A distributed system is generally defined as a collection of ”entities” software running on computers connected by a communication network and cooperating to perform a task. The field of distributed systems is constantly evolving and can be applied today in very different areas involving a variety of computing devices from the supercomputer to the sensor, via terminals such as laptops and ”Smartphones”. The networks connecting them are also varied and can range from fieldbus to high speed fixed network via wireless local networks. It is therefore not surprising that we find distributed applications as diverse as air traffic control, peer-to-peer data exchange systems, email and grid computing. Distributed systems take an ever more important in today’s world, particularly with the advent of the Internet. The concept of distribution, it is quite old, has no equivalent in computer only recently. Indeed, distribute a task is meaningful only if the different ’entities’ can communicate. It was therefore not until the development of networks (local and large-scale Internet type) to the concept of ’distributed system’ ’is clearly defined and studied. Initially, the architecture used was centralized control on the client-server model. The recent development of massively distributed networks requires algorithm design on a fully distributed model with no centralized control. However, designing a fully distributed protocol is more difficult than giving a solution using centralized control, because it must manage synchronization between the various entities, and, in general, the possible failure of part of the system.
Parallel computing is now used in all areas, simulations of mechanical systems or weather prediction to databases, video on demand servers and search engines such as Google. From an architectural standpoint, parallel computers have evolved from large homogeneous machines PC assemblies (where groups of processors share a memory, these groups being interconnected by fast networks). However, the increasing need for calculation and storage capacity caused the aggregation of resources via local area networks (LAN) or even on a large scale (WAN). Recent advances in networking technology have enabled the use of highly distributed platforms as a single parallel resource, which was called metacomputing or, more recently, the calculation on the grid. Although a huge research effort has recently been made in this area, we believe that many projects have failed to study fundamental problems such as the complexity of problems and algorithms, or as the issue of scheduling. Furthermore, the theoretical results are rarely validated platforms (software) existing. The widespread use of distributed heterogeneous platforms poses two major challenges: the development of environments that facilitate their use (transparent), and the definition and evaluation of new algorithmic approaches for applications that exploit them. In this issue, we focus on the following research questions:
The main areas that form part of our work is autonomic computing, deployment, middleware and grids. More specifically, ways to make adaptive deployment of a middleware that runs on a dynamic environment (changes in the parameters of the middleware and / or those resources). To do this we must propose algorithms / strategies / heuristics able to take the ”right” decisions whenever a situation that requires an adaptation of deployment is detected. These algorithms and strategies, however, must be based on a body of knowledge to make decisions. These skills include the middleware, the target infrastructure, System running, etc. Since it is difficult to work directly on real systems, we are led to use of those models it. Thus, we proposed: (i) a resource model, (ii) a model of hierarchical middleware and (iii) deployment model.
Technological advances and the ever increasing power of embedded systems have opened new paths and research issues in order to offer innovative services in the wireless communication field. In this context, the ad hoc system of mobile sensors is particularly promising. These electronic components, not expensive to buy can capture certain information from its environment, such as odor, heat sources, electromagnetic waves etc. There are thus several types of sensors: pressure sensor, light sensor, biosensor, chemical sensor, acceleration sensor, seismic sensors etc. The sensors can therefore assess: the distance to an object, directions and direction of a moving object, the ambient temperature, chemical products, the intensity of light, vibration, seismic intensity, sound intensity. The sensors may move to support certain applications, such as target detection, intensive calculations while maintaining them in wireless communications, that allow them to cooperate. Thus an ad hoc wireless network of mobile sensors is a distributed system without central control unit or coordination. They work together to find information they send by multi jumps to a center located outside their environment. A large number of sensors deployed in an environment must be able to self-organize. The application issues sensors are enormous. Indeed, the sensors can lead to several practical applications such as:
L’objectif principal est la collecte d’un ensemble de paramètres de l’environnement immédiat des capteurs, tels que la température ou la pression atmosphérique, afin de les acheminer vers des points de traitement (puits de données ou Sink, une station souvent plus éloignée). Par leur réalisme et leur apport concret, les réseaux de capteurs sans fil ont su se démarquer de leur origine ad hoc et attirer un nombre croissant d’industriels et d’organisations civiles où la surveillance et la reconnaissance de phénomènes physiques restent une priorité. La surveillance environnementale (agriculture, eaux, incendies de forêt, pollutions, . . .), médicale (personnes âgées, veille sanitaire dans les troupeaux, . . .), la gestion de crises (séismes, inondations, éruptions volcaniques, glissements de terrains, …), la surveillance de processus et/ou de sites industriels, la domotique, tels sont quelques exemples d’une panoplie vaste et variée d’applications potentielles offertes par les réseaux de capteurs.
