Johannesburg – Innovative local companies were awarded at the MTN Internet of Things Awards (IoT) last week in a celebration of companies bringing up market solutions that are market ready for IoT.
Held at the Sandton Convention Centre and in their second year, the awards sought to identify as well as recognise the biggest IoT or tech disruptor of the year.
The overall winner, who also took home the best commercial solution award, was IoT.nxt.
The technological company won thanks to their framework which allows efficiency, cost saving and increased revenue.
They were able to overcome challenges with technology agnostic and so were awarded a trip for two to the IoT Solutions World Congress in Barcelona, estimated at R200 000.
Speaking about the IoT.nxt, MTN Business’s group executive Oliver Fortuin acknowledged the winning company’s agnosticism and how they were able to increase their revenue.
“This enables one to deploy best of breed technologies with little or no disruption to one’s current operations, allowing businesses to action an Internet of Things strategy quickly and easily,” Fortuin enthused.
Other winners include Digital Matter, who supply a innovative range of white-label GPS tracking and telematic devices as well as a user-friendly web based software platform for resellers of telematics solutions, logistics and communications industries, and Proximity ID, with its cardless access control and identification system that allow users to communicate faster with their surroundings.
Fortuin added that, this year, they were looking for “ground-breaking” solutions that use IoT applications and technology to generate income, productivity and streamline efficiencies in the corporate world.
“Interoperability, rapid deployment and ease-of-use were all major considerations,” he said.
Speaking about the awards, Mariana Kruger, MTN Business’s general manager stated that the inaugural awards in 2015 “set the benchmark for IoT creation and innovation in South Africa,” and that “this year has been even better, with a proliferation of exciting solutions that have the potential to drastically transform the IoT space in the future.”
@LauraSeniorP