Pretoria, 13 Dec 2016
South African innovator in the Internet of things, Pretoria-based IoT.nxt, will open an office in London UK early 2017, the first international office for the company founded one year ago.
"We have experienced strong growth in the local market in the past year and we are ready to use the London office as a base to make inroads in the fast-growing global IOT market," says IoT.nxt CEO, Nico Steyn.
Business Insider's premium research service, BI Intelligence, reported in August this year that an estimated $6 trillion will be spent globally on IOT in the next five years. BI Intelligence projects that there will be 34 billion devices connected to the Internet by 2020, up from 10 billion in 2015. IOT devices will account for 24 billion, while traditional computing devices (e.g. smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, etc.) will comprise 10 billion.
"According to the BI report, businesses will be the top adopters of IOT solutions, which is what we experience in South Africa. We have devised and have implemented strategies and solutions for several companies in diverse industries. These include a large coal mine, one of the biggest car dealership networks in the country and the largest meat processing operation for retail in SA. Using an IOT solution is about business strategy, not about technology. There are many efficiencies to be unlocked through the IOT. BI's report listed three key areas that the IOT can improve a company's bottom line - lowering operating costs; increasing productivity; and expanding to new markets or developing new product offerings. This is what we have achieved for our customers," Steyn says.
"Our innovation offers companies a consolidated view of their entire IOT ecosystem, allows them to input all documented business processes into one workflow application, detect all devices on a network and dynamically capture their IP and MAC addresses. The biggest breakthrough we developed was creating a solution that allows any device, application, sensor, machine and also people on any network using any operating system to connect and interact. The platform is completely technology agnostic which allows a company to leverage off existing investments in systems and devices installed," Steyn says.
It runs on a mobile platform and handles all industry standard protocols. "The existing control centres used at many companies will become a thing of the past as our solution will allow whatever device to create an immediate alert when one of the devices, sensors, applications - anything that is connected - experiences a problem, breakdown or when an emergency situation develops. It also allows for multiple control rooms to be connected and exchange data," Steyn says.
The IOT ecosystem is managed by IoT.nxt innovative device known as the Raptor. The Raptor allows migration of analogue devices and inputs into a digital platform. It serves as a filter for big data and delivers cost savings and efficiencies to the client's IOT ecosystem. Raptor is a translation tool that aides communication between less sophisticated devices over an IP network.
"We chose the UK as our first expansion outside South Africa due to the established strong business and trade ties between the countries and ease of communication between that office and the local head office. It offers an excellent foundation for expansion into Europe at a later stage," Steyn added.
The company has identified associates in the UK but two members from IoT.nxt South Africa will be based there during the launch phase of the office.
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