IoT critical to smart cities
Along with the rest of the world, South Africa is in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, in which the smart use of information and technology is reshaping societies. One of the most apparent ways in which this is happening can be seen is in the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), where smart, connected devices are being deployed in cities and industries globally, to gather data and glean contextual insights which are used to achieve higher levels of efficiency, productivity and utilization of scarce and natural resources.
The reach of IoT is staggering. In the near future, for example, the growing population of nations will be fed by crops that are smartly planted at the right time and in precisely the right place to produce maximum yield. Leveraging IoT, farmers will be informed via connected sensors, of the precise dosage of water, fertilizer and nutrients that the piece of cultivated land will require to produce an optimal yield in terms of volume and quality.
As the need to respond to the increasing demand for food as well as and the effects of climate change on food security becomes a dominant concern, smart agriculture is just one of the ways in which IoT will, no doubt, prove its value.
More immediately, large metros in South Africa often face challenges with meeting citizen’s demand for electricity, dealing with water shortages and wastage, and managing other resources. Each of these challenges are only expected to grow in the years ahead due to increasing urbanisation, and in Africa this has become a significant driver behind conversations focusing on Smart Cities.
The good news is that exciting progress is already being made in South Africa, as we are seeing IoT projects underway and the development of smart cities being placed top of the agenda. Both, it should be noted, work hand in hand. In fact, IoT is essential to the success of a Smart City, as it enables the bridging of the physical world with the digital one.
Doing so enables a metro to gather real-time data from millions of objects, such as water meters, electricity meters, waste bins, traffic lights, and street lights. This forms the basis upon which contextual data can be collected, analysed, and used to manage the city in a smarter, predictive, and proactive way. A few practical examples of this include better traffic management by informing travellers of congestion; dealing with crime by leveraging sensors that detect gunshots in high crime zone areas; and smart waste management, in which metros are automatically informed by sensor-equipped bins when refuse needs to be collected.
Beyond the general benefits of living in a Smart City, with the greater quality of life brought about by a metro that is more efficiently managed, the burgeoning IoT industry presents some real opportunities for entrepreneurs in South Africa, particularly those businesses which enable big data to be efficiently gathered, processed, and analysed.
Job creation need not be limited to businesses in the big data space. Having smart cities in place will ensure that South Africa is ripe to attract global investment from the business sector.
