Discourse: IoT moving forward in cross domain sectors - ITREALMS

Discourse@ITREALMS:

As the IoT week event in ETSI came to an end last Friday, there was no doubt that the huge tractor in front of the building was the star of the week. But this wasn’t only for the size of its tyres…

The showcase was indeed a worldwide first: a tractor connected to a car to mitigate the risk of collision on the road and bring down the 400 fatal yearly car accidents caused by farm vehicles that are not visible when coming into the road. Using ETSI’s ITS-G5 standard and the oneM2M gateway, the use case demonstrated how standards help provide interoperability between two sectors such as agriculture and automotive.

Other showcases proved how products based on the oneM2M platform have evolved from prototypes to commercial applications over the last 5 years. Implemented in all parts of the world, they addressed such diverse domains as smart cities, smart agriculture, automotive, smart home, smart living, testing, smart body area, aquiculture or healthcare. There was also the opportunity to test interoperability with interworking platforms or emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence or blockchain. Large global companies, SMEs, start-ups, R&D centres worked together to build up these projects and put them on the market, showing the dynamic IoT ecosystem and how the diversity of actors and expertise can be a real asset for industry at large.

Developers were happy to go into details in a tutorial dedicated to IoT applications and to build small projects with developers’ kits provided to them. In parallel, security experts discussed the challenges for IoT security and privacy. While the chair of the ETSI cybersecurity committee gave a list of very similar issues to those found in desktop OS vulnerabilities in the 90’s, he also gave a set of 3 main recommendations for IoT devices security: no default passwords, implement a vulnerability disclosure policy and keep software updated.

Smart cities was another hot topic of the event. It was addressed through use cases, standardization challenges and first implementations. As was outlined by the speakers, there is no ‘one size fits all’ for cities as they have various needs including those for towns, islands and rural areas which are different from large urban areas. If the cities’ priority is to solve societal issues, it’s a fact that interoperability of the various types of data collected is crucial, but standards are then essential.

Some very positive feedback from commercial implementations were presented. Bordeaux metropolis smart lighting in France was an example and their goals were achieved: reduce energy consumption, optimize services suggested for users by the metropolis and measure the impact of the deployment of street-connected infrastructures. A few Irish cities are also deploying several services. Other cities have implemented, or are going to implement, valet parking, highway use, platooning or urban driving for instance, this includes Livorno in Italy, Tampere in Finland, Versailles in France, Daejeon in South Korea, Eindhoven in the Netherlands or Vigo in Spain.

This year, SmartBAN, smart body area network, was also a new and very interesting topic. The use of wearables and body sensor devices is rapidly growing in the Internet of Things (IoT). Addressing eHealth is of course a technology challenge, you need to deal with interoperability in heterogeneous use cases, low power, low latency, security, robust operation and the ability to interact with embedded intelligence in smart environments. 

ETSI’s technical committee on Smart BAN presented its work but other industry players, including a prominent sportswear actor, offered technology solutions and visions to solve these issues. Speakers concluded that SmartBAN can not only provide connectivity for our portable and wearable devices in the IoT, but it can also serve as the personal interface to the digital world, in particular the healthcare system of the future. To do so, new solutions are needed both technically and in terms of interoperability.

Admin/GEE

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Moving from financial access to health - ITREALMS Online

Commentary@ITREALMS: 

Over the past decade, the push for financial inclusion has united governments, companies, technology entrepreneurs, and nonprofit organizations in dozens of countries on every continent — and with remarkable success. In 2011, only 51 percent of the world’s adults had a formal bank account. By 2017, as the World Bank recently reported in its new Global Findex data, we’ve reached 69 percent — that is 1.2 billion more people who are now connected to the modern economy.

As more people in emerging markets gain access to the formal financial system — fueled by the increased penetration of the mobile phone and associated digital financial services — the pace of financial inclusion is accelerating. At this rate, we're on track to reach universal financial access by 2020, a goal set by the World Bank, which is an important success milestone.  Access to basic financial services, such as a bank account, credit, and insurance, is a crucial step in improving people's social and economic outlook. 

As we move forward, however, we must concentrate on what comes next: Shifting our focus from creating access to improving financial outcomes for the hundreds of millions who have been excluded until now; making sure that people can use financial instruments to better weather economic shocks and invest in health, education, or in a business.

Even in the developed world, where access is nearly universal, a large cohort of people are not well served by the existing financial system. Many people who have transaction accounts but whose incomes are low or irregular, rely on expensive solutions, such as payday lending, check-cashing services, or informal moneylenders, to lead their financial lives.

Globally, account inactivity remains stubbornly high. About one in five accounts around the world are sitting idle. The reality is that access alone does not truly solve people’s financial struggles and set them up for long-term success.

There is a difference between financial access and financial health. The Global Findex has provided a valuable metric and a goal for us to strive toward: Ensuring everyone has access to financial mechanisms that many of us take for granted. But using these services must be affordable, and most importantly, fit people’s financial contexts. 

Promoting financial health means designing products and services that are relevant and address the real challenges that people face. Across ages, genders, income levels, and backgrounds, consumers have very different attitudes toward technology, levels of financial literacy, and appetites for risk. What works for a single mother in India, may not work for a cocoa farmer in Brazil or a micro-entrepreneur in Nigeria.

