Accelerating Africa’s Development Through ‘Internet of Everything’

The revolutionary Internet of Everything (IoE) will transform the life of inhabitants of Africa and the way they run their businesses thus accelerating the continent’s overall development. ROMMY IMAH looks at how these will happen……

*Photo: courtesy itpro.co.uk

Suddenly, the Internet of Things or Internet of Everything has become the revolutionary technology trend in the world today. Ever since this life-changing technology was acclaimed as a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction, the buzz has been ‘Internet of Everything’. And it is spreading like harmattan fire across the globe.

Experts say the Internet of Everything (IoE) as a concept, is based on the idea that in the future, Internet connections will not be restricted to laptop or desktop computers and a handful of tablets, as in previous decades. Instead, machines will generally become smarter by having more access to data and expanded networking opportunities. IoE consists of four pillars: People, Process, Data, and Things.

Techopedia, an online IT education portal captures this trending technology aptly when it noted that the “actual IoE applications range from digital sensor tools/interfaces used for remote appliances to smarter and more well-connected mobile devices, industrial machine learning systems and other types of distributed hardware that have recently become more intelligent and automated.”

The 2016 edition of Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition billed to hold at the International Conference Centre, Abuja on June1-3, 2016 and with the theme: Accelerating Africa’s Development Through ‘Internet of Everything,’ will critically dissect this new life-transforming technology through presentations on related issues across all segments of the economy by renowned, global and erudite speakers. They will on the course of the presentations, share strategy and best

practices on how to get Africa geared up for the massive spike in data transmissions over the next couple of years.

Dr. Evans Woherem, Executive Chairman of Digital Africa Global Consult, organizers of the annual Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition explaining the importance of this fast trending technology noted: “Everything we can think of is now about to start being linked to every other thing in the world through the Internet. In the past only computer servers were interconnected into the Internet. Then eventually our laptops, tablets, smart phones also got connected.

“Now every other thing imaginable are about to start also being linked to the Internet, leading to a world of Internet of Everything, ie., in which everything you can think of is linked to the Internet, be it our fridges, light bulbs, doors, gates, bodies, cars, golf bags, airconditioners, cookers or ovens. The installed base for interconnected devices is approaching 2billion.”

Already, the organizers of the annual event have lined up exciting and thought-provoking topics that will help in setting the agenda for a technologically-driven African continent.

At Day 1 of the 3-day event, whereas the first session will look at Internet of Everything (IoE) Success in Africa, and will feature such presentations as “Internet of Things and Its impact on Africa”; CISCO  Keynote Presentation, Session 2 will have as its sub-theme, The ‘Hows’ of IOT in Africa, and will have such presentations as “Unlocking the IoT promise in Africa”; “Building A Smarter Africa”, while Session 3 with sub-theme as Transforming Cities the Smart way, will feature such presentations as “Harnessing The Power Of IoT In Rural /Urban Development”; and “Smart Homes: A Step Into The Future.”

The first session on Day 2 of the Conference will have as sub-theme: Exploring Smart Agriculture and will feature presentations such as “IoT and the future of Agriculture in Africa –Repositioning the continent for precision farming”; and “Case Study: From traditional to smart farming: A myth or reality?”. Session 2 sub-themed IoT: Where is the money?, will look at “The impact of IoE in African Economics”; and “eCommerce and eBusiness Experiences in Africa: the IoE future”. The same day, there will be one other session namely: The Internet Of Secure Things featuring such presentations as “IoT the security game changer”; and “Tackling IoT Security And Privacy Challenges.”

Day 3 which doubles as the last day will feature two sessions. The first session sub-themed The Connected Lifestyle will have experts speak on such topics as “IoE and Holiness: What’s that about?”; and “Africa’s Participation In Social Media”. Session two of the last day is sub-themed: The New Era For Start-Ups and will feature presentations such as “Online Portals: Whats the fuss?”; “Where and how to Start?”; and “Growing: What next?”.

