IoT Powers Better Traffic Management in US

In yet another success for the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, a team of US researchers has developed a system to ease vehicle-to-infrastructure and vehicle-to-vehicle communications for better traffic management and curb increasing road accidents.

The team led by Larry Head from University of Arizona used optimisation and algorithms with wireless devices and traffic signal controllers to manage the traffic signals in the US city of Phoenix, according to latest reports by zeenews.india.com.

"Drivers communicate wirelessly on smartphones with people around the globe, but their cars cannot communicate with cars around the corner. That is about to change," Head said.

The researchers a took a team of supervisors, locals and transportation officials on a test bus ride on a 2.3-mile stretch of a road in Anthem -- a suburb in Phoenix.

The road had "Dedicated Short Range Communications" (DSRCs) radios mounted in demo

VDT Communications is Digital Africa 2016 Telecoms Partner

As preparations intensify for this year’s Digital Africa Conference and Exhibitions, key stakeholders in Nigeria’s ICT industry have continued to partner with organizers of the annual continental gathering of renowned ICT experts to discuss the development of Africa’s ICT sector and proffer solutions to the challenges limiting the continent’s technological advancement and the efforts at moving the continent from being a passive consumer to a dominant innovator and producer of digital technologies.

 

The latest is VDT Communications Limited, a Nigerian telecommunications firm renowned for the provision of complete, turnkey solution to all data communication needs. It has reaffirmed its readiness to support the 2016 edition of the annual event as telecoms partner.

Disclosing this, general manager of Digital Africa Global Consult (DAGC), organizers of the annual tech show, Ms Nneoma Ofodile noted that VDT Communications has consistently partnered DAGC since it commenced the campaign to promote the adoption, diffusion, and active development of digital technology in Africa.

“VDT Communications Limited has continued to share our vision of making Africa an active participant in the creation and use of technology. It is for this purpose, that we bring business leaders and organizations together to facilitate the continued, responsible growth of the African economy through the development of the technology industry.

“We create a bridge between buyer, supplier and manufacturer, thus providing a channel through which international companies can expand their businesses into Africa with ease, less risk and profitability. We also provide platforms to help private sector organizations interested in growing their businesses to address the needs of local markets and reach out to the international market,” Ofodile remarked.

Ms Ofodile said that the 2016 edition of Digital Africa Conference & Exhibition is the fourth in the series of successful events earlier held in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and which 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.

She noted that because of the fact that in recent years, the world has entered a new era of connectedness beyond the human realm resulting to more and more objects in the physical world being able to communicate with each other through embedded sensors, tags, and actuators without human involvement, organizers of the event has chosen as the theme for 2016, “Accelerated Development for Africa with Internet of Everything (IoE).”

Ms Ofodile further stated that VDT Communications Limited operates one of the most advanced telecommunications networks in the country primarily by the convergence of multiple networks into one, adding that the company's Network infrastructural design is structured towards providing a broad range of end-to-end efficient and reliable IP-based (data and voice communications) services across West Africa while building a long term, trusted partnership with its clients.

She recalled that VDT Communications Limited Digital Leased Circuit (DLC) service for instance, is a secured, high speed, reliable, solution for customers requiring dedicated point-to-multi point links between the organizations’ head Office and its branch offices nationwide, adding that its broadband data and Internet solutions are fast, secure, and reliable for many critical applications including electronic commerce, E-mail, remote access, and convergent voice and data services.

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 (Smart Cities & Homes, Urban Development); Agriculture; Security (Oil & Gas); Health & Life Style; Retail: Opportunities for SMEs, Training, Managing Warranties; as well as Transportation and Logistics.

The previous Conferences have had in attendance notable personalities including Mrs. Omobola Johnson, Nigeria’s immediate past Minister of Communications Technology; Mr. Folusho Phillips, Chairman Nigerian Economic Summit Group; Mr. Peter Jack, Director General of Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency; Mr. Ernest Ndukwe, Chairman, Open Media; and Mr. Austin Okere, CEO, Computer Warehouse Group.

Others included Nicholas Haan, Director, Global Grand Challenges, Singularity University; Mr. Shawn DuBravac, Chief Economist and Director of Research, Consumer Electronics Association, USA; Mrs. Florence Seriki, President, Information Technology Association of Nigeria (ITAN); Robin Raskins, Founder and CEO, Living in Digital Times, USA; Mallam Mohammed Hayatudeen, renowned banker and economist; Prof. Pat Utomi, founder, Centre for Values in Leadership, and Mr. Russell Southwood of Balancing Act amongst many others.

