Los Angeles
Up to 100,000 lives can be saved annually using digital technology to predict movement of population.
This is just one of the many applications that digital technology is making a difference in the way we live, according to Mats Ganryd, Director General of GSMA.
Speaking at the GSMA’s technology conference here in Los Angeles, Granryd gave the example of technology being used to fight against tuberculosis.
He explained that while big data is used commercially it is also saving lives.
“Tuberculosis kills more people globally than any other infectious disease in the world with India being the worst affected. But by examining movement patterns using digital data, we can now predict with some certainty where the next outbreak will happen and therefore set out treatment centres and have awareness campaigns before the actual outbreak takes hold. This initiative alone could save more than 100 thousand lives every year, he said.
He noted that consumers will go beyond using Google only to play our favourite music, to a world where digital personal assistance know each one of us individually, from our tastes in Netflix movies to our daily health care needs.
“AI will deliver everything from network planning to logistics to customer care to security. The internet of things will lead to driverless cars connected to smart streets, and will be joined by smart homes and smart offices that will all connect together to bring us smart cities.” Granryd predicted.
He revealed that GSMA intelligence is forecasting that there will be 1.2 billion smart vehicle Internet of Things connections by 2025.
He said: “These connections will fuel the transportation economy. It is predicted that autonomous and connected transportation will account for roughly 40 per cent of many cities transportation revenue by 2030.”
It will be quicker and more capacity.
He explained for this to happen regulatory authorities like the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago must make spectrum available to companies at a reasonable price and not get greedy up front and kill the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg.