The fourth industrial revolution is fast becoming a reality. While many working people are improving their skills for a digital world, thousands of young people leave schools every year without digital literacy. Most jobs today require some level of digital skills, but it is predicted that in about seven years, 5.7-million of jobs in SA will be digitally automated. By 2030, robot automaton will fill 800-million employment positions worldwide. In SA, which has huge unemployment and the majority of the population are in low-skilled jobs, digital education and training in schools should be the first priority. President Cyril Ramaphosa extensively discussed financial investment in technology at the recent ITU Telecom world conference in Durban. However, at the jobs summit earlier in October, he said very little about the digital economy and skills shortage when discussing job creation and the promotion of local business. As unemployment, job creation, education and the digital revolutio...

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