Bring up the subject of the forthcoming ‘Jobless Economy’ and it is enough to send a cold shiver down the spine of most South Africans who see the current dehumanising social impact of massive numbers of unemployed on almost every street corner, just struggling and hustling day-to-day to survive as best they can.

Ask for solutions from our politicians, academics and economists and all they seem to come up with is: ‘Ours is a labour-intensive economy, we’ve got to create jobs’.

Well, good luck to their elbows, let them stop talking about it and get on with the task of creating those labour-intensive jobs. If this is your solution, then make it happen!

In the meantime, a funny thing happened while most South Africans blinked in 2018.

While many weren’t looking, the rapid convergence of hugely disruptive, innovative advances in the world of business technology exploded: from automation (robotics), to artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT),  Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality (AR/VR), 3D printing, energy, autonomous driving and Blockchain. All are poised to radically transform traditional industries and business models as we have never seen before.

The advent of faster, cheaper, computing power is driving exponential increases in productivity & performance in almost every sector of business & lifestyle.

Peter Diamandis & Ray Kurzweil, founders of Singularity University, believe this rate of change to be ‘fundamentally different than ever before. All of these technologies are doubling in power ever year. This will create Disruptive Stress or Disruptive Opportunity, depending which way you choose to look at it.’

It is estimated that almost half of the best companies globally in their respective sectors will disappear in the early 2020s – www.imd.org/research-knowledge/reports/digitalvortex/ – with massive disruptions expected in the sectors of Manufacturing, Mining, Finance, Insurance, Law, Real Estate, Healthcare, Retail & Advertising. Business can fear it or embrace it.

‘At FOURWAYS Chamber, we embrace the concept of Disruptive Opportunity and are enthusiastic enablers of the 4th Industrial Revolution.’ Says FOURWAYS Chamber CEO: Trevor Nel

‘Imagine the collaborative innovation potential of 5 billion connected smartphone-users with almost unlimited access to education. I concur with those global abundance-thinkers who believe that we live in the most exciting of times ever in history. ‘

FOURWAYS Chamber members & local business operators (first-timers: complimentary access) meet & network every Friday – 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 – at Eagles Nest Lodge & Convention Centre, 373 Leslie Ave., cnr. William Nicol & Leslie, Fourways. Register on www.fccc.co.za

Trevor Nel can be contacted on:

T: 084 332-4421

E: trevor@fccc.co.za

www.facebook.com/fourwayschamber