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Equal distribution of benefits needed - WEF expert

Cape Town - For the Fourth Industrial Revolution to be successful, benefits will have to be distributed equally, according to Dr Cheryl Martin, head of the Centre for Global Industries at the World Economic Forum (WEF).

New partnerships and a different dialogue will be needed to achieve this, she said at the opening of the International Heavy Haul Association (IHHA) Conference on Monday.

"It is not yet clear where the Fourth Industrial Revolution will go - for instance, regarding augmented reality (AR) which is moving from games to use in the real world," said Martin.

"AR also impacts on energy technology, for instance the storage of energy. New materials are also being developed and 3D printing is impacting too."

Martin quoted WEF founder Klaus Martin Schwab as having said that humanity has never before faced a time with greater promise or potential peril.

Another important aspect she raised is management of so-called externalities. This would include the protection of the environment and vulnerable people, because the Fourth Industrial Revolution could have unintended consequences and requires planning in advance.

Human-centred

Martin emphasised that, at the same time, it is important to stay human-centred, as AR is not intelligence, but decisions made through mathematical algorithms.

"The question is what the potential will be for the rail industry. It is no longer a question of whether there will be disruption in the industry, but the question is when it will take place and what the impact will be. There will be changes to what is being moved and who moves it," said Martin.

For instance, it is estimated that the penetration of e-commerce is currently about 10% of the retail market, but in ten years' time it could be 40%. This raises issues like macro aggregation and investment in storage for the retail sector.

There are already shifts in consumer packaging and the rise of so-called distributed manufacturing (a decentralised model using various manufacturing facilities coordinated by using information technology), circular production models (a regenerative model, in which manufacturers find ways to create more than one product lifecycle) and sustainable production practices.

The value of data also ends up becoming important for business models and dealing with issues like cyber security.

"There is a huge potential to simplify how goods are moved, but one of the big challenges relates to cross-border issues as the many cross-border agreements are not aligned," said Martin.

Skills

Another focus area is the significant change the Fourth Industrial Revolution will require regarding skills, Martin believes. It is expected, for instance, that there will be a rise of creativity and emotional intelligence. So, it is not just about technical skills, but also about cognitive flexibility.

This, however, does not mean that workers will be left behind in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, in her view. This is because, through the use of virtual reality, training can take place across cultures and even without people having to know how to read.

"The WEF will continue to look at seamless mobility integration of which rail forms the backbone," concluded Martin.

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