The Fourth Industrial Revolution promises to change the way that we conduct business and industry, especially in manufacturing and agriculture, but also threatens many jobs. The Skills Development Summit presented a vision of how skills development and jobs can be retained in this shifting world, especially in the context of rural and urban development. We all needed to stay ahead of the pack and the Skills Development Summit provided the workshops needed to understand the state of this new world.

In 2019, we need to focus on the fourth industrial revolution and how it threatens to shake the very fabric of development and industry. In this rapidly changing world, it is even more important to invest in skills development. The summit aimed to provide answers and solutions to the many new challenges facing South Africa.

The summit intensely focused on the key growth areas of agriculture and manufacturing, two industries that are facing intense disruption as technology and socio-political issues shake the industry. As automation and artificial intelligence improve, we face many potential job losses. The aim of the summit was to put forth a framework of how to address these job losses through skills development.

Within this framework, the summit highlighted the need to empower women. The economic empowerment of women has been strongly linked to economic growth and prosperity and addressing gender imbalances in the economy is necessary to achieve a growing and sustainable economy. Drives to empower women in various sectors such as science, technology and tourism, as well as encouraging women entrepreneurs, are already occurring and need to be supported.

Attention in the summit also focused on providing skills development for people with disabilities, so as to increase workplace equity.

The sole essence of the summit focused on how to leverage the fourth industrial revolution to the advantage of South Africans. We know that industries will be threatened by job losses, but we also know through the studying of the previous industrial revolutions, that where there is loss, there is opportunity.

Skills development should be focusing on new industries and advanced technological skills that will put South Africans in the lead of the new global economy.

The 2019 Skills Development Summit dealt with these pressing issues that affect all stakeholders in the economy. It was an event of tantamount importance for all people and institutions serious about paving the way for a better, more advanced and richer South Africa.

The Summit took place at the CSIR Convention Centre in Pretoria and was hosted by, global speaker, think tank and business strategist, a powerhouse, Thabang Mashigo.

Few of the speakers included;

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This is in large part due to governments’ continued financial investment in the education sector.

A recent Statistics South Africa Community Survey revealed that the number of people, who indicated that they had no schooling, has declined from 3.7 million in 1996 to 2.3 million in 2016.

There had also been increases in the number of people who completed a bachelor’s degree over the same period, from 410 686 in 1996 to 1.2 million in 2016.

Yet despite these improvements the Department of Higher Education and Training acknowledged its responsibility to do even more to bridge the gap between skills development and employment.

The National Skills Authority (NSA) chairperson, Lulama Nare stated that the role of the private sector in this regard was also critical.

“The private sector needs to step up a bit and open up their spaces because government is also subsidising what these youths do in the private sector. This evening, we will be awarding the companies that are playing their role to train and retain young people in the workplace.”

The conference was held under the theme, ‘Skills Development for an Integrated and Differentiated Post-School Education and Training System: Past, Present and Future’.

Director-General at the Department of Higher Education and Training, Gwebinkundla Qonde said in the next five years, the department envisages to substantially expand access to education and training for youth and adults, regardless of whether they have completed school or not.

The following are the outcomes and proposals of the commissions during the conference:

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