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Research: The University of Benin (UNIBEN) partners with OpenBinacle® Group
To undertake research and development activities in a broad range of areas of artificial intelligence and machine translation to standardize and preserve Nigerian and other indigenous languages in Africa.
- Thursday, August 22, 2024
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties covers research and development activities in a broad range of areas, including but not limited to, artificial intelligence, machine translation, machine learning, Generative AI, natural language processing (NLP), deep learning and linguistics.
OpenBinacle Group and the University of Benin (UNIBEN) have partnered to raise an army of AI researchers, scientists, engineers, mathematicians, physicists, anthropologists, software developers, hackers and linguist practitioners to work together with OpenBinacle's scientists in making OpenBinacle® artificial intelligence (AI) and communication tools, a powerful force in diverse fields in Africa and the rest of the world.
This will enable the two parties to invest more in research, education, and training of all currently admitted students, millions of young people between the ages of 15-24, students and unemployed youths in these courses in Edo State and other 35 states in Nigeria and the diaspora. The objective is to ensure that all students in different faculties of the University acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to become the next generation of AI researchers and scientists.
This is contained in a joint statement issued on Thursday 22nd day of August 2024 by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Lilian Imuetinyan Salami, and the OpenBinacle Group's CEO and Founder, Mr. Emmanuel Gabriel, in Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria.
Although the Vice Chancellor was represented at the session by the Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Ray Ozolua, and also the CEO and Founder of OpenBinacle Group was represented by Mr Akinbamiro Akinniyi (COO/CMO - OpenBinacle W/Africa).. The statement quoted Professor Salami, as saying that the "constructive partnership is a welcome development" as the institution, is home to the brightest minds in diverse fields around the world.
Photograph
University of Benin (Principal Staff)
Prof. Ray Ozolua (Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) - Middle (4th position),
Prof. Catherine Ukpomwan (Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) - Right Center (6th position), Mr Gabriel Orhion Osadolor (Ag. Bursar - UNIBEN) - Left (3rd position), Prof. Lendzemo Constantine Yuka (Dean, Faculty of Arts - UNIBEN) - Extreme Left (1st position), Prof. Anthony Ewere (Ag. Director, Legal Services) - Extreme Right (7th position).
OpenBinacle Nigeria (Team)
Akinbamiro Akinniyi (COO/CMO - OpenBinacle W/Africa) - Right (5th position), Ononugbo Amarachukwu Margaret (Legal Unit - OpenBinacle W/Africa) - Left Center (2nd position).
Professor Salami added that the vision of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) is centered on being a globally recognized institution, known for its contributions to knowledge, innovation, and societal development. Specifically, UNIBEN aspires to be a model institution in teaching, research, and community service, striving to foster a dynamic and supportive environment where both students and staff can achieve their full potential.
The university seeks to produce graduates who are not only academically excellent but also possess the skills, ethics, and values needed to make a positive impact in their communities and the world at large.
Through this vision, UNIBEN will continuously contribute to Nigeria and Africa's socio-economic and technological advancement by promoting high-quality education and research that address local and global challenges.
"The University of Benin (UNIBEN) is currently ranked among the best universities in Nigeria in teaching, research, and impact. As of 2024, according to the Times Higher Education rankings, the University of Benin (UNIBEN) ranks 9th among Nigerian universities.
Prof. Lilian Salami is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), the Vice President of the Association of African Universities (AAU), with more than 400 universities members in 54 African countries. She is also the current Chairman of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU).
"UNIBEN has played a crucial role in the cultural and intellectual life of Benin City and the broader Edo State. As one of the region's prominent and best institutions, UNIBEN has been a hub for cultural activities, public lectures, and scholarly debates. It has hosted numerous conferences and seminars that have brought together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners from across Nigeria and beyond.
The university's influence extends beyond academics; it has been a key player in preserving and promoting the languages and cultural heritage of the Benin Kingdom. This includes collaborations with local cultural institutions, participation in cultural festivals, and the integration of Benin history and traditions into its academic programs.
