To gain insight into the type of occupations at a high risk of being affected by 4IR technologies, a team of
researchers from the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) at the University of Cape Town analysed
the occupational structure of the manufacturing, engineering and related services (MER) sector labour
force.

Read more at:

https://www.nrf.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/05-NRF_SMM_Vol4Issue4_Jobs-at-High-Risk-of-Being-Displaced-by-4IR-Technologies-in-SAs-Manufacturing-Sector.pdf

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Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Communications and Digital Technologies Minister, Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, has announced that R27 billion has been pledged by operators and vendors to usher in 5G fibre technologies in South Africa. 

The Minister said this when she tabled the department’s budget vote during a mini plenary of the National Assembly on Tuesday. 

“We believe that partnerships and collaborations are key to taking our sector to greater heights. 

“I am therefore pleased to announce that R27 billion is being pledged collectively by the operators and vendors to expand the 4G network, and to deploy the 5G and fibre technologies in South Africa, which has been tested by some operators,” she said. 

The announcement comes not long after mobile giant MTN launched 100 5G sites around the country, including in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Gqeberha. 

Ndabeni-Abrahams said the network expansion is also extending to rural and underserved areas, which will benefit communities and create jobs.

“As such, I hope that the licensing of the Wholesale Open Access Network (WOAN) and the High-Demand Spectrum will complement these rollout plans.

“In line with government’s vision of connecting 80% of public buildings by 2024, our entities will connect 6687 sites across the country.” 

Spectrum to be released by end of March 2022 

As per the President’s announcement during the State of the Nation Address earlier this year, the Communications and Digital Technologies Department commenced with the analogue switch-off in March this year. 

To date, government has switched off a total of 32 sites in the three priority provinces.  This represents 40% of the planned sites in the three priority provinces of the Free State, Northern Cape and North West.

“The analogue switch-off process is targeting to release the much-needed 700MHz and 800MHZ digital dividend spectrum. 

“The spectrum will be released in a phased provincial manner across the country towards our goal of end of March 2022. 

“This process, combined with the digital-to-digital migration, will make available a total of 168MHz spectrum in each of the provinces,” the Minister said.  

The department is working with the TV broadcasting industry to ensure that the target of March 2022 is realised. 

“This will allow spectrum availability for IMT(International Mobile Telecommunications) services on broadband, which ICASA is in the process of licensing. 

“The remaining five provinces will have a voucher-system model. We are looking forward to the effective partnership with the industry and support when we begin to roll out the voucher system towards realising a successful migration process. 

“We call upon everyone across the country to rally behind us when we pave the way for a better South Africa for ourselves and the future generation,” Ndabeni-Abrahams said. – SAnews.gov.za

https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/r27bn-pledge-usher-5g-technologies

•Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams: Communications and Digital Technologies Dept Budget Vote 2021/22

18 May 2021

Theme:  “Championing Digital Economy for Societal Transformation”.

https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-stella-ndabeni-abrahams-communications-and-digital-technologies-dept-budget-vote

More on the topic:

•Government ready to expand 5G and fibre to all South Africans, minister says

Amanda Khoza, Presidency reporter

May 18 ,2021

https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-05-18-government-ready-to-expand-5g-and-fibre-to-all-south-africans-minister-says/

Communications and digital technologies minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams on Tuesday announced that R27bn had been pledged collectively by operators and vendors to expand the 4G network and to deploy 5G and fibre in SA.

“This network expansion is extending to rural and underserved areas, which will benefit communities and create jobs. As such, I hope that the licensing of the Wireless Open Access Network and the High-Demand Spectrum will complement these rollout plans,” said Ndabeni-Abrahams.

Speaking during the tabling of her R3.7bn budget vote for the 2021/2022 financial year, the minister said the government envisaged connecting 80% of public buildings by 2024.

Providing an update on the commitments made during 2019’s budget vote, Ndabeni-Abrahamsa said: “Cabinet approved the report and the presidential commission on the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). I am pleased to inform you that the project management office has developed the consultative strategic implementation plan to ensure that the recommendations of the report are implemented by all critical stakeholders to position SA globally.”