So it exudes several research issues such as topology (network partitioning and maintenance of mobility), coordination and communication, mobility models, operational models, localization and target tracking, energy conservation, tolerance mechanisms fault during maintenance clusters) and especially the security of communications and data (Secure multi casting, etc.).
The emergence of small cameras and CMOS MEMS microphones at cost and reduced power, contributed to the development of a new generation of sensors incorporating aspects of multimedia (image, audio, video). Coupled with the flexibility of wireless sensor networks, this media stream intake offers new perspectives of potential applications where the collection of visual and / or acoustic information brings a certain added value: crisis management, intrusion detection , search and rescue operations, counting, environmental monitoring, smart city, tracking / tracking of objects by vision, etc. This capture mode also helps to strengthen the current surveillance applications by a particular perception of phenomena in hostile areas and / or difficult to access. For example the deployment of such a system in a bird nests environment would allow a birdwatcher to observe and study, without human intervention, behavior. This technology allows the transmission of multimedia streams in WSNs, is known as the network patronage of wireless multimedia sensors (Wireless Multimedia Sensor Net- work WMSN or in English). However, the introduction of multimedia aspects for monitoring with a wireless sensor network requires significant efforts to develop appropriate control mechanisms, and at all levels of protocol layers.
Improving lifetime is an important issue that is needed when deploying wireless sensor networks. Indeed, these networks are made by autonomous sensors battery powered it difficult to recharge or replace. The challenge is therefore to ensure the functioning of these systems for several years without any major external intervention. To maximize the life of the wireless sensor networks, we first explored the possibility of introducing several mobile wells. We have proposed two strategies. The first determines the optimal positions on a small scale network and the second based on a heuristic, ensures scalability. We studied the protocol, extended its capabilities to manage mobile wells and proposed a mobility strategy adapted well to extend the life of the network. The main objective of this work is to use redundant nodes in order to optimize energy consumption which also amounts to optimize the lifetime of the network. Initially, propose and implement a centralized mechanism for the distribution of the population of sensors spanning several subsets. Then introduce modules for activation of subassemblies and for the measurement of network coverage (we choose random points considered targets to be monitored).
PI, at Gaston Berger University, from the European Project (ID:101193598-Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2024-VIRT-EXCH): AGRI-MOCKS: Mastering Opportunities-scouting, Career-guidance and key-job Skills in Agriculture. Project financed up to €499,990.96. 36 months.
PI, at Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis Senegal, of the Project funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO): ”Design of a national digital livestock tracking system and training of beneficiaries in Mali and Senegal”. Estimated Project Cost: XOF 36 530 315. 01-07-2024/31-12-2025.
Co-PI of the project funded by the Public Diplomacy Section l’Ambassade des USA à Dakar (University Partnerships Initiative (UPI) - PAS-DKR-NOFO-FY22-02): ”Enhancing Computational Expertise in Senegal – A Partnership between Roux Institute at Northeastern University and Gaston Berger University”. Estimated Project Cost: USD 150,000.00. 01-10-2023 – 30-09-2025.
PI, at Gaston Berger University, from the European Project (ID:101129023-Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE-STRAND-2): MASSTER: Managing (South) African and Senegal Sustainability through Economic-Diversification of Rural-Areas. Project funded to the tune of 800,000.00 €. 01-03-2024/28-02-2027.
PI, , at Gaston Berger University, from the European Project (ID:101082391-Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE-STRAND-3): QADoc: Capacitation for evaluation and quality assurance of doctoral training and research.. Project funded to the tune of €940,328.00. 36 months.
Partenaire, à l’Université Gaston Berger, du Projet Européen (ID:101129279-Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE-STRAND-1) : Elevate HER: Female Research Empowerment and Academic Career Reinforcement in Senegal Higher Education. Project funded to the tune of €399,771.00. 36 months.
Partner, at Gaston Berger University, of the RSIF Junior Investigator Research Award (JIRA) project: Robust and affordable SmartAgri-IoT Technology (Agri-IoT Tech). Project financed up to 80,000.00 €. 01-05-2023/30-04-2025.
