TECHNOLOGY UPDATE
South African fruit producers use digital technologies such as blockchain and radio frequency identification tags.
South Africa is failing to ride the digital revolution wave. What it needs to do Workplaces are adopting new forms of advanced automation at a rate that suggests a digital revolution in the making. By Antonio Andreoni and Elvis Avenyo. Republished from https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-failing-to-ride-thedigital-revolution-wave-what-it-needs-to-do-171515
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igital technologies such as sensorisation, networked data analytics, and artificial intelligence make it possible to collect data along the entire chain of production and consumption activities. They also enable the data to be used for a host of other purposes. These include shaping markets and industries, offering benefits like reducing production costs and time to market, and increasing product and service quality. But it is a revolution that is playing out unevenly, across and within countries. This has consequences for the competitiveness, inclusiveness and sustainability of economies. Countries have varying capacities to optimally harness and integrate these
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digitalised technologies. Preconditions for uptake include – firstly – reliable enabling infrastructures. This includes connectivity and energy. Secondly, there needs to be foundational capabilities, such as digital skills. Middle-income countries such as South Africa are finding these conditions tough to meet. This is because they have been affected by premature de-industrialisation — a lack of diversification and relative shrinking of their production structure. Our research shows that South Africa’s adoption and diffusion of digital technologies has been slow and uneven. The research, and an ongoing digital survey, sheds light on the patterns of adoption and the factors influencing them.
SECURITY FOCUS AFRICA FEBRUARY 2022
Antonio Andreoni Associate Professor of Industrial Economics, UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose and Visiting Associate Professor, SARChI Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg. Elvis Avenyo Senior Researcher, Centre for Competition, Regulation and Economic Development, University of Johannesburg.
securityfocusafrica.com
