Every year the technology industry predict the ‘breakthrough’ innovations in the coming year as well as dominant trends that will reshape business and consumer behaviour.
Global research and analysis consulting firm, Frost & Sullivan released a report last year on the Top 10 ICT Trends for Africa in 2015. The report predicts that these three innovations will gather pace and have the most impact.
1. Wi-Fi for all
For 2015, the report predicts we will see more African governments driving the roll-out of telecommunications infrastructure, particularly in the form of public Wi-Fi. The report says that access to the internet is now seen as a key medium for the delivery of key social services, with some governments already investing in free public Wi-Fi services.
One such project is Project Isizwe, which in partnership with the South African government is bringing free Wi-Fi to South Africans. The projects has already made headway in providing free Wi-Fi to the city of Tshwane as part of the Tshwane Free Wi-Fi project.
“In 2015, we’ll see the impact of big data across
almost every industry sector”
2. BYOS – Bring Your Own Software
The report predicts the rise of BYOS (Bring Your Own Software) in 2015. The follows on the recent Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) concept and its impact on data security and privacy. In seeking to reduce costs, according to the report, large organisations will imitate SMEs who have achieved major cost savings in areas such as remote enterprise communications (for example Skype) and office applications such as Open Office, while still maintaining secure work environments.
3. Big data applications
Another trend forecasted by Frost & Sullivan’s report is Big Data analytics. Big data, the report says, has quickly become standard and embedded into organisational processes. “In 2015, we’ll see the impact of big data across almost every industry sector.”
African companies have typically struggled to obtain reliable market data, but the report says that effective big data applications will soon change this. Mobile operators occupy an attractive position in the market with their access to usage and location data, as well as billing information. Given their influence on the continent, the report says we can expect them to soon lead the way in utilising big data analytics to enhance customer insights and the personalisation of services.
