Fourth Industrial Revolution centre

SOUTH Africa is expected to join China, Japan and India in hosting a centre affiliated to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The WEF established the centre in San Francisco, last January, as a hub for global, multi-stakeholder co-operation to develop policy frameworks and advance collaborations that accelerate the benefits of science and technology.

The Department of Science and Technology intends to establish a 4IR affiliate centre as a public-private partnership based at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

To this end, the Minister of Science and Technology, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane, will host the head of the WEF 4IR network, Dr Murat Sönmez, at a breakfast consultation meeting in Pretoria today.

The meeting will be attended by the representatives of industry, and multinationals will provide the department with an opportunity to consult with companies with a significant African footprint, to determine their interest in a public-private partnership model to support the 4IR-affiliate centre. In terms of this model, industry and government (through the CSIR) will co-fund the initiatives to be undertaken by the centre.

Sönmez is expected to make a presentation on the WEF C4IR, whose key portfolios include machine learning and artificial intelligence, the internet of things, robotics, digital trading, data policies and smart cities. |