art communications technology to tell the story of what makes us human.
Talking tech and African languages
Is tech killing indigenous African languages? Prof. Leketi Makalela, head of Languages, Literacies and Literatures in the Wits School of Education talks back.
Interpreting brainwaves to give amputees a hand
Biomedical engineers at Wits are researching how brainwaves can be used to control a robotic prosthetic hand.
Africa app'tly rising
There are over 300 tech hubs in Africa and maybe 52 or more in South Africa, one of which is the Wits Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in Braamfontein.
Game changer: Hanli Geyser
Hanli Geyser, head of Game Design in Digital Arts in the School of Arts at Wits, doesn’t like being called a 'gamer'.
Wits to host first Deep Learning Indaba in Africa
The Indaba will bring leaders in machine learning and artificial intelligence to Wits University to teach and mentor students, researchers and entrepreneurs.
ICT industry leader joins Wits
Professor Brian Armstrong appointed to head up WBS/Telkom Chair in Digital Business.
Tshimologong's first accelerator programme now open for applications
The Journalism and Media Accelerator (JAMLAB) will be home to innovators who want to develop new forms of journalism.
In the age of the internet, censorship has acquired a new face
Abandon the naive thought that, with the internet and free flow of information, governments are retreating from repression of the media.
SA students benefit from major digital electronics update at CERN
International scientists share knowledge with SA students and industry at a workshop, dedicated to the CERN electronics upgrade.
New ultra-clean isotope geoscience laboratory opens up a new world of research
New laboratory will work closely with the University of Johannesburg to offer southern African scientists a local solution for isotope analysis.
WiSER professor wins inaugural Humanities Book Award
The Academy of Science of South Africa has identified Prof. Keith Breckenridge as the winner of its Humanities Book Award for his book on the Biometric State.
Technology confirms theory about Earth’s oldest venomous species
Baron Franz Nopcsa, a particularly colourful figure in the history of palaeontology, was right.
Calling all aspiring digital entrepreneurs
Are you up for Wits’ first Digital Innovation Challenge? Do you have the smarts and skills in location technology?
Analysing data to inform public health
Biostatistics is the analysis and interpretation of data generated in the biological and health sciences to inform clinical or health policy and practice.
Studying the making of smart cities
Professor Ronald Wall is an economic geographer and urban planner and the Johannesburg City Chair in Economic Development at Wits.
Big award for ‘ace of the IT industry’
Professor Barry Dwolatzky honoured by his peers for his outstanding contributions to ICT sector.
Fellow of light
Andrew Forbes elected as Fellow Member of a leading international optics and photonics association.
,-Thapelo-Sekwena-(1)-and-Absalom-Mpanze-(3)_600x300px.jpg "Professor Barry Dwolatzky with the three winners Methembe Dlamini (2), Thapelo Sekwena (1) and Absalom Mpanze (3)")
Location, location, location
Winners of GeoJozi Challenge will help solve Jozi’s street address problems and improve service delivery.
Wits researchers find techniques to improve carbon superlattices for quantum electronic devices
In a paradigm shift from conventional electronic devices, exploiting the quantum properties of superlattices holds the promise of developing new technologies.
3D technology brings a lost mammalian ancestor back to life
At the very beginning of the 1960s, a South African palaeontologist embarked on a series of ambitious works.
Tshimologong - Jozi's new digital playground
Wits is transforming Braamfontein into a young, vibrant precinct for its notable tech-savvy and innovative community.
Innovation ecosystem opens door
New #IBMResearchWITS partnership to focus on big data, cloud computing and mobile tech.
Wits and Academic Partnerships agree to educate online
Wits signs a MOU with Academic Partnerships to increase access to education through online learning.
Wits to lead national e-science consortium
DST awards University a project to develop teaching and training platform for postgraduates.
2016 GeoJozi Developer Challenge
Partnering with Wits University, the City of Joburg launches a developer challenge to address issues.
Light packing more data has potential to increase bandwidth by 100 times
African researchers demonstrate a 100x increase in the amount of information that can be 'packed into light'.
Internet freedom: why access is becoming a human right
How "free" is the internet in South Africa and the question of cost.
Let maths solve the problem
The DST/NRF Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences is leading the charge.
Gleeble to the rescue
Now Dr Lesley Chown can test new metals cost-effectively in her lab.
Fibre has its limits too
Wits researchers in optical communications explore ways to drastically increase the optical fibre bandwidth.
Using gene therapy to combat HBV infection
Hepatitis B Virus causes between 600 000 and one million deaths per year, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
Optimisation production through process engineering
Researchers say there are still large gaps in our understanding of the associated utility systems in batch chemical processes.
Cooling high-speed computers
The School of Mechanical, Industrial and Aeronautical Engineering is about to make headlines for the development of new technology to cool high-speed computers.
The science of small things
Nosipho Moloto hopes to use nanotechnology to solve our energy crisis.
The power of light
Andrew Forbes is a Distinguished Professor in the School of Physics.