OBTranslate® partners with the West African Linguistic Society (WALS)
To undertake artificial intelligence and machine translation research to standardize and preserve West African indigenous languages.
- Wednesday, November 15, 2023
OBTranslate® also known as "OpenBinacle Translate" has partnered with the West African Linguistic Society (WALS) to undertake artificial intelligence and machine translation research to standardize and preserve West African indigenous languages.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties covers Machine Translation (MT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative AI, and Natural Language Processing (NLP), aimed at understanding the structure and characteristics of over 500 West African languages.
This move will propel OBTranslate® researchers and scientists to improve its machine translation systems, speech recognition, and natural language processing tools, specifically tailored to West African languages. This will help make these low-resourced West African languages more accessible on the OBTranslate® machine translation platform, digitally.
This is contained in a joint statement issued by the current President of WALS, Professor Lendzemo Constantine Yuka, and the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of OpenBinacle Group, Mr. Emmanuel Gabriel.
The West African Linguistic Society (WALS) is a professional group of scholars, researchers, field workers, and teachers who mainly come from the West African sub-region. Members primarily come from the Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Togo.
The scholarly organization provides a platform for linguists, researchers, and scholars interested in the linguistic diversity and languages of West Africa to come together, share their research, and collaborate on various linguistic topics. WALS promotes the documentation, analysis, and preservation of the languages of West Africa, which is a linguistically rich and diverse region with hundreds of different languages. It also publishes journals, conference proceedings, and other publications that contribute to the understanding, revitalization, and documentation of the languages of West Africa.
OBTranslate® is a subsidiary of OpenBinacle Group®, a deep learning company that has developed an online CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tool, Neural Machine Translation (NMT), and artificial intelligence (AI) platform for over 2,000 African and European languages ("OBTranslate"). It also aimed to bridge language barriers on the African continent and globally.
The statement quoted Prof. Lendzemo Constantine Yuka, the President of WALS, saying that the "constructive partnership has merit" as OBTranslate® and WALS will develop policies related to language education, including the teaching of the official/national language(s) and minority/indigenous West African languages.
Prof. Yuka added that WALS typically organizes conferences, workshops, and other events that bring together experts in the field of linguistics to discuss and exchange ideas on topics related to West African languages. These events serve as a platform for researchers to present their findings, share insights, and foster academic collaboration.
Emmanuel Gabriel issued a statement that, OBTranslate® and WALS are committed to ensuring that the West African language policy upholds language rights, protects linguistic minorities, and promotes inclusivity. Both parties will consider policies for the use of languages in public administration, legal systems, media, and cultural institutions.
Also, the Group CEO added, that the partnership with WALS will drive OpenBinacle® to set up more operation offices in 16 West African countries, and foster strong partnerships with more universities, to promote collaborative research in machine translation, artificial intelligence, and generative AI. He added that jobs would be created for linguists, and researchers, and raising public awareness about the linguistic diversity of West Africa and the importance of preserving and studying these indigenous or low-resourced languages, would prevent over 500 West African languages from extinction.
Introducing OBMeet® eXplore - GEO Analysis Workbench
Optimizing the allocation of bandwidth, frequency, imaging data and power to improve communication efficiency in Africa.
- Wednesday, July 26, 2023
OBMeet® runs on multiple instances on thousands of servers on OpenBinacle® Cloud, configured with telemetry enabled and powered by OpenBinacle Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Currently, OBMeet® is pursuing a licensing deal to become a telecom operator for the African market, Europe, and the rest of the world.
As communications blackouts become more frequent, it's crucial to set up smaller satellites to collect more frequent data, and acquire satellite imagery data to help provide value for Government institutions, companies, farmers, and victims of conflict - Refugees in Africa.
