Cisco, United States (US) based company, has unveiled the findings of its first ever Technology Radar Study, highlighting the key trends set to redefine businesses and life across the Africa in 2014.
Based on intelligence gathered by over 70 global technology “scouts”, Cisco’s pioneering study focuses on trends independent of current product roadmaps or business unit priorities.
According to Cisco, the key trends set to make a mark in 2014 include Context Aware Computing, Machine-to-Machine Connections, Browser Based Video & Collaboration, Video Mega Trends, Building the Next Internet with new Architectures, Security and Mobile Device Management.
Driving all of these is the Internet of Everything (IoE) – the interconnections of people, processes, data, and things – which Cisco believes represents a $19 trillion opportunity, globally, over the next decade ($14.4 trillion in the private sector and $4.6 trillion in the public sector).
By 2020, Cisco reports that the growth of connected “things” will reach 212 billion. “IT organisation across the Africa need to prepare for the Internet of Everything (IoE), and what we are now seeing is the emergence of an Application Economy where the focus will no longer be simply on the hardware, but also on supporting a larger number of applications on all connected devices,” said Den Sullivan, head of architectures and enterprise, Cisco Emerging Markets.
“Big changes now need to take place to make sense of exponentially increasing and varied types of data coming in from devices ranging from smartphone applications to information generated a city’s infrastructure.”
Cisco also reports that the Middle East and Africa is set to post the world’s strongest mobile data traffic growth for at 77 percent CAGR to 2018. One of the key findings of the report is the potential of context aware computing to fundamentally change how we interact with our devices. In the future, devices will learn about you, your day, where you are and where you’re going.
“Context is a disruption because it completely redefines the users’ experience and the way an IT system is built. We’re seeing a change from any content for any people at anytime and anywhere, to the right information to the right person at the right time, at the right place and in the right way,” said Ghoul.
By: Ben Uzor Jr
