Die Vierde Industriële Revolusie (4IR) het aansienlike vooruitgang in tegnologie meegebring wat verskeie nywerhede, insluitend die spoorwegsektor, beïnvloed het. Hierdie artikel ondersoek die implikasies van die 4IR vir die spoorwegbedryf en identifiseer die noodsaaklike sagte vaardighede wat spoororganisasies nodig het om in hierdie era te floreer. 'n Sistematiese literatuuroorsig (SLR) is uitgevoer om 'n teoretiese grondslag te vestig, gevolg deur 'n opname wat aan professionele persone in die spoorsektor gedoen is om die geïdentifiseerde sagte vaardighede te prioritiseer. Vergelykende metodes is aangewend om die opnamedata te ontleed en om die relatiewe belangrikheid van die 4IR sagte vaardighede te bepaal. Die bevindinge het 'n reeks sleutelsagte vaardighede aan die lig gebring, soos aanpasbaarheid, kritiese denke en veranderingsbestuur, waarin dit van kardinale belang is dat spoorwegpersoneel uitblink in die 4IR-era. Die artikel bespreek die belangrikheid van hierdie sagte vaardighede en hul potensiële impak op spoorwegorganisasies, en verskaf aanbevelings om hul ontwikkeling te bevorder. Hierdie navorsing dra by tot 'n meer genuanseerde begrip van die sagte vaardighede wat nodig is vir die spoorwegsektor se suksesvolle aanpassing by die 4IR.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has brought about significant advancements in technology that have impacted various industries, including the railway sector. This paper explores the implications of the 4IR for the railway industry and identifies the essential soft skills that rail organisations need in order to thrive in this era. A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to establish a theoretical foundation, followed by a survey administered to professionals in the rail sector to prioritise the identified soft skills. Comparative methods were employed to analyse the survey data and to determine the relative importance of the 4IR soft skills. The findings revealed a range of key soft skills, such as adaptability, critical thinking, and change management, in which it is crucial that railway professionals excel in the 4IR era. The paper discusses the significance of these soft skills and their potential impact on rail organisations, and provides recommendations for fostering their development. This research contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the soft skills that are necessary for the railway sector's successful adaptation to the 4IR.

This research explores the employability of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college graduates in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era in South Africa. It examines the role of TVET lecturers in providing skills that are relevant to the contemporary period. The study uses qualitative research inspired by the interpretivist approach, and a purposive sampling strategy to get the perspectives of TVET lecturers and employers. It was observed that TVET lecturers play a minimal role in the development of the curriculum due to a rigid top-down approach from the Ministry of Higher Education. Companies are forming partnerships with TVET colleges by offering places for in-service training, practicals and internships. The study reveals that South African businesses have adopted 4IR-related technologies, requiring a skilled TVET force that is ready for these transformations. The findings highlight the need for regular curriculum transformation and the importance of TVET education in producing artisans, technologists and technicians that are vital for the South African economy on an ongoing basis.

ORIENTATION: The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is increasingly becoming a reality in organisations worldwide RESEARCH PURPOSE: The aim of this article was to explore the views of international leaders on leadership and skills development in employees to equip them for the 4IR MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: Leaders have to adjust their perspectives and leadership while the entire workforce is required to focus on their skills development on technological, individual and interpersonal levels RESEARCH APPROACH/DESIGN AND METHOD: A qualitative research methodology is applied, using a phenomenological paradigm. Eight top leaders from Australia, India, Germany, South Africa, North America, the United Arab Emirates, and Singapore in various global and organisational fields were interviewed on leadership and skills development in the 4IR MAIN FINDINGS: Leaders focus on understanding and applying new technological trends, adopting a 4IR mindset, and developing skills through training and integrating systems. Additionally, they believe that skills development needs to include hard and soft skills, continuous training, and anticipating future trends. Skills need to have individual, interpersonal, organisational, societal and spiritual aspects to address the 4IR complexities adequately PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: Leaders need to understand the complexes of the 4IR and need to train and support employees to develop themselves and their skills adequately CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: This article adds to the research on skill development, training and understanding future work trends to prepare leaders, industry and employees for future work trends and requirements for education for future work places

ORIENTATION: Organisations are hesitant to implement new technologies that are beneficial to the organisation to achieve their goals more effectively and efficiently RESEARCH PURPOSE: The study's major aim was to investigate the best practices of training and skills development in the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) using a case study of Botswana borehole drilling companies MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: Training and skills development in the wake of the 4IR has received little investigation in Botswana and hence this study looked for the best practices in training and skills development in the aftermath of the 4IR and its impact on Botswana's borehole drilling companies RESEARCH APPROACH/DESIGN AND METHOD: A quantitative descriptive research design was adopted for this study. A probability sample consisting of 100 participants from a population of 300 workers of Botswana borehole drilling companies was studied. Data were gathered using questionnaires and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS MAIN FINDINGS: The study findings showed that training and skills development play an important role in equipping employees with new skills, especially in this modern day of technological advancement for an organisation to have a competitive advantage PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: There is a need in organisations to unlearn old technologies and practices and relearn new ones to successfully adapt to the realities of disruptions from technological advancement CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: The study recommended that businesses in the borehole drilling sector should embark on training and skills development if their workers are to keep abreast with the relevant technology in the industry