We are still building the OBMeet® GEO Analysis Workbench which has helped in creating angular momentum vectors from our facility to the geostationary orbit, also referred to as "geosynchronous equatorial orbit" (GEO) satellite, aligning and constraining coordinate system using these vectors and the Earth ICRF z-vector as the constrained vector, and also helped us in creating a fixed in axes vector within the coordinate system, from right ascension zero (0) and a declination of a (a = the angle pointing to the GEO belt from our facility as a function of latitude.
We know that Low Earth Orbit small satellites are agile and highly dynamic, moving at up to 8 kilometers per second. Communication is essential for managing the satellite network, controlling satellites, monitoring the health of space systems, and recovering strategic mission data.
We are grateful for the opportunity to learn and worked with some of the best minds in the space communication industry.
OBMeet® eXplore - coming soon.
Event: Covenant University and OBTranslate®
Student Orientation Day - Friday, June 16, 2023
We would like to take a moment to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude for your presence at OBTranslate's recent "Student Orientation" conference at Covenant University on the 16th of June 2023. Your participation and engagement played an invaluable role in making it a resounding success.
The enthusiasm and dedication to OBTranslate Artificial Intelligence / Machine Translation technologies were palpable throughout the event. The way everyone actively participated in workshops, engaged in insightful discussions, and asked thought-provoking questions truly showcased your passion for innovation and learning.
We are immensely grateful for the time and effort you invested in attending the conference. Your commitment to staying updated with the latest technological advancements and trends is truly commendable.
OBTranslate® also known as "OpenBinacle Translate" is raising an army of researchers: mathematicians, data scientists, NLP researchers, software developers, and linguists in all 54 countries in Africa, to model over 2000 African and European languages on OBTranslate.
Once again, we extend our heartfelt appreciation to the Chancellor of Covenant University (Dr. David Oyedepo), Professor Abiodun H. Adebayo (Vice Chancellor), Professor Olujide Adekeye (Deputy Vice-Chancellor), Mrs. Tobi-David Aruoriwo Regina (Acting Registrar), Pastor Olugbenga Kiki (Director, Financial Services) and the (OBTranslate AI/MT research and Development) Committee to Covenant University for the positive transformations that emerge from your collective efforts.
The Covenant University committee (OBTranslate AI/MT Research and Development):
Professor Funke Oladipupo - Committee Chairperson (Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Data Management, Department of Computer Science, Covenant University), Professor Evans Osabuohien, (Professor of Economics & Head of Department), Dr. Isaac Akinwumi (Director, International Office, and Linkages), Professor Emmanuel Adetiba (HoD, Electrical & Information Engineering), Dr. Jonathan Oluranti (Head of CIS) and others.
Thank you so much Emmanuel Gabriel and Faith Gabriel for the persistence of your vision and for allowing our creator to use you both in doing wonders for all of mankind.
The images in this video show the beginning of a brighter future for all of Africa. The road to changing the entire narrative of the final frontier from a totally different perspective has just begun.
OpenBinacle® Group is aligned with the goals of the African Union, African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat (AfCFTA), African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank), and Pan-African Payment And Settlement System (PAPSS) for sustainable development and intra-African trade in Africa and the rest of the world.
To read more about OBTranslate and Covenant University press release, kindly visit https://covenantuniversity.edu.ng/information/more/covenant-news/584-research-covenant-partners-obtranslate
To learn more about OBTranslate®, kindly visit
https://about.openbinacle.com/translate/
https://obtranslate.org/
https://obtranslate.com/
Research: Covenant University Partners OBTranslate®
To model and preserve over 2,000 (spoken or written) African and European languages.
- Friday, April 14, 2023
The Covenant University in Nigeria has partnered with OBTranslate® to undertake research and development activities in a broad range of areas.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties covers Machine Translation (MT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and linguistics for OBTranslate® scientists to further develop the "OBTranslate" machine translation and Generative AI platform.