Co-PI, at the National Cyber-Infrastructure for Higher Education, Research and Innovation (CINERI), and the Solidarity fund for innovative projects (FSPI): Go-Taouey - Senegal's supercomputer goes into accelerated operation. Project funded to the tune of 96,600.00 €. 12 months.
PI, at Gaston Berger University, from the European Project (ID:101082391 - Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE-STRAND-1): BASIS: Boosting Agricultural Studies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Estimated Project Cost: 399,015,212.00 €. 2023-04-01 - 2026-03-31.
Scientific and Technical Director, at Gaston Berger University, of the European Research Project (ID:101059232 - Call: HORIZON-CL6-2021-FARM2FORK-01): URBANE: One Health approaches to support agroecological transformation of peri-urban farming. Project funded to the tune of €5,015,233.75. 01-07-2022/30-06-2022.
Scientific and Technical Director, at Gaston Berger University, of the European Research Project (ID: 780229 - H2020-ICT-2017-1): WAZIHUB: Accelerating Open IoT and Big Data Innovation in Africa. Project funded to the tune of €2,998,606. 88. 01-05-2018/31-07-2021.
Scientific and Technical Director, at Gaston Berger University, of the European Research Project (ID: 687607 - H2020-ICT-2015): WAZIUP: Open Innovation Platform for IoT-Big Data in Sub-Sahara Africa. Project funded to the tune of €2,799,662. 50. 01-02-2016/31-01-2019.
PI du projet de recherche : Wireless sensor networks in the fight against locust pests. Research project funded by FIRST (Fonds d'Impulsion de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique). Funding of €30,000. 01-06-2013/31-05-2017.
Member of the research project : Wireless sensor networks and RFID technology to combat cattle theft. Research project funded by FIRST (Fonds d'Impulsion de la Recherche Scientifique et Technique). Funding of €25,000. 12-05-2014/12-05-2016.
Partner of the project : Implementation of socio-economic infrastructure for distributed development approach knowledge. Funding Unesco-HP: US Dollar 45,000 on 2010–2012 and AUF 49,600 € on 2012–2013.
Abstract : The General Objective of QADoc is to build capacity for high quality university-based research, so that African countries may be better equipped to drive their own research agendas to address societal challenges. National quality assurance systems are developing across the African continent, deemed highly relevant for regulating the sector, but also to support results-based, quality improvement in African universities. In Francophone Africa, most national QA agencies are very new, and do not yet have the standards, procedures or resources to assess the quality of research and doctoral education, despite high need. In this context, QA Doc will:
The project targets three countries – Senegal, Guinea and the DRC – bringing together ministries for higher education, national QA agencies and two universities per country. Good practices, training and evaluation expertise will be provided by agencies from Portugal and Spain, and additional universities from France. This partnership dynamic will ensure that the standards developed are co-created by government and institutions, drawing from expertise of EU agencies and universities. Pilot evaluations of research and doctoral schools will be conducted in the six partners universities, to test the standards and make recommendations for how they can be upscaled in Africa (Mozambique is associated to the project to this effect).
Abstract : In SSA agriculture and farming are a major source of livelihood contributing with up to 40% of GDP and providing livelihood for over 70% of the population dependent on family farming that employs around 40% of the SAA active workforce. Nevertheless, regional agricultural development potential remains severely underexploited inter alia due to continuous rural – urban migration patterns within the countries, and large population migration flows to bordering countries and Europe. MASSTER project explores venues of support provision to SSA agricultural students and farmers offering innovative educational and training tools, implemented through HEIs greater involvement in community development and whole of society approach within the agricultural/rural development and migration/mobility nexus. The project seeks to offer an effective migration control framework within the targeted countries addressing SDGs sustainability targets in a number of pivotal domains – zero hunger, quality education, decent work and economic growth, and responsible consumption and production through enhanced food security. Specifically, 6 partner HEIs in Senegal and South Africa are supported to address the: a) needs of local farmers to conduct income- generation activities on their farms, b) needs of extension services to provide relevant training (with income-generation potential) for farmers, c) needs of municipalities to better manage economic migrations including from rural areas. In doing so, MASSTER will: analyze risk factors causing migrations and those discouraging them, devising most relevant training programs for income-generation potential of (future) farmers; provide HEIs and extension service with TOT enabling them to jointly perform effective training sessions for farmers and students; support HEIs to develop effective migration management mechanisms also through initiation of a whole of society approach within agriculture and migration nexus.
