AFRICA, THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND CLOUD COMPUTING.
AFRICA, THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND CLOUD COMPUTING.
The fourth industrial revolution is a new phrase coined to describe the new revolution of big data in the world. We can adequately say that the fuel of the fourth industrial revolution is data. The resources provided by computing services have data as its raw material. This makes cloud computing a needed ingredient in the years to come.
Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum in his book the fourth industrial revolution talked about the revolution coming. After describing the impending benefits of the fourth industrial revolution, he swiftly moved to the perils that will be encountered. He was worried that the industries, government and nations around the world might not adapt quickly to this change and this will cause more damage to our world than its intended benefits. He argued that inequality might increase and societies might become more fragmented. His concerns were mainly for African countries who lack the necessary infrastructure for the industrial revolution. The fourth industrial revolution provides a platform for Africa and her youth to compete with the rest of the world in a whole new field. Nobody is fully equipped in this new industry and those who take advantage of it now will reap fruits in the near future.
According to the UN’s figures by the year 2050, more than half of the global population growth is predicted to take place in Africa. At the world economic forum on Africa in South Africa in 2019, Mr Murat Sonmez in a session titled “is data Africa’s new oil” said and I quote that “data is the oxygen for the fourth industrial revolution and there is a huge potential in Africa”. Cloud computing provides a platform for African countries without adequate compute services to access them via the cloud so they can maximize the potentials of their data. It also allows small businesses to operate with minimal cost of computing infrastructure and zero management abilities.
Cloud computing provides a favourable environment for fair competition economically for small and large businesses. When African businesses move to the cloud, they will be prepared for the incoming fourth industrial revolution so that they can maximize their benefits and compete adequately anywhere in the world.