AFRINIC is the regional Internet registry for Africa, and our core activity is to manage and distribute Internet numbers resources (IPv4, IPv6 and ASN's) to the 57 economies in Africa. IPv4 address scarcity is a very real issue worldwide, the internet keeps growing and the demand for Internet addresses will continue to grow. Africa has the lowest number of Internet users in the world. Internet's penetration in Africa jumped from very low level in 2009, to around 16% of individuals in 2013 and over 20% in 2015. more
A newly released Internet of Things ecosystem forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC) attempts to clarify the hardware, software, services, connectivity, and security that make up the evolving Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. The worldwide IoT market is forecast to grow from $1.3 trillion in 2013 to $3.04 trillion in 2020 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13%. more
Nokia has developed a framework that will enable governments to implement smart cities. The framework is designed to aid regions to design and obtain services for smart city concepts. However, Nokia states that more emphasis needs to be put on developing an overarching strategy rather than small projects. The Australian government announced that they are interested in building smart cities, but there are still major gaps in figuring out how to do so. more
I recently attended a Forum on Internet of Things in Smart Sustainable Cities: A New Age of Smarter Living staged in Singapore on 18 January 2016. The public forum provided a contextual overview to the second meeting of the ITU Study Group 20: IoT and its applications including Smart Cities and Communities which took place back-to-back with the Forum. more
Back in 1980 when I still lived in the Netherlands I worked with the Dutch futurist Griet Titulaer (an astronomer by trade) in building 'The Home of the Future'. I would say that at that stage it was more built around innovative interior design with automation features. Home entertainment also played a key role in it. At that stage these concepts had nowhere near the amount of technology that we are seeing in the homes of the future that we envisage today, but in essence lots of the elements we are still talking about were present then as well. more
U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and co-founder of the bipartisan Senate Cybersecurity Caucus, has released a letter asking three federal agencies for information on the tools available that prevent cyber criminals from compromising consumer products, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices. more
In the winter of 2014 I wrote a blogpost under the title 'Luddites of the 21st century unite?' (read here). In the post I wondered where the 21st century Luddites were. ICT, automation, artificial intelligence all threatened jobs, yet all those affected embraced smartphones and the Internet in droves. It seems I found them, but what to do? Brexit and Luddites Fast forward to early summer 2016. more
Reading up on COVID-19 and Zoom/Boris Johnson outcry yesterday, an analogy struck me between the two: the lack of testing. In both cases, to truly know how safe and secure we are, testing needs to be stepped up considerably. This post focuses on cybersecurity. Over the past days and weeks, more and more organisations have switched to digital products and services to sustain working from home, to keep productivity up and to be connected. more
The Internet Society today announced funding for 11 community-based Internet projects that will enhance the Internet ecosystem in underserved communities around the world. The Community Grants are awarded twice each year to Internet Society Chapters and Members. Recipients receive up to US$10,000 to implement their projects. more
In a new report released today by ITU and networking giant, Cisco, the Internet of Things (IoT) is identified as a major global development opportunity with potential to improve the lives of millions and dramatically accelerate progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals. more
By 2020, some 50 billion devices are expected to connect to the Internet and the economic value created by IoT could be worth as much as $11.1 trillion -- roughly 11% of the global economy by 2025, according to a new report released by AT&T. more
Development of Firefox OS will soon cease completely and by the end of May, company has announced, it will pull all staff and resources completely away from Firefox OS. "The circumstances of multiple established operating systems and app ecosystems meant that we were playing catch-up, and the conditions were not there for Mozilla to win on commercial smartphones," according to a statement from Mozilla developer George Roter. more
"The U.S. Justice Department has formed a threat analysis team to study potential national security challenges posed by self-driving cars, medical devices and other Internet-connected tools," reports Dustin Volz from Washington in Reuters" more
Machina Research, market intelligence provider on the Internet of Things, today published its annual report on the size of the IoT where it has predicted the total number of IoT connections will grow from 6 billion in 2015 to 27 billion in 2025 - a compound annual growth rate of 16%. more
AT&T’s CEO plays down the threat of satellite cellular, citing bandwidth and coverage limits. Yet growing interest in rural and IoT applications suggests the technology could still claim valuable niches in the wireless market. more