Trends to keep an eye on

FROM CASH TO DIGITAL

“Tap to Pay” experience to Africa’s Informal Sector with its software solution that enables merchants to accept contactless payments directly from a mobile phone. The Lipa Payment’s duo plans to roll-out their Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution across South Africa and Nigeria in 2022. Owning just a low-end smartphone, even if it does not have near-field communication (NFC) capabilities means that merchants can accept either phone-to-phone payments (using Bluetooth technology) or a bank-card payment directly on their smartphones (using NFC technology).

TRENDS TO KEEP AN EYE ON

NASA INGENUITY MAR HELICOPTER: AFTER DUSTY FLIGHT 19, TEAM PREPARES FOR FLIGHT 20

Flight 19 was successfully completed on February 7, 2022, at 20:21 PST (Sol 345 of the Perseverance mission, 12:00 LMST Local Mean Solar Time), and placed Ingenuity safely within the designated landing ellipse just above the eastern ridge of the “South Séítah” basin. Flight 19 was a reminder of the challenges and unpredictability of the Martian environment, after being delayed by an unexpected dust storm that caused a significant drop in air density and solar array output. The team is now preparing for Flight 20, which will continue Ingenuity’s march alongside Perseverance back to Perseverance’s landing location — the Octavia E. Butler Landing Site. From there, the two robotic partners will begin traveling to the Jezero Crater river delta. During Flight 20, Ingenuity is planned to traverse 1,280 feet (390 meters), at an altitude of 32.8 feet (10 meters) and a maximum ground speed of 10.1 mph (4.5 meters per second).

HARNESSING THE POWER OF AGRITECH TO HELP SA’S SMALLHOLDER FARMERS

Microsoft South Africa has selected The Awareness Company as the beneficiary of its AgriTech Programme. The Awareness Company will develop and roll out three high-impact solutions in the agriculture sector within the next year – positively impacting one of the country’s critical sectors, helping to drive growth and job creation. The AgriTech Programme’s main objective is to drive digital transformation in the agriculture sector by collaborating with a technology company that will develop high impact solutions and empower smallholder farmers.

AI SUPPLEMENTS - TECH TRENDS TO WATCH OUT

Artificial technology or AI is not a new term in the IT-sphere, but now there are further verticals of AI that are shaping the industries globally and this is eventually making the technology features in the top IT trends today. AI technology trends, including products like AlterEgo, a mind-reading wearable, Autonomous Vehicles, Google’s AlphaGo and citizen robots like Sophia, are promos on how big AI technology will get in 2022. Companies like Domino’s and Doordash are already experimenting with drones and robot delivery. Although at present, these latest emerging technologies are still riddled with glitches threatening human safety, looking at their enormous prospects, AI supplements are bound to become a technology trend in 2022.

GREAT GREEN WALL MEDICAL UPGRADE THE RISE OF 3D PRINTING

The GGW is an African-led initiative, launched by the African Union in 2007 and designed to transform the lives of 100 million people by growing an 8,000 km long and 15 km wide mosaic of trees, grasslands, vegetation and plants, stretching across the entire Sahel, that can restore the degraded lands and help the region’s inhabitants produce adequate food, create jobs and promote peace. The project is a response to the combined effect of natural resources degradation and drought in rural areas. It seeks to help communities mitigate and adapt to climate change as well as improve food security. By 2030, the ambition of the GGW Initiative is to restore 100 Mha of degraded land, sequester 250 MtC and create 10 million green jobs. The GGW activities brought a range of environmental and socio-economic co-benefits, including carbon sequestration and GHG emissions savings and revenue from income generating activities and job creation. A much-anticipated tech trend in 2022 will be the sophistication of technology upgrades in the medical field. 3D printing will open a new business of advanced prosthetics, Nano medicines and pharmaceuticals as many universities are expanding their research in 3D printing of bionic body parts and medical consumer products. South Africa - can potentially leapfrog other manufacturing-focused economies by focusing more on mass 3D printing manufacturing in the future - especially as it has the potential to revolutionise the healthcare sector with fast, cost-effective solutions. 3D Printing market is growing at an exponential rate in South Africa owing to increasing investment in additive manufacturing of titanium in the region, technological advancement and moreover, rising use of 3D printing technology by small and medium scale industry.