An underdeveloped ICT infrastructure and a reliance on mobile networks and devices for Internet access mean African companies and public sector organisations need to address big data in a different manner than in the developed world.
The fact that Africa is a mobile-first continent has already had a significant impact on how e-commerce has evolved across the region, says Ocea Garriock, technical professionals leader at IBM Software. Mobile-focused online marketplaces and peer-to-peer networks dominate the market, rather than the big e-tailers that rule the US and Europe.
This, in turn, will mean African organisations will get their big data from different sources to their counterparts elsewhere in the world - predominantly mobile devices and transactions. They will also put it to use in different ways - for example, to drive home-grown innovations in micropayments or new financial services offerings for the unbanked.
Real-time insights
But that's not to say African business leaders cannot learn from their overseas counterparts when it comes to big data, Garriock says. In Nairobi, IBM is working with the Kenyan government to reduce congestion and augment public transport services using big data and analytics.
IBM's approach will collect and analyse data from the Kenyan capital's transport grid to predict and identify delays, automatically reroute transport to optimal pathways, and notify commuters via live SMS and mobile app updates. The concept is inspired by a similar approach IBM developed to ease congestion across Singapore's transport network.
But since Kenya's infrastructure lacks the ubiquitous sensors and monitoring infrastructure that the Singaporean system relies on, IBM's base platform in Kenya draws on algorithms and mobile phone data for the real-time insights needed to model and anticipate traffic jams, Garriock says.
The traffic congestion project is one of two major data-focused initiatives under way at IBM Research's science and technology research lab in Nairobi. The other will focus on developing a complete understanding of Kenya's water system and optimise the use, storage, safety and distribution of the country's water supply.
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