Just attended the Connect Expo 2017 in Lusaka Zambia. This was hosted by Liquid Telecom the only provider of IPv6 fibre connevtivuth in Aftica. This is the infrastructure that makes Zambia or Africa Internet of Things ready.
Issues discussed at ghe expo centered arojnd conectivity standardization and regulation of the Internet of Things.
It was clear that of great concern is the issue of privacy and security.
Zambia currently has 89% connectivity coverage with 100% by 2020. Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority, the regulator, revealed its initiative to address interporability standards as well as service quality.
Samsung and Huawei presented use cases for internet of things including smart bicycles cows and goats as well as smart homes..
It is evident that the Internet of things industry is still in its infancy as show cased by the few developers. This is in line with world trends at less tha 1% of devices connected to yhe internet. It is estimated that 20.4 billion devices will be connected by 2020 across the globe. Of note were agricultural and financial services related apps.
Liquid Telecom however have committed to support emerging developers through incubators. Its a blue ocean for afripreneurs that want to take on the internet of things in Zambia.
Looks amazing!