A data analytics platform created in Portugal by Vodafone and Celfocus is being used by several municipalities to extract knowledge and democratize access to this type of tools, the administrator of Vodafone’s Corporate Business Unit, Henrique Fonseca, told Dinheiro Vivo.
“We have carried out so many of these projects that we recently launched an analytics platform that democratizes access to data for all types of companies, whether large, small or medium-sized”, he described.
The solution allows, for example, to know how many people pass through the door of an establishment in a day, it can help entities decide where to open a store, improve occupancy planning and tourism marketing strategies, or help manage transport routes and logistics.
“Above all, our platform has the great advantage of now democratizing access to this for entities of any size”, said Henrique Fonseca.
The person in charge was speaking about Vodafone Analytics as part of the Vodafone Business Conference, which will take place in Lisbon on November 27th and focus on the hyperconnected world. The platform is being used in municipalities such as Lisbon, Portimão, some in Alentejo and the north of the country, with tourism being a point of great interest. From data analysis, it is possible to determine tourist routes, people’s behavior when they go to events, whether it is worth creating a museum pass or what opportunities exist when cruise ships dock.
The administrator alluded to the interest of other countries in implementing solutions of the type that was launched very recently on the national market and uses anonymized data from Vodafone antennas.
“Some of the innovations here in Portugal, like this one from Vodafone Analytics, are opportunities for our colleagues who are in other countries to come here and learn, understand how certain municipalities or certain private entities are using this data and can then implement them in their countries”, said Henrique Fonseca.
For him, this is an important moment for organizations to understand how they can take advantage of hyperconnectivity and increase productivity, profitability, efficiency and sustainability. There are several technologies in question, with emphasis on IoT (Internet of Things), AI (Artificial Intelligence), machine learning, cloud and 5G, which supports the rest.
“5G plays an absolutely fundamental role here in boosting the use of all these technologies”, highlighted Henrique Fonseca, considering that there is no sector that does not benefit from the technological leap. “We want this digitalization to not merely be about taking your way of working and making that way of working digital, but rather an opportunity for companies to review the way they work, and improve their process.”
An example of this is Transinsular, said the administrator, which installed devices in containers to monitor their location and the integrity of the cargo throughout transport. Another is EDP, which implemented a 5G network at the Castelo do Bode dam and is testing use cases with Vodafone, which include security applications, maintenance, critical drone operations, video analytics and augmented reality.
There is also the recent example of Cimpor, which implemented two private 5G networks at the Alhandra and Loulé factories and has more plans for the northern one.
But Henrique Fonseca also warned of the need to prevent the risks of “always on”. Not just cybersecurity, as connectivity increases exposure, but also poorly thought out implementations.
“If companies digitize processes that are currently poorly defined, they will continue to be poorly defined,” he said. “There must be a concern here so that we are not just doing the digital transcription of physical or analogue routines but rather taking advantage of digitalization to implement processes that are more robust and that seek to increase efficiency and productivity.”