This is contained in a joint statement issued on Sunday by the Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof. Abiodun Adebayo, and the Founder/Chief Executive Officer of OpenBinacle Group, Mr. Emmanuel Gabriel, in Ota, Ogun State.
OBTranslate® also known as "OpenBinacle Translate" is a subsidiary of OpenBinacle Group®. It is a deep learning company that has developed an online CAT (Computer Assisted Translation) tool, Neural Machine Translation (NMT), and AI platform for over 2,000 African and European languages ("OBTranslate"). It also aimed to bridge language barriers on the African continent and globally.
The statement quoted Prof. Abiodun Adebayo, the Vice-Chancellor of the university, saying that the "constructive partnership is a welcome development" as the institution, a world-class university driven by a compelling vision of raising a new generation of leaders in all fields of human endeavors, is currently the best higher education destination in Africa and a reference point for its unique pedagogy, innovative curriculum, cutting-edge research engagements, community service emphasis, and administrative excellence.
Adebayo said the university's departure philosophy and pillars are deeply rooted in Biblical principles and are directed towards effecting change in the recovery process of Nigeria's education sector and the restoration of the dignity of the Blackman.
Photograph
Front row:
Prof. Abiodun H. Adebayo (Vice-Chancellor) - middle, Prof. Olujide Adekeye (Deputy Vice-Chancellor) - immediate right, Mrs Tobi Aruoriwo-Regina (Acting Registrar) - immediate left, Mr Akinbamiro Akinniyi - COO/CMO - OpenBinacle (W/Africa) - extreme right, Mr Uchenna Olufemi-Nwanze - Business Development & Strategy (OpenBinacle Nigeria) - extreme left.
Back row:
The Covenant University committee (OBTranslate AI/MT Research and Development), Prof. Funke Oladipupo - Committee Chairperson (Prof. of Artificial Intelligence and Data Management, Department of Computer Science, Covenant University), Prof. Evans Osabuohien (Professor of Economics & Head of Department), Dr Isaac Akinwumi (Director, International Office, and Linkages), Prof. Emmanuel Adetiba (HoD, Electrical & Information Engineering), Dr Jonathan Oluranti (Head of CIS), Pastor Olugbenga Kiki (Director, Financial Services).
Covenant University is currently ranked among the best universities in the world in teaching, research, and impact. In the 2023 Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, the Covenant ranked 562 globally in research and was adjudged as Nigeria's best research university.
It also ranked Top 400 globally in 2022 THE SDGs Impact Rankings and placed Top 200 globally in Emerging Economies Rankings in 2022 by Times Higher Education. Covenant became the first African University to win the International Sustainable Campus Network (ISCN) Award in 9 Years under the Whole Systems Approach with her PET City Bricks Submission in 2021.
It was equally adjudged as Africa's Best World Class Private Varsity of the Decade in Quality Education Award and received the United Nations Award as Climate Champion in 2022, among other validating awards that point to the research prowess of the University.
Research has been central to Covenant University's twin missions of offering solutions to critical societal problems and being a leading global educational institution. These ambitions are intimately linked, and their innovations have benefited the country's health, economy, and political processes and made Covenant increasingly prominent.
Read MoreIntroducing OBTranslate® (NMT / GPT-1 / NLP playground), OpenBinacle's most advanced AI system.
- Friday, March 3, 2023
A decentralized cloud for artificial intelligence.
Releasing v1 of OpenBinacle GPT-1 and NMT
OBTranslate® neural machine translation (MT/GPT-1) platform is optimized on over 2 billion tokens, which could surpass most 100B+ parameter models in classification. It is formed and trained with a decentralised algorithm with an interconnection of 1 Gbps, contrary to the typical data centre networks of 100Gbps-1.6Tbps.
We are working hard to bring computation power together to support the open models ecosystem, while developing decentralized training algorithms for heterogeneous GPU hardwares connected over slow (1Gbps) internet links.
