A group photo after the meeting
A delegation from Google Research, led by Mr. Yossi Matias, have paid a courtesy call on the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo to advance talks concerning a partnership agreement.
Welcoming the delegation, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, indicated that the University seeks to become research intensive and the collaboration and partnership with Google Research was timely. “Artificial Intelligence and technology is driving this age and if there is one thing the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us, it is to embrace the value of technology and use it in diverse ways,” she said.
The Vice-Chancellor asserted that an essential key in her administration is technology and having Google Research as a partner is critical. She noted that the University is endowed with talents and the right kind of environment and support will help the students perform amazingly. Prof. Amfo further pledged her support to the relationship.
Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo
In brief remarks, Prof. Felix Ankomah Asante, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Development (RID), reiterated the numerous talents of students within the University and mentioned that the partnership with Google Research was one way to unearth those talents.
Mr. Matias, the Vice President of Google Research, noted “The Google Research team has built great technologies for Africa and the world as well as advancing science with universities including the University of Ghana which present opportunities for Africa and the world”. He expressed his excitement at the partnership as he recollected past projects with Management of the University.
Mr. Matias affirmed that the potential, synergy and relationships that are developed with universities present opportunities for research collaborations. He further stated that it is a great time supporting talents from the University of Ghana to blossom. “Collaboration, research and education are dear to us, and we can identify various societal impacts which can be addressed through technology”, he said.
Vice President of Google Research, Mr. Matias
Prof. Boateng Onwona-Agyeman, Provost, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, seized the opportunity to solicit for collaboration between the departments in the University of Ghana and Tel Aviv University in terms of teaching and promotion.
Giving a brief background on the partnership, Dr. Abdulai Jamal-Deen, Head, Department of Computer Science, said the Department has been working with Google Research to collaborate in terms of research and teaching. He added that several meetings had been held to strengthen partnership and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also being arranged.
Dr. Jamal-Deen said, “We are looking into several areas of engagements such as research support, exchange of faculty and students at Google Research labs. We are also looking at Google giving us experimental platforms in terms of their cloud services in order to support our student research”.
The Dean of the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Prof. Sandow Mark Yidana, disclosed that Google Research helped not only with computer science and engineering, but also with all the sciences. He was hopeful that the MoU will provide avenues and opportunities to move the collaboration further.
Present at the meeting were Mr. Francis Kwabena Boachie, Chief Information Technology Officer, University of Ghana Computing Systems; Dr. Godfrey Mills, Head, Department of Computer Engineering and Mrs. Elizier T. Ameyaw-Buronyah, Director, Public Affairs Directorate. Also present from Google Research were Mrs. Vivi Cediel, Mr. Moustapha Cissé, Mr. Rohit L. Nosad, Mrs. Yvonne Dumor, Mrs. Susan Chan, Mr. Avinatan Hassidim, Mr. Arkady Ziefman and Mrs. Amanie Brik.
After the meeting, the Google Research delegation paid a visit to the School of Engineering Sciences and interacted with the students.