Abstract : Elevate-HER has been designed with a clear objective which is: to support female researchers’ career development contributing to sustainable growth and jobs in Senegal. More specifically, the project directly addresses the needs for Capacity Building in Senegalese Higher Education Institutions to provide women pursuing or willing to pursue a career in research in STEAM, with the necessary skill sets to guarantee their employability. Women in research face countless challenges: discrimination, unconscious bias, glass ceilings and cliffs, uneven opportunities compare to men. UNESCO’s data from 2021 reveals that only around 30% of the world’s academic researchers are women. However, the situation in Senegal is even worse with this percentage dropping to an alarming 15%. Although the percentage of female researchers in Senegal has been gradually increasing, the proportion remains too low: half of the world’s average in 2022. Senegal needs to implement strong positive action initiatives to catch up with the world trend. Elevate-HER is a National project that aims at supporting Female Researchers in Senegal (FRS) Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), by: i) equipping them with Individual tailor-made Career Development Plans; ii) paving the way for systemic changes at HEI level with the development of Institutional Career Development Programs and the Elevate- HER Gender Support Units. To operationalize this general goal, Elevate-HER breaks down into 2 Specific Objectives (SO): Specific Objective 1 (SO1): To empower female academics and research professionals by providing them with training on soft and digital skills relevant for Research as well as tailor-made mentoring sessions; Specific Objective 2 (SO2): To equip Female Researchers in Senegal with new capacities and tools to facilitate their visibility, access and permanence of women to research careers, providing them with Individual Career Development Plans.
Abstract : According to numerous authors, agriculture and farming are a major source of livelihood in the countries of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), contributing between 15 % and 40 % of the gross domestic product, providing livelihood for over 70% of SSA population through family farming and employing at least 34% of the active workforce with its potential heavily underexploited. One of the reasons are poor connections between tertiary education as the knowledge base and immediate agricultural producers (farms). Furthermore, according to various authors, gender is an important factor in understanding every aspect of agricultural and rural development in SSA. Women are essential to agricultural production but they lack adequate access to land and inputs, they tend to be excluded from decision-making and have less chances of accessing tertiary education, along with so many poverty-stricken individuals coming from remote areas. BASIS addresses the aforementioned issues by introducing interventions in higher education curricula towards a more field-based and competence-oriented knowledge and skills highly valued at the labour market. This will establish lasting and systemic exchange between the tertiary education and smallholder farmers in SSA. Likewise, BASIS introduces mechanisms and measures to increase access to tertiary education for women and poverty-stricken individuals from remote areas, and provide them with more equitable chances of employment and growth. Project outcomes will create opportunities for further innovation and modernization of higher education and agricultural production in SSA, equipping higher education institutions, their staff and students with different social and economic background, as well as smallholders in remote rural areas with essential mechanisms for sustainable advancement and growth.
Abstract : The quest to provide food for the world’s growing population has compelled humankind to encroach on the ecosystem with untoward consequences. Industrial agriculture has failed to feed the world adequately while using up too many of its resources, destroying wetlands & wildlife habitats, increasing the risk of infestation, plagues, and pesticide- resistant pests. The contribution of urban fringe farmers to feeding the teeming populations of cities is often overlooked in the context of sophisticated global supply chains. Today more than half of the planet’s inhabitants live in cities and this is projected to increase. The world-wide migration of rural people to cities is particularly prominent in West Africa. This trend leads to the increased practicing of peri-urban agriculture, supported by: a) the lack of formal jobs and as a means of adding up to household income in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), b) the young generations of farmers are usually not willing to live in remote areas where traditionally farming occurred, c) initial stages of agriculture intensification in LMIC usually involves concentration of production in peri-urban areas.
Key challenge: Even though intensified peri-urban farming has significant advantages of increasing the resilience of food systems, reducing poverty (Sustainable Development Goal-1) and ensuring nutrition security (SDG-2), it also introduces concerns about zoonotic diseases in livestock, sanitary issues from cultivation & livestock-keeping (SDG- 3) and local environmental degradation from use of synthetic agricultural inputs, pollution & deforestation, risks from pesticides residues, antimicrobial resistance and more. Especially in LMIC, the intensification of food systems, as they transition from subsistence to market-oriented production, is typically associated with human health risks.
