Johannesburg – Science and Technology Minister Naledi Pandor says the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) remains an important African endeavour with huge potential to contribute to raising the profile of science, technology and innovation development on the continent.
Minister Pandor said plans are underway to initiate a national level data facility for astronomical data which will service MeerKAT and then be expanded to include data from other SA facilities.
The South African MeerKAT radio telescope, which is currently being built some 90 km outside the small Northern Cape town of Carnarvon, is a precursor to the SKA telescope and will be integrated into the mid-frequency component of SKA Phase 1.
The SKA Project is an international enterprise to build the largest and most sensitive radio telescope in the world, and will be located in Africa and Australia.
Speaking at the third Ministerial Meeting of the SKA currently underway in Muldersdrift, near Johannesburg, Minister Pandor said a joint project has been established with ASTRON and IBM in the Netherlands to prototype SKA Science and Data Regional Centre activities using the MeerKAT and LOFAR (long term) archives.
“A significant focus and investment in big data in Africa is not only due, but is crucial if Africa is to play a significant role in the world economy in the coming decades.
“It is now a fact that the human expertise to capture and analyse big data is both the most expensive and the most constraining factor for most organisations pursuing big data initiatives,” she said on Friday.
Representatives and ministers from the countries participating in the hosting of the SKA are attending the meeting.
The ministers have updating delegates on the developments in their countries with regard to the SKA.
The SKA will be about 50 times more sensitive than any other existing radio telescope.