The 4IR: Assessing the landscape to grasp opportunities and navigate threats

Abstract

As custodians of knowledge, South African universities, and by extension their libraries, have critical advantages to develop large scale collaborations and innovation capacities. However, due to this advantage, these institutions are pressured by government to develop graduates who are ready for job roles that are constantly changing and produce research.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this pressure, but advancing technologies brought on by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) did as well; especially when considering that 41% of job functions within South Africa have the potential for automation.

As a result of this, the South African innovation landscape has seen us fall into a Watch Out economy – Where it has a number of infrastructure gaps. Despite this, young delegates are showing enthusiasm for a digital future. This is part of the Global Digital Evolution.

Furthermore, a key aspect of digital support and literacy required for the future of work )as well as education is access. Yet we see that internet penetration rates are lowest in Africa when compared globally

From a library perspective, as knowledge workers within such an environment, how do we remain relevant and navigate this paradigm? After all, it can be argued that we ourselves need to be able to guide various stakeholders across disciplines to deliver knowledge that is relevant. In this talk these areas are reviewed and addressed.