and Innovation in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Public Sector Science, Technology and Innovation in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

“Implications of the 4th Industrial Revolution for SET, industry, society and education” workshop 11 September 2018 Garth Williams Research Specialist: Intelligence

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of the presenter do not necessarily represent those of the Technology Innovation Agency.

Mandate ndate

To support the State in stimulating and intensifying technological innovation in order to improve economic growth and the quality

• f

life

• f

all South Africans by developing and exploiting technological innovation - TIA ACT 2008 (Act No 26 of 2008)

Vis ision ion

To be a world class innovation agency that supports and enables technological innovation to achieve socio-economic benefits for South Africa.

Mission ission

To support technology innovators to unlock South Africa’s global competitiveness and deliver socio-economic value.

TIA Mandate

TIA Business Case

Orig iginal nal Bi Biz Case se

▪ Establish new Industries ▪ Diversify the economy ▪ Localisation and beneficiation ▪ Transform the industry ▪ Create sustainable jobs (provide an enabling environment)

Goal Goal

TIA's ultimate goal is to use South Africa's science and technology base to develop new industries, create sustainable jobs and help diversify the economy away from commodity exports towards knowledge-based industries equipped to address modern global challenges

Strate ategi gic c Inter tervention tions

▪ Appropriately structured financial and non-financial interventions for the commercialization of R&D results ▪ Development and maintenance of advanced human capacity for innovation as opposed to just R&D human capital ▪ Building a culture of innovation in the South African economy ▪ Leveraging local and international partnerships to facilitate joint innovation, in-bound technology transfer, building local technological competencies, and encourage foreign direct investment for the commercialization of technologies in South Africa

Fourth Industrial Revolution (WEF)

Source: World Economic Forum

The advent of Cyber-Physical Systems involving new capabilities for people and machines, representing entirely new ways in which technology becomes embedded within societies and even human bodies.

FIR: All about convergence

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Convergence of digital technologies

• Big data & data analytics
• Autonomous and collaborative robots
• Simulations (of products, materials, and

production)

• Horizontal and vertical systems integration
• Industrial Internet of things
• Cybersecurity
• The Cloud / Cloud computing
• Additive manufacturing
• Augmented reality
• Human/machine interfaces
• But also convergence of physical,

digital and biological spheres.

• And convergence of technologies,

society and the economy.

• “…there are three reasons why today’s transformations represent not

merely a prolongation of the third industrial Revolution, but rather the arrival of a fourth and distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact.”

• Not so fast: Digital technology (third industrial revolution) has disrupted

entire economic sectors and created new business models for several decades by bringing the cost of computing to near zero marginal cost:

• PCs, cell phones, the WWW, social media, data storage, digital music and video,

renewable energy technology, fabrication technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, gene splicing and gene sequencing, synthetic biology, GPS tracking, Internet of Things.

• Velocity, scope, and systems impact has been exponential and transformative.
• “…the speed of current breakthroughs has no historic precedent.”
• Not true: The first industrial revolution (wholesale transformation from a

largely agricultural society to an industrial economy) took less than four decades.

Source: Jeremy Rifkin, http://tinyurl.com/rifkin-fir

Criticism of the “FIR”

• Orthodox economics: Growth mostly from factors of production (land, capital, labour), plus a

small amount from total factor productivity

• (Total factor productivity is the residual or unaccounted value over and above labour

productivity plus capital productivity, attributed to the production process itself)

• But Solow determined that total factor productivity accounted for 70% of economic growth in

the modern era!

• Long-run economic growth is determined by productivity growth, which in turn is driven by

technological change (Schumpeter, 1934; Solow, 1956; Freeman, 1992)

• Key breakthrough technologies (e.g. the steam engine) have underpinned surges in society

and the economy

• For SA to catch up and forge ahead, local scientific research, technological development and

innovation (both technological and non-technological) focused on indigenous challenges and

• pportunities is crucial
• It is also important to build technological capabilities in order to assimilate and adapt foreign

technologies for technological diffusion within firms, across the economy and into society

Determinants of Long-Run Growth

A complex of artefacts (tangible/intangible) and knowledge (tacit and codified) within a social context.