A commitment was also made to overhaul all policies and legislation to enable digital transformation.

“We have since reviewed the Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, the South African Broadcasting Corporation Bill, the South African Post Bank Amendment Bill, data and cloud policy gazetting, audio and audiovisual policy that are gazetted,” said the minister, who was also tasked with establishing a new department to drive digital transformation.

In this regard, she said a new five-year strategy, a service delivery model and a new organisational structure had been developed.

“We further undertook to reconfigure our state-owned entities to be in line with our new mandate. We have commenced with the establishment of the State Digital Infrastructure Company through which we have developed its business case and the draft bill which is in the consultation stages.”

Ndabeni-Abrahams added that progress had been made with the reconfiguration of State Information Technology Agency (SITA) into forming the State Digital Infrastructure Company. A business case and the draft bill has been developed and are in consultation stages, she said.

Read more at https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-05-18-government-ready-to-expand-5g-and-fibre-to-all-south-africans-minister-says/

•Not-so-Stella: MPs not happy with communications minister’s budget

Amanda Khoza, Presidency reporter

19 May 2021

https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-05-19-not-so-stella-mps-not-happy-with-communications-ministers-budget/

MPs were not impressed with communications and digital technologies minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams’ R3.7bn budget vote, presented on Tuesday afternoon.

Many criticised the minister’s ability to deliver on her promises, including making internet accessible to all South Africans. They also took aim at the slow pace of digital migration and the dismal performance by state-owned entities.

Praise from her political party members was expected, with ANC MP Boyce Maneli saying that in his 2021 state of the nation address President Cyril Ramaphosa had identified telecommunications as one of the areas of reform to realise the economic reconstruction and recovery plan.

“Budget votes such as these tend to focus on state-owned entities and their ability to not deliver on their targets. We also tend to focus on funds appropriated in the form of bailouts in previous years which have not led to solutions,” said Maneli.

This, said Maneli, meant that there is little focus on projects that have been successfully implemented by the government.

He welcomed the move to fast-track digital migration, saying, “This will ensure that both subsidised and unsubsidised households will digitally migrate to enjoy free-to-air channels which includes the parliament channel that they are not accessing from paid-channel services.”

But the DA’s Zakhele Mbhele said: “It is time for change.”

Mbhele added: “Now, more than ever before, it is fundamental to change and go back to basics. This is fundamentally and abundantly clear in the communications and technologies portfolio where entities are due for fundamental reform.”

He said state-owned companies needed to be turned around from being sluggish to self-sufficient, sustaining and value-adding operations.

“The truth is that with declining economic growth and tax revenue forecasts for the foreseeable future, some kind of painful change will inevitably happen down the line for these entities, whether they want it or are ready for it,” he said.

The EFF’s Vuyani Pambo said it was critical to note the continued financial failure of the department.

Read more at: https://www.timeslive.co.za/politics/2021-05-19-not-so-stella-mps-not-happy-with-communications-ministers-budget/

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Karpowership, a unit of the Turkish Karadeniz Energy Group, is on track for its longest contract to date to supply power from vessels to South Africa in a deal worth as much as R218 billion ($15 billion).

The company that advertises a “fast, flexible, reliable” solution of floating electricity generation was named last week as a preferred bidder for three projects fueled by liquefied natural gas to provide 1,220 megawatts of electricity.

The program is aimed at closing a supply gap in South Africa that’s resulting in periodic blackouts.

The 20-year deal will cost as much as R10.9 billion annually, according to a presentation by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, a state institution.

The estimate is based on the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s evaluation price of the bids. It didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment.

The award adds a significant amount of generation capacity from fossil fuels for two more decades as South Africa plans a move away from coal that dominates its current power supply and has made it the world’s 12th biggest source of greenhouse gases.

Other, smaller, projects chosen use a mix of solar and wind with batteries and LNG.

“Power ships have proven effective at providing fast-response, emergency electricity — hence the maximum 10-year tenor for past contracts,” said Antoine Vagneur-Jones, an analyst at BNEF’s energy transition policy team for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

“That the South African government would procure one for 20 years speaks to the depths of the country’s power crisis, and questionable long-term planning in light of dropping renewables costs.”

