The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has proved to be a hotbed of innovation and progression across a wide variety of industries… a drive for new-age engineering that has been particularly felt in the field of ‘smart city’ development.
Latest moves in the UAE see a number of technology companies and telecom operators now working together to advance Internet of Things (IoT)-level software applications that will implement light fidelity (LiFi) technology.
What is LiFi?
LiFi itself is a wireless optical networking technology that provides high-speed data transmission advantages that could be especially useful in smart city developments. LiFi makes use of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that are fitted with a chip to make data transmission possible between the LED bulbs and pre-programmed photoreceptors.
Implementation of LiFi will involve an additional layer of software management intelligence and Dubai based telecoms operator du is said to be implementing a new degree of enterprise mobility management (EMM) technologies in line with these developmemts.
“We live in a digital era which is increasingly mobile and where every device needs to be managed,” said Hany Fahmy Aly, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Business, du. “At du, we understand that companies need to be able to grow and adapt to match their employees needs with the rapidly changing landscape of technology, so we are offering tailored solutions for enterprises to grow securely and efficiently. With our EMM solutions, we help businesses become more agile and productive. We are making the promise of mobility in the enterprise a reality.”
Another reason LiFi could work so well in smart cities is that it uses Visible Light Spectrum (VLS) technologies which are ‘immune’ to interference from radio waves.
Electromagnetic smog
VLS is also lauded for its ability therefore to reduce so-called electromagnetic smog.
This cleanliness could, very arguably, help LiFi be more successfully installed in IoT centric smart city environments that carry a danger factor such as oil refineries and and petrochemical facilities.
Mr Saleem AlBlooshi, executive vice-president of network development and operations at du has spoken openly about his enthusiasm for LiFi and how his firm is now working hard to finesse (and ultimately implement) custom tailored solutions in this area.