The Internet of Things (IoT) and AI in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges | Idy Diop
Schedule
Thu Oct 16 2025 at 01:00 pm to 02:00 pm
UTC+02:00Location
Humanities Building, University of Cape Town, University Avenue South, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, 7700 Cape Town, South Africa | Cape Town, WC
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Register for online participation: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/11c70e2b-0b19-4317-938c-d6dfae6d9600@92454335-564e-4ccf-b0b0-24445b8c03f7The convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing the healthcare sector by enabling real-time data collection, intelligent decision-making, and personalized patient care. IoT devices, such as wearable sensors, smart medical equipment, and remote monitoring systems, generate large amounts of physiological and behavioral data. Combined with AI algorithms, particularly in the fields of machine learning, deep learning, and natural language processing, this data can be analyzed to detect anomalies, predict the onset of disease, optimize treatment plans, and facilitate clinical decision-making. This integrated approach improves early diagnosis, optimizes chronic disease management, and enables more efficient use of healthcare resources, particularly in environments where these are limited. However, challenges remain in terms of data privacy, system interoperability, and ethical governance. This presentation will review some basic definitions of these technologies, explore the many opportunities, and, above all, the challenges of using IoT and AI in healthcare. We will emphasize their transformative potential in early detection and diagnosis based on models such as deep learning for certain pathologies such as mycetoma in dermatology and strabismus in ophthalmology in an African context.
About the speaker: Idy Diop is a Visiting Research Fellow at HUMA and a Full Professor of signal processing, image processing, and digital communication (error correcting codes) at the École Supérieure Polytechnique (ESP) of Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar, Senegal. As a member of the Scientific and Pedagogical Committee (CSP), he is the Scientific Secretary of the Doctoral School of Mathematics and Computer Science (EDMI) at UCAD and was a member of the technical committee that oversaw the design and construction of Senegal's first satellite (GaindeSat). His research topics focus on image processing, IoT, artificial intelligence, security, error correcting and applications. His areas of study include the application of information and communication technologies in the medical field (secure e-health systems, medical diagnostic assistance systems in dermatologys, ophthalmology using AI, etc.), the use of AI in agriculture (crop diseases, production estimates for mangoes, onions, etc.), the use of AI in water management, and security (stenography, steganography, critical infrastructure protection, physical security, digital investigation, etc.).
Idy is a consultant and evaluator for several research projects focusing on AI in the medical field, notably with African Center for Technology Studies (ACTS) in Nairobi, Kenya and Lacuna Fund. He is a member of several research associations at both the national (Association of Computer Science and Applications Researchers of Senegal) and international levels (AI4D research network set up as part of the AI4D scholarship program coordinated by ACTS). He is also an associate researcher at several research organizations at both the national and international levels, including the Mathematical and Computer Modeling of Complex Systems Unit (UMMISCO UCAD), where he is the head of the Fablab set up in Dakar.
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Where is it happening?
Humanities Building, University of Cape Town, University Avenue South, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, 7700 Cape Town, South Africa, Cape Town, South AfricaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
