Self-Powering Smart Cities - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS: 

The cost of renewable energies such as tidal and wave power in the open sea, wind and solar power have come down greatly in recent years but they are rarely considered viable for base power, largely because of the energy storage needed. As this gets solved by going beyond lithium-ion batteries, there are great growth opportunities for supercapacitors and reflow batteries in the $30 billion off-grid and the huge on-grid energy market. 

Radically improved supercapacitors will provide short term storage such as at turn-of-tide (8 of the top 10 cities are on the sea) and new batteries will provide longer term storage such as overnight for solar. The IDTechEx Research reports, Redox Flow Batteries 2018-2028: Markets, Trends, Applications and Supercapacitor Technologies and Markets 2018-2028 explain fully. Electricity will be made where it is needed as we bypass increasing attacks on long grid powerlines by cyberterrorists and increasingly violent weather. Self-Powering Smart Cities 2018-2028, a recent IDTechEx Research report envisages more

Reflow batteries are usually non-flammable, environmentally friendly, can be repaired, are relatively non-toxic and have lifespans of at least 10,000 cycles, maintaining 90% of their capacity over 20 years. Supercapacitors store energy more briefly but delight with longer life than either of them and effectively infinite cycle life: their power density is magnitudes ahead. The new IDTechEx Research report, Supercapacitor Materials and Technology Roadmap 2019-2029 scopes pseudocapacitor variants approaching lithium-ion battery energy density. 

Most supercapacitor options are non-toxic and non-flammable. Astoundingly, Imperial College London supercapacitors now form load-bearing structures of lighter weight than the dumb structure they replace. This “negative mass energy”, puts batteries on the back foot as the bulky, heavier option now. Currently all batteries, even new solid state ones, swell and shrink in use so they cannot become load-bearing smart materials.

Raghu Das CEO of IDTechEx says, “The Levelised Cost of Electricity for the best wind and solar plants has plummeted to below most coal, nuclear and gas plants. However, wind and solar are severely intermittent, this being usefully reduced but not eliminated by combining the two. The situation will improve as wind turbines grow higher to where winds are stronger at night and more consistent in the day. As they cease to be viable beyond 300 meters, new Airborne Wind Energy grabs wind at up to 2000 meters. 

There, the wind is even faster, and even more consistent and power produced increases as the cube of the wind speed. Supercapacitors can provide the brief energy storage needed as AWE is cycled like a kite. First commercial AWE arrived this year at 60kW: 1MW units approach.” See the IDTechEx Research report, Airborne Wind Energy (AWE) 2018-2028.

Another option is combination with the new wave and tidal power that has no infrastructure. See the IDTechEx Research report, Wave, Tidal and Hydro Power 1W-10MW 2018-2038. Self-powering smart cities like Belmont California and Facebook’s Toronto suburb are on the way as Oregon and other cities even make electricity from their water supply pipes and 110 solar road projects are proceeding globally. 

The IDTechEx Research report Smart Glass and Windows 2018-2028: Electronic Shading and Semi-Transparent PV convinces that 1MW solar windows in a high rise are in prospect. A Saudi car park provides 10MW – the whole demand for a nearby high-rise office block. Indeed, Ulleung Island Korea will provide its 7MW for 10,000 residents entirely from wind, solar, geothermal and small hydro power, ditching diesel completely.

*Contributed by Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx

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African Tech Hubs diversifying with innovation - ITREALMS

Commentary@ITREALMS:

The innovation and entrepreneurship play an ever-increasing role in growing Africa’s emerging technology ecosystem.

According to research by the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator, over the past two years alone, Africa has seen the number of innovation hubs double. Whilst the big 3 cities – Nairobi, Lagos, Cape Town – have been dominating the Sub-Saharan growth narrative, the next wave of incubators are arriving from new ecosystem cities in North Africa. 

And the cities driving this growth, Casablanca, Cairo, Sousse and Algiers, are serious about generating sustainable operating models in the fast evolving ICT landscape to overcome core business challenges around viability, future-proofing the business and most importantly, producing continuous success stories.

