E-Business
Understanding IoT & Path to Nigerian Smart City
Today, it is almost impossible to go through a week in global technology news without reading something to do with Internet of Things (IoT), especially with the ongoing innovations in driverless cars.
Like many other innovations over the past decades, Internet of Things is today’s buzz word, the tech fad for today as others may put it.
To be clear, I don’t mean to take away from, or be-little the impact Internet of Things is having on the world, or at least the potential it will have in our world over time. My point is that, like other past technology buzz words, IoT is an evolution towards something greater.
In the 1970’s to 1980’s the major innovation of the day was personal computers, then we moved on to ‘Networks’ and then to the ‘Internet’ in the 1990’s. The 2000’s saw the growth of ‘Mobile’ then the conversations moved to ‘Big Data’ and ‘Cloud’ computing or services.
With this evolution, we are now in the era of the ‘On-Demand’ services, or as some would put it; the ‘Uber era’; where you have the Uber for this or the Uber for that. Following on this, we are in the early days of Internet of Things.
The question then is, what exactly is the Internet of Things?
According to Intel, “The Internet of Things is an Evolution of mobile, home and embedded applications, that are connected to the internet, integrating greater computing capabilities and using data analytics to extract meaningful information.”
With this definition, you begin to see how the evolution of technology over the past few decades have led to the Internet of Things. It is estimated that there are about 2 Billion people using the Internet; it has also been estimated that by the year 2020, we will have over 100 Billion equipment, appliances, machines and in essence, Things connected to the internet.
So just imagine a future where in addition to your phones, Laptops, TV, Security systems, Playstations and possibly your DSTV connected to the internet, we also have our Bikes, Cars, clothes, Homes (Doors, beds, fridge, cooker, lights, washine machine, stereo system, coffee machine etc), Offices (Doors, Chairs, floors, Security systems, Parking lot system etc), Street lights, traffic lights, toll gates, Danfos (public buses), boats and Ferries, hospitals, government etc all connected to the Internet.
Almost seems overwhelming when you think of the extent of the ‘sea of things’ which can be connected to the internet, especially when one considers a city like Lagos. However, this is where the world is going. With sensors being connected to almost everything.
Today with products like fitbit, the Apple Watch and other smart Watches, you can track your heart rate, the number of steps you take, your sleep patterns etc. All these, aid the ongoing ‘wellness’ movement to attain and maintain good health, as opposed to actually getting an ailment and going on to treat it. This is made possible by the constant monitoring and analysis of the body’s activities using these devices.
However, having all that raw data about your body’s activities is completely useless to the individual if it is not effectively delivered as meaningful information on the current state of health of the individual; because at the end of the day, having clear knowledge of the number of steps or distance covered and calories burned provides the user with the relevant information they need on their path to wellness.
Now that I have attempted to explain the principle of Internet of Things, at least, from a personal view in relation to wellness, how then can we expand on this to the level of Smart Homes and Smart Cities that we hear or read about?
And more importantly in the Nigerian frame of mind, where exactly do we start from, to achieve this? I will try to explain this down the line using one of our greatest problems in Lagos, TRAFFIC!
Smart Cities and the Internet of Things as a whole runs on the concept of ‘Networked Systems’, which is made up of individual systems connected to form Networks and sub-networks that work together towards a common purpose.
Imagine in the not too distant future, Lagos is a smart city, where your home would be a system within the network, with various appliances like your phones, laptops, alarm and security system, kitchen appliances, entertainment systems, utilities all connected together.
In this case, Lagos would have its own traffic management system with a network of connected street cameras, sensored traffic lights, toll gates, bridges, roads and side walks all with sensors, so the Lagos Traffic control centre can monitor and manage the flow of traffic (Just like we see in Hollywood movies).
In this case, you live in Lekki and need to catch a 10am flight at MMIA on a Saturday morning. In this scenario with limited traffic, you should be able to make it to the airport in about 45 minutes with no trouble. Let us assume you need to be at the airport at 8am, and need 30mins from the time you wake up to get ready, then your alarm (which is connected to your home system) would have to go off at 6:45am, giving you about 1 hour 15 minutes to wake up, get dressed and drive to the airport to make your flight.
Now lets assume that in a typical day from the time you wake up, the Smart Home sensors on your bed or bedroom floor, send information to the water heater to start heating up. Also, information is sent to the stereo to start playing your favorite morning songs (just so you start the day right), and data is also sent to the coffee machine so it starts brewing amongst other morning activities.
