OCEAN VIEW NATIVE’S UPLIFTING ADVICE
UWC re-examines the way in which it presents its technological qualifications
WE ARE now well into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an unprecedented acceleration of humankind’s insatiable desire to increase productivity and the efficiency of production through commercial applications of science, engineering and technology (SET).
Disruptive technologies such as steam engines, spinning looms, telephones, incandescent light bulbs, combustion engines and silicon chips have been the catalysts for global societal change over the past two centuries.
The dawn of each of the previous three industrial revolutions were well spaced in time. The 1780s saw the beginning of steam-driven mechanical production and the 1870s were characterised by the advent of assembly lines and mass production, accelerated by widespread harnessing of electrical power two decades later. And then the 1960s had witnessed the emergence of the first programmable logic controllers, IT systems and robotics which made automated production possible.
Contrary to the roughly 100 year gaps between the previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has appeared less than 50 years since the first programmable logic controllers initially launched in 1969.
“Smart” factories, cities and homes are increasingly becoming the norm as we capitalise on rapid advances in a plethora of new technologies, including advanced satellite communication, artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantum computing, cloud computing, 3D-printing, augmented and virtual reality and the accelerated expansion of the internet of things. One of the direct consequences of this new revolution is the emergence of enormous digital data sets, collectively referred to as big data, or more recently, “data lakes”, that are exponentially updated with new digital data on a continual basis.
As university deans, of the Economics and Management Sciences and Natural Sciences faculties at UWC, our role is both exciting and, at times, overwhelming as we realise that we are educating a cohort of young South Africans for careers that probably do not exist yet, given the speed at which the Fourth Industrial Revolution is evolving.
The formal careers that have been with us for nearly a century may either pass away or evolve into totally new career opportunities that require a set of unique, highly adaptable, digital and analytical skills. We need to be at the forefront of anticipating this change and our programmes must reflect a willingness to change rapidly.
The context in which we now operate demands a completely new approach to determining the content and outcomes of our academic curricula. Partnership is key. History tells us that the success of previous industrial revolutions required a close collaborative partnership between commerce and SET. Therefore, the academic partnership we have developing between the Faculties of Economics and Management Sciences (EMS) and the Faculty of Natural Sciences under the banner “Two Faculties ONE TEAM” is a significant step in the right direction if we are to capitalise on the opportunities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The “all hands in” involvement of industrial partners in our new programmes is already clearly evident.
The recent successful launch of a data science stream in our Statistics Honours and MSc in Statistical Sciences would not have been possible without the sponsorship and intellectual and practical contribution of our industrial partners Statistical Analytical Systems (SAS), Sanlam and our academic colleagues at North West University. Similarly, the upcoming launch of our Post-Graduate diploma in E-skills Development with an Augmented and Virtual Reality stream (the first of its kind in South Africa) has been made possible through a rewarding partnership with EON in France.
The postgraduate offerings in E-Logistics have ushered in a new approach to thinking about how we present our qualifications. The success of programmes such as the Postgraduate Diploma and Masters in E-Logistics requires us to engage more rigorously with industry partners, government stakeholders and international universities, in an effort to supply the skills demanded by the sectors.
The Information Systems Department signed an MOU with State Information Technology Agency (SITA) and is actively pursuing collaborative partnerships with logistics, retail and insurance companies. In addition, the involvement of our international partners from the Hochschule Neu-Ulm (HNU) University of Applied Sciences (Germany) and the University of Missouri (America) affords our students the opportunity to engage in the discourse not only from a national, but also international perspective, which enables a more global understanding of the 4th industrial revolution and its consequences.
The new programmes will address the unemployment challenge in the country since these skills are in demand globally, which guarantee the students employment opportunities. It is envisioned that these new and niche programmes will prepare the country to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and help the National Development Plan (NDP 2030) to achieve some of its targets.