19 Feb 2025

The government is committed to extending the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure to enable innovators, throughout the nation, to have access to requisite digital tools and resources.

Officiating at the launch of the IoT Communications in Gaborone recently, the Ministry of Communications and Innovation’s Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS), Mr Ambrose Makgonatsotlhe said government was developing the artificial intelligence, digital economy and digital and cloud computing policies to become a desirable destination for technology investment and start-up establishment.

“We also prioritise to support the leading skills in driving the development of innovation-driven enterprises. As a nation, we recognise that to remain competitive, in the ever-evolving global landscape, we must embrace solutions that enhance efficiency and improve service delivery and create opportunities for our people,” he added.

Mr Makgonatsotlhe expressed delight that launching of IoT Communications, which is a Digital Facilities Management (DFM) solution designed to streamline, enhance and optimise facilities maintenance, marked the initialisation of IoT Communications under Botswana Digital and Innovation Act.

The DFM solution, he said, was aligned to the country’s digital transformation agenda.
IoT Communications launch, he said, was a clear demonstration on how innovation, with nurture and support, could translate into tangible business objectives, leading to successful job creation and economic empowerment.

He said commercialisation required an environment that would back investment and grow innovation.

Mr Makgonatsotlhe said the love of Internet and smart technologies on the longer lines of investment were essential.

“Whether it was making business more efficient or helping industries embrace the digital solution, IoT Communications is creating opportunities that will put Botswana into the global technology space,” he added.

Mr Makgonatsotlhe said IoT Communications was a shining example of what was possible where there was commitment and dedication to achieve noticeable innovative objectives.

Therefore, he thanked BDIH for serving as a voucher of businesses that were leveraging technologies to solve their world challenges, through the innovation programme, acceleration programme, commercialisation, funding opportunities and the start-up telecom machine.

In today’s fast-growing and evolving digital economy era, Mr Makgonatsotlhe said, innovation was the first step in the development of digital technology, commending IoT Communications for pioneering the country’s digital future, by showing ingenuity and problem-solving capabilities of local innovators.

In his welcome remarks, Botswana Digital Innovation Hub(BDIH)’s board member, Mr Thabo Molefe, said the launch marked a prime moment for IoT Communications and everyone who believed in the role that innovative solutions played in transforming the lives and businesses.

“At BDIH, we are incredibly proud to have played a part in the development. Our role has been to support and nurture innovative ideas, such as the one from IoT Communications and to provide the platform with all the information we may want to provide,” he said.

Mr Molefe also expressed delight that IoT Communications had shown resilience and an enhanced commitment to turning their mission into reality. BDIH’s involvement in funding the work of IoT Communications, he said, emphasised the need for continuing investment into innovation-driven ventures.

“I would like to assure you all that BDIH, in the name of IoT Communications, will return to the government ambitious goal to transform innovation ecosystem. Our goal is that institutional investors, venture capitalists, financial institutions could provide additional funding to this project in order for them to actually succeed and realise commercial value,” he added.

For his part, IoT Communications Founder and Managing Director, Mr Mompoloki Pule, said the company was kick-started in 2018 through personal finances, amounting to P150 000, to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).

To further develop the MVP, and turn it into a market-rated product, Mr Pule who is also the Lead Network Engineer, said the company secured funding from Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA), which was around P300 000.

“Later on, we secured more funding from the Ghana Digital Innovation Hub, through the Botswana Innovation Fund, which was about P1 billion. This fund was used to scale and measure our perfect offering, or our solution, through our development of follow-up,” he said.

He added: “Our solution is impactful in the sense that it is aligned with Botswana’s digital trends and our innovation agenda. It has been able to; create massive employment opportunities for youth, help conserve workers and also lower our inflationary and operational maintenance costs, thereby delivering a very fruitful return on investment.”

He thanked the BDIH for its incubation and its financial support of P1 million, through the Botswana Innovation Fund and also encouraged other innovators to also take advantage of the opportunity to further develop their products and take them to the market.

Giving a brief summary of technical aspect of the solution, IoT Communications technical director and lead software developer, Dr Kabo Pule, said the company was aimed at helping businesses optimise operations through cutting-edge reliable and affordable ICT solutions.

This solution, Dr Pule said had three different components or three different layers, being the; IoT device, IoT network and the application layer called the Global System for Mobile layer.

The IoT device, he said, was equipped with measuring, processing and communication capabilities, designed to monitor and control certain parameters of the building environment and send the data to the Internet, while the IoT network facilitated or managed IoT devices to allow the data that was collected by the device to be sent to the Internet.

The last component in the system, being the DFM platform, he said, was a web and mobile application that allowed centralised management of all potential projects. ENDS