Distributed IoT Platforms, Privacy and Edge-Intelligence Research (DIPPER) Lab

What Distributed IoT Platforms, Privacy and Edge-Intelligence Research (DIPPER) Lab does

DIPPER Lab (Distributed IoT Platforms, Privacy and Edge-Intelligence Research Lab) is a university research facility located within the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana. The lab is dedicated to advancing IoT, blockchain, and edge-intelligence computing to drive innovation in Ghana and the broader sub-region, with focus areas spanning food and agriculture, healthcare, and the environment. Its work targets low-resource African settings with unreliable power, leveraging locally engineered and sourced solutions rather than adapted Western technologies.

The lab operates a portfolio of 12 named projects organized into two thematic groups. The Climate Impact portfolio includes Aurok (a wearable livestock-monitoring device with GPS and low-power sensors), GalamSense and GalamCast (solar-powered IoT buoys with electrochemical sensors and a deep-learning satellite imagery model for predicting heavy-metal contamination from illegal mining), AgroTrace (a Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform for farm-to-consumer food supply chain transparency), SIWA (a machine-learning weather app combining indigenous indicators with meteorological data, piloted with over 100 farmers), and SmartNitro (an AI-driven precision agriculture platform integrating IoT sensors and drone heat maps for nitrogen management). The Child Health portfolio comprises ANET (an automated neonatal exchange transfusion device with IoT remote monitoring), NeoWax (an electricity-independent incubator using beeswax-based phase-change material), Luminosa (a four-sided blue-LED phototherapy system), Ezytherm (a smart temperature monitor with localized Ghanaian-language alerts), Digital Broselow (an image-based pediatric measurement model trained on Ghanaian anthropometrics), BiliBuddy (a smartphone-based bilirubin screening app), and NeoBreath Guard (a wearable infant breathing and SpO2 monitor).

DIPPER Lab is not a commercial enterprise. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and revenue is not reported; the lab disseminates outputs through academic channels, pilot deployments, partnerships, and open-source repositories (Twitter @dipperlabknust, LinkedIn, GitHub @Dipper-Lab). Identified external funding consists of the British Council's Going Global Partnerships Grant supporting the SmartNitro and ANET projects. The lab serves smallholder farmers, healthcare providers in low-resource neonatal care settings, environmental regulatory bodies, and the academic community of students, faculty, and developers engaged in building local IoT and blockchain ecosystems.

Name

Distributed IoT Platforms, Privacy and Edge-Intelligence Research (DIPPER) Lab

Legal name

DIPPER Lab

Website

https://dipperlab.knust.edu.gh

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DIPPER Lab is a university research facility at KNUST in Ghana developing IoT, blockchain, and AI/ML-powered solutions for low-resource African settings, spanning climate impact (agriculture, livestock, environment, supply chain) and child health (neonatal care devices and AI diagnostics).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

IoT and Edge-Intelligence Research

NAICS

Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Variable Rate Technology (VRT) & Prescription/Tasking Platforms (AFAAAFAE)

Keywords

• IoT research platforms
• Edge intelligence computing
• Blockchain supply chain
• Neonatal medical devices
• Precision agriculture

Headquarters

HQ city

Kumasi

HQ country

Ghana

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Supply Chain, Others

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

DIPPER Lab is a university research facility at KNUST in Ghana that develops locally engineered technology solutions combining IoT, blockchain, edge computing, and AI/ML across two impact areas: Climate (AUROK livestock wearables, GalamSense water-quality buoys, AgroTrace supply-chain blockchain, SIWA weather app, SmartNitro precision agriculture) and Child Health (ANET automated transfusion, NeoWax beeswax incubator, Luminosa phototherapy, Ezytherm temperature monitor, Digital Broselow, BiliBuddy, NeoBreath Guard). The lab produces prototypes and pilot programs rather than commercially marketed goods, with offerings targeted at low-resource African settings with unreliable power.

Product overview

DIPPER Lab operates as a cutting-edge research facility at KNUST, Ghana, offering a portfolio of technology solutions across two main domains: Climate Impact Projects (AUROK, GalamSense, AgroTrace, SIWA, SmartNitro) and Child Health Impact Projects (ANET, NeoWax, Luminosa, Ezytherm, Digital Broselow, BiliBuddy, NeoBreath Guard). The portfolio spans IoT-enabled hardware products for livestock monitoring, environmental sensing, and neonatal care, alongside AI/ML-powered platforms for precision agriculture, weather forecasting, and medical diagnostics. The offerings include blockchain-enabled supply chain solutions and are specifically designed to operate in low-resource settings with unreliable power across Africa.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ANET: Automated Neonatal Exchange Transfusion - biomedical solution for treating neonatal jaundice
• NeoWax
• Luminosa
• Ezytherm
• Broselow
• BiliBuddy
• NeoBreath
• Aurok (Herdwatch)
• GalamSense
• AgroTrace
• SIWA
• SmartNitro

