Ka-band is not the next best thing!
by Jens Langenhorst, SES Satellites Ka-band is the new kid on the block and is often made out to be the next best thing to hit the satellite market. Unfortunately the hype surrounding it can lead to inflated expectations. There are three commercial satellite bands, namely C, Ku... ( more) |
Why the market needs to start thinking about POPI right now
Information from CA Southern Africa CA Southern Africa cautions against a "wait and see" approach regarding the implementation of the controls necessary to attain Protection of Personal Information (POPI) compliance. The POPI Act was passed into law at the end of 2013. Eren... ( more) |
 Carrier communities - the future of telecoms in Africa
by Eckart Zollner, The Jasco Group
Africa faces a number of challenges when it comes to telecommunications, chief among which has always been a lack of fixed-line infrastructure in many areas. This has resulted in mobile becoming the de facto standard in the region... ( more)
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Information from Adroit Technologies
The advent of technology and the exponential rate at which it is growing have certainly impacted on systems and network security. SCADA systems are no less at risk nor less important than any other system or network used to collect, store or transport data. Its security should therefore carry the same level of importance ... ( more) |
Panel discussion: Building automation to reduce energy usage and cost?
Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, EE Publishers
Most buildings are said to be the world's worst power guzzlers. People are generally poor switch-it-offers! How can building automation be retrofitted? Are wireless sensors the answer? How can the focus be changed from a nice to have to a must have? We asked three experts on the subject to share their views on... (more) |
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Five best practices to improve building management systems cybersecurity
by Gregory Strass and Jon Williamson, Schneider Electric
Cybersecurity threats and attacks have become a common occurrence and pose a global problem. Cyber criminals are targeting individuals and corporations with more frequent, more sophisticated, and more coordinated assaults. Cyber attacks in the United States alone increased 17-fold between 2009 and 2011. No region of the world is... ( more)
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Security requires protection
by Veiko Raab, Dehn, Germany
Security, stability and order are basic needs. In a world of increasingly complex processes, sophisticated technical equipment is required to satisfy these basic needs. In this context, both structural and technical measures such as CCTV systems are decisive for increasing the security in buildings and facilities... (more)
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IR thermography inspection on plant electrical system
Information from Keysight Technologies
Plant predictive maintenance has evolved from preventive and traditional run-to-failure maintenance methods and has been gaining popularity due to its benefits and advantages. When industrial or general manufacturing facilities use predictive maintenance, many voluntarily include IR imaging as part of electrical inspections... ( more)
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Reliable material flow with ultrasound
Information from Pepperi+Fuchs
In the beverages section of a supermarket, you will find rows of crates with bottles filled with water, soft drinks, or beer. The choice is not easy. Who would imagine that sensors play a key role when those bottles are filled? The different colours of the glass or PET bottles and...
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Power electronics can do more than drive a motor
by Reijo Komsi, ABB, Finland
Industrial drives turn, literally, the wheels of commerce. That makes drives and the technology that controls them very important products in the industrial setting. Where several drives form part of a single process, as in a paper machine, say, and the individual drive motors have to be coupled in some way, it makes sense... (more)
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Branch circuit monitoring for data centres and beyond
Information from Smiths Power
Branch circuit monitoring systems (BCMS) are not limited to data centres, although their roots are found there - most likely because data centres consume such a vast amount of power. Understanding where the power is consumed is a critical management tool; in particular in multi-tenant data centres where the energy usage by each... (more)
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Why should my business be PoPI compliant?
by Marius Coetzee, Ideco
The Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act will have an impact on almost every company operating in South Africa. It will establish a code of conduct for the confidential handling of personal information of visitors, customers and staff in order to ensure their privacy. It is crucial for companies that process personal information of... (more)
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The true cost of storage
by Tim Hennessy, Imergy, USA
When evaluating whether and what type of storage system they should install, many customers only look at the initial cost of the system - the first cost or cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh). Such thinking fails to account for other factors that impact overall system cost, known as the levelised cost of energy. The levelised... (more)
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Creating the telcos of the future - back office evolution into an operating system
by Mark Acton, Mobinomics
The battle to remain strategically relevant is being fought by telecoms operators who have chosen to be more than utility providers of connectivity alone. The story goes that that digital disruption has rendered them, their technology and their systems to the role of mere logistics. Telcos are seen to provide little more than dumb... (more)
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Data centre rack systems key to business-critical continuity
Information from Emerson Network Power
At one time, data centre rack enclosures and related equipment were considered commodity products - simply a platform to stack equipment, with more enclosures purchased as servers and rackmount equipment were added to the IT inventory. Today, even though the sophistication and criticality of the data centre has soared, some may still... ( more) |
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High-performance satellite broadband bridging digital divide
Information from Saab Grintek Technologies
The African region is one of the fastest growth region in the global economy in the last decade, yet widespread access to reliable internet connectivity remains an obstacle to sustainable growth. According to Internet Usage Statistics, the African continent has approximately 15,3% of the world's population and has an internet penetration... ( more) |
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Compiled by Aimée Clarke, EE Publishers
- Rwanda and GSMA announce collaboration agreement
- Brands need to cater for Nigeria's mobile lifestyle
- Money transfers between Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso
- Orange delivers mobile internet to millions more across Africa
- Ghanaian addresses Global Commission on Internet Governance
- Zoom Wireless set to offer high-speed internet in Uganda
- Tanzania-based service provider deploys public cloud
- Orange to buy out Orascom in Egypt's Mobinil... (more)
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Aerospace technology: Another step closer to figuring out dark matter
by Hans van de Groenendaal, features editor, EngineerIT
"Dark matter is an enigma we have long sought to unravel," said John Grunsfeld, assistant administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "With the combined capabilities of these great observatories, both in extended mission, we are ever closer to understanding this cosmic phenomenon." Using observations... ( more) |
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Amateur radio: SARL to launch 160 m propagation research project
by Hans van de Groenendaal ZS6AKV, South African Radio League
For many years radio amateurs have shown interest in the propagation properties of the various frequency bands available to them. One of them is the 160 m band where some interesting propagation properties have been observed. It has recently come back into focus as the sunspot cycle is on its downward slope to a... (more)
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