The Internet of Everything (IoE) is set to drive a meaningful change in how South Africans interact with technology, according to Alpheus Mangale, MD at Cisco South Africa.
Presenting findings from Cisco's 2014 technology radar report in Johannesburg, Mangale said emerging trends that are linked to a world where everything is connected to the Internet, will drive the future of innovation and influence how South Africans live, work, play and learn.
"It's not hard to imagine that in the short term, machine to machine (M2M) connections will be a sizeable value source," said Mangale. "This will have an impact across different sectors where, for example, the proliferation of in-car devices will enable cars to be connected to each other. This will lead to a reduction in the number of road fatalities, improvements in safety and easing of the traffic flow. Cars will also be able to collect data about the owner's driving habits for insurance companies to determine risk profiles."
These connections will also bring about automated smart grids for power utility companies, added Mangale, enabling them to determine peak hour usage and channel the electricity accordingly.
"There will be numerous benefits for the healthcare sector as well," he said. "M2M connections in this market will see heart-rate monitors and sensors implanted in clothing to record diabetics' sugar levels, allowing for health conditions to be monitored remotely. For road accidents, wearable devices such as camera-enabled helmets and bracelets, will allow for real-time data to be recorded while treatment is in progress, and be sent to the relevant facility in preparation of the patient's arrival.
Cisco also predicts that browser-based collaboration and video will be real-time, with video accounting for 78% of South Africa's mobile data traffic by 2018, compared to 50% in 2013.
"This will be a common standard across a handful of browsers, it will be easy to deploy to masses of users by simply updating web applications - no need for plug-ins or application downloads," added Mangale, stating that 60% of mobile connections in South Africa will be "smart" connections by 2018, up from 20% in 2013
Real life ultra-high definition video collaboration will be cheaper and more widely available on smartphones, augmented reality glasses, tablets and camera-equipped devices, according to Mangale.
"We will also see context aware collaboration where devices will learn about you, your day, where you are and where you're going. In factories, we will see more intelligent machinery with better sensors, improved connectivity to other machines, and more intuitiveinterfaces with people."
Mangale further pointed out that big data will be the main economic driver, noting that it will need to be analysed at a rate that matches the speed at which information enters the data warehouse.
"For policing, instant identification of criminals through face recognition or patterns in fraudulent transactions will be the norm," he says. "It will help retailers predict customer churn and enhance marketing decision-making, and also improve agriculture efficiencies through better decisions based on sensors that monitor weather and soil conditions, fleet management and crop conditions."
Big data will also assist the government to prioritise resources and service delivery, according to Mangale.
"These strides in technology will also result in security of the next Internet being more automated and sophisticated, with new security architectures utilising cloud to scale millions of devices."
"The Internet of everything will allow for resources to be allocated where they are most needed, at the right time and cost," concluded Mangale.
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