A framework to test South Africa’s readiness for the fourth industrial revolution

South African Journal of Information Management

 
 
Field Value
 
Title A framework to test South Africa’s readiness for the fourth industrial revolution
 
Creator Olaitan, Olutoyin O. Issah, Moshood Wayi, Ntombovuyo
 
Subject — 4IR; task – technology; fit – viability; digital technology readiness; economic complexity
Description Background: The fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is being touted as having the capacity to lift South Africa out of the challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequitable distribution of wealth. However, the state of the country’s readiness for the enabling technologies of the 4IR is in question.Objective: This article sought to investigate South Africa’s state of readiness for the technologies that enable the 4IR. The article proposed a framework which can be used to measure the country’s level of preparedness and implement the necessary processes to move the country into the 4IR era.Method: A detailed analysis of literature was carried out on the current and futuristic technologies employed by developed countries as they moved towards the 4IR. The fit – viability and the task – technology theories were employed to propose a framework to government for measuring its state of readiness for the 4IR in South Africa.Results: Based on findings from the literature study, the article proposed the 4IR readiness framework for government to measure and subsequently plans its response to the advent of 4IR technologies in the country.Conclusion: The framework revealed that South Africa has low technological capability, plummeting economic complexity and a fall in digital technological readiness. There is also a dearth of skilled workforce and technological infrastructure. It was recommended that government should focus on building and strengthening the resilience of both public and private institutions, investment in relevant 4IR education, infrastructural improvement, and promulgation and enforcement of legal framework to ensure security and privacy of data.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2021-05-18
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Literature review
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/sajim.v23i1.1284
 
Source SA Journal of Information Management; Vol 23, No 1 (2021); 10 pages 1560-683X 2078-1865
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/1284/1893 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/1284/1892 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/1284/1894 https://sajim.co.za/index.php/sajim/article/view/1284/1944
 
Coverage South Africa — Gender, Age
Rights Copyright (c) 2021 Olutoyin O. Olaitan, Moshood Issah, Ntombovuyo Wayi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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