Nedbank announces the Top 10 Innovators
7 September 2018
JOHANNESBURG – Nedbank recently announced the expansion of their US partnership with Plug and Play, the world’s largest innovation platform, to include South Africa for the first time.
Together, the entities will connect 10 visionary entrepreneurs from around the world to business leaders at The Disruption Agenda to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September.
“We’re incredibly excited for the ten startups that are going to be part of The Disruption Agenda. The most important thing for Nedbank is to get pilots and experiments underway and push straight through to commercialisation where possible,” states Stuart van der Veen, Head of Disruption and Innovation at Nedbank CIB. “We’ve engaged with our most forward-thinking clients and they will be participating in both the deal-flow sessions and be present at the actual pitches of the startups.”
Nedbank initiated their relationship with Plug and Play, described as the ultimate matchmaking machine between startups and corporates, two years ago as a sponsor of the global FinTech programme. Startups selected to engage at The Disruption Agenda represent both African and global startups from across industry sectors.
Startups selected for The Disruption Agenda:
Koniku: Starts with the premise that biology is the most advanced technology on earth. Their belief is that Bio is Tech™. Koniku builds living machines with synthetic biology. Machines which can detect fake food, design taste, detect explosives, infectious diseases, cancers and more. Nature is our open source library. Currently the company grafts custom proteins which act sensors on living cells – neurons – and encapsulate them within a silicon chip. The chips – Koniku Kore’s – will one day power the next generation of cognitive robots – synthetic cognition.
Airware: Airware is the leading enterprise drone analytics company helping enterprises leverage today’s rapidly advancing technologies (such as drones, cloud computing, machine learning and more) to safely see and sense their sites and structures to improve productivity, mitigate risks, and take workers out of harm’s way. Airware enables enterprises to harness aerial data and turn it into valuable business insights that can be shared and acted on across sites, teams, and geographies. Their solutions enable enterprises to reinvent their organizations for the digital era by translating aerial data into business impact.
IoT.nxt: IoT.nxt has developed a world-leading framework that makes efficiencies, cost savings and increased revenue from IoT (Internet of Things) a reality for businesses. The IoT.nxt platform allows rapid deployment and businesses to action an Internet of Things strategy with little disruption to current operations.
The major strength of the IoT.nxt framework is that the solution is technology-agnostic. They can help digitise any industry, any system and any process. IoT.nxt lays the foundation for rapid digitisation, creating agile, efficient, future-proofed businesses. They’ll help you create an interconnected, interoperable ecosystem without disrupting your business.
Read more: https://bit.ly/2O4CAr5
Multiple role-players needed within intelligent mine
17 August 2018
By: Jessica Oosthuizen
Creamer Media Reporter
Mining companies need to establish ecosystems of suppliers and partners to establish, operate, manage and integrate an intelligent mine, says Internet of Things (IoT) solution developer IoT.nxt mining partnerships director Eric Croeser.
“Mining companies, whether small or global, cannot solve the problems they have on their own. They need to establish ecosystems to harvest innovation from different parties,” reiterates enterprise integration solutions provider MineRP marketing VP Empie Strydom. He emphasises that these ecosystems can solve intricate problems that individual companies “simply cannot”.
When mining companies and, for example, technology companies, come together in an integrated way, complementary solutions are found, adds global professional services firm Deloitte associate director Jan-Adriaan du Plessis.
IoT.nxt, Deloitte and MineRP are in a partnership to follow what they call an ‘ecosystem approach’ to the intelligent mine.
The problems of data in mining are extremely complex, and a mining operation is a dynamic system, says Croeser. “Because of this additional complexity, no mine is the same and, therefore, no solution is the same. That is why an ecosystem is needed, where each partner can leverage the other’s deep technical capability to bring the solution to the client,” he adds.
Further, an ecosystem approach accelerates innovation, as each partner learns from the other, Du Plessis notes. Croeser points out that the value offerings to mining companies are “that much better”, with Du Plessis highlighting that “the ecosystem wins and the clients win”.
He emphasises that clients are also included in the ecosystem: “We are open to learning from clients – we want to make sure that what we are investing in and the way we are collaborating makes sense to them.”
Value Offerings
MineRP has deep knowledge of mining technical systems supporting disciplines, such as geological modelling, mine planning and design, and survey. Its core focus is on a spatial integration platform that extends the expert tools used in these domains into the enterprise, allowing for the seamless integration of the technical mining data that represents a digital twin of the physical mine’s major asset – the orebody.
Strydom explains that MineRP’s value proposition is twofold. While it amalgamates the disparate mining technical systems and all the data from the mining technical disciplines into one spatial platform, it also allows for platform-to-platform communications with other domains, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, real-time IoT platforms and even predictive and cognitive platforms.