Funding in North Africa is shifting from relying on public spending

According to the Disrupt Africa Tech Start-ups Funding Report 2017 (http://disrupt-africa.com/funding-report), funding in African tech start-ups surged 51% to reach $195 million in 2017, as compared to figures of the same period in 2016. When it comes to funding, the majority of Africa’s tech hubs are grant funded by Governments and foundations, however there has been a growth of social ventures and a trend toward for profit and self-funded endeavours to fast track growth.

Rabeh Arezki, Chief Economist for Middle East and North Africa Region (MNA) at the World Bank stated, “When it comes to sustainable funding, African tech hubs tend to focus on demand-driven service models that solve problems and support the specific needs of an ecosystem. To succeed, a modern innovation hub needs to pinpoint a niche in growth areas and deliver that proposition. Key areas ripe for development are start-ups looking at improving Internet infrastructure, payment systems and education. These are the types of businesses we see succeeding.”

Eric Chan, Digital Investment Expert, Xona Partners remarked, ‘What’s important is that we are seeing the gaps in infrastructure that impact technology development, digital entrepreneurship, and innovation closing. What’s powerful is that technology hubs are facilitating the development of that infrastructure. A lot of hubs are driven by forward thinking, young entrepreneurs who are looking to improve their skillset. The hubs are filling those skill gaps which will only continue to progress the development of the local ecosystem in a positive way.’

Algiers has been claiming a highly favourable investment climate and hosting major regional events like the upcoming Global Smart Cities Technology and Investment Summit (http://bit.ly/2LONCiz) on June 27-28 2018, where 4,000 smart city leaders from around the world will discuss how smart technology and ecosystems, smart data and sustainability and the Government’s role in stimulating new technology are changing the landscape. Founder of Smart City Algiers, Fatiha Slimani said "Algiers smart city project is in a way our commitment to develop our city based on principles of durability, sustainability and innovation. We’re trying to find solution to what we call - the cascading technology trap - where technology moves way faster than policy makers' decision making."

Innovation hubs are diversifying their scope

We are also seeing the new innovation hubs adopting hybrid systems to enable sustainability. Many choose a mix of community tech space and ‘paid-for’ co-working space, though corporate partnerships are increasingly becoming more common, especially though mobile operators. Over 14% of active tech hubs in Africa now supported by mobile operators like MNT, due to the opportunity to scale quickly. Examples of this include Orange–Start on in Morocco and Djezzy’s ENP Incubator Algeria (https://goo.gl/oRcmXf). Others create their own private funds by taking equity in early stage start-ups whilst offering business support.

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Kampala joins smart African cities to offer Uber

ITRealms:

The city of Kampala, Uganda joined Uber’s growing African network (www.Uber.com). With the launch of Uber, the innovative technology platform, Kampala joins the list of smart transportation hubs in Africa, reports ITRealms.

This, ITRealms gathered, follows the success of Uber in many other growing cities, as Uber launched its ride-sharing platform to the people of Kampala.

ITRealms also reports that Uber provides a platform to connect drivers with riders in real time, at the touch of a button. Whether you’re going to work or going out with friends, Uber provides an affordable, safe and reliable way to get across the city. Kampala is a growing city in the heart of Uganda, a country with a fast-growing economy.

The World Bank forecasts that the Ugandan economy is growing at a positive and upward trajectory. This is owing to targeting development of Uganda’s infrastructure and intensified investment in the private sector. The World Bank also notes that Uganda is one of the world’s youngest populations, with 700,000 new people entering the workforce each year. 

With its people, energy, innovation, entrepreneurial and rapidly growing economy, Kampala is an exciting place for Uber to bring its services.

General Manager for Uber Sub-Saharan Africa, Alon Lits, says, “We’re really excited to be launching Uber in Kampala, a world-class African city. We are inspired by the city’s rapidly developing infrastructure and spirit of entrepreneurship and look forward to giving people in the city an affordable, easy and flexible choice to move around the city safely and reliably.”

“At Uber, we are proud to connect millions of global citizens every to affordable and reliable rides. By offering a friendly and reliable complement to existing transport options, we can help improve urban mobility in Kampala. We are mindful of the city’s current traffic congestion, and we aim to be part of the solution in improving it, while creating new, fruitful opportunities for drivers. Ultimately, we hope to reduce the strain on the city’s roads, and minimise the environmental impact of traffic congestion that is part of a growing economy,” Lits said.

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