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The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Siemens South Africa entered into a partnership to empower the country’s economy and citizens with digital skills

On 3 February 2021, the two organisations signed a MoU to foster technical vocational education and training (TVET) regarding critical technical and digital skills to contribute to the employability of the local workforce and enhancement of the quality of job profiles.

Through this partnership, Siemens will also be part of the South Africa Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR-SA) and will assist in positioning the C4IR-SA as a thought leader in innovative digital technologies. The C4IR-SA, hosted at the CSIR, aims to mobilise public-private partnerships to co-create enabling governance frameworks to optimally harness the potential of 4IR technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data for societal advancement.

The cooperation will also focus on piloting digital industry solutions in major sectors such as food and beverage, water, cyber security and manufacturing.

Speaking at the signing event, CSIR CEO Dr Thulani Dlamini said that the partnership with Siemens forms part of the CSIR strategy which aims to foster partnerships with the private and public sectors to respond to the needs of industry in order to improve the lives of South Africans.

“The CSIR strategy requires us to work very closely with the private sector to address the needs of industry and society, and to use science and technology to fast track digital skills of the future. To achieve this, the organisation is leveraging emerging technologies, especially those rooted in the 4IR, as well as its current capabilities and those of its partners,” said Dr Dlamini.

Siemens southern and eastern Africa CEO Sabine Dall’Omo commented that the accelerated digitalisation caused by the coronavirus pandemic requires companies and society to respond faster and more efficiently to changing market demands and in times of crises. 

To align with the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) network of centers, Siemens has therefore developed a comprehensive South Africa 4IR roadmap, which will empower the country to seize the opportunities of digitalisation and especially Industry 4.0 solutions while upskilling the South African workforce and creating new high-quality jobs.

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