In South Africa, 1,500 participants are expected to attend the 5th Smarter Mobility Africa Summit, which opens on 1 October 2023 in the province of Gauteng, renowned for its efficient rail and road networks.
From 1 to 4 October 2023, African digital and transport specialists will be meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the Smarter Mobility Africa Summit. Now in its fifth year, the event will be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre, home to the Pan-African Parliament. It will be an opportunity for elected representatives to make the case for accelerating inclusive, ecological and sustainable mobility on the continent.
During the three days of discussions, participants will explore technological advances, in particular new solutions from start-ups combining artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). This will inspire visitors and economic operators from countries where air pollution and the digital divide are at their highest at the moment.
“It’s all about significantly reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to improve air quality and energy efficiency. Smarter mobility also promotes equitable access to transport, contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on poverty reduction (SDG1), improved health and well-being (SDG3), and sustainable cities and communities (SDG11),” says Vuka Group, the consultancy that has been organising the African Smart Mobility Summit since 2019.
In concrete terms, sensors, radars, cameras, GPS and other software can, for example, warn drivers of the location and number of spaces available in a car park, and automatically guide pedestrians in the event of traffic light failure or a traffic accident. These are all facilities that contribute to better organisation of traffic and even to the decarbonisation of transport systems.
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Cities such as Oslo in Norway and Barcelona in Spain have already made their mark in this area. They may soon be caught up by Casablanca, where software is taking control of road traffic. In 2016, for example, the Moroccan business capital installed an urban surveillance system comprising 760 cameras connected to 220 kilometres of optical fibre…
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Benoit-Ivan Wansi
