By Chinenye Anuforo
Amazon Web Services (AWS) Nigeria User Group, a movement championing the growth, development and adoption of technology in Nigeria, at the weekend, hosted stakeholders at an insightful forum with the aim of fast-tracking the deployment of infrastructure through Internet of Things (IoT) vehicle in Nigeria.
The event, which held in at Zone Tech Park in Gbagada, Lagos, with the theme “Connecting the World with AWS IoT & Serverless Event-Driven Architectures,” had speakers from various organisations within the ecosystem who, in their presentations, highlighted the importance of innovative technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) as veritable assets for the future of Nigeria.
IoT describes physical objects with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet/cloud or other communications networks.
Speaking at the forum, Wale Adedeji, chief executive and technology officer, Datamellon, stressed the need for stakeholders within the technology ecosystem to always be on their toes because of the fast pace of business operations through automation.
His words: “This meetup is called AWS Nigerian User Group Meetup. We meet and organise this kind of meeting at intervals. And it is aimed at educating and showcasing the amazing products people are building on AWS. AWS stands for Amazon Web Services. It is a cloud computing arm of Amazon.com.
“All what Amazon has learned over the years is a suite in our package and everything for the whole world to use to transform their businesses. So, cloud computing has grown so much in the Western world. There is virtually no company that is not in a particular cloud.
“We’ve seen that adoption picking up here in Nigeria as well. Because everything is developer-focused, so you need to get the developers together from time to time to have conversations, have a chat and let them see what some people are doing with the power to the cloud. So that’s the purpose of this meeting today.
We’re living in a world where everything is going to be connected. Our cars, the phones, the fridge and freezers. Almost everything we have around us is going to be connected. That is why we cannot be passive about the need of IoT at scale. But there’s a whole lot of things that happens that needs to be done to make life more meaningful for us.
The Guest Speaker of the event, Ousseynou Beye, AWS Senior Solution Architect, during his presentation, disclosed that a lot of customers have been benefiting from AWS IoT.
“The benefits of AWS IoT is quite enormous. Through it, organisations can have healthier energy resources and build smarter products. In the area of security in the home, this is also very relevant. Our transportation system can be better organized with IoT. The same goes with tracking of inventories,
IoT is a virtuous cycle which can help individuals and organisations to control, manage, build and secure their devices at scale,” Beye explained.
Senior Special Adviser to Lagos Sate Governor on Science and Technology, Saheed Balogun, said the Nigeria User Group is very relevant to Lagos State and the country as a whole because of the dream of fast development in every infrastructural area.
According to him, “The use innovative technologies such as AWS IoT, will definitely help in reducing excess of damages. Instead of digging constructed roads to lay fibre cables IoT can do the wonders. Lagos is already working toward Smart City status; that is why we see this initiative as a timely one which we have already started to explore and deploy. Developers; community is critical to achieving this. I strongly believe that Developers can transform Lagos to Smart City and put it on global map.
“The government is partnering with AWS because we know that IoT for is an important component of making Lagos steady 21st century economy as part of the THEMES agenda of Mr. Governor, and also the governor is working on the connected Lagos. Truly Lagos State fiber dots and open dots will allow high speed connectivity to all parts of Lagos. And that connectivity is expected to support the educational system, the health system, and the government services as well as private sector telecoms and other initiatives that require a connected high speed connection to transact their business within Lagos state. So, for us, AWS coming up with this type of programme, is definitely going to empower the youth and the Developer community in Lagos to acquire the knowledge, the skills and the exposure that are required for a smart city.”