Recent digital developments in Kenya and Africa have seen a rapid rise of enthusiasm and commercial deployment of Internet of Things (IoT). These developments elucidate the understanding within the country that we are living in an era where automation can be leveraged to get accurate results. As part of the desire for automation, IoT has become a vital topic in the country that is discussed, debated and analysed in many channels, forums and contexts, particularly as the concept of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) emerges and evolves. IoT is more than just a new technology that impacts a restricted range of people or a specific market. It can be better understood as a set of technologies that impacts us all and will change markets in Kenya and Africa, while also creating new ones just as it is already doing in the other parts of the world.
By general definition, IoT is a misnomer. It is not a single, unified network of connected devices, but rather a set of different technologies which can be put to work in coordination together at the service and to the ultimate benefit of people. Some studies define IoT as a world of interconnected things that are capable of sensing, actuating and communicating among themselves and with the environment. This means that IoT collectively implements multiple technologies which include the Internet, wireless communications, micro-electromechanical systems and embedded in every single application. Theoretically, it is said that any device that is able to turn on/off and can remotely communicate while possessing local intelligence is an IoT device. This includes almost anything one can think of from cell phones to building maintenance, to the jet engine of an aircraft as well as medical devices such as a heart monitor implant or a bio-chip transponder in a farm animal among many others.
Supporting the digital network of things, however, has been a major challenge of realising the value of IoT – not only in Kenya and Africa – but across the other continents as well. This means that at the heart of IoT implementation is the need of a reliable, low-power and sustainable network to ensure that the IoT’s enabling technologies i.e. sensors, microprocessors/microcontrollers, virtualisation technologies etc. effectively deliver on the “IoT.” Traditionally most IoT implementations have made use of GPRS and Wi-Fi technology that have progressively been facing network management, cost and power challenges, particularly for battery-powered devices.
In a recent innovation shift, the focus on low-cost, low-power connectivity solutions has moved to adopt LoRaWAN technology in Kenya and Africa. Major R&D collaborative efforts are actively researching into low-power and efficient radios, which will allow for several years’ of battery life. However, the lack of coordinated efforts on LoRaWAN in the country and the continent risks leading to unnecessary infrastructure costs by makers, engineers and developers as well as poorly designed networks that might pose interference to each other. More importantly, this might limit the strategic regulatory efforts that should ensure quality of service is guaranteed on the networks while also having a harmonised understanding of how the networks work in order to develop supportive regulations.
To chart the path forward on LoRaWAN adoption, in Kenya and Africa, the Wireless Planet is launching a LoRaWAN Community that is focused on coordinating the deployment of LoRaWAN networks within the continent while working with various partners such as the African Advanced Level Telecommunications Institute (AFRALTI), Strathmore University among other partners. The objective of the LoRaWAN Community is to facilitate knowledge exchange among the different organisations and groups implementing LoRaWAN on the continent, enable infrastructure sharing among the makers, entrepreneurs and developers (to avoid unnecessary duplicated gateway deployments), provide a go-to platform on available backhaul infrastructure in the localities various groups are targeting to deploy the network.
This initiative also seeks to establish a coordinated effort on regulatory developments that can enable and support the growth and usage of LoRaWAN networks in Kenya and Africa. We envisage that this can rapidly lead to establishing standards that ensure both quality of service and interoperability (in some cases).
As a starting point, the initiative has launched the LoRaWAN server platform based on The Things Stack: https://ttn.wirelessplanet.co.ke/ to allow the community register the various gateways within Kenya and other African countries. One can also register the network details through the following spreadsheet - LoRaWAN Coverage.xlsx. In the near future, we will be reaching out to the Community on the planned workshops and conferences, activities happening on LoRaWAN around the African continent and the world and also a release of our blueprint to support the community while creating opportunities as well.