Source: Prof. Eric Millstone

Technological determinism: a reductionist theory that presumes that a society's technology drives the development of its social structure and cultural values Social determinism: the theory that social interactions and constructs alone determine individual behaviour

What is ‘Technology’ (and some sociology)

Which paradigm?

9 Source: World Economic Forum

Which paradigm? (cont.)

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Kondratiev Waves of Capitalist Expansion

Source: Saskatchewan Research Council)

Which paradigm? (cont.)

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Society 5.0

Which paradigm? (cont.)

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3rd Digital Revolution

Source: Neil Gershenveld

Which paradigm? (cont.)

The Third Industrial Revolution

Source: Jeremy Rifkin

Which paradigm? (cont.)

Waves of Techno-Economic Paradigms

Source: Hargroves & Smith

Which paradigm? (cont.)

Techno-Economic Paradigms (Socio-Technical Revolutions)

Source: Prof. Carlotta Perez

Industrie 4.0

Source: Yokogawa Germany

Factory 4.0

Operator 4.0

Source: Prof. David Romero

Tool 4.0

World-wide FIR-type Initiatives

Source: Roland Berger

Rationale for Interventions

Source: Roland Berger

• Don’t get hung up on the name
• Lots of techno-babble (techno- eutopia, techno-anxiety, etc.)
• ‘No agency’ narrative
• The Fourth Industrial Revolution is a heuristic or “mental model” to understand and influencing the

way in which emerging technologies are changing how value is created, exchanged and distributed across economic and social systems

• Fears of disrupting already fragile labour markets creating job losses, thereby widening inequality

and deepening poverty

• As with transitioning to a low-C future, technological change in society and the economy needs to

be just, inclusive and sustainable

• As South Africans, we need to shape our own future!

A Heuristic/Mental Model

ini nde ncome e uality

• data

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33962866

• Government-wide FIR Country Strategy and Action Plan
• Cabinet-initiated
• Led by Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS); supported

by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Trade and Industry (the dti); reports to The Presidency

• Possible work streams:
• Digital society, ICT policy, regulatory and legislative reforms
• Innovation, research and development
• Economic policy and inclusive growth
• Industrial restructuring and trade
• Labour market restructuring
• Education and skills development
• Transforming government and service delivery
• Parliamentary process
• Educating MPs and Legislature; public engagement; regulatory framework
• Secretariat: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

Public Sector Efforts

• Science, Technology and Innovation
• Led by DST; supported by Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), Human Sciences

Research Council (HSRC), National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) and CSIR

• Initiatives:
• Converging Technologies Platform (CSIR)
• Inclusive Development Platform
• Network of Outreach Centres
• Baseline survey of SA FIR-related activities (HSRC)
• Global literature review (HSRC)
• SA-EU FIR Policy Dialogue – produce a policy framework to inform the country strategy

(HSRC SA-EU Dialogue Facility PMU, 10-12 Dec 2018)

• Africa Tech Week (Topco Media, March 2019)
• DST efforts will feed into the government-wide country strategy, and the

DST’s new Decadal Plan and 5-year strategic planning process

• DST efforts will also be aligned to the core policy imperatives of the new

White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation, viz. greater coordination between government and industry, the development of sector plans, etc

Public Sector Efforts (cont.)

Converging Technologies Platform

Etc.

Converging Technology Platforms

• Build deep capabilities in niche areas across various technology areas
• Integrate capabilities to support competitiveness and service delivery
• Deployment of resources is based on need and evidence
• Enables partnerships with industry and government sectors
• Defined roles for NRF, TIA, and CSIR

Inclusive Development Platform

• Provide policy, advisory, and decision support
• Inter‐disciplinary team of both sceptics and missionaries
• Strong international orientation, but with a bias to a developing country agenda

Next steps

• Flesh out, consult
• Audit and integration of DST (and entity) investments

Platforms

Other Activities

• Its not about the name
• Its also not only about the technology
• Its about what we want to achieve
• There’s an explosion of activities & initiatives
• The public sector has several initiatives on the go
• Need more cooperation and partnerships, at several levels

Concluding Remarks

Draft White Paper on Science, Technology and Innovation

Thank You

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www.tia.org.za 012 472 2700 Garth.Williams@tia.org.za Acknowledgements:

HSRC DST CSIR NACI