MineRP essentially unifies “the mining technical world that we refer to as the science of mining, with the ERP world that we refer to as the business of mining”. He adds that the company then works with its partners, such as Deloitte, to integrate mining transactions with financial transactions.
This ecosystem of partners brings together the real-time, planning, geological and ERP data for the mining enterprise to take a wholistic view of its operation, he notes.
Meanwhile, IoT.nxt’s Raptor Edge Technology has developed a method for clients to connect into legacy systems easily and affordably. This retrofit capability makes the efficiencies, cost savings and increased revenue from IoT a reality for operations. The key to this technology is the ability to offer interoperability between different existing offerings. This enables clients to deploy best-of-breed technologies while achieving interoperability and interconnectivity among all the deployed systems and devices from the edge to the cloud.
Read more: https://bit.ly/2vXKcEZ
Watch the interview: https://youtu.be/Azq65BQNbF0
www.miningweekly.com
IoT: The Next Big Thing
August 2018
It is quite evident that the Internet of Things (IoT) is developing and growing at an ascending rate. RFID sensors, Wearable gadgets, Vehicles and software are evolving past the rudimentary functions and the network is accelerating to include additional advancements every day.
One can likely say that the number of connected gadgets at their home is more than what it used to be in the last year. This rapid growth is likely to hasten in the years to come including the place of our business and public surroundings.
The future of IoT is on the rise. According to IT Pro, approximately 3.6 billion gadgets are connected to the Internet which are used for our everyday tasks in the year 2018 alone. One can safely say that the total number of devices connected to the Internet is larger than that. This means more traffic & more data are on an already jammed connected internet. In the following year, there will be a harder push for 5G connectivity which will add a lane to the already jammed and congested web highway to handgrip the increase in devices.
With keeping this in mind, Insights Success Magazine has shortlisted, The 10 Most Innovative IoT Startups to Watch, 2018 who are raising the bar with their innovative IoT solutions.
Read more: https://bit.ly/2AIZAJX
www.insightsuccess.com
Inside the MTN IoT Awards
2 August 2018
The third annual MTN Internet of Things Awards celebrated the best of South Africa’s market-ready IoT solutions, applications and developers on Tuesday, July 31 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.
The conference saw discussions on smart cities, fleet management, automotive, and insurance and how IoT is influencing these industries and concluded with the announcement of the winner of the 2018 MTN Business IoT Solution of the Year Award.
The inaugural IoT Awards in 2015 set the benchmark for IoT creation and innovation in South Africa.
Said Wanda Matandela, MTN Business’ Chief Enterprise Officer: “We are proud to see the IoT at Conference & Awards growing in stature, as this perfectly aligns with our commitment to provide enabling platforms for innovators. This is done with the aim of connecting small business, big business and the private sector. It is also about bringing home-grown innovations closer to the rest of the world.”
The conference featured a number of reputable speakers and covered a broad range of topics on IoT and its impact across key sectors of the economy.
One of the major draw cards was a presentation delivered by Pepper, the humanoid robot. Pepper is fitted with neuromorphic chips that mimic a human’s neurological brain processes. This enables Pepper to process auditory and visual sensory information.
Another highlight was MTN’s announcement that it has been added to the IoT World Alliance, a global collaboration of telecommunication providers dedicated to providing customers with seamless machine-to-machine connectivity.
The Digital Twin Mine Management solution took top honours. This will see its developers, Mine RP and FlowCentric, travelling to Silicon Valley later this year – the grand prize is valued at R200 000.
The Industrial IoT system, with connectivity that extends down to the mine face, incorporates sensors to monitor factors like air flow, temperature, gas and smoke levels, giving data and context to build a complete picture of the mining environment. It allows for virtual reality walk-throughs of a mine’s digital twin for a complete view of an area.
Mine RP and FlowCentric will join an elite club of previous winners, most notably IoT.nxt. This business has made huge strides in the Internet of Things (IoT) space since taking top honours last year. IoT.nxt, a Pretoria-based company that developed a technology-agnostic platform that allows companies to integrate their IT platforms with IoT devices seamlessly, went on to secure $7.7 million (about R100 million) in funding for business expansion.
Read more: https://bit.ly/2n82le8
www.itnewsafrica.com
Exceptional entries for 2018 MTN IoT Award
31 July 2018
“IoT creates value for business and also in many other applications like the management of cities. It was exciting to see many developments in this field, a year since we won this prestigious award.” – Co-founder and CEO Nico Steyn in conversation with Powerfm987 after the award ceremony for the 2018 MTN Business IoT Award, presented in Johannesburg.
