ORLANDO    – AFRICA’S prevailing challenges such as disaster  management, service delivery issues and inaccurate weather forecasts can  be averted if governments and the private sector embrace new innovations.

This is according to experts from the leading global software corporation, Systems Applications Products (SAP), who add that even pressing issues such as traffic congestion, which is a nightmare in many African  metropolis, could be addressed.

Officials said the solution lay in the cloud, mainly the SAP Cloud for  Analytics, which combines planning, business intelligence, and predictive analytics in a single cloud-based solution.

In an interview with CAJ News on Tuesday in Orlando, Florida, United States of America, SAP expert in charge of Cloud for Analytics, Christian  Dlumhoff, highlighted the impact of such a solution- from the newsroom to  sport, an industry is followed as a religion in Germany, where SAP is  headquartered and around the world.

“When you have such solutions, you plan well on how to execute the  newspaper between editorial and advertising departments,” he said.

“In football, such innovations assist predict traffic jams on the roads leading to the stadiums. The application also predicts whether fans will  delay watching the match due to chaos, traffic jam or hooliganism.

“When such predictions are correctly executed, you reroute the fans,” Dlumhoff said.

Recently-crowned German champions, Bayern Munich, one of the world’s most  popular side, have adopted the SAP Cloud for Analytics.

“This is the application Germany’s biggest football club, Buyern Munich, has embraced to minimize its troubles at the same time enhancing its  positive image as the best run football team in the country,” said  Dlumhoff.

He said the application can also be used by state security agencies to  predict crime before it occurred, enabling personnel nip it in the bud.

Dlumhoff highlighted the case of football where all roads mostly leading  to derby matches are usually jam-packed.

This, he said, could be avoided when football teams and local  municipalities use such solutions aimed at making life easier for other road users who were not attending the matches.

“This is a win-win-solution for all right from football fans unwilling to  be delayed on traffic while other motorists with nothing to do with  football can always drive uninterrupted by such traffic jams.

“The solution always analyses congested roads ahead and provides accurate information on real-time to other road users in order to avoid unnecessary delays on the highways or roads.”

Dlumhoff said similarly, state security agencies could also use the Cloud  for Analytics innovation to predict hooliganism at stadiums, violence in  townships, crime in general and poor planning at work.

SAP Global Chief Executive Officer, Bill McDermott, said the Cloud for  Analytics solution was key for both developing and developed countries of  the world.

“The innovation can always predict public unrest before it happens and  enable the authorities to take action,” said McDermott.

“On health issues, the application enables doctors and nurses analyse  correct medical information for patients in real-time in order to save  life. Embracing SAP solutions always make business run better,” said  McDermott.

The experts said the SAP Cloud for Analytics simplified financial planning  and analysis (FP&A) and ensured the ability to analyse data and  collaborate in the context of officials’ planning in real time.

He spoke as more than 20 000 global technology experts and executives  converged at Orlando, Florida in the United States of America (USA) for  the SAP Sapphire Now customer conference.

Attendees have been drawn from around the world.