ORIENTATION: The advent of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and its digital disruptions require new competencies from leaders to ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of business enterprises. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the study was to develop and validate a scale to measure the digital leadership competencies that will enable employees to remain relevant. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY: Despite a proliferation of empirical studies on 4IR and its impact on leadership, validated assessments of leadership competencies for the digital age are scarce. RESEARCH APPROACH, DESIGN AND METHOD: A quantitative research approach was followed with data collected from employees (N = 241) from a multinational company in the technology and engineering industry. A newly developed digital leadership competency. questionnaire was distributed electronically to the respondents. The data was analysed using the SPSS and AMOS programmes. The data analyses included descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analyses and reliability analyses. MAIN FINDINGS: The results confirmed and supported a valid and reliable six-dimensional leadership competence assessment supported by sub-competencies. The six competences include embracing digital, leadership facilitating the digital drive, digital adaptiveness and resilience, cultivating a digital culture and digital skills and digital competitiveness intelligence. PRACTICAL/MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS: The digital leadership competency scale can be used to assess and develop employee competencies, which will positively affect business performance. CONTRIBUTION/VALUE-ADD: The study provides a holistic digital leadership competency framework that encompasses generational theory as well as levels of work theory.

BACKGROUND: Many technology jurisdictions have peddled the narrative that the key determinant for an innovative and sustainable fourth industrial revolution (4IR) environment is possessing hard technical skills. Hard technical skills are important to design the actual 4IR-based applications. Postmodernity demands that appropriate soft skills complement the hard skills to effectively integrate technology into various socio-economic value chains. In fact, soft skills are slowly becoming one of the critical enablers to harness the promise of the 4IR OBJECTIVES: This research article aimed to critically understand the soft skills considered to be essential in the South African context by different information and knowledge management (IKM) practitioners. The aims and objectives of the study were to fill the gap where other disciplines have specified soft skills whilst IKM does not. This study looked to identify soft skills to allow IKM practitioners an opportunity to identify and develop these skills METHOD: This research was designed based on the Delphi study principles and further used a systematic and targeted literature review to allow the researchers to make logical conclusions deductively. The authors followed a multimethod approach and analysed data using content analysis RESULTS: The study results have demonstrated that soft skills are considered significantly more important than hard skills in South Africa. The study identified 57 total skills. However, only 17 had consensus from experts CONCLUSION: This study provides insights into the critical success skills needed to harness the socio-economics brought about by the 4IR. Further studies are required in different contextual settings to understand the global skills pertinent to the 4IR

The mining sector is one of the contributors to the South African economy and improving productivity is important if it is to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Thus, the technologies that will be created by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) are important to the mining sector. However, if this leads to mining companies being less reliant on labour, then these changes will have a negative impact on the jobs of mineworkers. This article looks at the legal framework that governs the mining sector in South Africa in the context of 4IR. The Labour Relations Act (LRA) provides for collective bargaining and strike action, but collective bargaining in the South African mining sector is failing and has not produced the desired result. Strike action has become more common and strikes are often violent and unprotected. Secondly, occupational health and safety risks are present in the mines despite protective legislation -namely, the Mine Health and Safety Act (MHSA). Workers experience harsh working conditions underground. Lastly, workers' skills need to be developed if they are to retain their jobs in 4IR. In terms of legislation, workers should receive training if such training is available for their sector. Consideration urgently needs to be given to the impact on and relevance of 4IR to the labour legal framework in the mining sector. Furthermore, changes to the law in readiness for 4IR and its impact on the workforce in the mines should be considered.

The notion of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) has recently entered the public and policy domain in South Africa. It has rapidly found resonance in policy discourse and the popular media. It has also entered the language of educational policy and institutions. The impact of 4IR on educational thinking and practice has hitherto not featured in academic discussion on education in South Africa except for a keynote plenary session at the annual conference of the South African Education Research Association (SAERA) in Durban (October 2019). The South African Education Deans Forum recently published a call for the submission of chapters for a book on teacher education, 4IR, and decolonisation. In this article, I develop an address that I delivered at the SAERA 2019 conference as part of the plenary panel. The article consists of four sections. The first offers a consideration of the entry of 4IR discourse into the educational imaginary. I suggest in this section that 4IR discourse has installed a socio-technical imaginary in South Africa's unequal educational dispensation. The second section concentrates on the construction of educational governance. Based on research on 4IR-related policy making, I discuss the policy directions taken by the Department of Higher Education and Training and the Department of Basic Education in giving effect to ways of engaging with 4IR in each of their domains. The third section features a discussion of the impact of technological disruption on society, the economy and education. The final section presents a discussion of the emerging educational architectures in the 4IR and a critical consideration of the curriculum and pedagogical dimensions of 4IR, which, I argue, are informed by an orientation that prioritises the acquisition of generic skills. Sidelining knowledge and concepts as central to the structuring of the curriculum, a generic skills approach succumbs to what might be called a knowledge blindness that holds pernicious consequences for epistemic access in South Africa.

If higher education is to deliver education to students that prepares them for the demands and challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), new flexible curricula and teaching approaches for diverse contexts and a move away from a teleological view of 'skills' are required. The 2009 establishment of a dedicated Ministry for Higher Education and Training led to a (then) new perspective in terms of the organisation of the post-school education and training landscape which has had as its aggregated effect a heightened government focus on the link between education, the economy, and skills development. New approaches to curricula specifically and to programme types essential for a more empowering pedagogy for the 4IR are needed. Curricula to serve these ends are not supported by the current focus on predefined categories and types of learning. The changes in teaching technologies and tools have not been matched by flexibility in the processes and policies designed to ensure quality in higher education which increasingly frustrate attempts to respond effectively. The existing framework requires imaginative rethinking about curriculum to address the current and future needs of students.