Products and services

• AUROK (HERDWATCH) Innovative livestock monitoring technology integrating low-power sensors, GPS tracking, and wireless communication in a wearable device for cattle to help farmers protect herds through real-time data collection and intelligent analysis, addressing cattle loss due to theft, disease, and environmental stress.
• GalamSense Cyber-physical system utilizing solar-powered IoT buoys with electrochemical sensors for real-time, autonomous monitoring of heavy metal contamination (mercury, lead, arsenic) in water bodies caused by illegal mining, integrated with the deep-learning GalamCast satellite imagery model to create a 'validation loop' that identifies pollution sources and predicts toxic flush events.
• AgroTrace Decentralized blockchain platform using Hyperledger Fabric technology to create transparent records of the food production lifecycle from farm to consumer, digitizing Ghana's informal food supply chains and integrating Indigenous Knowledge with real-time sensor data to address food contamination, post-harvest losses, and consumer trust.
• SIWA (Smart Indigenous Weather App) Weather forecasting application combining traditional indigenous weather indicators with modern meteorological data through machine learning to deliver localized, actionable forecasts for smallholder farmers in Ghana; piloted with over 100 farmers in Ashanti, Eastern, and Central Regions, with projections to reduce weather-related crop losses by up to 30%.
• SmartNitro AI-powered precision agriculture platform integrating IoT sensors, drone-based heat maps, and machine learning to detect nutrient deficiencies in real time and provide data-driven recommendations for optimizing fertilizer application, with projected crop yield boosts of 5–15% and nitrogen runoff reductions of up to 40%.
• ANET (Automated Neonatal Exchange Transfusion) Automated biomedical system utilizing precision robotics, smart air bubble detection sensors, and IoT integration for remote monitoring to replace manual push-pull blood transfusion procedures, standardizing treatment of severe neonatal jaundice in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• NeoWax Electricity-independent neonatal incubator utilizing specialized beeswax-based Phase Change Material (PCM) to maintain a stable 37°C temperature for over six hours, designed for low-resource and remote settings with unreliable power and built from biodegradable, locally sourced materials.
• Luminosa Medical-grade phototherapy system featuring four-sided 360-degree illumination with high-intensity blue LEDs and microcontroller logic for temperature and power monitoring, providing effective neonatal jaundice treatment while remaining energy-efficient enough for solar or battery operation.
• Ezytherm Smart temperature monitoring system with a color-coded OLED display and localized audio alerts in Ghanaian languages, featuring a solar-rechargeable battery and clinical-grade precision sensors for 24/7 neonatal care monitoring in off-grid regions.
• Digital Broselow AI-powered pediatric measurement system using advanced image-processing to predict child height and weight from photographs, specifically trained on Ghanaian pediatric anthropometrics to reduce medication dosing errors, with automated privacy blurring and interpretable AI visualizations.
• BiliBuddy AI-powered mobile application enabling non-invasive bilirubin estimation by analyzing smartphone photos of newborn skin, designed for healthcare workers and parents in low-resource settings with consistent results across all skin tones.
• NeoBreath Guard (NeoBreath Step) Integrated non-invasive monitoring ecosystem combining a wearable abdominal belt with capacitive sensors and a specialized foot strap (NeoBreath Step) to track breathing patterns, heart rate, and blood oxygen (SpO2) levels, with wireless data transmission to a central hub and mobile application with intelligent algorithms for respiratory anomaly detection in infants.

Quantifiable outcome

• SIWA weather forecasting can reduce weather-related crop losses by up to 30%
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability11 records

Feature13 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Ignitia: Ignitia provides hyper-local weather forecasting via SMS for smallholder farmers in tropical West Africa, including Ghana. Directly comparable to DIPPER's SIWA (Smart Indigenous Weather App), which similarly delivers localized weather forecasts to smallholder farmers.
• Zipline: Zipline operates drone-based medical supply delivery across Ghana and Rwanda, using autonomous robotics and IoT to serve rural healthcare facilities. Directly comparable as a drone/IoT-enabled healthcare delivery company operating in Ghana and Sub-Saharan Africa, overlapping with DIPPER's healthcare mission.
• Apollo Agriculture: Apollo Agriculture uses machine learning, satellite data, and IoT to provide credit, inputs, and advisory services to smallholder farmers in Kenya. Comparable as a data- and AI-driven precision agriculture platform targeting African smallholders, overlapping with SmartNitro and SIWA.
• LifeBank: LifeBank operates a digital blood and medical supplies delivery platform across Nigeria and East Africa, using data and logistics technology to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. Comparable as a health-tech company serving African healthcare facilities with tech-enabled logistics, adjacent to DIPPER's neonatal care mission.
• SunCulture: SunCulture develops solar-powered irrigation and agricultural technology for smallholder farmers across East Africa. Comparable to DIPPER's climate-agriculture portfolio (SmartNitro, SIWA, AUROK) for serving smallholder farmers in low-resource, off-grid settings.
• IBM Research Africa: IBM's research lab in Nairobi, Kenya, conducts applied research in IoT, AI, and edge computing for African contexts including agriculture, healthcare, and public services. Most structurally similar entity to DIPPER as a corporate-sponsored research facility focused on technology-for-development in Africa.
• mPedigree: mPedigree uses blockchain and mobile verification to combat counterfeit products in African pharmaceutical and agricultural supply chains. Directly comparable to DIPPER's AgroTrace platform, which also uses Hyperledger Fabric for supply chain transparency in Ghanaian food systems.
• Microsoft Research Africa: Microsoft Research's Nairobi lab works on AI, ML, and systems research applied to African agricultural, healthcare, and linguistic challenges. Comparable as a major research institution producing AI/IoT innovations for African development, similar to DIPPER's applied research focus.
• Carnegie Mellon University Africa: CMU's campus in Kigali, Rwanda, focuses on engineering and technology research and education with applications to African development challenges. Comparable as an academic institution producing applied tech research for African contexts, similar to KNUST's DIPPER Lab model.
• MIT D-Lab: MIT D-Lab is an academic research program developing appropriate technologies for low-resource communities globally, with a strong focus on co-creation with local partners. Highly comparable as a university-based lab producing IoT/AI-enabled solutions for underserved markets, similar to DIPPER's mission.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dipperlabknust
• GitHubgithub.com/Dipper-Lab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/distributed-iot-platforms-privacy-and-edge-intelligence-research-dipper-lab

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Distributed IoT Platforms, Privacy and Edge-Intelligence Research (DIPPER) Lab