Initiative aims to grow digital economy

IQBUSINESS and Business Unity South Africa (Busa) yesterday announced the launch of Sation, an initiative to move the country forward into economic recovery and digital growth.

Busa chief executive Cas Coovadia said the transition to a digitalised economy was a critical element of the Economic Recovery Strategy document developed by Busa through the B4SA platform.

“We consider Sation to be the instrument and tool that is the beginning of this journey. Sation will enable us to ensure a digitalised economy contributes to inclusive growth and the development of our people,” said Coovadia.

Sation would see stakeholders in the private and public sectors, including the government, large corporations, small, medium and micro enterprises, industrialists, private investors, thought leaders, and educational institutions convening to discuss, co-ordinate and implement Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) projects.

The initiative would ensure that public decision-makers and private sector entities were working together towards swift and sustainable economic growth in a 21st century context, rather than working against each other.

Independent management consulting firm Iqbusiness chief executive Adam Craker said their vision for South Africa to become a digital nation stemmed from the knowledge and awareness of the benefits that came with digital transformation.

“While times may seem tough now for our country and our citizens, there is an LED at the end of the tunnel,” said Craker.

According to the ICT and Digital Economy Masterplan for South Africa draft document for discussion of July last year, the impact of this transformative process was already yielding significant development gains across the world. By 2016, the digital economy contributed about 15 percent to global gross domestic product (GDP), amounting to $11.5 trillion (about R158trln). This was estimated to grow to about 24 percent by 2025, with such gains being true for both developed economies and developing economies.

The growth envisaged by Sation was enabled by technologies including artificial intelligence, data science, cybersecurity solutions, rapid payments systems, online state-citizen interfaces and advanced hardware infrastructure. The implementation of these efficiency-enhancing tools would be underpinned by up-skilling initiatives in formal education and would include assisting small businesses and entrepreneurs to take advantage of new technologies.

Iqbusiness and Busa said they believed this approach to co-ordinated, broadscale digital growth was not only the best way to accelerate the growth South Africa desperately needed, but would also ensure this growth was inclusive and sustainable into the future in a rapidly advancing and ever-more unequal world.

Leader of the Sation ecosystem Dimakatso Matshoga, said that “like any of the three prior industrial revolutions, Sation intended to bring about vital change and socio-economic upliftment.