As the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) slowly becomes the buzzword defining the future, South Africa needs to examine how to leverage the explosive growth of everything connected.

As the world, in effect, pushed the boundaries of what connection was, an establishment of trust and relationships, in addition to the development of research capabilities and the adoption of technologies, was required to move into a world where everything that could be connected, was connected.

This was the message that emerged from a panel of speakers at the recent Wi-Fi Forum of South Africa conference, held in Fourways.

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research chief researcher Dr Louis Coetzee said South Africa’s deployment of the IoT would be “inter- esting” as South Africans generally did not grasp the full definition of the IoT and what it stood for.

He noted that South Africa knew what needed to be done in terms of research and adoption and the deployment of technology; however, the social aspect would be a more challenging factor to overcome.

He questioned the reaction of society as a whole towards the adoption of the IoT.

“How do you get municipalities to open up their data [to enable seamless data sharing, or] get businesses [in South Africa] to buy into it? Do you establish trust, show the benefits [or] throw money at it?”

Coetzee pointed out that the technology would “get South Africa there”, but society needed to accept the concept as it was being rolled out.

“This is the area that needs to be unblocked,” he noted.

However, Comsol CTO Mauritz Lewies added that spectrum, similar to most information and communication technology sectors, would become key.

South Africa would likely make use of the 900 Mhz spectrum for the IoT; however, as this was not yet available, options in terms of how and when to release the spectrum – and subse- quently follow international trends – would be critical.

Internet Service Providers Association chairperson Graham Beneke also called into question the availability of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses on the IP Version (IPv) 4, which were steadily dwindling, and pointed to the urgency of deploying its successor, IPv6 to route Internet traffic.

However, despite South Africa not being ready for the IoT, some components have already made its way into society.

Cisco executive director David Mphelo cited an example using the adoption of tracking devices and its progression from a pure tracking device to a monitoring system informing the owners of vehicles of the speed, braking habits and handling data of a vehicle at any given time.

Further, Beneke believes the regular power outages enforced by State-owned power utility Eskom will further drive the uptake of the IoT, with consumers and business eyeing smart grids and smart energy management systems.