Over the last three decades or so, there has been tremendous changes in the way people connect to the Internet. From dumb terminals to desktop computers to a variety of mobile devices used today, including laptops, smartphones and tablets, connectivity patterns have changed across the globe.

The wave now is the transformation being brought about by the array of wearable technologies such as Google Glass and smart watches that are radically changing the ways information is consumed and shared. Already there are self-monitoring devices such as Fitbit and the Nike FuelBand that enhances tracking of exercise, monitor heart rates and even monitor the quality of people’s sleep.

Now, there are further developments being brought about by exponential technologies all over the world especially in the US and Europe. Soon, people will be able to swallow a pill that can monitor the digestive tract and intelligently send relevant information to doctors at the right time and in the context of what we are doing. Expectant mothers will wear "smart tattoos" to monitor the health and activity of their babies, and send their doctor an early alert when labour begins.

Africa no doubt, is a continent where majority of her citizens access the Internet from their mobile devices. What this means is that opportunity for Internet of Everything abounds here. Already, some African countries have adopted some IoE applications and solutions to enhance governance. In Rwanda for example, SIM cards are used to connect PoS terminals in remote areas thereby enabling merchants to accept debit or credit card payments. Elsewhere in South Africa, Smart metres have been installed to measure power utility usage in the capital, Johanenesburg.

The presence of Internet of Everything is already being felt in Africa, though unconsciously. Not many people are aware that tracking devices used in our cars, mobile payment services and the evolving smart cities are all IoE initiatives. Fuel pipelines have been fitted with sensors to monitor leaks. Besides, so many issues around health, water control, security, energy and traffic congestion have been and are still being technologically addressed in Africa.

Experts have argued strongly that the presence of IoE in industries such as medical and health-care, the transportation system amongst others,will greatly improve the way services in these industries are delivered. It will also open up new revenue streams, facilitate new business models and drive efficiency. The economic implication will also be massive across the world. All that is required of Africa to do now is to urgently consider implementing strategies to invest in stronger Internet connectivity across the continent to leverage the new opportunities that will become available with the IoE as well as deal with the challenges that will come with it.

Dr. Woherem further provides insight into this new technology buzz: “Then 3D printing will completely change how we manufacture and distribute products. It will greatly personalize it. Cars and vehicles of all sorts will be able to drive themselves, changing our roads, the concept of having chauffeurs, and bring about an era of cars on demand. It would then in deed become Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”. You can create your own products, put trackers on pets, children and on ourselves.

“We are digitizing everyday objects. Multidimensional screen expansion. Expanding and enhancing of spectrum of screens in terms of colour, size and resolution. Ultra High Definition TVs will revolutionise our TV screens which can be used to access the Internet as well as play games. Syncview TVs, in which two or three people can concurrently watch their different programmes or films on the same TV with the use of a required goggle, will settle a lot of quarrels in people’s homes.

“Digital cameras are now being provided with sensors. The wii by Gyroscopes is used to play games through the sensors it is provided with. Systems are being provided with multiple digital microphones to enable them to detect voices and noises outside, as well as motion sensors to adjust even temperatures in the room. Sensors are now also being given to cars to enable them to drive without drivers. Such cars are also fitted with hybrid innovation cruise controls that enable them to adapt in the road by avoiding other cars and eventually parking themselves, through complex sensors and solutions.” 

Dr. Woherem observed that the rest of the world clearly sees Africa as the next frontier for rapid development, and a continent that has been waking up to that reality. Thus, things have started happening in Africa. Things are looking on the up and up, as can be seen by the continent’s respective country GDP growth rates, per capita incomes, rigidly rising teledensities, access to the Internet and broadband communication technologies, use of smart phones, group media, etc.

As the Internet of Everything moves to the mainstream business eco-systems in Africa, enterprises need to be ready to fold increasingly intelligent assets into the IT landscape. It is a vision for Africa that requires a technology infrastructure that can capture data securely from hundreds of thousands of end points, handle Big Data affordably, and provide powerful real-time analytics to large numbers of people.