The Department of Computer Science College of Natural Sciences of the Addis Ababa University (AAU), in collaboration with the Internet Society and International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) successfully concluded the 1st practical workshop in Ethiopia on Internet of Things (IoT). The workshop, which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 23-29 September 2017 aimed at increasing the awareness and interest of IoT amongst Universities in Ethiopia and in the long run enhance the understanding and involvement of Africans in IoT standardization at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
The workshop came at an important crossroad as we are at the beginning of a new revolution, witnessing our pots and cups turned to be part of the computing world. The wrist watch no longer tells us the “time” only, but also a lot more information – from the status of the weather to our health. Our “things” can be enabled to compute and even communicate to one another; and this takes us to new mode of computation known as IoT.
Dawit Bekele, Director of the African regional bureau of Internet Society reflected on this issue saying that “the potential of IoT in all sectors of the society, be it in health, farming or industry has been demonstrated around the world. The IoT industry is already a multibillion industry and it is going to grow exponentially in the coming years. Ethiopia should position itself in this new industry and this starts with creating a community that has expertise in the area and can involve in shaping the industry worldwide, including by involving in the standardization efforts that are currently taking place at the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).”
The workshop was a great opportunity for more than 30 participants primarily coming from the academia and research community of local Universities and Institutes to learn about latest IoT technologies from the well experienced facilitators that came from ICTP. The workshop gave balanced theoretical and practical components showing the potential of IoT in Ethiopia and while creating the core competencies that will help develop the technology in the country.
Special thanks to Marco Zenaro and Franck Albinet for successfully facilitating the workshop and the Department of Computer Science College of Natural Sciences for hosting the workshop.