ByNORMAYOUNGInthenextdecade,somepositions
willbecomeredundant,while
otherswilltakeona newshapeor
form.Here’showtoincreaseyour
chancesofjobsecurityG
rowing up,Nomso Kana hada strange habit of
wanting tocount everything.Whileliving inthe
ruralareasoftheEasternCape,she’dbeontheway
tothecitywithhermomandstartcountingthe
numberofpeopleinthebus.Afterthis,she’dstartcounting
thecarsastheypassedbyontheroad.Shedidn’tknowitat
thetime,butthisinterestintrackingnumbersandanalysing
wouldform the foundation of an illustrious career. Today,
Kanaisanuclearscientist-turned-entrepreneur.Thecareer
transition came about from her frustration over internet
speed—hersolutionwasstartinga fibreopticmanufacturing
company.SunnShield 84 Technologieshasnotonlyhelped
provide faster internet tocitizens throughout the country,
its success has also seen Kana win a slew of awards —
amongthemthe 2018 AWIEFYoungEntrepreneurAward.
It’s hard to predict how Kana’s life would have worked out if
she’d remained in her career as a nuclear scientist. What is
certain however, is that the decision to embrace technology in
her entrepreneurial endeavours has not only been financially
sound, it has set her up for a career and business that will thrive
in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
As the world becomes more and more technologically driven,
4IR is going to be critical to both career success and longevity.
Earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa established the
Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Kana is one of the 31 members whose task is to identify relevant
policies, strategies and action plans that will position South
Africa as a competitive global player. Industrial revolutions
are a reference to the way societies work and live. In the past
century, the world has undergone the first revolution, which
primarily affected agriculture, the second revolution, which
saw the introduction of industrial machinery, and the third
revolution which was the digitisation of information.
The 4IR has already begun. Building on the advances made
in the past century, it describes a blurring of the boundaries
between the physical, digital and biological domains. Unlike
the previous revolutions, 4IR is set to have a more pervasive
impact where every sector will be affected, says data scientist
and entrepreneur, Malvin Maduna Nkomo. If you want to
increase job security and longevity, you need to be familiar
with the basic concepts of 4IR (see sidebar). And then you
need to constantly keep learning. “There is a need to urgently
upskill ourselves in the wake of the 4IR sweeping across various
sectors. Online learning tools are available to aid in bridging
the gap between the old and new. Self-paced online courses in
data science like artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep
learning, emerging internet technologies and programming
(Python, R, Java, Kotlin) are available from accredited world-
renowned universities conducted by academics and industryFUTURE
PROOF YOUR
CAREER FOR
THE 4IR
76 |^ OCTOBER^2019 | WWW.TRUELOVE.CO.ZA