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CIO East Africa Premiers Africa IoT Summit
The wave of Internet of Things (IoT) is speedily changing how things are done in the different sectors. Everything is…
The wave of Internet of Things (IoT) is speedily changing how things are done in the different sectors. Everything is getting connected, right from handheld devices, to cars and to connected homes and offices among others, IoT is causing a paradigm shift in operations from a consumer’s perspective to a Corporates and Governments.
It is in regards to this that CIO East Africa has premiered the Africa IoT Summit today attracting over 100 IT experts from across the region. Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems, Telkom Kenya and Footprint Africa Business Solutions (FABS) are among the key sponsors for the premier Africa IoT Summit organized by CIO East Africa.
Hitachi has partnered with Reddington to secure lead sponsorship, Telkom Kenya – the country’s oldest telecommunications company which re-launched its brand from Orange to Telkom in June 2017 secured a Silver Sponsorship Title. Telkom Kenya provided connectivity during the summit.
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Speaking about the Summit, Laura Chite, CEO CIO East Africa said, “Internet of Things is far bigger than anyone realizes. By 2020 IoT statistics show that there will be 24 billion IoT devices connected and an investment of close USD 6 billion made towards IoT Solutions globally. This creates a bigger opportunity for organizations to invest in IoT to drive business agility.”
Thought leadership
She further added that the Africa Iot Summit is part of the CIO East Africa continental events touching on disruptive technologies. The event will be a compelling, world-class conference as it will host the brightest, most well-respected thought leaders and practitioners in the IoT space.
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The event, which attracted speakers from across the continent, comprised players from the academia, government and to businesses providing connectivity as well as varied products and services that add value to lives.
Among the key speakers included Andreas Fruhen, CTO, Mkopa Solar who looked at Delivering Digital Transformation in Energy, Ben Roberts, CTO, Liquid Telecom Liquid IOT Africa Report, Fares Zekri, Principal Technical Evangelist from Microsoft also walked the attendees on leveraging IoT for Digital Transformation and Peter Muendo, Technical Solutions Consultant, HDS.
Other key speakers Desmond Rao, Head of IT, Davis & Shirtliff, Marika Gecaga, Country Manager, Vodacom, Leaonard Mabele, Lead Engineer M2M, Strathmore University, Ahmed Yehia, CIO, Safaricom, Mbugua Njihia, CEO, Sure Inc, Jimmy Wahome, Special Projects Manager, Telkom and Fernando Wangila, Director IT at NTSA will take the attendees through an interesting session on IoT in Transport and Safety.
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Transforming Customer Experience
Key on the agenda will be topics around; Delivering Digital Transformation in Energy, Fog Computing, The Interplay of Big Data and IoT, Data loss Prevention in IoT, The Emerging IoT Business Landscape,Workshops on Smart Cities, Smart Retail, Smart Utilities, Digital Health, Smart Manufacturing, Moving Cities, Transforming customer experience through IOT, Leveraging IOT Data to create proactive customer engagement,The future of User engagement through IOT, IOT is useful but what about Security, Securing the Smartest Infrastructure, Smart Insurance, IOT for better Citizen Engagement, IOT as a disruptive force in Healthcare delivery and Re-imagining Service Delivery through IOT.
Studies have also shown that products like industrial sensors, connected manufacturing machines, in-store analysis devices and workspace management applications are already on the market. These B2B IoT devices will fundamentally transform the way organizations do business with other companies. Sparklabs predicts an exponential increase in this space from 2.5 billion connections in 2017 to 5.4 billion devices in 2020.
Wearable devices are also noticeably growing. From 28.3 million units sold in 2016, IDC forecasts an increase to 82.5 million units in 2020, a 31 percent growth.In 2016, global spending on the IoT across markets was $737 billion. IDC predicts that by 2020, this number will reach $1.29 trillion, a compound annual growth rate of 15.6 percent.