Tag: Internet of Things (IoT)

The trade finance ecosystem plays a crucial role in facilitating international trade by providing financing and risk mitigation services to importers, exporters and other participants in the global supply chain. In recent years, the trade finance ecosystem has undergone significant transformations driven by technological advancements and the growing importance of data – and we’re proud to be leading the charge in and for Africa.

From a smart retail perspective, it is crucial to understand that monitoring stock and other assets through camera surveillance and a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors stretches further than the stores themselves.

Technology plays a critical role in the evolution of every industry in South Africa and across the world. This is why we constantly say that every company is now a technology company given the integral nature tech plays in providing greater efficiencies and competitive advantage.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Industrial Development Zones (IDZs) play a vital role in promoting economic growth, attracting investments and driving industrialisation in Africa. As the world embraces rapid technological advancements, it is crucial for SEZs and IDZs to adapt and adopt technological change to remain competitive and foster sustainable development.

The modern world is flush with technology jargon, and new ones keep entering our lexicon: digital transformation, the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR), and Generative Artificial Intelligence are just a few examples. And as often happens with overused words and phrases, we become very comfortable with these to the point that they soon become a part of the background noise.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is finally emerging onto the market as a technology that connects devices, systems and solutions and that has the potential to revolutionise multiple industries. IoT isn’t new, but it has simmered on the edges of innovation and transformation for years and now it has, as the World Economic Forum puts it, ‘quietly arrived’.

Business premises is one of the first places companies take stock of when assessing their electricity usage and the optimisation thereof. And rightly so, approximately 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and 70% of energy consumption are attributed to buildings. Moreover, it’s estimated that 30% of energy is wasted in buildings.

There’s no doubt that the rise of our digital landscape has resulted in some incredible tools for businesses. These have opened global marketplaces to even small enterprises and made actionable data analysis more accessible. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning software continue to improve data integrity and efficiency.

Utility providers are traditionally an attractive target for cybercriminals, evident by the number of high-profile attacks, both globally and locally, in recent years. In fact, the ransomware supply chain attack on the Colonial Pipeline in 2021 became the largest attack in US history, with the payment of a $4.4 million ransom.

In this data decade, organisations are looking to get the most out of their data, developing new breakthroughs in technology that everyone will experience in some way. The more effectively an organisation can harness the power of this data, the better – to ensure it can adapt to fast-changing markets and customer dynamics.