Lets assume on this particular day, in this fictional, not so distant future, there was a delayed overnight construction on the Gbagada – Oshodi road, which had caused traffic to build all the way to Oworonshoki. In this scenario, if Lagos was not a Smart City, you would likely get into this traffic on Gbagada – Oshodi road, you would most likely miss the 8am check-in time and ultemately miss your flight.Sounds familiar?
Now, in the scenario where Lagos is actually a Smart City, as traffic builds due to the delayed construction on Gbagada – Oshodi road, traffic data would be automatically fed to the Lagos traffic management system, which in turn would send this information to the Lagos Smart City Management System (this system would be made up of different Lagos networks including, Traffic management, Security, Water, Education, Power etc and individual Smart Homes would have access to the information within this system).
With this information available on the Lagos Smart City Management System, your Smart Home’s system would identify traffic data, and instead of 6:45am, your Smart Home’s Alarm would wake you up at possibly 6:00am so you leave for the airport early enough with the hope to ride out the traffic on Gbagada – Oshodi road, or completely avoid that route and take an alternative longer route to the airport.
In essence, the true value we get from the Internet of Things revolution is ‘Intelligence’; brought about by the ability to derive meaningful realtime information from data available around us today.
So where do we start from in Nigeria to build Smart Cities? Will there be major disadvantages? What would be the cost to achieve these?
My candid opinion is to start small and focus areas/sectors that are important to our local communities, states and the country as a whole; which will provide more value to the populace, for example; traffic which is a bane for many in Lagos. It is estimated on average, that Lagosians spend an average of 3 to 6 hours daily commuting to and from work. Starting out with traffic would also aid other areas like medical, fire and security emergency services.
Let us not get carried away with building driverless cars, as I cannot see how that can add real value to our economy at the moment. However, in typical fashion, Nigeria would most likely leap frog to catchup with the next major technological innovation that awaits us in the future.
Idemudia Dima-Okojie, director at Openspace Digital Technologies. Openspace Digital Technologies provides solutions that enablesSMEs to automate their internal business processes, build their online presence and access a variety of out-sourced services including Accounting, HR, PR and Tax amongst other services, which are often out of the reach of small businesses.
Microsoft is planning to unveil its new Maia 300 AI chip this fall, potentially as soon as next month, The Information reported on Monday, citing people with direct knowledge of the plans.
The company introduced its Maia AI chip in November 2023 but has lagged rivals such as Alphabet and Amazon in scaling up its in-house chip efforts as it seeks to reduce its reliance on Nvidia’s costly processors.
Google began recognizing revenue from direct sales of its custom AI chips, called Tensor Processing Units, in the quarter ended June, while Amazon has also seen growing adoption of its processors, including its Trainium chips.
Microsoft has been in talks with chipmaker TSMC to secure manufacturing capacity for more than 300,000 units of the chip for delivery in 2027, according to the report. It is also looking to significantly ramp up production and persuade major cloud customers such as Anthropic to adopt the chip.
Microsoft ultimately aims to secure capacity for more than 1 million Maia 300 chips, though component supplies and ongoing capacity negotiations with TSMC could constrain its plans, according to the report.
It unveiled its second-generation Maia 200 in January, built by TSMC using 3-nanometer technology.
Microsoft packed the chip with a significant amount of SRAM, a type of memory that can provide speed advantages for AI systems handling large numbers of user requests.
X has announced plans to discontinue its Revenue Sharing programme and introduce a new Original Content Rewards programme to reward creators for producing original content on the platform.
The social media company announced the changes at the weekend in a post on its X Creators handle, saying the new programme would reward creators who contribute original content.
“Today, we’re introducing the Original Content Rewards Program, a new way to reward creators who bring original ideas, expertise, reporting, creativity, and commentary to X,” the company said.
X said it would stop accepting new enrolments into the Revenue Sharing programme from Friday, while existing participants would continue earning until September 7, 2026.
“Starting today, we’re no longer accepting new enrollments into Revenue Sharing,” it said.
According to the company, existing Revenue Sharing participants will receive three final payouts, with two scheduled for August 14 and August 28, while the final payment for earnings accrued through September 7 is expected around September 11.
X said existing Revenue Sharing participants would begin getting access to apply for the new programme from September 8, subject to meeting its eligibility requirements.
The first payout under the Original Content Rewards programme will be made on August 28, 2026, while existing Revenue Sharing creators who enrol in the new programme from September 8 will receive their first payment on September 25.
Under the new programme, eligible creators will earn from qualified impressions generated by their original content, with payments made every two weeks.
X defined qualified impressions as unique impressions from Premium users on the Home Timeline feed, where at least 50 per cent of a post is visible.
