BUSINESS TRAVELLER Innovation and the IOT

INNOVATION&the Internet of Things

Words by Kenneth Muhangi

“Google and Facebook algorithms not only know exactly how you feel, they also know a myriad of other things about you that you hardly suspect. Consequently, you should stop listening to your feelings and start listening to these external algorithms instead. Whereas humanism commanded: ‘Listen to your feelings!’ Dataism now commands: ‘Listen to the algorithms! They know how you feel, when.” ― Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

The proliferation of the internet has ushered in an age where we are all dependent on technology to think for us and carry out even the minutest of tasks. While the internet has in most cases brought about a number of challenges, therein also lies a myriad of opportunities.

Confronting these challenges requires political will as well as a new approach to utilise the internet and innovative technology not only for profit making and social connection, but for the good of the human race. The link between the internet and the devices that simplify our lives is one such connection that is now being explored to spur human and social development world-over.

This interoperability is what is now referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is the use of intelligently connected devices and systems to harness data. This data is gathered by non-intrusive sensors and actuators in machines and other objects which, when connected to the internet via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other networks, aggregate data that can be used to improve all facets of life.

The Internet of Things essentially brings together advanced software with sensors and other end-devices on a communications network. Along with advanced data analytics, IoT-enabled devices and sensors are being used to do things such as diagnose communicable and non-communicable diseases, reduce air pollution, improve crop yield, and eliminate traffic jam in large cities.

In Spain for example, a citywide Wi-Fi and information network linked to sensors, software and a data analytics platform, enabled the city of Barcelona to provide smart water technology, automated street

lighting, remote controlled water irrigation in green spaces and water fountains, “on-demand” waste pickups, digital bus routes, smart parking metres, and more.

In South Korea, the emerging smart city of Songdo is being built around expansive IoT networks designed to ensure that its buildings, transportation system and infrastructure are as efficient as possible, helping to optimise its resources.

In London, where up to 9,000 deaths per year are attributed to air pollution, Drayson Technologies has been testing the use

of networked air quality sensors that are distributed to bicycle couriers and a fleet of fuel-cell cars. The sensors, which transmit data to smartphones via Bluetooth, allow the creation of realtime maps showing air pollution levels around the city.

In Oakland, California, an environmental sensing startup called Aclima, partnered with Google, EDF and researchers from UT Austin to create a highly detailed block-by-block map of air pollution, using a fleet of Google Street View vehicles carrying specialised sensors.

In the energy sector, Fenix in Uganda launched ReadyPay Power, an expandable, lease-to-own solar home system that provides lighting, phone charging, TV, and radio; it is financed to low income homes through affordable installments over MTN mobile money.

In Agriculture, the backbone of Uganda’s economy, IoT can be harnessed to develop smarter ways to increase crop yield and develop more drought resistant crops. In Israel for example, IoT has combined advanced cameras, sensors, weather stations and artificial intelligence, to help farmers respond quickly to signs of trouble such as crop disease, while boosting productivity by as much as a third.

In the medical sector, IoT has been used to help doctors gain faster access to health-related data from patients, collected through continuous monitoring and measurement. Wearable, internet-connected sensor devices that track heart rate, pulse, or even blood pressure are increasingly affordable, compact and accurate.

Increasingly, technology is also helping doctors and other healthcare workers monitor the day-to-day well-being of patients who live independently. Sensors mounted throughout the home, or in-home robotic assistants can alert caretakers via text if, say, an elderly patient under their care has not taken their medicine on a given day, or left the bedroom by a set time.

In 2015, during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Scripps Translational Science Institute eased Ebola detection by using integrated sensors to track heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, respiration rate and body temperature.

In cancer treatment, those that detect lumps at the earliest stand a better chance of suppressing it. IoT has been used to track changes in temperature in breast tissue over time through non-intrusive sensors implanted in the breast. The data is transmitted wirelessly to the user’s mobile phone and shared securely with a patient’s healthcare provider. By applying machine learning and predictive analytics to this data, doctors can identify and classify abnormal patterns indicative of early stage breast cancer.

In Uganda, Malaria is combated with the m-Health application to quickly and cheaply diagnose Malaria using mobile phones.

The possibilities for utilising IoT are limitless. But, with internet penetration at 41% in Uganda, there is still a lot to be done to facilitate innovation. The Government has taken commendable steps to improve penetration and spur innovation through projects like the National ICT Initiatives Support Programme (NIISP), which was created to facilitate the creation of an ICT Innovation ecosystem and marketplace for Ugandan innovative digital products.

NIISP primarily aims at facilitating the growth and development of software applications and the innovations industry.

It is imperative that we constantly seek and discover ways of utilising IoT if we are to keep up with the rest of the world.