Affiliate Centre to prepare SA for 4IR

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    Government is set to launch the Affiliate Centre which will ensure South African industries move at an enhanced speed towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

    The Department of Science and Technology says the Affiliate Centre is a partnership with the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network (C4IR Network).

    The centre, which will be launched on Tuesday, will be a public-private partnership which will be based at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

    In terms of this model, industry and government – through the CSIR – will co-fund the initiatives to be undertaken by the local Centre.

    “The Affiliate Centre will focus on issues of local concern, but also contribute to the overall research and thought leadership processes of the C4IR Network. Processes are underway to expand the C4IR Network with Affiliate Centre in several other jurisdictions,” the department said on Monday.

    The department says the centre will put South Africa on the 4IR map as it joins other leading countries such as China, India and Japan who also have similar centres.

    The forum established the C4IR in San Francisco in 2017 as a hub for global, multi-stakeholder cooperation to develop policy frameworks and advance collaborations that accelerate the benefits of science and technology.

    Science and Technology Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane will launch the centre, which will be attended by Head of the Forum’s C4IR Network, Murat Sönmez, at a breakfast consultation meeting in Pretoria.