EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HOW CAN CIOS ON THE CONTINENT IMPROVE THEIR POSITIONING WITH IOT ?
The Internet of Things ( IoT ) is a system of interrelated computing devices , mechanical and digital machines , objects , animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers ( UIDs ) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring humanto-human or human-to-computer interaction .
A ‘ thing ’ in the IoT can be a person with a heart monitor implant , a farm animal with a biochip transponder , an automobile that has built-in sensors to alert the driver when tyre pressure is low or any other natural or manmade object that can be assigned an Internet Protocol ( IP ) address and is able to transfer data over a network .
MarketsandMarkets forecasts that the global IoT market size to be US $ 170.6 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach US $ 561.0 billion by 2022 , growing at a compound annual growth rate ( CAGR ) of 26.9 % during the forecast period .
Jim Holland , Regional Director – Africa , Lenovo Infrastructure Solutions Group , said while Africa may be a developing continent , it has shown great promise and opportunity in the past decade . He said this , of course , can be seen in the continent ’ s eagerness to transcend into the Fourth Industrial Revolution .
Holland added that IoT has grown in both supply and demand – especially with COVID-19 now accelerating the continent ’ s deployment . “ This can be seen in the continent ’ s growing demand for smarter financial systems and more stable telecommunications operations . The truth , however , is that deploying IoT at scale can be quite an intricate task . Africa has , however , shown it ’ s agility and eagerness regarding IoT ,” he said . “ This can be seen with Kenya ’ s investment in IoT networks and base stations as well as Nigeria ’ s rollout of IoT networks powered by Ingenu ’ s Random Phase Multiple Access ( RPMA ) technology .”
Ian Jansen van Rensburg , Senior Systems Engineer and Lead Technologist , VMware , said the industrial revolution global markets are experiencing today , commonly referred to as Industry 4.0 , is powered by technological advancements that include the Internet of Things ( IoT ), smart manufacturing , robotics and Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) to name a few things . van Rensburg , said the ability of machines to communicate and evolve to become a more intelligent device coupled with the advent of connected devices and platforms drives digitisation of the manufacturing arena .
Van Rensburg said even though CIOs are openminded and embrace the fast-paced change of digital technology for IoT to be implemented correctly , there are several factors to consider .
He said one of these is laws and legal frameworks to support data-driven technologies and innovation-driven growth . He said with the right mix of policies , CIOs can reap the benefits of IoT and AI in the years to come .
“ An IoT environment delivers more intelligence on the assembly line or in the manufacturing process . Furthermore , it allows for data analytics to be captured and used to provide feedback , advanced notifications , state of health and other forms of reporting to improve the process throughout manufacturing operations ,” he said . “ All these elements become vital enablers in developing economies across the continent . CIOs must therefore take the time to integrate IoT into existing technology roadmaps .”
26 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www . intelligentcio . com