<p>IBM announced today that it is bringing its super computing platform Watson to Africa, where it will help researchers develop commercially-viable solutions in key areas such as healthcare, education, water and sanitation, human mobility and agriculture.</p><p>The ten-year initiative, dubbed "Project Lucy" after the earliest known human ancestor, will see IBM invest $100 million to give scientists and partners access to Watson's advanced computing technologies. It is hoped that they can apply knowledge gleaned from big data to help solve the continent's most pressing challenges and create new business opportunities.</p><p>Watson rose to prominence when the super computer 'won' US quiz show Jeopardy, a proof point of the potential of artificial intelligence. Basically, it uses systems and software that improve by learning, therefore providing solutions to complicated questions by analyzing massive amounts of big data.</p><p>Analysis of big data could help Africa gain a better understanding of issues such as food price patterns, estimations of GDP and poverty number, to anticipating diseases.</p><p><a href="http://thenextweb.com/africa/2014/02/06/watson-ibms-super-computer-is-now-putting-its-problem-solving-skills-to-work-in-africa/">Keep reading...</a></p>