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Some conspiracy theorists are linking 5G to the coronavirus. There is no causal connection between 5G technology and any biological virus, including the COVID-19. The second concern around 5G is that it emits radiofrequency radiation that is dangerous to human health. The word radiation is scary because it is linked to nuclear bombs. Nuclear radiation is ionising and can modify the DNA and destroy cells. Non-ionising radiation like high frequency electromagnetic waves are non-ionising and therefore, are not as dangerous. We, however, should invest in research on the health impact of 5G. (Emphasis added by EMFSA)

EMFSA comments:

-We would have added “do not damage cells DIRECTLY“, rather “INDIRECTLY” to the above paragraph.

-We agree that 5G does not cause COVID-19.

-Yes to multidisciplinary research on the health impacts of not only 5G, but EMF exposures in general.

Professor Marwala is the author of Closing the Gap: The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa. Read the book review by Andries Nel at https://www.anc1912.org.za/anc-today

The post Professor Marwala: invest in research on the health impact of 5G appeared first on EMFSA.

Available online at www.sacities.net

The post SMART CITIES PAPER SERIES: Smart Governance in South African Cities appeared first on EMFSA.

4IR technologies include: artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, advanced biotechnology, robotics, the Internet of Things, blockchain, speedy connectivity in the form of 5G and Wi-Fi 6, and 3D printing. 5G is an integral technology that will be necessary for these to fulfil their potential within the 4IR.  

2019: According to Wits University, 5G is seen as the key technology of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), which is changing the way we live, work, play and consume services. The 4IR is a key focus for the future growth and development of South Africa’s economy. Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research at Wits: “The skills, knowledge, innovation and creativity would be the cornerstones for development in the 4IR.” The free training is provided by Huawei South Africa. https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/research-news/2019/2019-05/first-5g-training-in-sa-for-ict-postgrads-at-wits.html

In 2019 Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga announced that Ms Zora, an artificial intelligence-based educational platform, will be rolled out across South African schools to support the introduction of the coding and robotics curriculum.

Motshekga reaffirmed the importance of fourth industrial revolution skills and the role of the new online platform in the new curriculum: “It is critical that we implement science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) platforms now to empower students at an early stage to be responsive to the demands of the changing world.”

“The new curriculum will provide learners with an understanding of coding and robotics while developing their skills and competencies to prepare them for the future workplace. Hence, this important partnership with Africa Teen Geeks in launching Ms Zora.”

Motshekga told ITWeb that Ms Zora would assist teachers to effectively integrate technology into subject areas, while increasing access to the quality of education for all South African pupils, regardless of their location, proficiency level and socioeconomic circumstances.

The e-learning platform, unveiled at the announcement of the 2019 National Senior Certificate Results at Vodacom World, in Midrand, is a robotics and coding software tool aimed at empowering school pupils across all grades to develop and improve their 21 century skills by serving as both a teacher’s assistant and a personal tutor to the learner. https://www.itweb.co.za/content/xnklOvzbQP2v4Ymz

In February 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa (in the State of the Nation Address) said that the government will introduce Coding and Robotics in Grades R to 3, in 200 schools – with a plan to implement it fully by 2022.

https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/government-introducing-coding-robotics-grades-r-3

A critical evaluation of SA’s education system points to the following challenges relating to readiness for 4IR: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/371/193213.html

• Current school curriculum does not equip learners with the right skills or education for the 4IR.

• Computer science skills are at the centre of this revolution, however, very few primary and high school learners have access to computers. Some learners reach Grade 12 without ever interacting with a computer.

• Access to fast and reliable internet is a national problem, while for those who can access the internet, this is a costly exercise.

• Coding an important technical skill for future jobs is not part of the curriculum. This is an important skill even for students who take up non-technical subjects.

My Broadband: Government’s plan to teach coding and AI at South African schools

Bradley Prior 23 September 2020: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/government/368663-governments-plan-to-teach-coding-and-ai-at-south-african-schools.html?utm_source=newsletter

“A major long-term infrastructure funding programme for schools is needed, with attention to mobile and other wireless network infrastructure, at sufficient levels of connectivity to make online access meaningful in educational terms.”

