Premier, Sisi Ntombela’s announcement on the summit falls in line with trends across national and provincial governments to prepare for the fourth wave of the industrial revolution. In her State of the Province Address on Tuesday, Ntombela says the summit is meant to create a platform where the government can engage with members of the private sector, especially those whose expertise lies in technology.

“From this engagement, 36 companies pledged to support government efforts to create employment opportunities. Just to mention a few, Koos du Plessis, a farmer in the Vredefort district, committed to training 250 young people in the use of new agricultural value chain technologies”.

Research indicates the revolution, which involves the fusion of artificial intelligence (AI) and automated machines, is most likely to disrupt every industry and completely transform others, with many across the world wondering what the future will look like. Ntombela says they have already signed the deal with CUT on the matter.

In early June the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein hosted a lecture on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) by academic and University of Johannesburg Vice-Chancellor, Tshilidzi Marwala. 

The UJ professor and principal is also the Deputy Chairperson of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Presidential Commission on the 4IR, whose purpose is to assist the government in making the most out of the imminent digital industrial revolution through the suggestion of policies and certain strategies. 

As the leading academic on Ramaphosa’s Commission, Marwala’s expertise spans the theory and application of AI to engineering, computer science, finance, social science, and medicine, making him an expert on the subject matter. 

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the establishment of the commission and stressed the significance of adapting in his State of the Nation Address (SONA) earlier this year. He said “unless we adapt, unless we understand the nature of the profound change that is reshaping our world and unless we readily embrace the opportunities it presents, the promise of our nation’s birth will forever remain unfulfilled. Today, we choose to be a nation that is reaching into the future”. 

The country is, however, battling its own challenges in the midst of trying to adapt, which include a sluggish economy and a high unemployment rate.

OFM News