Internet Of Things (IoT) use in Ghana

In the recent beautiful Ghana Weekly Tech Roundup sent recently by +Claude Ayitey, he added that the WAZIUP Internet of Things Project Launches In Accra. +iSpace Foundation is part of a number of organizations working on this cool WAZIUP "Internet of Things (IoT)" project, centered around agriculture. He also added that Vodafone M2M Is Now Vodafone Internet of Things, but you know of that because I blogged about that already. So I started wondering, how are Ghanaian organizations using IoT? Yes, we are. #Morevim to us!

Photo by Kwamena Bolton

I've known about Herman Chinery-Hesse, the Bill Gates of Africa, for a long time. I love how he and his team at SoftTribe, arguably the largest software development company in Ghana, focuses on developing tropically tolerant solutions for this environment. Kwamena Bolton, the technical director of SoftTribe said that they have over the last few years been focusing some research and development on UAV / Drone technology. Kwamena said: "We are developing both fixed wing and multi-rotor aircraft for different applications. Our fixed wing models will have long range capabilities of between 100-200km, with flight times of 2-3 hours and can be programmed to fly and land autonomously anywhere within that range". Imagine the possibilities for a moment. He continued, "The aircraft can be used for multiple purposes, whether it be carrying a payload to a destination or performing long range surveillance missions.  For example, marine patrol, border patrol, illegal forestry and mining surveillance over inaccessible areas, oil and gas pipeline inspection, electricity line inspection, etc". You should watch some videos of these possibilities via Kwamena's Instagram.

That brings us to AeroShutter! I started seeing their stuff on Twitter and when +Nana Fynn Class-Peters shared some media with the +GhanaThink Foundation crew. They've been taking really awesome pictures of places like Takoradi, Middle Class Housing in Accra, Zaina Lodge, Elmina (my hometown), Adomi Bridge, Stone Lodge, Our famous DC 10 Airplane, Rattray Park (Day) &(Night) in Kumasi, Sogakope, Nzulezu, Dumsor spotting in Accra, Tema Harbour, Ashesi, etc, with drones. I've seen these drones in action at various events too - it was used to shoot some of the famous SkinTight (#MusicWeDeyFeel) video too at Zaina Lodge! I also understand that even the TV stations (including one of my faves, TV3) are using drones.

The Kofi Annan Center of Excellence for ICT is one of the major proponents of the tech ecosystem in Ghana. With an eye on trends, their annual Innovation Week -iWeek (September 12-16) would focus on IoT. They'll have a number of organisations implementing IoT including drones. There was also the 2nd Technology Salon which focused on this topic - themed "How Can Drones Accelerate Ghana's Development?" Hosted at PenPlusBytes, this was attended by Kwamena Bolton and Kwamena Hazel as well. Here's a cool publication about Drones for Development inspired by the event. Watch this video from the event. 

Ecoband is an ISP I'm starting to like more and more. At Ecoband, they use ioT to monitor all electrical inputs from ECG, power banks and generators. They also use it to monitor temperature of all outdoor cabinets and motion detection for the enclosures. Claude also brought my attention to Trackhab. It is labeled as Ghana’s first indigenous Internet-of-Things company, and it provides asset tracking and monitoring devices which enable vehicle owners, and owners of other assets to have an overview of their asset’s location and condition at anytime. They have a wide-range of IoT devices too! TrackHab was incubated by SMSGH and it is doing some business with MTN. Everywhere you go things, I believe. Read more via Gharage.

Gharage, which I hope becomes Ghana's premier tech news site, reported that the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority hinted it would regulate drone use. #Somewaybi. But anyway, actually, as you can see, there is a lot brewing in the IoT space in Ghana. Stay tuned for more. :-)