Glittering start to annual Mission Critical Conference in Cape Town
Exhibitors at the Motorola Solutions booth explain the working of a virtually integrated public safety system during the Mission Critical Conference at Cape Town, South Africa, this week. More than 100 firms were represented. FILE PHOTO | NMG
The 20th anniversary edition of AfriCom — a global conference attracting technology experts, IT revolution developers, advertisers, guests and media professionals — got under way in Cape Town this week under a gentle sun and strong gales of wind.
Starting Tuesday, the event held at the massive CTIC building on the base of the Table Mountain and overlooking the ocean waterfront, was filled to capacity, with the day’s highlights including a technology arena launch party, inspirational talk and an amazing display of software engineering.
For most of the day, the West Coast city with a 307km coastline experienced sudden gusts of wind, and an equally strong stream of visitors and exhibitors.
Meteorology reports attributed the stern weather to a confluence of two of the world’s great oceans, the cold Atlantic Ocean and the slightly warmer Indian Ocean.
Themed along Mission Critical Technologies and other IT know-how, the conference is Africa’s first event dedicated to leading industry providers and experts.
Annually, these professionals come together to shape and enhance public protection and disaster relief through cutting-edge innovations.
More than 100 organisations exhibited their solutions to the challenges facing today’s and tomorrow’s world. They included Motorola Solutions, Huawei, and Hytera.
The speaker line-up was elaborate, with the programme covering technical subjects such as public safety software, e-health advancements, practical ways and feedback on developing digital communities; mobile payment breakthroughs in Africa and the world — where Kenya’s M-Pesa got a star rating — and an Afest evening party graced by artistes such as AKA, Black Motion and Mr Silk.
Day two featured thought-provoking content, discourses by Africa’s opinion shapers and a display of the newest digital products for use in diverse fields such as police and security personnel operations, cybernetics, critical fire marshal networks and oil and water pipeline monitoring.
On day three, Africa’s success in telecommunications and technology was celebrated.
Mr Maor Aharoni, Motorola Solutions communications manager for southern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa, elaborated on the fast-changing digital traffic, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the practical uses of virtual companions such as Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface (SIRI).
Other notable speakers during a Motorola briefing included the firm’s regional leader, Mr Danani Longwe (building safer cities through innovations in police, fire, emergency, government and public services), and Motorola’s senior manager Nir Kraft.
Ms Caryl Kolk of Edelman public relations company talked of “a gradual shift from human-to-human policing to human-to-robot policing, with augmented reality situations, bluetooth connectivity and other mission critical informatics”.
