by SAVIOUS KWINIKA
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – DIGITAL transformation is crucial to ensure South Africa thrives in an age of mass disruption that is occurring across a variety of industries.
This has been the prevailing message at the Huawei Connect Summit, held under the theme, “Dive into Digital.”
Executives and experts believe technologies like fifth-generation networks (5G), artificial intelligence (AI) and the Cloud have the potential to benefit South Africa, the continent’s most diversified albeit struggling economy.
“So many organisations around the world have recognised the value of digital transformation and are moving ahead at full steam,” said Eric Xu, Rotating Chairman, Huawei.
“Technologies like 5G, AI, and cloud are here already. And although these technological underpinnings are essentially the same for everyone, there’s no one path to get there.”
Xu said nonetheless there was a long way to go before true digital transformation was reached.
This year’s Huawei Connect explores how digital technology can better integrate with business scenarios and industry know-how to address critical business challenges.
It focuses on how stakeholders can work together more effectively to foster an open industry ecosystem and drive shared success.
“We believe that new growth opportunities have arrived – innovative technologies are increasingly being used in more industries and diversified ecosystems are driving a more dynamic market,” said Spawn Fan, Chief Executive Officer, Huawei South Africa.
Fan added, “Digital technologies are becoming an important measure to increase effective investment and stimulate the development of the digital economy.”
Nonkqubela Jordan-Dyani, the Acting-Director General of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, said investing in digital transformation generally held the potential to establish a foundation for interminable entrepreneurship and business dynamism, towards establishing South Africa’s digital economy.
“We believe that by partnering with stakeholders from the private sector we can together firmly establish technologies such as cloud computing in our digital economy for the benefit of our people,” Jordan-Dyani said.
The department has been entrusted with rolling out the government’s National e-Government strategy.
It aims to better enable government, through scalable digital platforms that deliver superior services, which will interface between government and its citizens, government to government, as well as government to business, and government to employees.
The goal is to have these digitised, automated services rolled out by 2024.
– CAJ News