As in previous years, the 2016 Digital Africa Conference and Exhibitions will also feature exhibitions, plenary, workshops, panel discussions to be led by high profile speakers drawn from local and global organizations, Gala Night as well as the reputable Digital Africa Innovation Awards where individuals and organizations in Africa will be honoured for their contributions towards the growth of ICTs in the continent. This year’s edition will also feature a job fair.

The exhibition will cover products and services in various areas such as Telecommunications, Consumer Electronics, Wearables, Entertainment, Education, Computing, Smart Homes, Security, 3D Printing, and many others.

  

 

The Internet Of Things Is Coming, Hang On To Your Hats!

By George Deeb

I recently completely a deep dive on the Internet of Things (IoT) space for one of my Red Rocket clients, and I was blown away with what I learned.  If we think the consumer internet as we know it is a big deal, IoT will become an even bigger deal, over time.  Gartner predicts the IoT industry to be $1.9TN in size by 2020, and McKinsey thinks it could be as large as $6.2TN by 2025, in terms of economic impact.  Yes Trillion!!  Intel forecasted 15BN devices were already connected to the internet in 2015 alone.  That’s a lot of demand for embedded smart modules, cloud computing, connectivity, data security, mobile apps and analytics reporting alone.

To be clear, when I talk about IoT, I am largely talking about devices connected to the internet (e.g., think a Nest thermostat), or Machine-to-Machine (M2M) technologies.  IoT applications run across these primary sectors:  Consumer, Commercial, Industrial, Buildings, and Government.  And, get further segmented across these major industries:  Retail, Transportation, Security/Safety, IT, Manufacturing, Automotive, Energy and Healthcare, to name a few. Research suggests Manufacturing and Healthcare are the largest two of these industries, in terms of potential and investment to date.  From there, it drills down even further.  For example, in the Security/Safety space, it splits out into Real Time Alerts, Asset Tracking, Fire Safety, Environmental Safety, Elderly/Child Protection, Power Protection, Supply Chain Visibility and beyond.

So, don’t try to be all things to all people, find your sizeable niche and dominate it.

Understanding a lot of big companies are also carving out their niches.  As examples, in just the smart home space, niches are being created around lighting control (Hager, Legrand, Leviton, Lutron, Matsushita), access control (Honeywell, Siemens, Tyco, UTC), connected home security (Alarm.com, Bosch, Kwikset), energy efficiency (Belkin, Nest), home automation (e.g., Smart Things) and appliance control (GE, LG, Maytag, Samsung).  So, even if you pick a good

Study Shows Consumers Do Not Trust Internet of Things

Even though consumers see tangible benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT) adoption, many have their doubts regarding security, trust and safety, and that could seriously hurt the adoption of the new technology, according to reports by betanews.com.

Those are the results of a new study conducted by global mobile trade body Mobile Ecosystem Forum (MEF). The Global Consumer Survey asked 5,000 mobile users in eight markets about the future of the connected world.

Globally, 60 percent of consumers are worried about the new technology, especially in the emerging markets such as Brazil, India and South Africa (66 percent). The biggest concerns are trust (62 percent) and security (54 percent), followed by physical safety (27 percent), and not being able to fix the technology (24 percent).

Ten percent said they couldn’t see the benefits of a world filled with IoT devices.

“Whilst this survey shows that consumers are excited about a future connected world, it also clearly identifies the need for the industry to consider how such technology and services are rolled out when it comes to building a trusted relationship with consumers”, said Rimma Perelmuter, CEO of MEF.

“The business opportunities surrounding IoT are clear, but only if industry heeds the lessons of the broader mobile ecosystem when it comes to the paramount importance of building consumer trust at the outset. Our 2016 Global Consumer Trust Report demonstrated the demand for transparency in mobile apps and services with 64 percent saying it’s important to be told when an app is collecting and sharing personal information. This new report reaffirms the need for all stakeholders in the ecosystem to take action now to secure a viable future for such technologies.”

ntel’s 0804…Rings in Lagos, Abuja

ntel, Nigeria’s most advanced 4G/LTE network has commenced its phased and paced commercial operations with bumper offers for early bird Pioneers and data users.

Launching the commercial operations before newsmen yesterday in Lagos, the company announced that the first 100,000 to redeem and activate their ntel SIMs will get free on-net calls for life while data subscribers will get 3 months unlimited data usage on select bundles.