To achieve this, the DCDT said that the government needs to foster well-structured and well-designed public-private partnerships and the necessary asset funding partnership regulations will need to be prepared specifically for digital infrastructure.

“Opportunities for infrastructure funding partnerships can be formulated through Treasury Regulations, through the proposed Digital Development Fund, and through other infrastructure funding initiatives, such as SIP15,” said the DCDT.

National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper of 2016 » National Digital and Future Skills Strategy South Africa National Gazettes, No. 43730 of 23 September, 2020,

EMFSA:

In order to achieve the required digital infrastructure many more similar towers will be needed.

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Depending on who you listen to, artificial intelligence may either free us from monotonous labour and unleash huge productivity gains, or create a dystopia of mass unemployment and automated oppression. In the case of farming, some researchers, business people and politicians think the effects of AI and other advanced technologies are so great they are spurring a “fourth agricultural revolution”.

Given the potentially transformative effects of upcoming technology on farming – positive and negative – it’s vital that we pause and reflect before the revolution takes hold. It must work for everyone, whether it be farmers (regardless of their size or enterprise), landowners, farm workers, rural communities or the wider public. Yet, in a recently published study led by the researcher Hannah Barrett, we found that policymakers and the media are framing the fourth agricultural revolution as overwhelmingly positive, without giving much focus to the potential negative consequences.

The first agricultural revolution occurred when humans started farming around 12,000 years ago. The second was the reorganisation of farmland from the 17th century onwards that followed the end of feudalism in Europe. And the third (also known as the green revolution) was the introduction of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and new high-yield crop breeds alongside heavy machinery in the 1950s and 1960s.

The fourth agricultural revolution, much like the fourth industrial revolution, refers to the anticipated changes from new technologies, particularly the use of AI to make smarter planning decisions and power autonomous robots. Such intelligent machines could be used for growing and picking crops, weeding, milking livestock and distributing agrochemicals via drone. Other farming-specific technologies include new types of gene editing to develop higher yielding, disease-resistant crops; vertical farms; and synthetic lab-grown meat.

These technologies are attracting huge amounts of funding and investment in the quest to boost food production while minimising further environmental degradation. This might, in part, be related to positive media coverage. Our research found that UK coverage of new farming technologies tends to be optimistic, portraying them as key to solving farming challenges.

However, many previous agricultural technologies were also greeted with similar enthusiasm before leading to controversy later on, such as with the first genetically modified crops and chemicals such as the now-banned pesticide DDT. Given wider controversies surrounding emergent technologies like nanotechnology and driverless cars, unchecked or blind techno-optimism is unwise.

We mustn’t assume that all of these new farming technologies will be adopted without overcoming certain barriers. Precedent tells us that benefits are unlikely to be spread evenly across society and that some people will lose out. We need to understand who might lose and what we can do about it, and ask wider questions such as whether new technologies will actually deliver as promised.

Robotic milking of cows provides a good example. In our research, a farmer told us that using robots had improved his work-life balance and allowed a disabled farm worker to avoid dextrous tasks on the farm. But they had also created a “different kind of stress” due to the resulting information overload and the perception that the farmer needed to be monitoring data 24/7.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) argues that new technologies could attract younger, more technically skilled entrants to an ageing workforce. Such breakthroughs could enable a wider range of people to engage in farming by eliminating the back-breaking stereotypes through greater use of machinery.

But existing farm workers at risk of being replaced by a machine or whose skills are unsuited to a new style of farming will inevitably be less excited by the prospect of change. And they may not enjoy being forced to spend less time working outside, becoming increasingly reliant on machines instead of their own knowledge.

Power imbalance

There are also potential power inequalities in this new revolution. Our research found that some farmers were optimistic about a high-tech future. But others wondered whether those with less capital, poor broadband availability and IT skills, and access to advice on how to use the technology would be able to benefit.