URBANE is addressing this challenge of sustainable agriculture for food nutrition security, applying a One Health approach for tackling issues related to the application & intensification of peri-urban agriculture, as well as providing the necessary framework for its sustainable & safe application in different contexts. To achieve this, the project will be built around the principles of agroecology. Agroecology, using nature-based solutions encompasses all elements to restore degraded environments, while having significant socioeconomic benefits to ensure resilient & safe food protecting human health. URBANE is building on the extensive experience in agroecology of its partners whilst exploiting friendly tools & methods for measuring the progress & impact of the agroecological transition of farming. The URBANE approach will be demonstrated through 6 case studies in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Benin, Burkina-Faso), while its transferability in other regions will also be studied and facilitated through specific tools. In line with agroecology principles, URBANE will be working in close collaboration with farmers, building on local knowledge, supported by new technologies and best practices applied in European regions where agroecology is already applied in intensified, market-oriented production fields. Policy making (recommendations) is also part of the project to support wider adoption. New/ adapted business models will also be worked out for the URBANE case studies, that will act as lighthouse examples of how such business models can be – with suitable local adaptations informed by local specificities.
Abstract : WAZIHUB (in Swahili for Open-Hub) is an innovation project for Africa aiming to create an OpenHUB of IoT and Big data cutting-edge and African grade solutions, co-designed by African people. The vision of WAZIHUB is to exploit IoT potential and share IoT Technologies best-practices through the involvement of innovation communities and stakeholder (e.g. young entrepreneur (including woman), startup, developer, innovation Hub) from local district, regional, national and African-wide. The project aims to enable the creation of Open Hubs throughout Africa where IoT technology solutions can then be adapted to match local service needs. The project goal is to iterate and extract value from spining-off value-added IoT innovative services (e.g. monitoring, controlling, data analytic) based on the technologies developed in WAZIUP and FiWARE.
WAZIUP is a technology-driven EU-Africa project developing a fully open source (http://www.github.com/waziup) IoT end-to-end (sensors, networking and software) platform (www.waziup.io platform website), specialized to meet African needs in terms of cost, energy, internet connectivity and simplicity. The WAZIUP platform is developed using FIWARE Generic enablers.
WAZIHUB target is to support, at large-scale, innovative users and usage of the above mentioned technologies, with a goal towards the sustainability and wider-impact of the proposed solutions. Sustainability is one of the main concerns of innovation projects therefore the consortium will jointly target finding more and more users around the WAZIHUB and offer a value to them based on their requirements, enabling them to easily tailor existing solutions to their needs.
In order to reach the WAZIHUB vision, the project addresses the following issues:
WAZIHUB also plans to expand the reach and use of WAZIUP technology to Southeast and Southern Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South-Africa, Mozambique) and at the same time to strengthen the activities and the strategic partnership with West Africa (Senegal and Ghana).
General objectives : The Internet of Things is not just a story for the industrialized countries, but it is rather equality relevant for developing countries in Africa. The IoT and big data are driving improvements to human economic conditions and wellbeing in healthcare, water, agriculture, natural resource management, resiliency to climate change and energy.
From our experience in WAZIUP over the past few years, we have seen a lot of interests and early feedback on IoT from African communities and stakeholders. It is clear that the continent is getting ready to adapt IoT in their daily lives and business operations. At the same time, IoT activities are also increasing in different forms through local communities, IoT developer training by Swahili Box in Kenya, e-toll system in South Africa by SANRAL, Smart Africa’s Transform Africa summit and The Internet of Things Africa Summit and Smart Expo.
Different stakeholders are getting involved in active IoT projects on the ground in Africa. These stakeholders include industry members, universities, NGOs, and tech start-ups, each contributing different strengths from capacity building to innovation. Big industries players with experience in IoT like IBM, SAP, Google, Nestle, have established presence in Africa as well.
From technical point of view, the IoT solutions developed by Industrial countries are either too generic or focusing only on industrial market needs. In Africa, there is a need for specialized solutions which addresses fundamental problems like internet and network connectivity, cost of solutions, power requirements, simplicity in terms of deployment and operation, robustness from environment threat, and user-centric design for notification (SMSs, voice, WhatsApp and Facebook) and interaction.
Through our interaction with the average engineers and developers in Africa, they are often good in mobile and web application development but lack the experience, knowledge and capacity on the IoT core technology (e.g. data management, IoT backend, IoT connectivity, data analytic, etc.) to develop a competitive IoT solutions. They often require advanced training so they can develop these kind of solutions.
The internet connection is the major drawback. As a result, developers and engineers have to think of options for IoT without internet. For large-scale systems including hundreds of thousands of sensors, devices and/or readers, high reliability levels are likely to prove important. Cultural context on the ground also matters, and it should be taken into account, along with technical considerations.
