Digital Africa 2016 to Focus on Internet of Things

Intense preparations for the successful hosting of the 2016 edition of the Digital Africa conference and exhibitions have commenced, with the organisers promising to make this year’s edition the biggest in the history of the 4-year old annual gathering of major, medium, and niche players in the broad ICT sectors.

This year, the organisers said they would focus on Internet of Things (IoT), since it has become a global driver for technology innovation in the 21st century.

Chairman of Digital Africa Global Consult, organisers of the annual technology show, Dr. Evans Woherem announced that the 2016 edition has its theme as “Accelerated Development for Africa with Internet of Everything (IoE).”

The 2016 edition of Digital Africa conference and exhibition is the fourth in the series of successful events earlier held in 2013, 2014 and 2015. It has attracted renowned ICT experts to discuss Africa’s ICT sector development as well as proffer solutions to the challenges limiting the continent’s advancement to the point of digital singularity with the rest of the globe.

Woherem noted that the Internet of Everything (IoE) has gone from a small and interesting topic of conversation to an industry with the potential to change the way the world functions.

He said: “In recent years, we gave entered a new era of connectedness beyond the human realm. More and more objects in our physical world are now able to communicate with each other or with us through embedded sensors, tags, and actuators without human involvement. These ‘smart objects’ can see, hear, feel, and smell the world around them. Intelligence embedded into personal items, household appliances, cars, clothing, factory equipment, and infrastructure generates vast amounts of valuable data that can be collected, networked, and analyzed for a wide range of business, societal, and personal advances.”

Woherem observed that everything one can think of is now about to start being linked to every other thing in the world through the Internet adding that in the past, only computer servers were interconnected into the Internet, then eventually the laptops, tablets, and smartphones also got connected. Today, according to him, every other thing imaginable is about to start being linked to the Internet, leading to a world of Internet of Everything (IoE).

“Internet of Everything helps the cities and vehicle owners or drivers. The cities that embrace technology in the future will be the winners in the management of the increasing sizes of cities due to rural to city migration. Barcelona is one of those cities doing that today through IoE," he said.
“It is full of innovation and transforming into a smart city through the Internet of Everything. Job creation has increased due to smart city implementation. Elderly ones can put a piece of technology on their necks that helps them to be much more independent and enriches their quality of life. The Internet of Everything is also helping to remove the silos in departments and how many things were done," Woherem added.

He said Africa needs leaders that have a good vision of the modern Africa, countries, cities and villages they want to create to modernise, enhance economic growth, increase standard of living, make life more pleasant and convenient for her people. He, therefore, urged Africa to get ready to embrace the new trend, IoE.

“Since the evolution of the first and second industrial revolutions till date, Africa has been at the lower rung of the technology league table. Hence, Africa is the least developed continent economically and so the weakest in power, for there is a positive correlation between having technology and economic development. Europe, supported heavily by technology, started the first and second industrial revolutions with the US, and Asia followed, through Japan,” he stated.

According to him, billed to hold June 1-3, 2016, this year’s edition will see speakers touch such areas as infrastructure needs and the role of government; the environment, such as smart cities and homes, urban development; Agriculture; Security; Oil and Gas; Health and Life Style; Retail, among others.