Six key charts that show how far SA is in embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Corporate South Africa is at a high-tech watershed moment in how it uses technology to gain a competitive edge. This is according to Arthur Goldstuck, Managing Director of World Wide Worx, who in partnership with enterprise software company Syspro compiled a new study into the readiness of corporates to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution called The Mobile Corporation in South Africa 2018.

Telephonic interviews with 400 information technology decision-makers at large enterprises in South Africa were conducted for the report, which reveals that South Africa’s corporates are stuck in the third industrial revolution that took decades for new technologies to evolve but are ready to enter the fourth, where evolution is instant.

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According to the research, many South Africa companies are ready to embrace emerging technologies like robotics, the internet of things, big data and machine learning.

“The reason is simple,” says Phil Duff, CEO of Syspro. “They are all seeing their counterparts globally being disrupted by small, nimble newcomers or large companies that are willing to disrupt themselves.

“If they don’t respond as part of their own strategic direction, someone will force them to respond. The result will be that these companies will find themselves performing crisis management instead of strategy management.”

The six charts below show how South African companies are embracing these technologies.