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Pragmatic approach urged as business begins embracing 4IR

3rd April 2020

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

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The technologies emerging from the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) need to solve a customer pain point, as opposed to being deployed for the sake of just following the trends, says BCX CEO Jonas Bogoshi.

Speaking on the sidelines of a recent 4.0 Focus conference, he told Engineering News & Mining Weekly that two extremes are emerging from the industrial revolution currently under way.

Many people believe that 4IR is just a continuation of old technologies and its impact on society is just hype, while others believe that 4IR is fundamentally changing economies worldwide.

“They are not totally incorrect; they are just both extremes. The truth is somewhere in between,” he says, noting that it is more important to understand your customer needs and find the right technologies to solve their problems.

“4IR is being overused to the point that every technology is being called 4IR and, therefore, it will fundamentally impact the world, but it is about the principles that are at the core of every business vision that a customer pain point needs to be solved in such a way that it delivers returns to shareholders.”

There must be revenue growth, profit, cash and returns higher than the cost of capital, with technology focused on assisting the workforce and business processes to improve its performance and enhance value to customers.

“Some technologies are not changing any fundamental business principles. That said, there are technologies today that are fundamental and are changing the way people live, learn and work,” Bogoshi adds.

“We need to become more pragmatic and talk to customers about the real implications, because they drive what we do and where we invest our capital and human resources.

“We have to be very careful not to stick to [the debatable 4IR] extremes, as it will only offer one portion of the solution,” he continues.

RainFin CEO Sean Emery agrees, saying that many people are placing too much emphasis on the technology.

“[Within] the disruption that we see, you might have the best technology and the best innovation, but, fundamentally, the business models have to change, along with the regulations around this.”

“You cannot just apply technology when one is uncertain of the challenge to be solved,” he concludes.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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