We are building state-of-the-art models that are much larger, that can outperforms many 100B+ parameter models on classification benchmarks.
Our AI models, known as Large Language Models (LLMs), are very complex and expensive to train. These models are typically trained in specialized clusters featuring fast, homogeneous interconnects and using carefully designed software systems that support both data parallelism and model/pipeline parallelism. Training foundation models, such as OBTranslate® GPT and MT can be extremely expensive, often involving tens of thousands of GPUs running continually for months.The server costs required to train these models run into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
OBTranslate GTP-1 is a state-of-the-art generative AI model based on the Transformer architecture. Our Transformer architecture is a special kind of neural network.
The OBTranslate GTP-1 generative AI model is inherently good at generating text based on given inputs. Depending on your input, you can tell your AI model to do different things. For example, you can ask the model to classify text, extract specific entities from text, summarize large pieces of content, paraphrase some content, answer questions, and of course act as a chatbot.
OBTranslate® is the largest machine translation (MT) system in the world. It has evolved since its first inception in the Spring of 2019. Leading us to the development of version 1.1.1 during the Summer of 2020, and is currently in its latest version (1.9.6), with major portions of code that are efficient and easy to maintain.
Presently, we are working towards version 2.5.0, which will denote major changes in the architecture, the components, and "neural models". The new version is tailored to understand a larger dataset of languages on the universal free text and speech translator.
OBMeet® also known as "OpenBinacle Meet", is a hybrid telecommunication, video conference, multistreaming, and network video broadcasting company, today announces a new partnership with Verve International - a Nigerian Pan-African and multinational financial technology and payment card brand owned by Interswitch Group.
Our focus is to give everyone around the world; the opportunity to connect, build ideas and express them in a new way. We are focused on creating economic value via the OBMeet® communication platforms that bridges communication gap & language barriers around the world. We simply want most (spoken or written) 2000+ languages to talk to each other seamlessly.
Solely based on word of mouth and referral, OBMeet® has achieved a tremendous growth rate of 400% and has seen unique user acquisition in just a short time.
OBMeet® beta version was launched and officially registered as a subsidiary of OpenBinacle Group in December 2020. We have received massive cloud infrastructure by the biggest telecommunication company in Germany "Deutsch Telekom" going towards locally establishing and building up OBMeet® capabilities to set up or access to data centers such as a purpose-built one or dedicated space. OBMeet® is ideally pursuing a data center in Africa with a disaster recovery remote site, minimum Tier 3 data center certification, preferably Tier 4.
In a recent statement the OpenBinacle Group CEO, Emmanuel Gabriel, said; "OBMeet has been designed not only as a communication tool but also as a platform to unlock socio-economic prosperity for both developed and developing nations. We are currently integrating our cutting edge neural machine translation (NMT) and voice recognition features from our other products, OBTranslate®, it will set a new benchmark for what borderless communication and collaboration really means"
OBMeet® was utilized as the online video conferencing platform during the Nigeria's Hope Horizon in Lagos organized by CT Productions, HR Leaders Roundtable in Botswana, Orange Telecom, Botswana. OBMeet received a generous amount of positive feedback and reviews by Mr. Goboletswe Sepapane, one of the technical partners for the event:
"I am so impressed with the scale and performance of OBMeet video conferencing at over 8 hours, no glitches, no breakdown on our infrastructure, it is truly a great platform."
The adaptability of OBMeet as a platform in applications such as Telemedicine, Edutech, Governance, FinTech, AgroTech etc. has also garnered the interest of government institutions across various countries.
OBMeet® is fully available as an on-demand product in over 280 countries. It offers a 60Mins free version with a room capacity of 70 people in a single conference. To get started, visit the website: www.obmeet.com, register your account, create a room and share your room link to invite your friends, colleagues, or clients for high video or voice meetings.
