Small businesses will be critical to South Africa in the 4th Industrial Revolution, while access to information will revolutionise education. This was highlighted recently at an insightful panel discussion held in Midrand. The topic debated was “Is South Africa Ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution?” Panel speakers included Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa CEO Sabine Dall’Omo, CSIR research and development strategy manager Dr Daniel Visser and SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana.
From left to right: Vuyani Jarana – Group CEO South African Airways, Sabine Dall’Omo –Siemens CEO for Southern and Eastern Africa, Dr Daniel Visser – research and development strategy manager, CSIR and the panel moderator, Gugulethu Mfuphi.
The discussion, hosted collaboratively by Siemens and CNBC Africa, explored possible effects Industry 4.0 would have on the country. Delegates from business and government heard that shying away from connectivity and artificial intelligence was not the answer. Yes, the robots are rising, but they will never replace humans.
Industry 4.0 is drastically changing the work landscape and how we live, but with the involvement of academic institutions, government, private institutions and South African society, we can ensure that this digital revolution will only impact the country positively.
“There is no place to hide from connectivity,” said Dall’Omo. “South Africa cannot step aside, we need to actively participate and shape South African industries to be more competitive in the global market. We need to help smaller companies to get involved and apply technologies in their businesses. This will contribute to a stronger GDP.”
Delegates heard that one of the major impacts Industry 4.0 will have is its effect on the country’s workforce. Some jobs of today will become redundant in the near future, and a completely new set of jobs will emerge. This means new skills must be gained to fill these exciting new roles.
“Computer skills will become essential in the future,” emphasised Visser. “Africa must not lose out. By moving forward, there will be certain jobs that will be lost forever, but new ones will be created to replace them. South Africa must embrace innovation in a ‘people-centric’ manner.”
Jarana added that skills development for this revolution is critical so that no one is left behind: “Poor children needed access to the same digital education as rich ones, and pragmatic action is required from government in order to ensure we move forward.”
Delegates were left in no doubt that this revolution is already underway and South Africa needs to embrace mobile connectivity, artificial intelligence, big data and the IoT, if it wants to maintain a competitive manufacturing industry. Big business will always be important, but the new digital technologies present an ideal opportunity to grow the SMME sector as well.
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