DataSoft plans big on tech solutions

The 'internet of things' or IoT can increase efficiency in manufacturing, beef up security and make life easier, said an international expert on the matter.

For instance, fire-related accidents in the garment sector in Bangladesh can drop 90 percent if the system can be monitored through the IoT, said Michael Wang, a professor at Columbia University in the US.

The IoT is the proposed development of the internet in which everyday objects have network connectivity, allowing them to send and receive data.

“Most of the devices are now connected with the internet. Garment factory owners can monitor the whole system from their offices or houses by installing a smart chip. During emergencies they can take precaution,” Wang told The Daily Star in an interview yesterday.

Wang is now in Bangladesh to help establish the country's first IoT lab at the capital's Shyamoli.

DataSoft, a renowned Bangla-deshi software company, is establishing the lab, where around 300 students will take degrees on the IoT system in a four-month course.

Already 30 students from different public and private universities are taking lessons and trying to find out solutions to different problems of Dhaka city in the state-of-the-art IoT lab.

The lab is a result of collaboration between the US, Japan and Bangladesh.

It will be formally inaugurated today by ICT State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak. US Ambassador Marcia Bernicat will also be present.  

After completing the course, most of the participants will be absorbed by DataSoft. Some may opt to become start-up entrepreneurs or join other companies.

Wang, who formulated the course curriculum of IoT at Columbia University, said the students are extraordinary and their motivation level is very high.

“Now students are trying to find out smart solutions to different real life problems confronting Dhaka city.”

The infrastructure is readily available for using IoT but the challenge lies in finding its best use.

“In the lab, students are trying to find out a solution to the traffic congestion in Dhaka, and I am quite hopeful they will find one.”

The class is also trying to find out how garbage collection and factory production can be more efficient, he said. “If we can use the IoT for productivity, it will increase efficiency and create new opportunities for doing business,” he said, adding that people must remember the IoT cannot give solutions to all their problems.

But he said the IoT can be an important problem-solver in developing and emerging markets, as it has already flourished in the developed markets.

One of the parts of the IoT is making smart homes apart from industry and security systems. It can be helpful in providing the city dwellers with a safer place to live in.

For instance, the majority of the Dhaka residents use gas stoves, and sometimes it creates problem if there is any leakage in the gas supply or if house owners forget to turn off the stove.

“But with the IoT, wifi-connected gas sensor can monitor gas leakage and automatically turn off the stoves.”

The same thing can happen in case of other smart home appliances connected to the internet, he said, adding that by 2020 the volume of devices connected to the internet will be 15 billion across the globe, which will be much higher than the number of humans then.