Tunisia’s first satellite launch could advance education

Tunisia launched its first home-made satellite, Challenge ONE, on 22 March. It was launched with the help of a Russian launching rocket from a base in Kazakhstan to promote Internet of Things applications which, in turn, could also help to advance access to education.

XN Iraki, an associate professor of data science, innovation and technology management at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, told University World News that the launch was an important moment for Tunisia.

“Tunisia has come of age by launching a satellite. The positive spillover to education and national pride is immeasurable,” he said.

“We hope other African countries will follow suit,” added Iraki, who is the author of a 2018 study titled “The Fourth Industrial Revolution is Africa’s to lose”.

Challenge ONE, produced through local resources with the support of the Tunisian information and technology company Telnet, is a precursor to a constellation of 30 satellites to be launched by 2023 to provide a global Internet of Things.

As of June 2020, 11 African countries (Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Sudan) had successfully launched 41 satellites (38 unilateral and three multilateral satellites) into orbit, of which 29 were manufactured by foreign companies, while the remaining 12 satellites were developed locally by African engineers, according to the website Space in Africa.

University training

Professor Sami Hammami, the vice president of the University of Sfax in charge of programmes, training and professional integration, told University World News Challenge ONE would allow the transmission of useful data and communication in areas such as transport, agriculture and logistics.

“Thus, the Tunisian satellite Challenge ONE is of major importance for the aerospace industry and could open up new possibilities for university training in this field,” Hammami pointed out.

The development could also enhance the access to education.

Abdellah Benahnia, a part-time international researcher and professor at the Superior Institutions of Science and Technology, an associate college of Cardiff Metropolitan University in Casablanca, said Challenge ONE could serve Tunisia and African countries if more investments were made to create new educational platforms and improve the existing ones.

“Setting and creating modern advanced African digital educational platforms will definitely help in transforming university education and assist current and future generations, which are relying more than ever before on technology and distance learning, especially in the time of coronavirus pandemic,” Benahnia added.

“The Tunisian satellite broadband, as opposed to terrestrial networks, which are almost non-existent in remote African communities, could connect universities and higher education institutions to the internet for further access to the e-learning platform,” Benahnia indicated.

“A Tunisian satellite-enabled Internet of Things could also facilitate integrating the Internet of Things into the curriculum and educational environments along with boosting innovative Internet of Things-based research through cooperation with African universities as well as the Rwanda-based African Center of Excellence in the Internet of Things,” Benahnia concluded.

“Satellite-based wireless systems are the most cost-effective way to develop or upgrade telecommunications networks in areas where user density is lower than 200 subscribers per square kilometre.

“Such wireless systems can be installed five to 10 times faster and at a cost of 50% lower than landline networks,” according to the October 2019 African Union Commission’s African Space Policy: Towards social, political and economic integration.

Sustainable Development Goals

Expanding further, Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid, a professor of agricultural biotechnology at Cairo’s National Research Centre in Egypt, told University World News that a satellite-enabled Internet of Things would boost the sharing of knowledge and information, enhance communication efficiency and build learning communities especially for Africans in remote communities who have neither access to quality education nor quality internet connectivity for virtual learning.

“Besides providing a vital and reliable tool for a better-connected and a more collaborative future for university education, the Internet of Things will offer lecturers and professors a way to measure student learning progress in real time,” Abdelhamid pointed out.

“This will help to ensure that Africa uniformly meets the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goal number 4, which is to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning, particularly using ICTs,” said Abdelhamid.