Telecommunications giant MTN’s 2018 Business Internet of Things (IoT) conference and awards showcased the “next generation of IoT trailblazers”, with several companies walking away with honours for their innovations in the IoT space.

Mine RP and FlowCentric scooped the 2018 MTN Business IoT Solution of the Year Award for its Digital Twin Mine Management solution.

The duo will travel to Silicon Valley later this year as part of the R200 000 grand prize.

The industrial IoT system provides data and context to build a complete picture of the mining environment, incorporating sensors to monitor factors such as air flow, temperature, and gas and smoke levels within a mine.

The Digital Twin Mine Management solution, which allows for virtual reality walk-throughs of a mine’s digital twin for a complete view of an area, also won in the Best Industry 4.0 Solution category.

Mine RP and FlowCentric follow in the footsteps of Pretoria-based IoT.nxt, which has made significant strides in the IoT space since taking top honours last year.

IoT.nxt developed a technology-agnostic platform that allows companies to seamlessly integrate their information technology platforms with IoT devices. The company secured about R100-million in funding for business expansion.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Best Commercial IoT Solution was Marc1-POS, a cloud-based point-of-sale solution with integrated location analytics to track foot traffic and repeat customers to deliver insights into the customer loyalty and capture rate, and predict future customer patterns.

The Most Disruptive IoT Solution Award went to Technovera’s Pelebox Smart Lockers, which are chronic medication dispensers equipped with cameras, motion detectors for tamper resistance, digital temperature controls and sensors to track door status.

The system sends an SMS and one-time PIN to a patient once a prescription is ready for collection.

The Best Enterprise Development Solution award went to Fiyela’s IoT Broom, which enables municipal street sweepers to report illegal dumping, leaking pipes and emergencies, besides others, through a device tagging the GPS location.

Lastly, the winner of the Innovative Hardware in IoT award was Sensorit.io’s by Sensorit, an advanced driver-assistance system technology that uses blockchain technology and artificial intelligence to make driving safer and better.