The obstacles are real. Increasing adoption among underserved consumers demands new approaches. Companies will need to employ cutting-edge human-centered design, the latest insights in behavioral science, and culturally-specific distribution — while pioneering new business models.

While no easy feat, several entrepreneurs around the world are already showing promising results leveraging these new approaches. The rise of neobanks is a good example. The digital-only, mobile-first banking experiences give consumers more personalization and smarter tools, often at dramatically lower costs. Neobanks can overcome many of the legacy and infrastructure costs of brick-and-mortar banking. They can take advantage of digital channels for distribution and marketing, while riding on the rails of smartphone proliferation and digital payments. They also offer the opportunity to “re-skin” a traditional bank for new languages, cultural contexts, and market segments.

As companies bring these and other new models to market, their success will depend on a policy environment that fosters innovation as well as consumer protection. Success will also rest on listening to consumers to understand their unique financial needs, values, and behaviors. 

The world has made incredible progress by uniting across public and private sectors toward universal financial access — a feat we will achieve sooner than could have been imagined just a decade ago. Let’s pursue the next challenge — widespread financial health — with the same unity of purpose, consumer-centric innovation, and focus.

*Contributed by Tilman Ehrbeck, Partner at Omidyar Network

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African: Moving integration closer with free trade area

Commentary@ITREALMS: 

Twenty years ago, I hoped for an Africa that would draw closer and forge forward boldly, despite a bag of mixed fortunes. Rwanda had just been blighted by genocide; the ubiquitous coup d’état still reared its ugly head in West Africa; although a tentative calm prevailed in Central Africa, political tensions simmered below the surface; Zaïre was in the throes of the ‘first Congo war’; the civil war in Somalia grew in magnitude and intensity; Ethiopia began an experiment in state-led macroeconomic planning; a democratic South Africa rose from the ashes of Apartheid, a veritable validation of the OAU’s ultimate goal of political liberation for Africa.

An interim period of positive change ensued, a growth fuelled by new media including the Internet, greater multiculturalism and a stronger attachment to democratic principles.

In March 2018, 44 of the 55 African Union Heads of State and Government enacted the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) in Kigali, Rwanda at its 10th Extraordinary Session, under the able leadership of H.E. President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger, with H.E. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda as current AU Chairperson and H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the AU Commission. Once in force AfCFTA will be the largest trade zone in the world, increase intra-African trade by 52% by the year 2022, remove tariffs on 90% of goods, liberalise services and tackle other barriers to intra-African trade, such as long delays at border posts.

The end of colonialism in the early 1960s created 55 African countries which cut arbitrarily across ethnic, cultural and traditional boundaries. They established the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to promote unity and solidarity on one hand yet emphasised territorial sovereignty on the other. This hamstrung the OAU insofar as national affairs were concerned, and helped create regional economic blocks or communities (RECs) in the mid-1970s.

RECs engendered political and economic integration. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the East African Community (EAC) signed agreements for the free movement of goods, services and people. There are now 8 AU-recognised RECs and a number of sub-regional bodies that are actively pursuing Africa’s integration agenda.

In 1991 the Abuja Treaty established the African Economic Community (AEC), building on RECs for integration. At the 2001 OAU Summit, African Heads of States and Government adopted the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as a further vector to accelerate African economic co-operation and integration. The Summit recognised the importance of OAU input into REC programme planning and implementation. In 2002, the Constitutive Act of the AU was adopted in Lomé, Togo, formally replacing the OAU.

These milestones show that African economic integration is best pursued on a regional basis.

Rethinking Africa’s priorities is urgently called for. In this regard Agenda 2063, a consolidated strategy for sustained political and economic integration and prosperity, was launched by African Heads of State and Government at the 50th Anniversary of African Unity in 2013. Agenda 2063’s first Ten-Year Implementation Plan (2013-2023) draws heavily on NEPAD’s experiences. Beyond these broad strokes in development priorities and programmes, African development must be translated into concrete action.

While business and consumer confidence have improved, investment, trade and productivity have not. This has a direct impact on both foreign and domestic investments in Africa, particularly in infrastructure. As the world’s second-fastest growing region, Africa holds much promise for those willing to invest time to study our local economies and identify opportunities presented by a booming middle class with an endless appetite for consumables.

Although the Africa Report 2017 shows that virtually all countries plan large infrastructure projects and understand the need to industrialise, Africa cannot afford to be an ‘investment risk’ for infrastructure projects that advance sustainable inclusive development.

To this end, the AU-NEPAD Continental Business Network (CBN) continues to de-risk infrastructure projects in order to attract financing, especially through Pension and Sovereign Wealth Funds. In September 2017, NEPAD and the CBN initiated an Africa-led and Africa-owned campaign to increase African asset owners’ contributions to African infrastructure from approximately 1.5% of their assets under management (AUM) to 5% of AUM. By using financial resources available on the continent and strengthening public-private partnerships, infrastructure investments should increase. The CBN has called for a more strategic engagement with domestic institutional investors in support of this campaign.

The AfCTA, is a monumental step for Africa; another significant milestone in Africa’s integration process. I have to however aptly point out that the AfCFTA was signed in Kigali the capital that experienced complete turmoil some 24 years ago but is now poised to become the futuristic “Wakanda.”

*Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, a former Prime Minister of Niger, is the current CEO of the African Union’s NEPAD Agency.

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