History suggests technology companies and larger farm businesses are often the winners of this kind of change, and benefits don’t always trickle down to smaller family farms. In the context of the fourth agricultural revolution, this could mean farmers not owning or being able to fully access the data gathered on their farms by new technologies. Or reliance on companies to maintain increasingly important and complex equipment.

The controversy surrounding GM crops (which are created by inserting DNA from other organisms) provides a frank reminder that there is no guarantee that new technologies will be embraced by the public. A similar backlash could occur if the public perceive gene editing (which instead involves making small, controlled changes to a living organism’s DNA) as tantamount to GM. Proponents of wearable technology for livestock claim they improve welfare, but the public might see the use of such devices as treating animals like machines.

Instead of blind optimism, we need to identify where benefits and disadvantages of new agricultural technology will occur and for whom. This process must include a wide range of people to help create society-wide responsible visions for the future of farming.

The NFU has said the fourth agricultural revolution is “exciting – as well as a bit scary … but then the two often go together”. It is time to discuss the scary aspects with the same vigour as the exciting part.

David Rose, Elizabeth Creak Associate Professor of Agricultural Innovation and Extension, University of Reading and Charlotte-Anne Chivers, Research Assistant, Countryside and Community Research Institute, University of Gloucestershire

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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The post EMFSA July 2020 Newsletter appeared first on EMFSA.

30 June 2020

By Prof. Johan Meyer, D.Eng: Electrical and Electronics.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, with all the opportunities it brings, is arguably driven forward by the ability it gives us of being connected. Any opportunity comes with its own set of associated challenges and the Fourth Industrial Revolution will not be spared. With connectivity, comes the proliferation of knowledge amongst the masses.

‘The Reformation’, considered to have started with the publication of the Ninety-five Theses by Martin Luther in 1517, was in some way spawned by the transfer of biblical knowledge from the select few to the mass population, which was made possible by the availability of the printed Bible which came into being as a result of the printing revolution driven forward by the Gutenberg printing presses from around 1455.

In a similar way we can expect that the knowledge distribution as a result of the connectivity offered through the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, would move information from the specialist domain into the mass population domain. Knowledge holds power. Protected technological information is what enables corporations to maintain their edge on new inventions and commercial viability.

There is a saying that says, ‘Ignorance is bliss’. With little information comes a few respected opinions. Choosing one to believe and teach as truth is easy to do, but as information distribution increases, so do respected opinions. A case in point is the differing opinions, even amongst highly ranked specialists, on how the COVID-19 pandemic should be handled: to lock down or not to lock down. The point is that with an increase in knowledge comes an increase in different views, which in their own right, may all be true. We may have to start considering the notion that there is more than one truth.

The controversy around the claims of potential ill effects as the result of long-term exposure to radiation from 5G communication equipment has reached peak levels during the COVID-19 pandemic – to the extent that any claims are under threat of legal prosecution by the government.

Claims from the protagonists are then taken to the extreme with reports of birds falling dead from the sky to linking the COVID-19 virus to the result of exposure to 5G communication equipment.

Excerpts

Link to the full article https://www.dataweek.co.za/10678r?utm_source=newsbrief&utm_medium=newsbrief

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The Fourth Industrial Revolution will fuse advanced technologies with high-speed wireless connectivity to blur the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. The ensuing impact on our systems will transform how we produce, manage and govern our world and ourselves.

By Louis Lehot and Ethan Floyd, L2 Counsel | June 29, 2020 at 07:00 AM

5G technology provides wireless communication 10x faster than previous generations, rivaling fiber-optic cable speed, and is the first mobile technology capable of extending broadband wireless services to connected devices. An estimated 25 billion connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices will exist by 2025. The race is on to make 5G commercially available everywhere. When that happens, we will see radical changes in the way we communicate—and live. 

5G promises to supercharge the IoT, autonomous vehicles, augmented reality, smart cities, mission-critical manufacturing, 3D videos, remote healthcare and regenerative medicine. Each of these and other 5G-enabled applications could change the shape of legal, risk, and regulatory environments, and collectively, they will usher in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Read more at: https://www.law.com/legaltechnews/2020/06/29/5g-is-unleashing-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-heres-what-it-means-for-legal-systems/

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