The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), a subset of the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to transform a variety of industries. Digital transformation has reverberated across several, if not all, industries and it will definitely continue to do so over the next few years, especially with the rise of 5G network adoption across the globe, it will give IoT the power to function in the best way imaginable.
In line with their commitment to adopting best industry practices and technological innovations, Bee’ah, the Middle East’s sustainability pioneer, and Tandeef, Bee’ah’s waste collection and management division, have added Ducati electric mobile waste collection units to their existing fleet, to further enhance operations while continuously promoting Bee’ah’s sustainability agenda.
Organizations in every industry are embarking on their digital transformation journey to improve the efficiency, capability and quality of their product or service. Digital transformation is the integration of technology into all areas of a business, resulting in fundamental changes in how a company operates with the ultimate goal of maximizing what that technology can do for business. To keep up with the needs of today's unpredictable and complex enterprise networks, IT needs a new approach, and software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) is the perfect technology to enable this. Forward-thinking organizations with multiple sites are appreciating the benefits that cloud-friendly SD-WAN can offer in addressing the necessity for flexible, scalable and cost-efficient networking.
Mobile Systems International (MSI) celebrated its 30th birthday at the Corinthia Hotel in London.
Sharjah City Municipality and EVOTEQ, the Middle East’s leading digital transformation catalyst, announced their collaboration for a new Artificial Intelligence solution that will significantly enhance the Emirate’s parking management system, serving citizens and residents alike.
King Salman issued a royal decree to appoint a new Governor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission. Dr. Mohammed bin Saud Al-Tamimi has been appointed to the position.
Virgin Media has agreed a five-year mobile deal with Vodafone to bring innovating new services to customers in the UK. The deal includes bringing 5G to around three million mobile users and will allow Virgin Media further flexibility to grow its mobile operation.
HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, today announced new Nokia phones, including the Nokia 6.2, where breath-taking PureDisplay meets an advanced triple camera setup powered by AI experiences, all in one accessible smartphone.
With the aim of celebrating a successful journey throughout fifteen years of operations, Trace Media gathered the teams of Dubai and Beirut office in the amazing Intercontinental Fujairah resort over 4 days for the first time ever in 15 years.
Cisco celebrates 20 years of the commercial use of Wi-Fi, which has revolutionized how people communicate.
Since the debut of wireless networks, businesses have been able to scale-up and expand their reach with greater speed, efficiency and reliability.
Offering unprecedented freedom, lower costs and new possibilities for both individuals and businesses alike, Cisco looks back at two decades of Wi-Fi’s impact on the way the world interacts.
802.11 reasons to celebrate
30th September marked the 20th anniversary of the announcement of the IEEE wireless standard 802.11b. This was the first 802.11 standard to be released under the name ‘Wi-Fi’, and was a commercial success, adopted by a number of major hardware vendors.
All products with the familiar “yin-yang” style Wi-Fi logo have a certificate issued by The Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, which in 2002 changed its name to the Wi-Fi Alliance. The Wi-Fi mark guarantees compatibility between different Wi-Fi-enabled devices, including backwards compatibility.
Networking manufacturers have also done a lot to improve the compatibility and performance of Wi-Fi. Launched as early as 2002, the Cisco Compatible eXtensions free license program allowed Wi-Fi products offered by other vendors to work with Cisco wireless networks while maintaining a high level of security.
"Users always expect high performance. However, Wi-Fi signal can be blocked and distorted by objects and architectural elements. Radio planning is still an indispensable element of Wi-Fi network implementation, and mechanisms such as Cisco CleanAir support network architects and make the process much more flexible and effective. For 20 years we have learned that the environments often change. That’s why we need tools to support work also in difficult topologies, where it may not be possible to move the obstacle and moving the access point is not an option,” said Osama Al-Zoubi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Middle East and Africa, Cisco.
Water, electricity, Wi-Fi
For many Internet users wireless network access is viewed as a fundamental utility like water or electricity. Most of us cannot imagine life without Wi-Fi.
According to UAE Internet users who took part in Cisco’s survey on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the World Wide Web, 72% of respondents said that the number one thing the Internet has made possible for them is to keep in touch with family and friends, whilst 61% said that it has helped them stay up-to-date and informed. Over a third (39%) of people surveyed couldn’t imagine being able to function in their jobs without the Internet.
By allowing employees to move around the office and around public and personal hotspots, Wi-Fi has been critical to the rise of remote and flexible working. Teams within an organization can now work easily from any location.
Processing of information by IoT devices, enabled by Wi-Fi, has allowed organizations to optimize their performance and gain a number of monetizable insights. Using a combination of insights from 802.11 (Wi-Fi) and 802.15 (Bluetooth), organizations can use hyper-location, which allows them to determine with high accuracy the location of devices operating in a wireless network. This information allows managers of shopping centers, for example, to examine customer movement and usage patterns to optimize their services.
Wi-Fi 6 equals four times the bandwidth
The latest Wi-Fi 6 wireless network standard has been created based on the same wireless innovations as 5G. It uses OFDMA technology, which allows simultaneous transmission of multiple data streams.
As a result, a large number of users with different bandwidth requirements can connect to a single access point. Wi-Fi 6 changes the way business and individual users interact with the world, in which the number of devices connected to the Internet and the amount of content consumed is rapidly growing.
According to Cisco’s Mobile VNI study, there will be more than 1 billion mobile users in MEA by 2022, up from 798 million in 2017.
Mobile traffic per user is expected to reach 7,649 megabytes per month by the same year. The challenge is to ensure the right network performance in high-density environments, such as, for example, auditoriums, stadiums, airports or conference rooms. This is due to the fact that the average user often uses a wireless network in places where they stay for a long time, e.g. waiting for an airplane or at a football match.
There are usually many people doing just that at a given moment, which is why it is necessary to ensure adequate network capacity and bandwidth.
"In a business environment, wireless network is becoming a critical method of accessing digital content. For some office equipment, this technology is the only method to connect to the campus network. Mobility is extremely important, and employees will be more and more dependent on wireless solutions and sensitive to even the slightest delays in transmission. The continuous evolution of Wi-Fi means that companies are able to keep up with the changing work style and meet the expectations of teams, partners and customers. This task will certainly be facilitated by Wi-Fi 6, which provides up to 400% higher network bandwidth,” said Osama Al-Zoubi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Middle East and Africa, Cisco.
