IBM began rolling out its Watson supercomputer system across Africa, saying it would help to address continental development obstacles as diverse as medical diagnoses, economic data collection and e-commerce research.

The world’s biggest technology service provider said Project Lucy would take 10 years and cost $100 million. The undertaking was named after the earliest known human ancestor fossil, which was found in east Africa.

“I believe it will spur a whole era of innovation for entrepreneurs here,” IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty told delegates at a conference.

As an example, Rometty cited how Morocco had used sophisticated data mining for ‘smart agriculture’ to improve how crops are grown, by predicting weather, demand and disease outbreaks.

The Watson system uses artificial intelligence that can quickly analyse huge amounts of data and understand human language well enough to hold sophisticated conversations. It beat humans on the TV quiz show Jeopardy in 2011.

IBM has so far failed to convert that genius into substantial revenue growth, with the system contributing just $100 million over the past three years as overall revenues declined.

The company said last month it would invest $1 billion in creating a business unit for Watson, named after former IBM president Thomas Watson.

The technology would enable poorer parts of Africa to ‘leapfrog’ stages of development they have failed to reach because they were too expensive.

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