One of the main sources of locally developed applications and innovation is the Techno hubs that are springing up across Africa. With the rise of Fablab, makerspace and tech hubs, young and talented Africans are now coming together to collaborate and to use open source tools to develop and prototype their ideas.
Most tech hub members start working on their ideas while in the University. It is in the university that most informal hubs and spaces are created. You will usually find student meeting to work on ideas from class or even final year project. It is interesting to note that some of these ideas grow into start-ups once there is the conducive environment to nurture and support them.
From our experience, one of the key features of the African digital innovation renaissance is that, it is increasingly homegrown. They have the vision to redesign the solutions which already exist in developed market, by Africans for the African market, providing homegrown cost-effective alternatives. In addition, entrepreneurs want to create solutions that are appropriate for their challenges and needs like Kenya’s seamless payment system, M-PESA and Brick.
What is unfolding is a virtuoso system with a “started in Africa” mindset that could potentially remake what Africans buy. This is especially exciting because it empowers people to use their local expertise, know-how and hands-on skills to solve problems that exist in their daily lives. WOELAB is an example of such a Fablab in Lome, Togo (partner of WAZIUP) that inspires makers to use old and waste electronic part to create working products such as locally made 3D printers.
While it is very early to assess the impact, it is already clear that these makers and innovation hub offer a platform for a new economic system that taps into the brainpower of Africans to seed shared prosperity. The problems to solve in the continent are plentiful- clean water, energy, health, and food processing. In addition, there are significant challenges for the African makers, getting people to take them seriously including the government and even their competitor. Also, these hubs need more innovation business model and revenue generation steam. Hence the sustainable uptake of the results and innovation services within the countries became a major issue. This is valid of all innovation project, hub as well as start-up.
Most of the African start-up teams cannot afford to pay someone to develop the competitive solutions for them. For African start-up one main challenges are the go-to-market, often these start-ups need small seed funding to grow and business and technical training. Most of the innovation projects have difficulties to sustain, since they often vanish after the project completion date. We also need to acknowledge that the sustainability is a long-term process. It often needs continuously (external aid) until reach the critical mass and viability, often additional funding, the need to develop and build on local talent, understanding the behavioral response of users and stakeholder ecosystem, innovation partnership, offer clear benefits to users.
Maximizing the benefits of the IoT is likely to require more coordinated action across all sectors, SMEs and industries, telecom operator, ICT regulators, funding agencies, financial agencies, innovation stakeholders working closely with their counterparts in data protection and competition, but also with government and policy makers.
Given the high pervasiveness of the IoT’s impact, it is vital that as more countries introduce policy frameworks, they take into account the various factors and implications of the IoT across different sectors. When all stakeholders are included in active dialogue, the IoT represents a promising opportunity for more coherent policy-making and implementation.
IoT projects require to setup up innovation partnership and risk sharing business model; they also need a local IoT ecosystem at the same time connected with national and international/European IoT ecosystem.
Abstract : The WAZIUP project, namely the Open Innovation Platform for IoT-Big Data in Sub-Saharan Africa is a collaborative research project using cutting edge technology applying IoT and Big Data to improve the working conditions in the rural ecosystem of Sub-Saharan Africa. First, WAZIUP operates by involving farmers and breeders in order to define the platform specifications in focused validation cases. Second, while tackling challenges which are specific to the rural ecosystem, it also engages the flourishing ICT ecosystem in those countries by fostering new tools and good practices, entrepreneurship and start-ups. Aimed at boosting the ICT sector, WAZIUP proposes solutions aiming at long term sustainability.
The consortium of WAZIUP involves 7 partners from 4 African countries and partners from 5 EU countries combining business developers, technology experts and local Africa companies operating in agriculture and ICT. The project involves also regional hubs with the aim to promote the results to the widest base in the region.
