Neural Architecture Search has achieved state-of-the-art performance in a variety of tasks, out-performing human-designed networks. However, many assumptions, that require human definition, related with the problems being solved or the models generated are still needed: final model architectures, number of layers to be sampled, forced operations, small search spaces, which ultimately contributes to having models with higher performances at the cost of inducing bias into the system. In this paper, we propose HMCNAS, which is composed of two novel components: i) a method that leverages information about human-designed models to autonomously generate a complex search space, and ii) an Evolutionary Algorithm with Bayesian Optimization that is capable of generating competitive CNNs from scratch, without relying on human-defined parameters or small search spaces. The experimental results show that the proposed approach results in competitive architectures obtained in a very short time. HMCNAS provides a step towards generalizing NAS, by providing a way to create competitive models, without requiring any human knowledge about the specific task.

Cloud computing offers unique opportunities to drive inclusive growth and economic transformation in Africa by developing the digital economy and supporting artificial intelligence (AI) opportunities. This was the message emerging from this week's HUAWEI CLOUD Summit Africa 2020, an online event to unpack the opportunities of cloud computing for African business under the theme "Building an Intelligent Africa". "AI and digitization offer untold benefits for almost every sector," said Marcus Tay Soon Guan, Chief Tech Director of HUAWEI CLOUD Africa Region at the Summit. "AI and the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) can help enterprises build relevant, game-changing offerings for their customers and society." Tay said that due to the enormous amounts of information being generated by people, equipment and connected devices in the emerging 4IR era, there were massive data storage and analysis needs, and Cloud was the most effective way to deliver this.

As there is no vaccine or specific treatment for Covid-19, countries have implemented physical distancing guidelines to spur collective action to prevent the spread of the virus. Physical distancing is not new in South Africa – it has long been an integral part of our way of life. In African societies, for example, people traditionally lived far apart and the clustering of people into densely populated areas is a new phenomenon. In addition, when African people greeted, traditionally there was no physical contact. In fact, there was a distance maintained between the people greeting.

The UAE is rolling out its biggest effort yet to develop a workforce versed in artificial intelligence, as the rapidly-advancing technology transforms economies worldwide. The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), a new graduate-level AI research institution in Abu Dhabi, is accepting applications for its first masters and PhD programmes this month, with classes scheduled to begin in September 2020. As the first university to have a singular focus on AI, the institution aims to attract students from around the world to advance the technology and propel the UAE's economic diversification efforts. The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is an open invitation from Abu Dhabi to the world to unleash AI's full potential To compete with more than a hundred graduate degree programmes in AI – mainly in North America, China and the UK – MBZUAI is offering full scholarships, monthly stipends, health insurance and accommodation to all students. MBZUAI is named after Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, who believes in the transformative power of knowledge and scientific thinking.

At Takealot, our Data Engineering team is focused on designing, building, and troubleshooting data processing systems that are secure, reliable, fault-tolerant, scalable, and efficient. We are currently working towards building a completely new Real-Time Event-Driven Architecture for data processing using open-source and serverless technologies such as Debezium, BigQuery, Flink, Kafka, among others. This new Lakehouse will serve as the central source of truth, which multiple internal users will have access to, to drive their daily/monthly/quarterly decisions. Takealot is growing quickly, which brings a number of unique and interesting challenges. As such, data within the organisation is also growing quickly.

As head of EMEA analytics, Lunn has led the team responsible for delivering analytics projects to customers throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and for bringing advances in analytics technology to customer projects. In her new role, she will oversee regional delivery teams in EMEA, Latin America, Asia-Pacific and North America, as well as the company's Global Analytic Delivery Center based in Bangalore, India, applying the latest breakthroughs in analytics to solve specific customers' challenges. "FICO has been a global leader in analytics for more than 60 years, ever since it brought the first credit scoring systems to market," said Louise Lunn, vice president of Global Analytics Delivery. "The explosion in data and the increasing use of AI and machine learning have brought the power of FICO analytics to more businesses worldwide, in every industry. I'm proud to be on the front lines of this effort, and to lead a global team of data scientists addressing the specific challenges of businesses worldwide."

For many entrepreneurs, starting their startup is the most significant thing they do. For Rana el Kaliouby, it's one achievement in a series of unpredictable things that this self-described "nice Egyptian girl" has accomplished in her life. In her remarkable book Girl Decoded, el Kaliouby shares her inspiring academic and professional journey. Alongside this, it is an intimate meditation about what it took from her personally to accomplish all that she has. Born in Egypt to conservative Egyptian parents, the family spent several years in Kuwait and eventually fled back to Cairo when Iraq invaded Kuwait.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 24 June 2020 – Now is the age of home entertainment and high-quality audio provides the finishing touch to the best of these experiences. The concept of the modern'home' goes way beyond being merely a residential space; it has become a place for relaxation, for recreation and for quality time with others. At the recentre of this change is the near-three-dimensional content experiences granted by today's ultra-large, ultra-high-definition, ultra-fine pixel TVs. With its 2020 QLED 8K TVs and AI sound technologies, Samsung has raised the bar for TV audio experiences. Object Tracking Sound uses AI-based software to match the movement of audio with movement on-screen; Active Voice Amplifier (AVA) tracks the user's audio environment; and Q-Symphony creates a more realistic, three-dimensional sound.

For a few seconds, it seems real. Then, on the horizon, the landscape gives way to rugged coastline, and, as the plane flies closer, we glimpse the rippling waves glinting in the evening sun. In real life, I have not seen the ocean for five months and, although I'm just sitting in my kitchen watching a virtual presentation of a video game, I feel a surge of emotion. When the latest instalment in Microsoft's decades-old Flight Simulator series was first shown at the E3 video game event last year, it drew gasps from the audience. Using two petabytes of geographic data culled from Bing Maps, together with cutting-edge, machine learning algorithms running on the company's Azure cloud computing network, the game presents a near-photorealistic depiction of the entire planet.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied widely in our daily lives in a variety of ways with numerous successful stories. AI has also contributed to dealing with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has been happening around the globe. This paper presents a survey of AI methods being used in various applications in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak and outlines the crucial roles of AI research in this unprecedented battle. We touch on a number of areas where AI plays as an essential component, from medical image processing, data analytics, text mining and natural language processing, the Internet of Things, to computational biology and medicine. A summary of COVID-19 related data sources that are available for research purposes is also presented. Research directions on exploring the potentials of AI and enhancing its capabilities and power in the battle are thoroughly discussed. We highlight 13 groups of problems related to the COVID-19 pandemic and point out promising AI methods and tools that can be used to solve those problems. It is envisaged that this study will provide AI researchers and the wider community an overview of the current status of AI applications and motivate researchers in harnessing AI potentials in the fight against COVID-19.