“Beautiful,” the bearded Italian offered, after a fuzzy sphere of light with faint rays streaming from it appeared on the black screen. “Very beautiful. A very rewarding experience.”
The
fourth industrial revolution (4IR) has begun. And Africa is not only lagging; the continent also lacks skilled human resources, especially women, that would enable it to take advantage of this technological advancement.
The World Economic Forum (WEF), in its 2020 Global Gender Gap report, projects that it will take sub-Saharan Africa 95.1 years and North Africa 139.9 years to close their respective gender gaps. According to the report, only 26% of professionals employed in data and artificial intelligence roles were women.
Klaus Schwab, WEF’s founder, described the 4IR as the fusion of technologies blurring the lines between physical, digital, and biological spheres. It involves using and adopting technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, machine learning, robotics, 3D printing, the Internet of Things, and advanced wireless technology.