FEATURE: MACHINE LEARNING
To make decisions more
quickly and accurately,
enterprises in Africa are
increasingly turning to Machine
Learning, arguably today’s
most practical application of
Artificial Intelligence (AI). How
should corporations ensure
success and ROI from Machine
Learning deployments in their
IT environments?
Machine Learning is a type of AI
that allows software applications
to become more accurate at
predicting outcomes without being
explicitly programmed to do so. Machine
Learning algorithms use historical data as
input to predict new output values.
In addition, Machine Learning systems
apply algorithms to data to glean
insights into that data without explicit
programming: It’s about using data to
answer questions. As such, enterprises
are applying Machine Learning to a wide
array of issues, from customer purchasing
patterns to predictive maintenance.
According to research and consulting firm
International Data Corporation (IDC),
spending on Artificial Intelligence (AI)
systems in the Middle East and Africa (MEA)
is expected to maintain its strong growth
trajectory as businesses continue to invest
in projects that utilise the capabilities of AI
software and platforms.
Referencing its latest Worldwide Artificial
Intelligence Systems Spending Guide, IDC
stated that spending on AI systems in MEA is expected to reach
US$374.2 million in 2020, up from US$310.3 million in 2019.
“The AI software applications and AI platforms markets continue
to show steady growth in the MEA region and we expect this
momentum to continue over the forecast period,” said Manish
Ranjan, Programme Manager, Software and Cloud, IDC Middle East,
Africa and Turkey (META).
“The use of AI and Machine Learning is on the rise in a wide variety
of business applications from ERP and CRM to analytics, content
management and collaboration solutions. Many global vendors have
started embedding AI, Machine Learning and cognitive applications
to provide ultimate business benefits to their users.”
Spending on AI systems in the region will be led by the banking and
retail industries. Together, these verticals will account for more than
33% of spending in 2020, followed by federal/central governments
and telecommunication industry. “With the growing adoption of
various use cases across all industries, organisations are continuing to
invest significantly in optimising their business processes, automating
their operations and enhancing their products and services offerings
in order to maximise the overall customer experience,” said Ranjan.
Looking at individual countries, IDC’s forecast shows South Africa
accounting for 20.5% of AI spending in MEA during 2020, followed
by the UAE on 19.7%. Saudi Arabia will be the region’s thirdbiggest
spender next year with 15.7% share. Turkey will rank fourth,
accounting for 11.1% of regional AI spending.
Andrea Tucker, Head of Research and Development, e4, said
Machine Learning has grown to have a significant impact on
people’s daily lives, often without even knowing about it.
“Using Machine Learning, enterprises are now able to better
understand and process their data much faster using modern
tools with established algorithms. Potential outputs of a successful
Machine Learning strategy can be powerful and measurable
marketing campaigns or more efficient operations or logistics,”
she noted.
According to Tucker, firms want to be able to utilise their valuable
data, but not at a cost that is greater than its inherent value
and Machine Learning allows for this, with the added benefit
Machine Learning
technology garners
enterprise thrust
46 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com