General objectives : WAZIUP is a H2020 international cooperation action. The project is driven by a consortium of 5 EU partners and of 7 partners from 4 sub-Saharan African countries. Furthermore, it has support from multiple African stakeholders with the aim of defining new innovation space to advance the African Rural Economy. It will do so by involving end-users communities in the loop, namely rural African communities of selected pilots, and by involving relevant public bodies in the project development. WAZIUP will accelerate innovation in Africa by coupling with current EU innovation in the sector of IoT and Big Data: this EU technology will be specialized to generate African cost effective technologies with an eye to preparing the playground to the future technological waves by solving concrete current needs. WAZIUP will deliver a communication and big data application platform and generate locally the know how by training by use case and examples. The use of standards will help to create an interoperable platform, fully open source, oriented to radically new paradigms for innovative application/services delivery. WAZIUP is driven by the following objectives:
In order to achieve the above aims, a strong dissemination and exploitation effort of the project will be dedicated to a) strengthening linkages of end-users with industries, b) engage innovation space and living labs to accelerate innovation coaching/training/start-up activities (e.g., community-driven development paradigms), c) promote value- addition to business outputs, d) challenge the value-chain of African agribusiness through technology for value increase.
The proposed solutions will be tested for a set of real-life use cases covering several countries. At higher level, WAZIUP will implement a regional innovation platform, where SMEs could continue to develop/plug-in solutions using the technical elements and the open data provided in the project. The ultimate target is to create large African industries, SMEs ecosystem, and induce a network- effect.
The above objectives require tackling several challenges which we enlist below:
Pests pose a significant threat to agriculture and environmental health in many parts of the world. In particular, in sub-Saharan West Africa, locust invasions do not spare any crops. The losses are then estimated at tens of thousands of tons of crop per day. Also the material, human and environmental damage is considerable. The control of these insect pests is therefore a very important issue for food security in these African countries, which are labelled poor and have difficulty ensuring food self-sufficiency. Current pest control methods are based on the analysis of data acquired in gregarious areas via satellites and weather stations, often deployed in insufficient numbers. Scientific advances and technological innovations in wireless communication systems on the one hand and sensors on the other hand over the last decade can help to solve the problems that are jeopardizing the agricultural take-off of the countries concerned.
The objective of this project is to contribute to the development of instrumentation, monitoring and warning strategies and methods to improve traditional pest control methods. To this end, a system of research collaboration on these issues, bringing together several skills distributed among UFRs, has been set up.
Protecting crops and conserving crops is one of man's major concerns as agriculture becomes a means of subsistence for him. The evolution of communities has subsequently amplified, among other things, the natural phenomena of competition between humans and other consuming living beings. The recent intensification of agricultural production systems through the near application of monoculture and the use of new high-yielding varieties to increase rents, favours the selection of the most suitable pests and diseases for increasingly artificial conditions, while at the same time, the spread of chemical control is causing resistance phenomena and also harmful repercussions for consumers (accumulation of pesticide residues in the body). In addition, the opening of the market and the liberalization of imports of seeds and plants that we are currently witnessing, favours the unfortunate introductions of new parasites and pests. Desert locusts are a major threat to agriculture in many parts of the world.
Several international and scientific organizations are mobilized to monitor the migration of these insects and provide assistance to countries affected by this scourge. Monitoring systems are already in place, but most of them are manual.
Then, an alert is sent for the deployment of survey teams from national locust control centres in the field to count the locust population and send a report. The locust population in an area helps to prevent the risk of invasion.
There is a problem in the data acquisition method which is manual and the reliability of the information received via satellites and weather stations depends on factors such as rainfall and vegetation and also some areas are difficult to access.
Scientific advances and technological innovations in wireless communication systems on the one hand and sensors on the other hand over the last decade can help to solve the problems that are jeopardizing the agricultural take-off of the countries concerned.
Wireless sensor networks are a new class of distributed systems that are an integral part of the physical space in which they are deployed. They cover a wide range of applications from environmental protection to military applications, including medicine and home automation. These nodes are able to capture temperature, pressure, sound and collaboratively route raw data to a processing centre.
It must be said that in the past, wireless sensor networks have never been used for locust control in Senegal, and so it is a real challenge that we propose to take up.
Agriculture is the backbone of any country's economy and there is a strong correlation between agricultural growth and economic prosperity. In Senegal, the agricultural sector employs about 70% of the population, but with a share in GDP that is steadily decreasing and corresponding to less than 20%. The main factors explaining this poor performance of the Senegalese primary sector are the decrease in rainfall and the fact that this activity is still quite rudimentary. Seed quality is also a major obstacle to quality production. The new public policies put in place to boost the Senegalese economy, notably through the Emerging Senegal Plan (ESP), continue to give a crucial place to agriculture.
