Author: Contributor
The upcoming 13th annual GovTech conference is set to focus on how the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) will change the lives of South African citizens by bringing together high-level representatives from the government, industry and business to share information, knowledge and professional expertise. “GovTech’s quest is to develop South Africa into a ‘smart nation’ – from delivering digital services to all citizens to introducing innovative technologies that make government business processes smoother and finding the best, most cost-effective solutions to ICT challenges in public service delivery,” State Information Technology Agency (SITA) Acting CEO Ntutule Tshenye said in a statement on…
by Marcus Tomalin and Stefanie Ullmann Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already re-configuring the world in conspicuous ways. Data drives our global digital ecosystem, and AI technologies reveal patterns in data. Smartphones, smart homes, and smart cities influence how we live and interact, and AI systems are increasingly involved in recruitment decisions, medical diagnoses, and judicial verdicts. Whether this scenario is utopian or dystopian depends on your perspective. The potential risks of AI are enumerated repeatedly. Killer robots and mass unemployment are common concerns, while some people even fear human extinction. More optimistic predictions claim that AI will add US$15 trillion…
Direct selling beauty and personal care products company, Avon Justine, says the relatively low penetration of direct sales micro-entrepreneurs presents the company with an opportunity to more than double its sales workforce and provide thousands of women with an earning opportunity to alleviate spiralling unemployment and depleting disposable incomes. The direct selling industry continues to buck the trend of the economic slowdown, with the personal care and beauty sector accounting for over 46%, or almost R6 billion, of the total direct sales in 2016, according to figures released by the Direct Selling Association of South Africa (DSASA). Avon Justine has…
by Doug Hanson As Industry 4.0 moves increasingly beyond buzzwords into reality, mining is leading the charge, with African and South African companies at the forefront of both the creation of transformative technologies and their implementation on the physical and digital rockface. At Wabtec, for example, we work with a number of South African miners to develop strong base technologies, several of which are being employed at mining operations to enhance asset health, productivity and safety across Africa and globally. Some of our advanced Operations Performance Management (OPM) tools, aimed at the optimisation of processes, originated in South Africa to…
With ever-increasing capacity requirements and the complexity of the 5G network, operators need to invest in the development of their networks now to ensure they can withstand the capacity upsurge expected in the future, warns Anthony Clarkson, Technical Director at ProLabs. 5G is expected to bring extraordinary transformation, benefitting entire economies and societies. With its combination of higher speeds, lower latency and greater capacity, 5G offers the potential to reinvent business with the capability to launch new products and services, enter into new markets and increase productivity – making future-proofed network infrastructure critical. “5G will catapult mobile to become a…
by Ivan Manokha Artificial intelligence and facial analysis software is becoming commonplace in job interviews. The technology, developed by US company HireVue, analyses the language and tone of a candidate’s voice and records their facial expressions as they are videoed answering identical questions. It was used in the UK for the first time in September but has been used around the world for several years. Some 700 companies, including Vodafone, Hilton and Urban Outfitters have tried it out. Certainly there are significant benefits to be had from this. HireVue says it speeds up the hiring process by 90% thanks to…
DFA is pleased to announce that it is the headline sponsor for this year’s FTTx Council Conference. The event will host delegates from more than 30 countries at the Sandton Convention Centre from the 8th to the 9th of October and will feature a keynote address from the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies – Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. In line with this year’s 4IR theme, the conference will look at the various aspects of delivering connectivity across the continent with a specific focus on the infrastructure that will support it. The over 50 presentations from telecommunications stakeholders will include those from…
The Presidential Working Committee on the Jobs Summit has noted substantial progress in interventions that will improve the country’s economic stance and create much-needed jobs. These interventions include reforming and modernising South Africa’s visa regime, issuing water use licences, releasing broadband spectrum, saving jobs in distressed firms and improving the certainty of electricity supply. These were among the updates provided to government, labour, business at the second monthly meeting of the Presidential Working Committee on the Jobs Summit held on Monday. The meetings of the Presidential Working Committee are meant to develop specific interventions that will enable greater job creation…
by Alison Gillwald In the three short years that the World Economic Forum (WEF) has been punting the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) as the route to prosperity for digitally savvy nations, it has become global policy conventional wisdom. South Africa has not been immune to the hype. The government has shifted its focus and resources to the 4IR. And it’s been prioritised over more mundane, but essential, policy interventions aimed at ensuring the more equitable inclusion of the populace into a modern, digital economy. This diversion of resources is not by government only. International donor agendas and…
The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is set to receive a cash injection of R2.1 billion to help stabilise the public broadcaster. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams made the announcement at a media briefing on Friday. Ndabeni-Abrahams said of the eight preconditions set for the funding allocation by National Treasury, the public broadcaster has fully met five and partially met two, whilst one has not been met. Based on joint assessments, Treasury and Communications have worked together to facilitate the initial tranche of the R3.2 billion allocation to be transferred to the SABC. “R2.1 billion will be transferred…