Subscribe
  • Home
  • /
  • IOT
  • /
  • SqwidNet establishes IOT entrepreneurship programme

SqwidNet establishes IOT entrepreneurship programme

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 18 Oct 2017
Reshaad Sha, CEO SqwidNet.
Reshaad Sha, CEO SqwidNet.

Internet of things (IOT) network operator, SqwidNet, has announced a new entrepreneurship programme, (IOT)E - IOT to the power of E.

The programme will empower entrepreneurs who would like to develop their skills and knowledge to become established players in the IOT ecosystem nationally and internationally.

"The next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation for Africa must come from within the continent itself. Over the years we have seen our continent's engineers and entrepreneurs have great ideas, but often lack the means and sometimes even the tools to convert these ideas into viable businesses," says Reshaad Sha, CEO SqwidNet.

"Our programme is designed to not only provide the necessary tools, but also give guidance to enable these brilliant minds to take their products to market," he adds.

According to the Worldwide and Regional Internet of Things 2010-2014 Forecast by IDC, the IOT market opportunity for the Middle East and Africa region is poised to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 10%, from $85.1 billion (R1.14 trillion) in 2017 to $114.4 billion (R1.5 trillion) by 2020.

SqwidNet says this forecast highlights the massive untapped potential for IOT in the region and it believes the (IOT)E programme "will ensure the necessary skills and knowledge to operate in this industry are imparted to all who are interested".

SqwidNet says 25 individuals will be selected as the first round of participants, and will start their programme in January 2018. The (IOT)E programme will focus on three key development areas during a three-day workshop: device development, software and analytics, and business skills.

In terms of device development, SqwidNet and its device ecosystem partners will facilitate a makers workshop. The participants will be given development kits and taken through the process of building a device with sensors to solve real-world sensing and monitoring problems.

Participants will be introduced to IOT software platforms, teaching them to create basic dashboards to analyse the high-level data being collected in the device they developed and will also learn business skills needed to run a company in the IOT industry.

The workshop will be followed by a weekly webinar over a period of six weeks, when participants will be able to interact with and learn from experts in device development, platform development and entrepreneurship.

SqwidNet and its channel and ecosystem partners will also make available a funding pool that could be accessed by the participants to enable entrepreneurs to go from prototype to production.

Potential participants can submit their motivations via e-mail or on Twitter using the hashtag #iotep or tagging @sqwidnet in their tweet.

SqwidNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dark Fibre Africa and a licensed Sigfox operator. Since its launch in November 2016, it has started to deploy its ultra-narrowband IOT radio network in SA.

The company's IOT solutions focus across a number of industry verticals ranging from security notification solutions, to asset tracking, tamper detection and environmental monitoring, as well as projects in the water metering space.

Sigfox is a global IOT network with an ecosystem reaching 36 countries. Through SqwidNet, the network reaches 64% of the population in SA and comprises low-cost, long-range, low-power modules and devices that serve up IOT data to application and service providers.

Share