To support this dynamic, particularly for small producers, who constitute the large mass of the active population in this sector, we need to modernise our agriculture by integrating new and effective technologies that make it possible to continuously improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of our main operating systems. Thus, we believe that wireless sensor networks, coupled with monitoring and control software, can be used as powerful tools for precision agriculture and to contribute to food security. In this project, it is a question of setting up such a system that we will use it on the one hand for irrigation management; then, we will apply it to storage management, both for seeds and crop products, to contribute to good crop preservation but also to food security.
A wireless sensor network is an ad hoc network with a large number of nodes that are micro-sensors capable of collecting and transmitting environmental data autonomously. The use of wireless sensor networks is essential for the implementation of information and control technologies in precision agriculture. We present our design of this project for such an application where sensor nodes regularly collect data from fixed locations in a field or storage space.
Irrigation procedures are based on the farmer's experience, soil properties and environmental conditions that are affected by regular changes during production. Wireless sensor networks are a solution for monitoring environmental conditions and efficient water use. In this project, an effective irrigation management system will be put in place for crops to improve yield. We will use a network of wireless sensors to obtain soil properties and environmental data on an ongoing basis. The irrigation schedule for crops is planned according to their requirements, which is based on data obtained from sensors deployed at different locations. The irrigation management system studies the data to identify deficient (poor) water locations and informs farmers about them through an alert or text message sent to the local network.
The overall objective of this research project is to propose a solution based on low-cost sensor networks to achieve precision agriculture. For this purpose, a system of research collaboration on these issues, bringing together several skills distributed among UFRs, has been set up.
L’élevage du bétail se caractérise au Sénégal par des mouvements nomades de personnes avec leur bétail sur des terrains vastes et hostiles avec une infrastructure de communication insuffisante voire inexistante. Le vol de bétail a causé des ravages et a été la principale source de conflit et d’instabilité. Aucun mécanisme adéquat n’est mis en place pour faciliter l’identification, le repérage et la récupération des animaux volés.
L’idée est d’utiliser de manière conjointe la technologie des capteurs sans fil et celle des RFID pour créer une plateforme mixte de lutte contre le vol du bétail.
Les capteurs permettent de collecter et de relayer l’information — observation de phénomènes physiques tels que la position, données biologiques, etc. — vers un site de traitement via l’Internet ou un réseau de téléphonie ou encore un réseau satellitaire.
Les capteurs sont connectés en permanence sur le réseau de téléphonie mobile pour transmettre une vue des données en temps réel, en utilisant des services SMS ou GPRS. Ces données pourront être stockées sur un Système d’Information et de Gestion permettant de localiser le bétail n’importe où à travers le territoire national ou à défaut signaler la dernière d’un troupeau donné sur le territoire pour les cas de sorties du pays. Comme alternative au réseau des opérateurs téléphoniques classiques, nous étudierons également la possibilité d’utiliser le réseau WIMAX de l’Intranet gouvernemental, qui offre une assez bonne couverture sur l’étendue du territoire, comme canal de transmission des données vers le serveur central.
Le réseau de capteurs que nous souhaitons construire à travers le Sénégal sera basé sur l’infrastructure physique de la SENELEC pour l’alimentation des nœuds capteurs et éventuellement la retransmission des données grâce à la technologie CPL. En effet, celle-ci dispose d’un important dispositif avec ses poteaux électriques à haute tension sur toute l’étendue du territoire. Le réseau de transport de la SENELEC comprend un réseau national et un réseau supranational. Le réseau national est constitué de 327,5 kms de lignes 90 kV et le réseau supranational comprend les 945 kms de la ligne 225 kV Manantali – Matam – Dagana – Sakal – Tobène.
Le principe de notre solution est le suivant :
les éleveurs vont identifier leur bétail et acquérir quelques puces RFID à mettre sur certaines bêtes de leur troupeau (il n’est pas nécessaire d’en doter à tous, mais juste un sur dix) ;
lorsqu’un vol a lieu, l’éleveur envoie un SMS à notre système pour signaler le vol en donnant la référence de son bétail ;
le système, à travers son réseau de capteur, identifie l’endroit où se trouve le troupeau en question et transmet les coordonnées GPS à la gendarmerie ou autres services compétents. Et en cas de sortie du territoire nationale, nous collecterons la dernière localisation du troupeau afin d’identifier le pays vers lequel il est dirigé grâce à des relevés GPS.
Notre plateforme ainsi mise en place permet en premier lieu de lutter efficacement contre le vol du bétail mais offre également d’énormes possibilités pour le suivi sanitaire des animaux.
