GERHARD GREYLING Digitalisation will increase the need for desktop technicians, process integration specialists and trainers
Digitalisation across the spectrum of mining processes could create various new jobs, thus promoting skills development, says information technology consulting and system integration services company Wipro energy and natural resources director Gerhard Greyling.
He says digitalisation and automation are closely associated with each other, adding that digitalising mining processes does not necessarily mean fewer jobs at mines.
“To unleash the wealth that exists and to remain competitive in mining, we need to elevate education and skills to a higher level,” states Greyling, noting that digitalisation will increase the need for desktop technicians, process integration specialists and trainers.
Moreover, digitalisation provides flexibility to create jobs in different areas, he states. For example, the technology could enable mine service centres to be located offsite, thereby creating jobs where there is a greater need than in the remote areas where mines are located.
Greyling suggests that digital mining could also change the culture of mining, bringing the “technical, young yuppie into a sector that has typically been associated with a certain pedigree”. Having people who know how to optimise the performance of mobile devices, for example, adds a different type of flair to the mining industry.
He states that the fundamental benefit of digitalisation is that mines understand their resources and how to use them better.
Owing to demand growth from industriali- sation and urbanisation, price volatility on international markets, a lack of skilled labour, globalisation and industry consolidation in the form of mergers and acquisitions, digi- tal technology is increasingly becoming a priority of mines, Greyling adds.
Back-office processes, such as accounts and administration, are already quite digitalised and standardised, he says, noting that even the front office, which deals with actual mining processes, such as mine planning, mine simulations and blasting, recently began to use digital technology to provide accurate, real-time information that is integrated across the full mining value chain.
One of the benefits of digital mining technologies is that it standardises the information technology used in mining processes so that it allows for the front-office operations to be placed within the remit of the CIO of the company.
Greyling explains that Wipro recommends to clients that they standardise their back-office operations so that they function as simply and cheaply as possible to fund more expensive and complex front-office digital operations.
Wipro has been in talks with a number of its African clients to provide them with guidance in terms of how they should implement digital technology.
Greyling concludes that new mines being developed in Africa are interested in digital technology and this provides them with the prospect of rapidly gaining ground in the industry.