In a bid to maximize digital technology in Africa, the World Economic Forum has partnered with South Africa to launch an Affiliate Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Pretoria. This is aimed at developing an enabling environment for the Internet of Things, Robotics, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence to successfully thrive.
The Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is not the first to be launched by the WEF, other locations are spread across China, India and Japan with the global hub headquartered in San Francisco, USA. All research materials and analysis from the four main centres will be made available in the affiliate centre in South Africa and other existing centres in Colombia, Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
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These centres serve as safe spaces for leading technology companies, startups, academia and policy-makers to come together to brainstorm the potential in Science and Technology to stimulate sustainable growth.
Speaking about the new affiliate centre, the South African Minister of Science and Technology, Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane said that the centre will provide policy development and promote collaborations in the country.
This is an opportunity for Africa to speed up the process towards embracing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Affiliate Center will be officially launched in September by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the World Economic Forum Africa Conference.
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