BUSINESS MAVERICK: Grappling with the Fourth Industrial Revolution from behind wire fences

The theme of the Cape Town World Economic Forum on Africa 2019 in Cape Town is “Shaping Inclusive Growth and Shared Futures in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. Even by the standards of the forum, it’s a mouthful.

Well…life goes on, as does the conference. But the artistry was suddenly vested not only in the subject matter itself but also in the speakers’ tricky juggling acts, trying to balance the larger 4IR intellectual gymnastics with the more prosaic issue of what was happening just outside the door. So what is the fourth industrial revolution? Is it more than a phrase? Is it meaningful? In fact, it’s hard to tell.

That may be because we are all in it; we don’t have the benefit of history to allow glib summaries. Yet, there is an atmosphere of apprehension and concern that surrounds the idea, mainly because policymakers are so worried about the job-destroying capacity of artificial intelligence and the concomitant increase of inequality, as well as the implications for intrusion into personal privacy.

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