OBMeet® also offers specialized offerings for Enterprise clients, which includes; dedicated hosting, cloud recording, Whitelabel, dedicated H.264 HLS multistreaming to more than 30 streaming channels, unlimited storage, whiteboarding, AES-256 Bit Encryption, dedicated IT support, unlimited meetings with up to 100,000 participants and more.
OBMeet is currently open to investments and partnership opportunities. OBMeet Affiliate Programme will be announced shortly. You can learn more about the OBMeet® platform via the website, www.obmeet.com
Interestingly, Mike Ogbalu III saw this way back and predicted it was going to happen. Today, that thought is materializing.
Read Mike Ogbalu's commentOpenBinacle® products and logo are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of OpenBinacle Group
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OpenBinacle Meet ("OBMeet"): Important! Intended for people 13 years of age and older. Some apps, games, and experiences may be suitable for a more mature audience. Announcement of OpenBinacle features, functions and content: Features, functionality and content may be changed or withdrawn at any time, may not be available in all regions or languages, or may be restricted; may require activation of activated software or services and additional terms, conditions and/or fees may apply.
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*OpenBinacle Meet is for ages 13+. You (in case of a natural person) represent that you are over the legal age. You may not sign-up, access or use the services for any purpose if the preceding sentence is not true. Without limiting the foregoing, you must be of legal working age. When you order, activate, subscribe to, or uses any services, such services will be subject to an initial subscription term or period (the "Initial Subscription Period") and any renewal terms or periods applicable thereto (collectively, the "Subscription Period" or "Order Term"); unless expressly provided otherwise, the initial subscription Period is 12 months from the initial order, activation, subscription, or use date and automatically renews for successive 12 month periods thereafter, unless terminated or not renewed in accordance with these Customer Terms. If you do not want to renew, you must following our non-renewal processes and stop using the applicable services. If you place an order for Apps, you authorize vendors to access or use certain data in the applicable OBMeet Products. This may include transmitting, transferring, modifying or deleting such data, or storing such data on vendor or third party systems. For OBMeet Apps, this access and use is covered by our privacy policy. Any third party vendor's use of accessed data (whether data in the OBMeet Products or separately collected from you or your device) is subject to the applicable Vendor Terms. You are solely responsible for your decision to permit any third party vendor or third party App to access or use data to which you've granted access. It is your responsibility to carefully review the vendor terms, as provided by the applicable third party vendor. For full terms and conditions, see https://global.obmeet.com/company/terms/
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You are entitled to a full refund of pre-paid fees if you terminate your Initial Subscription Period within 30 days of the start of such Subscription Period. You are also entitled to a refund in the event that You terminate pursuant to a material uncured breach by OBMeet. In the foregoing cases, OBMeet will refund You a pro-rated portion of pre-paid Fees for Services not actually made available or received by You as of the date of such termination as your sole and exclusive remedy for such termination. Except as expressly provided otherwise, all fees and amounts are non-refundable and non-cancellable.
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OpenBinacle Portal: Availability of various OpenBinacle Portal voice commands. User experience may vary. A wireless internet connection and OpenBinacle or OBMeet account are required. OBMeet Messenger is available on tablets. Features, functions, and content vary and may not be available on all portal models or in all regions and languages. Some features may require an OpenBinacle account and OBMeet or OBTranslate app download. Account registration, additional terms, and fees may apply. Amazon, Alexa, and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Other names and trademarks may be considered the property of others.
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OpenBinacle Translate ("OBTranslate"): OBTranslate requires a wireless internet connection and OBTranslate account. Compatible with all devices. It is available in all countries. Voice assistant or translation is available in English, Italian, French, Swahili, and many diverse languages. Features, functionality, and content are subject to change or withdrawal at any time. Please visit https://obtranslate.com/faq/ for the most up-to-date information. For ages 13 and up only. This product will not interfere with personal devices. Requires updates to be installed from time to time, including prior to first use. While using OBTranslate, it is always the user's responsibility to comply with any local laws and regulations, especially those relating to privacy and the use of recording devices.
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