BLUEPRINT FOR TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS

THE pace of development in the world is accelerating rapidly. This is because of swift technological progress due to the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (PC4IR) in 2018.

The PC4IR presented its report at the beginning of this month. It distilled its work to eight core recommendations. These include investing in human capital, establishing an artificial intelligence (AI) institute, creating a platform for advanced manufacturing, securing and availing data to enable innovation, as well as incentivising 4IR industries and platforms.

The other recommendations are building 4IR infrastructure, reviewing and amending legislation, and establishing a 4IR strategyimplementation co-ordination council. In the implementation of these recommendations, localisation and ownership by various levels of government will be crucial.

Invariably, each province draws from unique comparative advantages for the benefit of its citizens and the country. What do these recommendations mean for KwaZulu-Natal? And how do they interface with some of the initiatives the province has established in recent years? To begin with, the need to invest in human capital has been apparent for some time in KZN. With a 26.1% rate of unemployment in the province, though lower than the national average, this represents an economic situation in need of urgent intervention.

The province has previously made significant strides concerning human-capacity development. Having initiated the Free Maths4stats KZN Lecture Series in 2015 (with a curriculum comprising data handling and probability workshops), KZN clearly prioritised the same sort of computational thinking that is the bedrock of this recommendation.

The initiative, which was delivered to grades 7 to 12 pupils, carries lessons that can be adapted in other provinces in the country. The urgency brought on by the acceleration towards 4IR makes these skills more essential than ever and requires the reimagining of the curriculum to include the relevant knowledge areas.

In its operation, the AI Institute can similarly draw from the province’s institutions of higher learning. In particular, the province’s flagship TVET college, uMfolozi, can contribute to the localised and for-purpose dissemination of insights and syllabus generated at the national level. In a similar vein, the establishment of a platform for advanced manufacturing and new materials can be aided by the college’s nine skills centres.

The province’s economic strength – representing some 16% to the national GDP, about a quarter of its manufacturing, and Africa’s busiest shipping terminal – positions it to be a corridor in the strategic inward transfer of foreign technologies and global exposure of locally developed innovations. There are lessons to be learnt from China’s experience.

China’s development trajectory is largely due to its eastern, coastal provinces, which were furnished with special economic zones and acted as the country’s strategic springboard.

The securing and availing of data to enable innovation requires the province to take advantage of its niche, including the higher-thanaverage connectivity seen in its major cities.

Finally, promulgating policies and legislation to regulate foreign and domestically developed 4IR technologies, and establishing a 4IR strategy co-ordination council share similarities with the district development model pioneered in eThekwini in 2019.

The 4IR Commission’s vision is similarly in line with the province’s own recently published Digital Transformation Strategy. As the strategy envisions, we are striving for a South Africa with “a globally competitive, inclusive and shared economy with the technological capability and production capacity that is driven by people harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution to propel the country forward towards its social and economic goals”.

Ndzendze is research director at the University of Johannesburg’s Centre for Africa-China Studies. Professor Marwala is the vice-chancellor and principal of the University of Johannesburg and deputy chairperson of PC4IR