Kamar Abass, CEO at ntel said at the launch, “I am delighted to announce to you, on behalf of the staff and directors of NatCom, that today, this eighth day of April 2016, we start commercial activities on our newly commissioned 4G/LTE-Advanced network. Our very earliest customers will be able to buy and use these services in clusters, across Lagos and Abuja from sales outlets and agents featuring our bright new brand name: ntel.”

ntel, Nigeria’s 5th Mobile network operator announced that the commencement of operations is the culmination of their journey from acquiring the old NiTel/MTel assets to the delivery of successive milestones underlining their growing operating capability on their new fixed and mobile network infrastructure.

With the formal commencement, commercial services will be available on ntel’s 4G/LTE-Advanced network across key site clusters in Lagos and Abuja. Coverage in Port Harcourt will follow in May, along with expanded coverage in Lagos and Abuja, and subsequently to other states, across multiple geo-political zones, during the second half of 2016.

The company said their 4G/LTE-Advanced technology built on the 900/1800MHz spectrum will deliver an unbeatable and game-changing customer experience of high-speed Internet Access up to 230Mbps, the fastest available in Nigeria today thus enabling a world of full mobile

Executive Interview: Harriet Green, IBM’s Internet of Things Chief

Former Thomas Cook CEO is leading IBM's charge into the IoT, and is pushing its Watson AI technology as a unique differentiator.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is understandably viewed by technology companies large and small as the next great wave of development in the digital age.

For IBM – perceived by some as a lumbering giant that was slow to respond to major IT trends such as mobile and cloud – it is essential to take an early lead in this emerging market. Perhaps that explains the decision to look outside the company for a high-profile business executive to head its IoT charge.

Step forward Harriet Green, previously group CEO of one of the UK’s best-known consumer brands – holiday company Thomas Cook – and formerly chief executive of electronics distributor Premier Farnell. Green is a big hitter – a former Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year and Leader of the Year in the 2013 UK National Business Awards.

Sadly, but not untypically for tabloid coverage of successful female business leaders, she has also been the subject of some intrusive national newspaper reporting.  She was singled out more for her tattoo than the fact that she grew Thomas Cook’s market worth from £148m to more than £2bn in little more than two years.

By the time she left the travel firm, her reputation in the City was such that £350m was wiped from the value of the company’s shares when she announced her departure in November 2014.  

 Such a high-profile background might also explain why IBM CEO Ginni Rometty personally hired Green last September into a global role as general manager for IBM Watson internet of things, commerce and education.

Combining Watson with IoT

Watson is IBM’s artificial intelligence (AI) engine - famed for beating humans on the US TV quiz show Jeopardy – a capability that the supplier sees as a distinctive difference to its IoT offering.

“You always want to be in a position where you have something that no one else has, and no one else has Watson,” Green tells Computer Weekly in one of her first major interviews in the new job. “No one else has cognitive capabilities in the way that we do, so that’s really exciting.”

So why did she choose this role after running Thomas Cook, and why IBM?

“If you look at what I’ve done in my career, it’s been a lot of transformations – businesses that either aren’t well or need to be made global or digitised. So when I finished the first phase of the Thomas Cook transformation and made sure the business was not going into demise and made it robust, then what I was attracted to at IBM was the intensity of transformation,” she says.

“IBM is one of the few companies in the world that has reinvented itself – three, possibly four

IBM, Pfizer Collaborate To Create IoT System For Parkinson’s Disease

As a way to help those who suffer from Parkinson’s disease, and to learn how the disease progresses in patients, IBM and the pharmaceutical company Pfizer are collaborating to create an experimental Internet of Things system to monitor patients and change how clinicians deliver care to them, according to reports by SDTimes.com.

Approximately 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease each year, and 7 to 10 million suffer from it globally, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. This collaboration will allow the companies to develop remote monitoring solutions that will rely on a system of sensors, mobile devices, and machine learning to provide real-time disease symptom information to clinicians and researchers, according to an IBM announcement. Among the goals, the announcement said, is to better understand how patients respond to medicine so doctors can make effective treatment decisions and researchers can better design clinical trials.

The announcement noted that the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in particular requires constant adjustment to medications, depending on how the disease is progressing in a patient and how well the patient is responding to the medication.

This new collaborative approach is non-invasive to the patient. IBM and Pfizer will seek to create a holistic view of a patient’s wellbeing by accurately measuring a variety of health