PUBLIC POLICY, INDUSTRY 4.0 REMEDY TO SOCIETAL CHALLENGES?

PUBLIC POLICY

Public policy being the study of government decisions and actions designed to deal with matters of concern in the society; is described as purposive courses of action devised in response to the problem perceived in the society. In its own right public policy serves as governments declaration of intent, where in which government implements and sets out plans that are developed to improve not only the standard of its citizens but also to improve the quality of life (Cochran & Malone, 2014:3). Public policy is furthermore described as a massive and dynamic process functioning in the interest of serving the people by focusing on societal issues such as; poverty, inequality, growth and development. To counteract this the government of South Africa has introduced programs such as the Redistribution and Development Programme (RDP) as well as that of the National Development Plan (NDP), these were created with the firm expectation of moving South Africa as an independent state and nation towards development, first by addressing societal issues. The core benefits of Public policy is that it breaks down the complexity of the process into a number of stages which allow it to be investigated, analyzed and therefore created.

INDUSTRY 4.0

The fourth industrial revolution also known as industry 4.0 is a concept and a development that contains fundamental change to the society and economy. In this regard, the emergence of the above-mentioned industry entails that which is ignited by the development of technology and technological sciences. This is where computers and automation comes together in a different and new way with robotics connected remotely to computer systems fully equipped with machine learning algorithms, which can learn and control the robotics with very little input from human operators (Marr, 2016).

The benefits of the fourth industrial revolution

Industry 4.0 or the fourth industrial revolution is a trend of automation and of the exchange of data in manufacturing technologies. It connects the fixed system production of technologies and smart production processes to pave the way towards a new technological age. It brought about significant change to the larger society, in which new infrastructure of canals and railway lines enabled efficient distribution and trade amongst neighboring countries and their cities. The advantage of the Industry 4.0 here was then that the trade network was gradually expanding and large investments were made in the economies of growing countries (Marr, 2016).

Because Industry 4.0 relies heavily on the coordination and communication of intelligent planning platforms or solutions, planners and managers are better able to gather, sort, share, and collaborate on actionable data sets for improved efficiency and productivity. The gain here is that Industry 4.0 puts data in the hands of individuals who can work with that data to streamline how a manufacturer operates it planning and production stages. This helps breakdown functional and planning silos, which can hamper a company's ability to operate as efficiently as possible (Ostdick, 2017).

POVERTY AS A SOCIETAL DIVIDE AND HOW TECHNOLOGY AIMS TO DEAL THIS SITUATION.

Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the financial resources and essentials to enjoy a minimum standard of life and well-being that is considered acceptable in society. Poverty in its many definitions is said to be the effects that are relevant to a significant proportion of the stories that dominate the daily news agenda. In creating an understanding of what poverty is and it entails we must center our focus on how it is measured.

The Sustainable Development Goal number 9 acknowledges that industrialization is one of the main drivers of sustained economic growth and sustainable development. While a large number of developing countries at their earlier stages of development are yet to make full use of the capacity of complex manufacturing industries and industry-related services, advanced countries are shaping their development policies in line with the opportunities and challenges posed by the third and fourth industrial revolution (Ngjeqari, 2016). The link to innovation and infrastructure further strengthens inclusive and sustainable industrialization as the locomotive of sustainable development, a dynamic process that entails entrepreneurship, continued diversification and industrial upgrading, technological growth has the ability to reduce or alleviate poverty by generating enough resources for the society.

Reference list

Chochran, C. L. & Malone, E.L. 2014. Public Policy: Perspectives and Choices. 5^th ed. USA: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

Marr, B. 2016. What Everyone Must Know About Industry 4.0. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/06/20/what-everyone-must-know-about-industry-4-0/#125bc4ca795f. Date of access: 15 April 2017.

Ngjeqari, V. 2016. The Sustainable Vision of Industry 4.0: The Role of Information and Communication in achieving Sustainable Development Goals. https://50.unido.org/files/research-paper-competition/Research-Paper-Vojna-Ngjeqari.pdf. Date of Access. 16 April 2017.

Ostdick, N. 2017. 5 Competitive Advantages of Embracing Industry 4.0. https://blog.flexis.com/5-competitive-advantages-of-embracing-industry-4.0. Date of Access: 16 April 2017.

The Aftermath of unemployment 

South Africa till this day still has an acute problem or an “issue” of unemployment which is deeply connected to the rising numbers of people living under harsh conditions. It is an issue which can be blamed on a number of factors extrapolated from perturbations occurring in our country at large. This phenomenon is defined as a state where an individual is out of work or actively seeking for work.

Unemployment is a socio-economic issue which has left many South Africans living under harsh circumstances as a result of poverty, this can be outlined as an aftermath of unemployment. It is one of the main reasons why people contribute less to the economy because they are spending less. As a result, the government ends up borrowing money because of low revenues and high spending. Rise in employment rates also has effects on other areas, such as quality of health services and living standards of the people. Hence why we can say that unemployment is intrinsic to the rise of socio-economic issues.

Although the government has developed initiatives in terms of policies to counteract unemployment, progress is somewhat derailed. This pussyfooting can be blamed on a number of factors of which corruption is one of them.

There numerous policies designed by the government to bring about change: Monetary policy-cutting interest rates to boost AD; Fiscal policy– cutting taxes to boost AD; Education and training to help reduce structural unemployment; Geographical subsidies to help firms invest in depressed areas; Lower minimum wage to reduce real wage unemployment.

Although there are factors acting as stumbling blocks I believe that the government is working towards alleviating/decreasing the rate of unemployment in South Africa.

I strongly believe that it is very mediocre and somewhat irrational to always blame the government for everything that goes wrong, to some extent we have limited our abilities and capabilities to design and create our future to be in the way that we want it to be. By saying that something cannot be achieved our abilities and capabilities get limited by reason of the belief projected. By asking ourselves how can we achieve a certain thing is the moment were all the fears, doubts and worries get consumed by the furnace which burns in the inside of us pushing us to overlook our circumstances and start saying “We can do it”.

What I am trying to project is that the government cannot do it on its own, we also have a role to play as the society in eradicating this problem.

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Shalom!