
Over the top services - much ado about nothing
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT If the real issue was not so serious one could equate it with one of Shakespeare's better-known comedies, "Much ado about nothing". The opposition to over the top (OTT) services is a cause for... ( more) |
In conversation with Graham Beneke
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
The Internet Service Provider Association (ISPA) has played a major role in the establishment of a sound exchange base for South African internet service providers (ISPs)... ( more)
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Cloud security as a service
by Greg Hatfield, MTN Business South Africa
Advancements of cloud solutions come with risks. Cloud adoption has continued to show strong growth with the recent Gartner report estimating a 16% growth in cloud solutions... ( more)
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Seven tips for consumers to ensure safer internet use
by Candice Sutherland, Stalker Hutchinson Admiral
According to statistics from antivirus software provider McAfee's Global Cost of Cybercrime report, cybercrime costs the South African economy about R5,8-billion a year... ( more)
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Does electronic manufacturing need its own forum?
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
An article in EngineerIT of July 2015 highlighted that South Africa has a well-established electronics product development, manufacturing solutions and related services sector... ( more)
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Virtual panel discussion on 3D printing
Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
3D printing is said to be taking off this year. We asked industry experts to explore the pros and cons of this remarkable expanding technology as well as issues such as intellectual property and material challenges... ( more)
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SONA lip service to broadband
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
The President, Jacob Zuma, has again failed to make any meaningful statement in his 2016 State of the Nation address (SONA) about the roll out of broadband. In his 2015 address he said "The year 2015 will mark the beginning of the first phase of broadband rollout... (more)
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Information from Barlow Communications
Expansion of mobile devices, omnipresent connection, internet of things (IoT), appearance of new and persistence of existing threats. All these are significant changes in the area of IT security frequently mentioned by analysts. In the following overview... ( more)
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Industry outrage at unilateral directive ending partial testing by SABS
by Chris Yelland and Pierre Potgieter, EE Publishers
An internal directive by South African Bureau of Standards CEO Dr. Boni Mehlomakulu in 2015 requires that SABS Test House only perform "full testing" in future, and puts an end to "partial testing". This has elicited outrage from a wide range of industry associations... (more)
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Safe operation of a furnace using model predictive control
by Dr. Kevin Brooks, BluESP
Energy efficiency is an important goal for all refinery and chemical complexes. Efficiency should not be achieved at the expense of safety. This article describes the design of a model predictive control (MPC) system for a refinery furnace, which includes an unusual... (more)
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Energy saving with CIP technologies
Information from Endress+Hauser
Recent innovations in technology now enable plant operators to calculate the optimal mix of water, chemicals, temperature and flow required to achieve safety standards while saving at least 20% in energy cost and by reducing the downtime for cleaning by at least 20%... (more)
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IoT enables evolution to a smart manufacturing enterprise
by John Conway, Schneider Electric
The emergence of the industrial internet of things (IIoT) megatrend has created both hope and confusion among for the operation of industrial plants. Much of the early hype is focused on the impact of technological advancements on existing automation platforms... ( more)
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Machine-to-machine gateway: trusted and connected intelligence
by Iain Davidson, Freescale Semiconductor
Measurement in many sectors of the industry has changed dramatically over the years. The large scale introduction of sensor applications has required that robust Machine2Machine communication becomes part of the measurement and instrumentation scene... ( more)
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Improving instrument management and increasing workflow efficiency
Information from Viavi Solutions
It used to be relatively easy to keep field technicians informed about the latest service offerings and make sure that they had the most recent testing features on their instruments. Services were being rolled out at a much slower rate, and most technicians came in... (more)
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The positive impact of supply chain visibility on design-to-cost
Information from Altium
Designers have the greatest impact on product life cycle cost. Deep in a design problem, an engineer may not notice cost blowouts in the bill of materials (BOM) until they click "Report -> bill of materials". Coarse views of the BOM seldom reveal this issue until it's too late... (more)
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Designing PCBs with high-speed constraints: developing constraints
by Patrick Carrier, Mentor Graphics
Today's high-speed busses, such as PCI-Express, DDR2, and Serial ATA, running at frequencies from several hundred megahertz to beyond a gigahertz, make for tight timing margins. Today's fine-geometry silicon makes for fast edge rates... (more)
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Next-generation authentication for security and convenience
Information from Gemalto
The demands for heightened security through the use of multi-factor authentication are pressing, but so is the need to control budgets and give users convenient access to the data and services they need. It is growing increasingly clear that organisations can't meet... (more)
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Open access fibre to the home
by Richard Jones, Ventura Next
South Africa is gripped by a broadband revolution that has people excited about the potential for fibre to the home and the chance to have broadband speeds up to 1 Gbps. If it happens in the near future, it will be the envy of many developed countries... ( more)
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Cyber security - a call for constant vigilance
by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
The notion that with with security software and safety measures taken care of, companies and home users can relax, remains a dream. In today's world, almost everything connected to the internet and technology poses a constant security threat... (more)
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Guide to wireless communication in smart grid deployments
German Fernandez, Belden
A smart grid is a modernised electrical grid that uses automated digital communications technology to gather and act on real-time data about the behaviours of suppliers and consumers, in order to maximise the throughput of the system and improve overall... (more)
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Amateur Radio: WRC15 agrees on 5 MHz amateur allocation
by Hans van de Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, South African Radio League
At the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC15) radio amateurs were allocated a small segment in the 5 MHz band from 5351,5 to 5366,5 kHz on a secondary basis after years of preparation, trials and discussions... (more)
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Compiled by Hans van de Groenendaal, EngineerIT
- A drive for CDs and DVDs
- Design awards for camera designs
- Updated GPS watch
- A Blackberry smartphone powered by Android
- APPS... (more)
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Compiled by Joanne Taylor, EE Publishers
- NewTelco SA extends into Kenya
- Orange to acquire Airtel subsidiaries
- Nairobi metro network completed
- SEACOM, Ciena connect Africa to Asia, Europe and Middle East
- MTC in drive to expand 3G and 4G services in Namibia
- Ivory Coast gets 3000 km fibre-optic network
- Egypt drafts new telecoms legislation... (more)
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Views, Comment and Opinion
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