On the other hand, “The following are excluded from qualified impressions: impressions from the same account counted more than once per post; paid, promoted, or artificially generated impressions; and fraudulent impressions,” it said.
To qualify, creators must be at least 18 years old, live in a country where the programme is available, maintain an account in good standing and have either a personal or vusiness account.
They must also subscribe to X Premium, Premium+ or Premium Business, have at least 500 verified followers and record at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users within the previous 90 days.
X said creators must also regularly post original content to remain eligible.
“We want to recognize creators who break news, share expertise, tell stories, create entertainment, and contribute meaningful perspectives to the conversation,” the company said.
The platform said original content could include threads, videos, memes, graphics, illustrations, reporting, analysis, commentary and reactions that add meaningful value to existing conversations.
It said creators who use content produced by others would need to add meaningful commentary, context, analysis, humour or creative transformation for such posts to qualify.
“Building on existing conversations is a core part of X, but simply reposting someone else’s content is not enough,” it said.
X said minor edits such as cropping, filters, borders, watermarks, speed adjustments or simple text overlays would generally not qualify as meaningful transformation on their own.
It also warned that content copied or substantially reproduced from another creator, content downloaded and re-uploaded from X or another platform without being the original author’s, automated content, disinformation and misleading content would be ineligible.
The company said accounts that violate the programme’s requirements could be temporarily or permanently removed from it, depending on the severity of the violation.
It added that creators would be responsible for ensuring they had the necessary rights, permissions or licences to use content created by others.
“Original content is content you personally create that reflects your own voice, perspective, expertise, or creativity,” X said.
The company said the new programme was intended to reward creators who make the platform more valuable by bringing original ideas and perspectives to its conversations.
“The Original Content Rewards Program is designed to reward the creators who start them, shape them, and move them forward,” it said.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has introduced so-called Nigeria’s Certified Cloud Register, regulatory framework developed under the agency’s National Sovereign Cloud Initiative to determine which cloud providers are authorized to handle sensitive data, such as banking records.
In effect, from October, NITDA requires banks, fintech companies and other regulated organisations to source cloud infrastructure providers from a national register of certified firms approved to host sensitive financial and government data.
The Certified Cloud Register, is expected to strengthen data sovereignty, improve regulatory oversight and support the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) data localisation policy, which takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Under the framework, banks, fintechs, government institutions and other regulated entities will be able to verify whether cloud service providers, data centre operators, managed service providers and Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure companies have met NITDA’s certification requirements before entrusting them with critical digital workloads.
The initiative is expected to provide regulated institutions with a standardised process for selecting cloud infrastructure providers that satisfy Nigeria’s technical, security and regulatory requirements.
According to NITDA, the framework establishes “a common national standard, an independent assessment process and a public register of approved providers that banks, fintechs and government institutions can rely on when selecting cloud infrastructure partners.”
The register is expected to become a key compliance tool ahead of the CBN’s directive, which requires all payment transaction data generated within Nigeria to be stored and processed locally, effective from January 1, 2027.
The policy applies to deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, payment service providers, switching companies and other financial institutions.
The certification regime is also expected to reshape Nigeria’s cloud computing ecosystem, making regulatory approval a major requirement for cloud providers seeking to handle sensitive data for regulated industries.
Figures cited by NITDA showed that Nigeria’s 10 largest banks spent about N177.91 billion on information technology in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 31 per cent increase over the corresponding period last year.
A sizeable portion of the investment currently supports cloud infrastructure hosted outside Nigeria, a trend the new certification framework is expected to address by encouraging greater utilisation of compliant local infrastructure.
NITDA said the certification programme will apply the same technical and regulatory standards to indigenous cloud providers and international hyperscale operators, creating a level playing field for all companies seeking to provide cloud services to regulated sectors.
The agency also disclosed that more than 85 per cent of Nigerian businesses currently rely on cloud services, with the majority using infrastructure hosted outside the country.
It said the new framework is aimed at improving confidence in Nigeria’s digital infrastructure while promoting local capacity and enhancing oversight of critical national data.
Speaking on the objective of the initiative, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, director-general of NITDA, said the programme is designed to strengthen Nigeria’s position in the global digital economy rather than exclude foreign technology companies.
According to him, the initiative is intended “to redefine the terms under which Nigeria participates in the global digital economy rather than isolate the country from international technology providers.”
The Certified Cloud Register forms part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to deepen digital trust, strengthen cybersecurity and ensure that critical financial and public sector data are managed in line with Nigeria’s evolving data governance and sovereignty objectives.
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