1- A Keynote Speech Had Been Delivered by Prof. Josef Noll (UiO) at the 9th Annual Research Conference of (AASTU)
Prof. Josef Noll, who is the Secretary General of the Basic Internet Foundation and the Coordinator of the Nurture Project at the University of Oslo, participated and delivered a Keynote Speech entitled “Evidence and Gaps in Mobile Internet Uptake“ at the 9th Annual Research Conference of Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (STII2025, AASTU). which was held from 17 – 18 February 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
The presentation was based on the study “Evidence and Gaps in Mobile Internet” which has established scientific evidence on the drivers and barriers of mobile internet uptake, the services being used once people have access, and the individual impact of the use of the services.
The keynote speaker provided a detailed analysis of the findings and suggested the framework for inclusive digital empowerment. The recommendations, grouped for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, point out the nuances of digital literacy and user profiles. The speaker stressed the need to find innovative ways to include those that are left aside due to cost and cultural and social norms. Finally, the speaker addressed and discussed pathways for the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) supporting an inclusive digital ecosystem.
The Opening session of the conference was held in the Exam Center Auditorium in the main campus of AASTU and the parallel syndicates had been conducted in the Red and Blue Carpet Conference Halls, AASTU. In addition to delivering his Keynote Speech focusing on the challenges of “Digital Gaps and Digital Inclusion” in developing nations like Ethiopia, Prof. Josef Noll also actively participated and commented on conference papers presented by a number PhD students and young researchers on different thematic areas of the centers of excellence at AASTU including AI and Robotics as well as HPC and Big Data Analytics.
The annual research conference of AASTU has been serving as an important international and national forum for researchers, academicians, and industry professionals to exchange ideas and collaborate on innovative solutions, contributing to Ethiopia’s technological and industrial progress. During this 9th Annual conference, over 400 participants attended the conference, coming from eight countries outside of Ethiopia and representing more than 25 universities and research institutions across the country. Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU) has been partnered and working with 3 academic and research institutions in Norway including the University of Oslo (UiO) and the University of South Eastern Norway (USN) on an International Project entitled “Nurturing SDGs through Higher Education Capacity Building in Ethiopia” to facilitate its International Collaboration and Research Partnership.
2- Prof. Josef Noll (UiO) Presented a Seminar on “Local Language Models in Distributed Environments” at AASTU on Feb. 19, 2025
The AI and Robotics Center of Excellence and the Department of Software Engineering organized a seminar a seminar talk and a discussion meeting on: “Local Language Models in Distributed Environments – the growth-market for Ethiopia” which was held in the Conference Hall of the College of Engineering, AASTU. The seminar was presented and discussed by Prof. Josef Noll, who is the Secretary General of the Basic Internet Foundation and the Coordinator of the Nurture Project at the University of Oslo, Norway. This important seminar presentation, which was participated by more than 20 researchers and PhD students at AASTU, focused on the role and application of Ontological Engineering with special emphasis on semantic structures of natural language and Semantic Web Services. As indicated earlier, Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU) has been partnered and working with international academic and research institutions like the University of Oslo (UiO) and the University of South Eastern Norway (USN) on an International Project entitled “Nurturing SDGs through Higher Education Capacity Building in Ethiopia” to facilitate its International Collaboration and Research Partnership.
