DAR (October 16th, 2024)-Almawave, an Italian enterprise listed on the Euronext Growth Milan (Ticker: AIW) and a member of the Almaviva Group, a Data & Artificial Intelligence player, announces that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Information & Communication Technologies Commission (ICTC) of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The agreement covers the development and introduction of Almawave's Italian LLM model, Velvet, in its Swahili version-Tanzania's official language together with English-through the exchange of data, experiences and technologies.
The collaboration is focused on providing an effective tool based on generative AI for use by the Tanzanian public sector.
Under the Memorandum, Almawave will provide Velvet as an Open Source version to the ICTC,while the ICTC will provide local data and information for training the Swahili language version of the model.
The goal is to develop an LLM model "tailored" to the local context, free of bias, capable of optimizing administrative processes through digitization and improving the efficiency of structures, as well as interactions with citizens.
Valeria Sandei, Chief Executive Officer of Almawave, underlined: "This agreement is an important step in our collaborative journey with Tanzania and the entire African continent.
The adoption of Velvet - the multi-lingual, multi-modal foundational model we are developing on the Leonardo Supercomputer managed by Cineca - in Swahili, tailored to the country's needs in full collaboration with local institutions, demonstrates how generative Artificial Intelligence can be a key lever for accelerating digitization, improving public services, and fostering socio-economic development.
Our experience in the country, which has developed over recent years through strategically-important projects, and the significant experience in the use of Artificial Intelligence in Government gained in Italy, allows us to enthusiastically tackle this technological challenge."
Dr. Nkundwe M. Mwasaga, The Director General of ICTC said: “The collaboration with Almawave in making the model will enhance accomplishment of the goal to build a Kiswahili Large Language Model which suite the public sectors in the United Republic of Tanzania through the following areas:
Capacity Building-develop professional skills that will support all the development and deployment phases of LLMs in Kiswahili; Data gathering and cleansing - both parties will collaborate in selecting the right data sources, collecting the data and cleansing it to prepare a quality Kiswahili dataset to train the LLM;
Share experience on issues related to the project of implementing LLM in Kiswahili;
the players will consider allocating reasonable financial and human resources through their budget plans to facilitate the implementation of respective activities; collaborate in project development and implementation of Kiswahili for Velvet LLM; and any future specialized LLM will be built by the possible customers based on a commercial agreement to be defined based on the requirements.
The United Republic of Tanzania through ICTC appreciates this collaboraTon with Almawave in building up the Swahili Large Language Model with will facilitate influx of linguisTc soluTons such as real-Tme speech translaTon and grammar collecTon tools.”
Velvet, an Italian LLM foundational model capable of handling text, audio and images in multi-lingual mode, which is opensource and accessible to all, trained on Cineca's supercomputing infrastructure, the inter-university consortium that hosts for the Ministry of Research the Leonardo supercomputer in the EuroHpc network, will be released by the end of 2024.
The ICTC, which works directly for the Ministry of Information, Communication, and Information Technology of the United Republic of Tanzania, plays a crucial role in innovating and attracting investment in the ICT sector, amid a growing focus on digitization in Tanzania and across the entire continent.
The agreement between Almawave and the ICTC further strengthens the link between the Italian company and Africa, where it has worked for many years on digital transformation and modernization projects for both the public and private sectors.
We highlight in particular the projects with the Judiciary of Tanzania for the digitization of criminal and civil cases using proprietary AI voice technologies in Swahili and English, within the "Citizen-centric Justice in Tanzania" program funded by the International Development Association (World Bank Group), with the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) for the re-engineering of a statistical data platform for all countries within Africa, as part of the African Information Highway (AIH) initiative, and with South African Tourism, through the provision of D/AI Destinations, Almawave Group's all-in-one platform for destination marketing & management.
The Swahili-speaking countries in Africa are 12, involving a population of more than 70 million
people.
Almawave profile
Almawave S.p.A. is an Italian company, listed on the Euronext Growth Milan (AIW.MI) market and engaged in the field of Data & Artificial Intelligence.
The Group offers proprietary technologies, solutions and services which realize AI and data’s potential in the digital evolution of companies and public administrations.
It boasts more than 400 domestic and international customers, in sectors including Government, Finance, Energy & Utilities, Tourism and Healthcare,operating directly and through partners. The Almawave team consists of approx. 450 professionals.
The Group uses AI technology labs dedicated to developing products, platforms and vertical solutions targeting various market segments.
Almawave’s technological asset base, conceived and built as a model of natural experience in the interaction between man and machine, can interpret text and voice in over 40 languages, interacting in multi-channel mode, analyzing data and information with a view to knowledge development and automation to support decisions.
Its skill centers also allow the potential of data to be achieved in complex contexts, combining expertise on key market frameworks in areas such as Data Management, Machine Learning, Location Intelligence, and the knowledge of business processes in related vertical sectors.
The Almawave scope, part of the Almaviva Group, includes the companies SisTer, The Data Appeal Company, Mabrian Technologies, Obda Systems, Almawave do Brasil, and Almawave Usa. www.almawave.com
Information & Communication Technology Commission (ICTC) profile
ICTC is a Government Institution based in Tanzania established by the Presidential Decree Government Notice (GN) No. 532 published in the Government Gazette No. 47 Vol. 96 dated 20 November 2015. Principal place of Business of ICTC is in Dar es Salaam.
The ICT Commission's mandate among others is to foster investment in ICT and, advise and collaborate with stakeholders on capacity building, research, and development of solutions that will help the Country and advise the Government on ICT matters.