How tech can influence the 'new norm'
Over the last few weeks, Covid-19 swept across the globe rapidly impacting businesses and straining the public sector, forcing many to adjust their daily lives. The life for most businesses', including public sector ground to a halt, impacting cash flows, and forcing many to close or retrench staff.
Thinking about the new norm and how the world will emerge from this and what the new norm will be and how technology can help us pivot operations, enabling sustainable growth.
Herein, lies an opportunity for the private and public sector to embrace technology, in particular ‘Internet-of-Things’ (IoT).
Internet of Things
One of the most dynamic evolutions in information and communication is the advent of IoT. Technology has largely been restricted in connecting people to mainframes, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.
Over the last few years, technology has become more ubiquitous (anyplace-anywhere-anytime), enabling connectivity between a broader range of devices to a network. These include vehicles, appliances, medical devices, streetlamps, smart meters, solar, etc. Industry experts currently estimate that there are more than ‘eight billion such devices’ connected to various networks, and project that this number will ‘expand to more than 25 billion by 2020.’ Of significance, experts posit that IoT may ‘generate as much as U$13 trillion” globally in revenue by 2025.
The sudden shutdown has converged the public and private sector into an ‘active-pause’ phase. This is an opportune time to rethink-refocus-reposition your operations, enabling digital customer-interface, efficient delivery of service and interpretation of data using IoT as a core strategy when the ‘new norm’ emerges.
Macrocomm Technology has played a pivotal role in the IoT arena across the continent and globally. Macrocomm and its myriad of divisions have established itself as a multi-faceted IoT company focusing in understanding customer needs and challenges across various sectors and addressing these challenges through smart products and solutions.
Sivi Moodley is the Group CEO for Macrocomm Holdings
According to Sivi Moodley, Group CEO, “We pride ourselves in offering turnkey solutions through our team of resident experts and partner ecosystems.”
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The birth of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, aptly known as 4IR, will shape the way people, businesses and broader society inter-communicate.
According to Sean Hardman, technical director, this paradigm shift, “Considered polarising by many, in fact, will create interoperability between devices that will enable efficiency, inter-connectivity, real-time interpretation of key data with less-human contact (important against the backdrop of Covid-19).” 4IR has enabled Macrocomm to take on the ‘smart-approach’.
Financial services will require a ‘smart-approach’ midst the pandemic, which has enforced social distancing. Using online-platform-devices, The Financial Services division is a newly established finTech lender, enables a simpler and faster onboarding process, placing control in the hands of customers and businesses.
Disruptive approaches such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, data scrubbing and process automation, has revolutionised decision-making processes, enabling approval within a few minutes to a day.
According to Kevin Chetty, managing director for Macrocomm Financial Services, “We intend moving financial services into the hands of customers and business, ensuring ubiquitous connectivity, and transparency, on our IoT apps-platforms.” Moodley adds that “The launch of pay-by-face will make online payments much easier in the context of Covid-19.”
Smart technology
Global hunger is a real threat midst Covid-19. Ending it is not just about growing crops, but requires broader interventions, including technology. The company’s Smart Technology for Agriculture ensures visibility to the farmer, providing him with important information in real-time. These include monitoring of water systems, temperature and humidity, soil health, animal health, surveillance, and logistics.
“Smart Technology developed enables farmers to seamlessly communicate with markets and service providers using a dedicated IoT application-platform, including the purpose-built iGrow online application,” explains Moodley.
The growing concerns around energy and water supply is a serious concern facing many South Africans, prompting Macrocomm Smart Utilities in developing a bespoke end-to-end product-service solution. Consumers expect to see accurate consumption on their monthly bills, while public utilities want to accurately measure the impact on the grid and the environment.
“Development of our latest bespoke solution for water means that existing public and private infrastructure will not need to be replaced when using our Smart Utility Technology, saving costs and improving efficiency,” says Moodley.
Real-time data
“The hype around big data is coming to end, as the focus now shifts to how we collect, process and interpret multi-data in real-time”, says Hardman. Macrocomm Fleet Analytics (MFA) has taken stock of its revolutionary approach to maximising efficiency, and the resultant cost savings afforded to fleet owners, with a view to adapting its role in the ‘new normal’. In the short term, “We find ourselves in the enviable position of being positioned at the forefront of harnessing the power of data analytics and AI to produce meaningful insights to fleet owners and managers”.
Moodley adds, “We are proud that MFA has embraced the call-too-action, supporting fleet owners and drivers during this challenging Covid-19 phase.” Fleet owners using Macrocomms latest iHealth app, can channel emergency calls and undertake driver Covid-19 screening, in real-time.
Covid-19 has spread rapidly, with dire consequences. Consequently, Macrocomm iHealth has developed the capacity to create internet based self-screening tools, allowing individuals to perform real-time health self-assessments. Self-screening enables people to make informed decisions, modify behaviour, thereby minimising the transmission. As the presidency announces the risk-adjusted opening of the economy, iHealth’s online Covid-19 screening tool will significantly contribute to the slowing down of this pandemic. Of significance, iHealth has recently been appointed by ‘The Aurum Institute’ to conduct HIV testing and counselling services in several regions of Ekurhuleni.
As business gradually open, based on the recently announced risk-adjusted model, staying safe and connected to the grid is integral in the ‘new norm’. Macrocomm Security has developed leading security technology enabling real-time solutions, and continuous reliable energy supply (on and off-the-grid).
As we emerge from our ‘active-pause’ phase, refocused and re-energised, Macrocomm Technology will play a central role in helping South Africa pivot and stay connected.
