A technology business is turning heads by equipping two of its vans with futuristic looking sensors and communications equipment.

Many road users and pedestrians have been puzzled by the vehicles that have been travelling across the island in recent weeks.

Manx Technology Group (MTG), based at Ballafletcher Road, Douglas, is spending ’tens of thousands of pounds’ on the equipment.

Chief executive Joe Hughes believes the initiative, funded entirely by MTG, and tied in with the so-called Internet of Things (IoT), is a ’game-changer’ which could help business in the island as the digital revolution continues at a rapid rate.

He said: ’Our strategy is simple. To develop, harness and showcase this technology in the Isle of Man before sharing our expertise and experiences elsewhere in the world.’

The company has converted two of its vans to be ’our IoT (Internet of Things) test vehicles’.

Each each test vehicle has been fitted with a range of sensors and communications equipment including custom fabricated mounts and power systems.

And at present it is monitoring air quality across the island.

It is still early days but the equipment is sending masses of data information back to MTG and this will eventually be studied by statisticians and data scientists who have partned with the company.

Mr Hughes told Business News: ’The vans have been all over the island, including during the TT fortnight.

’Lots of people have been wondering what has been going on.

’Our team had some strange looks from TT visitors.’ He admits it looks like something out of a sci-fi film but in fact it is cutting edge technology that the company is trialling here in the island.

Mr Hughes and Kristan McDonald, chief operating officer, say they are ’excited’ by the company’s initiative.

Mr Hughes said: ’We recently partnered with a company based in Zaragoza in Spain, called Libelium.

’And we are now piloting their technology in the island.

’Air quality seemed the logical starting point given the recent press around climate emergencies and so on.’

He added: ’With data analysis and similar tools, we can visualise the air quality to which we are all accustomed.

’We are all familiar with the Isle of Man’s beautiful countryside and coastline - the environment is perhaps our most valuable asset.

’In the past few weeks, we have logged millions of data points relating to air quality, gases and other attributes that can contribute towards air pollution from dozens of locations around the island.’

’We started the exercise in May, before continuing the measurements throughout TT fortnight.’

Mr Hughes said a recent trip to the Business Show in London ’reinforced the interest and the opportunities’.

Mr Hughes said the vans will be still driving arouind for much of the rest of the year.

He said: ’We are still developing the technology, undertaking analysis and tweaking the solution.

’Once this review phase has been completed, we are considering ways in which the data can be harnessed, shared and used for a number of initiatives.’

Other modern day issues that could be explored in the future include ’smart agriculture, smart water technologies and smart parking.

Mr Hughes said: ’We are on a learning curve.

’As a business we are going to gravitate towards the things that help others and we will also grow as a business.’

He said there are boundless opportunities.

’It is a competitive market. we are not going to be the only people doing this (in the world) but one thing is that the Isle of Man is a great place to be based for technology trials.’

He said digital technology is moving quickly and it is the job of the business community to move with the times.

Technologies such as IoT, AI (artificial intelligence) and automation are set to disrupt labour markets and industries as we know them today.

Despite this ’change’ it presents a massive opportunity for those countries who can embrace and move with the times, says the company.

Mr Hughes said MTG, which has more than 30 staff, is a technology company, involved in software and IT work.

’But there is a general trend in most industries now where they are becoming more digital.

’If you look around the world, some countries have forward-thinking policies, pivoting their economy towards technology and new ways of working, forecasting that 60% of GDP will come from the digital economy.

’And the Internet of Things, the IoT, is being touted as the game changer. Two worlds are converging, the physical world and the software world of internet and software - with ubiquitous mobile and internet connectivity. Some describe the technology as IoT, others as the fourth industrial revolution’

He said it was something the island needed to embrace.

’The Isle of Man is kind of uniquely placed in the sense that it has got agriculture,it’s got manufacturing, it’s got what is described as aqua-culture, such as fisheries.’

Kristan McDonald, chief operating officer, said the island had a great history of trialling new things before they were ’unleashed elsewhere. We have got diversity in the island.’

Mr Hughes said the Spanish firm Libelium was delighted with their new partnership and to get involved with the technology trial.

’We have become the partner and distributor for the British Isles for these solutions. The interesting thing for them (Libelium) is that we can trial and prove this technology here in the island.

’The trials are to prove its value to people and key stakeholders, whether business owners, policy makers, CEOs, engineers, farmers and fishermen.

’We purchased the full suite of equipment from Libelium. It’s quite impressive and we are very excited.’

’They have the capability to cover farming, utilities, they cover marinas, smart car parking, they do a whole host of things.’

MTG took a lot of the ’kit’ down to the Business show in London where more than 27,000 people were gathered.

’We had the most eclectic mix of enquiries from all over the world at the show.’

Enquiries were based around how the technology being trialled by MTG could be adapted to cover such things as :

Farming in West Africa.

Monitoring drinking water quality in Africa.

Measuring spectators and crowds at a significant UK marathon event.

Water conditions in and around salmon fisheries.

Water and pollution levels of rivers, reservoirs and watercourses in the UK and Ireland.

Footfall and visitor trends at a significant UK retail development.

Monitoring the condition and health of bee hives.