Innovation enthusiast, Taurai Chinyamakobvu has raised concern over the infrastructure to support the smart revolution in Zimbabwe. Chinyamakobvu, who is also the director of Flocash, was giving a key note speech on mapping Africa and Zimbabwe’s journey towards the Fourth Revolution during a workshop in Harare.
The workshop was title ‘Digital Zimbabwe 2018 Getting Ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution’. The Fourth Industrial Revolution according Tech Target is also called smart revolution – the current and developing environment in which disruptive technologies and trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) which are changing the way we live and work.
“Do we have the adequate infrastructure to deal with things (like) electricity? That’s where the government comes in,” Chinyamakobvu said.
“It’s very difficult to talk about the fourth industrial revolution without adequate infrastructure especially electricity so we have to lobby the government.”
The director of a pan-African online payment gateway also said that there is no coordinated investment in the industrial revolution.
Chinyamakobvu said that the government, industries and universities need to work together for the smart revolution that is already taking place.
“There is a very high risk that the 4th industrial revolution will come with high unemployment (as the machines takeover)… so the universities must chip in with the right skills,” the director said.
Skills associated with the smart revolution include programming, robotics and AI production.
The workshop was also attended by the Deputy director in the Ministry of ICT and Cyber Security, James Mutandwa Madya, who said that technological developments are much faster than policy developments
“We need remedial policies that allow people to move into new demand jobs,”said Madya.
“The policies are taking long and we are culprits we admit but actions are being taken in this new dispensation, mark my words, in this new dispensation.”
The Crime and Cyber Bill, which was suggested nearly two years ago is still yet to be gazetted into law.
The workshop, organised Internet Society (ISOC) was attended by stakeholders from different sectors of the economy. ISOC is a community of people who work to run programs and activities aligned with the Smart Revolution and beyond.