IoT.xt CTO Bertus Jacobs served on the judging panel to select the winners for this year’s award.
Listen to the interview here: https://bit.ly/2OAJyos
The 2018 winner is the MineRP and @FlowCentricNews team, propelling mining into the future.
www.powerfm987.co.za
Company of the Month IoT.nxt | Bridging the edge
30 July 2018
Almost a year ago, South African company IoT.nxt expanded its operations to The Hague to shape its international ambitions. We spoke to Joe Bester, Marketing Director at IoT.nxt in The Netherlands, about IoT.nxt and his experience of doing business in The Hague in the past year.
What is IoT.nxt?
“IoT.nxt was established in South Africa late in 2015 by a small group of tech entrepreneurs who discovered an opportunity to innovate in Internet of Things technology and strategy. From start-up beginnings, the company experienced explosive growth and demand for its solutions. The demand and interest from Europe following participation at various expos and conferences on the continent led to the establishment of IoT.nxt’s first international office in The Hague in September 2017.
The company has taken a different view to that of many other companies and has developed various sets of innovative technology. IoT.nxt has taken a bottom-up approach as opposed to the bulk of other companies taking a down from the cloud approach. The company has now identified a convergence of the cloud and the edge, which is fundamentally changing what is taking place in the industry. IoT.nxt is therefore perfectly positioned to take advantage of IoT technology becoming real across several industries. IoT.nxt is now at point where companies are implementing its strategies and technology and seeing value. For example, we recently launched a so-called ‘IoT in a box’ solution with global tech giant Dell, combining the company’s intelligent edge IoT gateway – the Raptor™ – with Dell Gateway technology and through this enabling rapid digital transformation.”
Choosing for The Hague
“Dutch legislation is very business-friendly and especially favourable towards technology start-ups. The Netherlands has an established global reputation for its support of innovation in technology, which made it the logical choice for IoT.nxt. The Hague has been a fantastic base to co-ordinate all of our activities in Europe. The city has a business friendly environment and we had an excellent experience in all dealings with all of the Dutch authorities.”
First year of doing business in The Hague
“We have been here for ¾ of the year and it has been most encouraging. Our commercial model is to distribute our solution through value adding partners like System Integrators and consultancy firms that are active in setting up strategies and implementations for enterprises to digitise. We have formalised partnership agreements with a number of significant players in the Netherlands and other Benelux countries and are actively engaging with clients. Globally we are currently involved in 30 different projects and projects in Europe are an exciting part of this.
Eyes on the horizon
‘We see our pipeline in Europe getting stronger and stronger, and for the year ahead we expect to add a number of projects to an exciting pipeline. The US is offering many exciting opportunities and we believe, due to the attitude of early adoption that prevails, that this will be a significant revenue generator for us”, says Bester.
Twenty-Two Organizations Join The Linux Foundation and Invest in Open Source Technology
30 July 2018
SAN FRANCISCO, July 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — The Linux Foundation, the nonprofit organization enabling mass innovation through open source, announced the addition of 17 Silver members and 5 Associate members. Linux Foundation members help support development of the shared technology resources, while accelerating their own innovation through open source leadership and participation. Linux Foundation member contributions help provide the infrastructure and resources that enable the world’s largest open collaboration communities.
“We are thrilled to see so many organizations continue to reinforce their commitment to open source with investments in the community and a wide variety of important projects,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director, The Linux Foundation. “The variety of industries growing their participation in open source, from automotive companies to universities, is truly inspiring.”
In addition to joining the Foundation, many of the new members have joined Linux Foundation projects like Automotive Grade Linux, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, Hyperledger, JS Foundation, and LF Networking. For a full list of members, visit https://www.linuxfoundation.org/membership/members/.
Linux Foundation Silver members are organizations that contribute to or otherwise support open source communities and projects. The new Linux Foundation Silver members who joined in the month of June are:
Anaconda, Inc. is an AI/ML enablement platform that empowers organizations to develop, govern, and automate AI/ML and data science.
Bose Corporation designs, develops, and sells audio equipment.
Circulor is transforming the electric vehicle supply chain using blockchain technology.
ComponentSoft offers a comprehensive intelligent systems deployment and development platform.
DefineSys, based in Shanghai, is an enterprise-level cloud computing service leader.
Estateably, Inc. uses distributed ledger technology to optimize the estate settlement process.
IoT.nxt BV allows rapid deployment and businesses to action an Internet of Things strategy with little or no disruption to current operations.
Kinetica transforms data into instant insight.
KR8OS creates ways to track advertising events using marketing analytics on blockchain.
