The use of the phrase\u2014Internet Of Things, or IOT\u2014is becoming more common daily. With the increasing coverage of the internet across the world on a daily basis, the widespread use of smartphones and the design and manufacture of smaller smartchips, IOT will revolutionise the way we live, work and communicate.<\/p>\n
Very simply IOT is defined as the inter-networking of intelligent devices embedded in buildings, vehicles and even humans. The devices are able to collect and exchange data via networks, mobile communications or the internet\u2014and are also able to be remotely sensed or controlled.<\/p>\n
IOT nowadays is able to go beyond \u2018machine to machine\u201d connectivity and can and will also include microchips in animals and even humans, enabling the tracing of lost animals for example, or the remote health monitoring of patients with heart problems. This is just the tip of the iceberg, Research predicts that the number of IOT devices will reach at least 38.5 billion by the year 2020. Compare that to the current estimates of the population of the world\u20147.5 billion people in 2017.<\/p>\n
It is really hard to get my mind around this development\u2014the thought there are little intelligent devices everywhere\u2014that are collecting data about everything\u2014the weather, traffic, the movement of people, even the phone usage of you and I, and transmitting this data somewhere. In the near future, would it be feasible that – rather than the tedious exercise currently being carried out nationally on our ID card initiative\u2014children will be implanted with a chip at birth?<\/p>\n
A bit scary? Well, did you know that this practice is currently widespread with domestic pets and high value farm animals all over the world? Paranoia aside, some extremely clever ideas based on the IOT are being applied in cities throughout the world aimed at improving the lives and efficiency of citizens and save money. These initiatives lead to the label of \u201csmart city\u201d and our city officials tasked with the responsibilities for improving efficiencies and quality of life of the rates payers and inhabitants, would do well to look at what is happening worldwide and seek to adopt and implement successful initiatives. It is predicted that more than 60% of the world\u2019s population will live in cities by 2050.So, what is a \u201csmart city\u201d?<\/p>\n
Anil Menon, Cisco\u2019s deputy chief globalization officer, says, \u201cA smart city is a city that uses digital technologies or information and communication technologies\u2014connected via an intelligent network\u2014to address challenges within city communities and across vertical industries. These challenges may include parking, traffic, transportation, street lighting, water and waste management, safety and security, even the delivery of education and healthcare. Some examples of smart city innovations include sensors in the street being accessed by a smartphone application to notify drivers of vacant parking spaces or garages.<\/p>\n
Smart LEDs are being used in streetlights and combined with HD cameras allow the collection of various data to enable amongst other things, traffic accidents, jam reductions and crime prevention. In San Antonio, connecting traffic lights has led to the savings of hundreds of millions of dollars, in energy consumption and lost time. In Chicago, this technology is used to improve safety by monitoring large gatherings and plan appropriate responses to overcrowding and potential trouble spots.<\/p>\n
This approach is also used to connect and monitor utilities such as water, sewage and power\u2014leading to reduced costs and more efficient management of essential supplies. Each city is different with different needs. The question to ask, is will Malawian cities benefit from lower connectivity costs\u2014which are reflected globally\u2014and harvest the technological benefits of Big Data and the IOT? Looking at the current sad condition of our cities and infrastructure, and our prohibitively high internet costs\u2014it seems impossible to imagine.<\/p>\n
But it is not a leap of faith. As with all things, it requires listening legislators with a far sighted and open approach\u2014and more importantly\u2014a full commitment to carrying out their social responsibilities to the best of their ability. I am seeing more and more people of this caliber here, and this is heartening for all our futures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The use of the phrase\u2014Internet Of Things, or IOT\u2014is becoming more common daily. With the increasing coverage of the internet across the world on a daily basis, the widespread use of smartphones and the design and manufacture of smaller smartchips, IOT will revolutionise the way we live, work and communicate. Very simply IOT is defined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":42501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53024,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53021\/revisions\/53024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}