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22 February 2018 Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
Future of South Africa discussed at UFS peace conference
Delegates form the UFS and Osaka University gathered together at the Peace Conference.
The Department of Political Studies and Governance as well as the Centre for Africa Studies at the University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Osaka School of International Public Policy of Osaka University, jointly hosted a Quo Vadis South Africa Conference at the UFS on 12 and 13 February 2018.

Prof Hussein Solomon, Department of Political Studies and Governance, stated: “The focus is very much policy-oriented using academic insights to help resolve the myriad challenges confronting South Africa as a country as well as those on the continent.”

Prof Philippe Burger, Head of the Department of Economics and Acting Dean at the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the UFS, spoke on the state of the national economy saying that factors contiguous to education could explain unemployment in South Africa. He pointed out that 60% of the population who were unemployed had not completed high school. He said only 20% of the employed population had tertiary education. Prof Burger said that labour-intensive, export-driven and investment-driven growth are the three integral sectors to consider when looking to improve the economy and overall growth of the country.

Prof Andre Duvenhage from North-West University delivered a presentation on his Strategic Perspectives of the ANC’s 2017 National Conference. Prof Duvenhage said that he had anticipated President Jacob Zuma’s recent departure from the ANC, saying his exit strategy had been negotiated behind the scenes. Some of his focal points included the state decay as a result of corrupt state practices, and the ideal future of the legitimate state which envisions the optimistic turn-around of the current condition of the South African Constitution.

“The future of Africa will be determined by politics”, said Jakkie Cilliers; Chairperson of the board, and Head of African futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies. He explained that politics would drive events leading up to the national elective conference. This would offer political-election-outcome forecasts for 2019, 2024 and 2029 for the ANC, DA, EFF, and other national political parties. 

News Archive

Music lecturer’s innovative app is a first in South Africa
2014-07-24

Dr Frelét de Villiers, lecturer at the Odeion School of Music (OSM) at the University of the Free State (UFS), is in the process of developing an innovative interactive mobile music application – Notes&Fun.

Notes&Fun is being designed to assist aspirant pianists. It will support beginners with notation and rhythmic patterns.

The app will display single notes, phrases or rhythmical patterns on the phone or tablet and then apply the built-in microphone to measure the frequency of the notes played on the piano itself. It will indicate whether you’ve played correctly, or if you have made a mistake, the correct note will be displayed. Notes&Fun consists of multiple levels, each with a practise and test mode that gradually increases in difficulty and complexity. As opposed to existing apps, Notes&Fun is conceptualised with immediate pitch detection and is applied with a real (acoustic) piano.

For the pilot phase of this initiative, the developing company Maxxor in Cape Town will create a demo app which can be downloaded for testing purposes and general feedback. Once the developing company and innovator are satisfied with the first phase, the product will be marketed vigorously on social media. The initial app will be free, but subsequent levels will need to be purchased. The developers will start a Facebook page where users of the app can add their latest scores and compete with other users. Initially the app will only be available on the Google Play Store due to the fact that more people own Android devices than Apple products. Once the product has proven to be financially viable, the developers will adapt it for the Mac App Store as well.

“The beauty of this app is that music has a universal language, so it can be marketed internationally and I am privileged to have the institutional support from the UFS Technology Unit regarding the judicial process and developing process of the product,” Dr De Villiers said.

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