Linode is a leading cloud hosting provider.
Nutanix, Inc. enables IT teams to build and operate powerful multi-cloud architecture.
Nuvoloso is a multi-cloud container data management system.
PlanetScale Data runs highly scalable database clusters with Vitess.
QingYuan Technology is committed to enterprise containerized platform as service through delivering sophisticated containerized solutions across industry and government scenarios, with capabilities of orchestration, monitor, DevOps, and microservices governance, to empower IT revolution within the cloud native ecosystem.
Tierion creates technology and products that reduce the cost and complexity of trust.
UTRUST offers a cryptocurrency payment solution with instant transactions, buyer protection and crypto-to-cash settlements.
Zhejiang Blockchain Technology is a blockchain technology development and promotion company.
With the support of its members, The Linux Foundation hosts open source projects across technologies including networking, security, cloud, blockchain, and more. This collaborative development model is helping technology advance at a rapid pace in a way that benefits individuals and organizations around the world.
Read more: https://read.bi/2vpr2qg
https://markets.businessinsider.com
XLink partners with IoT.nxt to strengthen its digital transformation capability
MEDIA STATEMENT 13 July 2018
XLink is pleased to announce that it has clinched a strategic partnership with IoT innovator IoT.nxt, with the aim of enabling businesses to rapidly digitalise their operations and take advantage of the Internet of Things.
IoT.nxt is a Microsoft Gold Partner for Data Platforms and winner of several innovation and IoT awards. The company opened an office in The Hague in September last year and is currently expanding into the USA having concluded partnership agreements with key industry players including Dell.
With over fourteen years as a secure machine-to-machine connectivity expert, XLink intends to leverage its core capabilities and grow a best of breed partner ecosystem to bring new value propositions to the market.
“We believe IoT.nxt offers a premium solution that will strengthen our offering as the orchestration partner of choice for digital transformation – essentially, providing what we see as fulfilling the role of ‘the missing link’ in IoT implementations. Furthermore, we foresee that our collaboration will unlock opportunity and value creation for both our businesses, our customers and our ecosystems,” says XLink MD, Roy van Vuuren.
Connectivity is in XLink’s DNA and it is an expert in developing Industry 4.0 solutions using the best products and best practices. XLink understand that its customers want results that make sense to their companies, so they can continue to focus on business. XLink ensures that the mission-critical devices and connectivity networks upon which the digital solution relies can be installed, monitored and maintained for optimum uptime and profitability with their outsourced services capability.
“We are delighted that XLink invested in our technology. It is IoT.nxt’s strategy to build innovative software that we can take to market through channel and strategic partnerships. Our technology stack is designed to be a toolset for partners to utilise as part of their technology ecosystems, which enables digital transformation. XLink is a dynamic company in the local market with a clear view of how it wants to transform its company and through the agreement concluded with IoT.nxt can offer new and innovative solutions to their customers,” says IoT.nxt CEO, Nico Steyn.
“This partnership will be mutually beneficial to us and XLink and it is an exciting next step in the development of IoT.nxt. The focus of what we do is to drive business value through the use of IoT technology, which we believe is more about business strategy than a pure technology solution. This latest agreement allows us to reach a much wider market,” says Steyn.
“This is XLink’s legacy: to use the best of connectivity and technology, and make digital transformation a reality for our customers, communities and continent.
The potential of this new era is incredible, and the vision of creating a better future by bringing together the technologies and partners to transform society is exciting,” concludes van Vuuren.
ISSUED BY: XLINK and IoT.nxt
NOTE TO EDITORS:
XLink was established in 2004 to become a leading provider in providing agility, resilience and best practice in connectivity for the retail and payment sectors. With this expertise, XLink’s capabilities cultivated a competency of building a better world through technology, connectivity, partners and people, to provide businesses with connectivity, machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet-of-Things (IoT) solutions that will scale as they need them and that are aligned to their strategies. With our partner Vodacom we provide market-leading IT solutions utilising the latest innovations and trends in information technology for the benefit of our customers.
For more information call 011 438 3000; e-mail angelot@xlink.co.za or visit www.xlink.co.za
NOTE TO EDITORS:
IoT.nxt’s unique technology stack bridges the gap between all protocols in the industrial ecosystem, creating a single integration/translation point. Its patented RaptorTM gateway allows organisations to retrofit all existing legacy systems with no rip and replace. A powerful data abstraction model further translates anything and everything from the edge, supporting a true subscription based big data model.
