[September 17/2022, Bahir Dar - FECE/BiT]
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The Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Bahir Dar Institute of Technology, Bahir Dar University, hosted the first Internet of Things National Workshop, with the motto "Digitalizing the Nation with IoT." In his opening remarks, Dr. Bimrew Tamirat, Scientific Director of BiT, thanked the faculty for organizing this workshop. He stated that such emerging technologies enable us to transform a physical world into a digital world in which we can control daily activities from the comfort of our own homes.
Tewodros Gera, Assistant Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, then provided an overview of the faculty. According to his presentation, the faculty of electrical and computer engineering began with the establishment of the institute, and today the faculty runs three undergraduate, eleven Msc, and six PhD programs in regular, extension, and weekend formats. Furthermore, he stated that the faculty is working by focusing on practical oriented course delivery with its 18 laboratories on teaching learning, projects, and researches. He concluded his presentation by declaring as the faculty has been working strongly with local industries, national and international companies, and institutes to improve its contribution.
Following that, Dr. Dereje Yohannes, associate professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, and lead consultant for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa's (UNECA) Technology and Innovation division, gave a presentation on IoT in agriculture: Technology use case for smart/precision farming. The basic architecture and application areas of IoT, particularly the role of IoT in smart farming, were skimmed in his presentation. According to his smart farming presentation, IoT can provide lower production risk, cost management and waste reduction, improved product quality and volume, efficient crop growth control, and livestock health monitoring, among other benefits. In addition, factors to consider, as well as challenges and recommendations in IoT, were discussed during his presentation.
Salahadin Seid Musa, a Ph.D. candidate in the Sandwich Program between Addis Ababa University and ICTP (Italy), then gave a presentation on Convergence of Multi-RAT networks and edge, intelligence for Internet of Vehicle (IoV); Challenges and Future Directions. According to him, the deployment of IoV enables better informed, safer, more coordinated, and smarter use of road networks.
Following that, Adugna Necho, PhD candidate in Computer Engineering at BiT, presented on IoT architectures, platforms, tools, and trends, and Eniyachew Tamir, also a PhD candidate in Computer Engineering at BiT, delivered a presentation on the device edge, cloud continuum technology, deployment model, and progress of IoT, and challenges.
This national workshop also included a discussion session, poster presentation on the faculty's work in this area, and recognition of the invited presenters.
Finally, Dr. Bimrew Tamirat concluded the session with a speech in which he strongly encouraged the faculty to expand their involvement in such areas, citing the importance of emerging technologies like IoT in digitizing the world. He also stated as deploying such emerging technologies is a critical way to keep up with the current digitization phase of the world.
