The mobile evolution revolution
Mobile may be the word of the decade, but what it means has been redefined as apps and capabilities evolve
Mobile platforms have become content cons u mp t i o n ma c h i n e s , says a recent PwC report. Every month more than half of the 100-billion searches on Google in the US are accessed on a tablet or a smartphone, as well as 60% of all digital media. The mobile device has become a portable companion that delivers connectivity, communication, entertainment and information. And innovation is running alongside, inspiring change and introducing new ways of doing old things.
Clifford de Wit, chief innovation officer, Microsoft, says: “A new form of mobile is coming into play as these devices are now seen as entire platforms. One of the biggest trends is the use of the cloud as developers do interesting things with the power of cloud computing and mobile apps, such as sentiment analysis.”
South Africa has had its challenges around the cost of data, infrastructure and talent, all impacting on growth and innovation. However, things are changing and the country is on the edge of a mobile explosion.
“We already have deep pools of tech talent and the reduction in the cost of smartphones and mobile data will energise this latent talent pool,” says Nadir Khamissa, chief executive of Hello Group. “Thus far, SA’s high income consumers have primarily used mobile services and apps developed by US tech giants, but as uptake increases in lower socioeconomic groups, localised apps will gain traction.”
There has been a big focus on native app development and many startups, entrepreneurs and enterprises are paying attention to what the market wants, and to solutions that can change lives for the better. Slowly overcoming the challenges around limited demand and resistance to risk.
“The inertia, fear and unintended consequences of reward systems within companies — the dreaded KPIs [key performance indicators] — aren’t geared toward scaling i nnovations,” says Glenn Gillis, managing director of Sea Monster, which has developed augmented reality apps. “Clients tend to take the word solution too literally. Their internal processes are imperfect, and sometimes think that slapping an app onto this will solve the problem. In reality, a mobile solution can only be as good as the business processes that support it.”
One of the areas where this is very true is in the financial space, where solutions such as M-PESA in Kenya have become runaway successes as they allow access and security to a largely rural population. Standard Bank has recently released an animated banking app for children. The Standard Bank Kidz Banking App offers up lessons in finance which are much needed in a country that battles with long-term savings.
“With smartphones and tablets a common tool available to children, the time has come to open the digital doors to possibilities that these devices offer for teaching essential life skills,” says Vuyo Mpako, head of digital channels and e-commerce, Standard Bank.
Dennis Lamberti, co-founder, Media Works, agrees: “E-learning is the next big thing for mobile, there is a huge need for learning material where learning can happen at the convenience of the student.”
Inventive ideas when it comes to mobile are not in short local supply. The app GWK Intel gives farmers and shareholders access to customised market information on agriculture futures commodities from any webenabled device. Lumkani is an app that has taken community fire prevention to the next level, integrating with government and municipal services, and Bloodhound uses a mobile device to track workforce and productivity to prove service delivery. Of course, mobile innovation is not lim- ited to local, as lekker as that may be, and there are exciting developments on the horizon.
“Pilira Mwambala, head of programmatic advertising, Mark1, concludes: “The most innovative apps at the moment are the Gear VR Oculus, Google Cardboard and the new Google Daydream ecosystem launching in November. It’s an exciting time, as Augmented and Virtual Reality take hold. Soon we’ll be able to immerse ourselves in the things we love.”