Tag: 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR)

In the past two decades or so, numerous projects were successfully completed where VSAT connectivity was required in remote locations such as mines, construction sites, lodges, as well as underserved Point of Sale locations, to name but a few. However, there has always been one common thread: What to do with the end-user access to the satellite network?

There is a lot that is being said about the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR). Is it real? Is it a steam train that’s coming towards us, or a Maglev Bullet Train that is going to sweep us all off our feet? The first thing that can be said about 4IR is that it is real. It is a force that will profoundly change how we work and how we live.

It’s amazing how quickly the world around us is changing. The 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) is upon us and how we continue to adapt to this era of rapid technological and societal change is crucial. Why we need to adapt and how fast we are able to adapt to these changes remain a core question of our time, and education is a key factor in how we navigate these changes.

Youth unemployment is a national crisis affecting millions of South Africans. According to Stats SA, the burden of unemployment is concentrated amongst the youths (aged 15-34 years) as they account for 63,4% of the total number of unemployed persons in 2019.

As more businesses face the technical realities of digital transformation and advance towards 4IR, the customer experience is always front-of-mind – and it is little wonder the call centre has emerged as the frontline of technology-driven, fully automated service delivery.

The future of technology in Africa is going to be spectacular, if the recent AfricaCom 2019 is anything to go by! The thousands of delegates, exhibitors and speakers who came together to share ideas and thoughts on the future of technology in Africa brought new perspective - our continent is past being seen as having 'potential' and has entered an era of 'collaboration' where we can fully explore the opportunity in Africa.

There is a technology that is disrupting the workplace, it’s called Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Using software ‘robots’ to mimic repetitive human interactions with computers, this technology can do these tasks much faster, without any rest and no errors that human are prone to making.

As the Fourth Industrial Revolution rages on, there needs to be a greater shift towards adopting an interconnected way of thinking if humans are to truly engage and optimise 4IR and beyond.

Read our exclusive cover story titled REWIRING YOUR BRAIN | ARE YOU CONNECTED INTO 4IR THINKING? by Mark Wilson, Managing Director, SYSPRO Africa, as well a host of other topical management articles written by professionals, consultants and academics in the October/November 2019 edition of BusinessBrief.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) can and will deliver South Africa from the jobs and growth crisis in which it is mired. That is the truism that is being widely peddled as the panacea to the triple threat of poverty, unemployment and inequality in which the country finds itself.