For more information call 083 302 0827; e-mail daleen.vanwyk@iotnxt.com or visit www.iotnxt.com
IoT: Its moment has come
Larry Claasen 29 June 2018
For years, there has been talk of the wonders of the Internet of Things (IoT). Enabling machines to send and receive data has long been touted as the next big thing, but although it has held a lot of promise, IoT never really seemed to get out of the starting blocks. This seems to be changing. As devices are becoming ‘smarter’ and cheaper, networks are being configured to handle large quantities of data.
Has the moment arrived for the IoT? Or does the ecosystem still need to be developed?
Brian Sangudi, principal strategy consultant, Ericsson Middle East & Africa: The ecosystem still has to evolve, but having said that, I definitely think the moment has arrived. Those who want to take advantage can already do so. The building blocks, the infrastructure, is already there.
Alain du Toit, Intelligent Cloud Business Group lead, Microsoft SA: One of the underlying challenges the IoT still has to face is uptake of IPv6 from an enterprise perspective. We are running out of IP addresses. As millions of devices come online, they are going to gobble up an already depleted IPv4 addressing scheme, and if enterprises don’t deal with this, they are going to run out of IP addresses in terms of building this ecosystem.
Vishal Barapatre, CTO, In2IT Technologies: The statistics don’t lie. We are sitting with 22 billion devices now, and by 2025, it will be three times this number. There’s not only more connectivity, but the falling prices of sensors are also playing a role.
Dr Mark Nasila, head of advanced analytics for consumer and retail, FNB: From what I’ve seen, the IoT is already ‘the business’ for a lot of organisations. This is especially true in the financial sector, where many firms have already invested a lot in their data strategies. As they now understand their customers a lot better, they are also better at being proactive in providing them with services and goods. This has seen a lot of organisations move from providing a single service, to being a multi-service provider.
Greg Vercellotti, executive director, Dariel: Our research has shown that the layers of the IoT have matured sufficiently, and you can go right from a sensor to artificial intelligence. Because of this, we are seeing uptake in the business world. We are starting to see IoT becoming part of the business processes, the decision-making and the transactions. With the weaving of IoT into these processes, we are seeing its arrival into the business world.
Steve Mallaby, COO, Argility Technology Group: It has undoubtedly arrived. It’s been around for many years, the concept of devices being connected to each other. If you look at the rapid growth that’s taken place, you are even starting to see fragmentation across the industry. The key development will be how the mature players in the sector start working together. But this is something that’s still a work in progress.
Warren Green, governance, risk and compliance expert, CURA Software Solutions: I think the moment has arrived. But I do think the ecosystem will continue to develop. For me, this will be from a governance, risk and compliance perspective.
Phathizwe Malinga, CEO, SqwidNet: We view the IoT ecosystem as a symphony in four parts. Locally, we have about ten device makers, there are also two connectivity providers, as well as several application providers. The last part is industry, which is starting to realise that IoT is not a fringe thing or a complementary thing; it’s a core part of their operations. Industry needs to make its assets sweat, but in order to do so, it needs to know where they are, which is what IoT allows it to do.
Read more: https://bit.ly/2Kp4NeD
www.brainstormmag.co.za
A true IOT ecosystem design will rely heavily on edge capabilities
By Marilyn de Villiers 14 June 2018
One of the fastest-growing trends in the ICT sector, and one that is generating considerable hype and attention is the Internet of things (IOT). Analyst firm Gartner predicts that there will be 26 billion connected devices by 2020.
Nico Steyn, CEO of IOT technology innovator, Centurion-based IOT.nxt reckons there are more than 450 IOT commercially available “platforms” that have been set up to enable this still futuristic technology.
However, Steyn believes that despite the fact that the technology has started to gain mainstream traction, the IOT industry could be heading for a crash, the likes of which have not been seen since the “dot.bomb” era almost two decades ago.
“During the .com bomb era, people ran around with amazing ideas that they thought would take over the world once mass adoption took place. This was followed by an implosion which saw a huge number of concepts, ideas and investments disappear. A similar trend is developing in the adoption of IOT and in digitalisation in general,” he says.
Although this is unlikely to be on the scale of the dot.bomb fallout, it will result in the weeding out of many “irrelevant” IOT solutions. These are solutions that he believes are trying to address the complex problem of the interconnectivity required for a true Internet of things from the top down, often using outmoded or inappropriate technologies.
The problem, Steyn maintains, is that many of those involved in the IOT space do not yet understand where the true value of IOT lies. Those that are focused exclusively on the cloud and Big Data, to the exclusion of what is happening within the edge, the layer where all the interconnected “things” lie, will find it all but impossible to unlock the value IOT can deliver.
According to Steyn, they need to recognise that “the edge is eating the cloud”.
Full story: https://bit.ly/2M9eo5F
www.itweb.co.za