#IoTAS2017: NTSA Researching on Drone Use

The National Transport and Safety Authority (NTSA) has embarked on the journey of deploying advanced technologies, among them drones in a bid to offer solutions to a myriad of challenges that has over the years bedeviled the Kenyan roads transport sector.

Deployment of innovative technologies gives a ray of hope to a sector that has increasingly had challenges in sorting the traffic problems perpetrated by motorists countrywide.

Among the major innovations by the authority that is set to take the country by storm in the coming months is the use of smart driving license and subsequently deployment of drones to patrol the Kenyan roads.

In his presentation at the Africa IoT Summit organized by CIO East Africa, Fernando Wangila, IT Director, NTSA, asserted on the need for the authority to roll-out the big plans of deploying drones to manage traffic soon after a trial phase that’s already underway.

“We have a drone at NTSA of which its programming is underway to blacklist vehicles and drivers causing havoc on the road,” said Wangila adding that among the things the drone will help checking as management of traffic goes techie include over speeding and overlapping among other traffic infringements.

Although the types of technology and their goals differ, NTSA has prioritized the digitization of licences, vehicle identifier and use of drones in the effort to improve to safe road usean area that has lagged significantly behind over the years owing to delay of adopting new technologies.  “Earlier one, it is lack of investment that stifled innovation,” Wangila averred while further noting that the world of IoT demands for continuous collection of data as well as critical analysis of the same for purposes of offering worthwhile solutions.

The wave of 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 Corporate firms and Governments.

It is against this background that CIO East Africa premiered the Africa IoT Summit that ended up attracting visionaries, ICT industry thought-leaders, industry luminaries and practitioners who shared their profound knowledge of real-world IoT trends, challenges and solutions with delegates from across the region.

Microsoft, Hitachi Data Systems, Telkom Kenya and Footprint Africa Business Solutions (FABS) were among the key sponsors for the premier Africa IoT Summit organized by CIO East Africa.

During the summit, Laura Chite, CEO CIO East Africa stressed on the need of African businesses to seize the advantages of the IoT ecosystem way in advance, “Internet of Things is 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.”