GEC NEWS WIREIn a bid to revamp the country´s networking landscape, Zero.1 ushers in a new dawn of connectivity with LiFi. Marc Fleschen, CEO of Zero.1 in an exclusive interview with EC MEA states that the country is ready to leapfrog legacy WiFi platforms and is ready to realize its dream of becoming a ´Smarter City´.
Zero.1 is at the heart of pushing the endless capabilities of IoT to further heights. With IOTA (Intelligent Outdoor Tower Automation) product range, the company is creating a LiFi enabled platform that adds extra layer of networking intelligence and communication to the LED street lights.
How was Zero.1 conceptualized and what is it about?
Theoretically the company originated 3 years ago, but we started operations in February 2016. The company stems from the belief that the market has actually moved on to the services platform and we are here to offer the combined strengths of hardware and software with our LiFi platform. LiFi is the fastest and cheapest wireless communication system and is the optical version of WIFI. So, the whole idea of conceptualizing Zero.1 was to commercialize LiFi solutions and services. We provide LiFi management solutions combining hardware and software, together with cloud platforms, to a variety of different sectors including road and transport, telecommunication, and Smart City authorities
What are the technologies Zero.1 is bringing to limelight?
LiFi is our key technology offering. In order to bring the technology to life, we created a LED street light. The idea is to use LiFi to transfer geo-positioning, location based services. We have created a street light which is called IOTA- it is a smart street light, we have included LiFi as a communication system with a specific component inside so that you can interact with the cloud platform to manage the device and software for a mobile phone which you can connect to a street light. We strongly believe that smart city starts with connection between the city and the people. Smart street lights are a major component of it as streets form an integral part of any city. We wanted our street lights to be like a bridge between citizens and cities and LiFi would using the mobile phones, having access to very localized information and use the street lights to ensure connectivity.
We are also in the final stages of developing the HEALTHCARE4U, a revolutionary management system for the healthcare sector.
How has the adoption of LiFi been in the region? Did you come across any major obstacles?
Dubai has always been a technology ready region and we did not see any particular challenge while implementing or taking the solution to the decision makers. On the contrary, we could easily skip the solution description part as the decision makers were well equipped with the knowledge of the product and they had a clearer vision of where they would need the technology to be implemented. One of the major point was that people, here, are eager to experience new technologies and LiFi gave them a perfect platform to enjoy a unique kind of technology that has minimal carbon footprint.
As you are still establishing your position in the market, what kind of partners do you look forward to work with?
We are working closely with du in the UAE. The solutions are deployed and taken to the customer through our service partner du. We provide the solution and they provide the implementation. We are also in conversation with key retailers and museums in Dubai and will be announced soon.
