Living in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution is surely an exciting time as advances in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), Auto-Computing, 3D printing, and other technologies continue to change the way we live, disrupting every business sector.
No doubt, today’s fast-paced technological innovations are changing the world of work and some jobs are transforming faster than others.
While many relate the changes to digital technologies, they also relate future skills directly to digital skills.
As experts have predicted, we will soon, out of necessity, share our workplaces with Artificial Intelligence.
Hence, to succeed in the future workplace, we need to start acquiring digital skills that will help us to stay ahead of the curve.
I recently had a chat with Mercy George Igbafe, Founder of Learntor, on Tech Trends show where she shared with us how and why we should acquire digital skills that will help prepare us for future jobs.
CFA: Mercy, glad to have you on the show today.
Mercy: Thank you so much Fred, Tech Trends and most importantly Channels Television! I’m so grateful for this opportunity.
CFA: All right. So, when you think about technology and development, what comes to your mind?
Mercy: Number one, I see technology as a huge blessing to a lot of us. I equally see missed opportunities by Africans, missed opportunities by African business owners, missed opportunities by all of us Africans just because the kind of development and the kind of sporadic returns on investments that technology has brought, I just feel that Africans, we’re still playing catch up, we’re not there. Technology is great, it’s a huge opportunity connecting people from one to the other. But I just see missed opportunities for Africans.
CFA: Yeah. So, do you think that, for Nigerians in particular, do you think that we’re making the most of technology across boards, whether it’s in government, private sector, what’s your take?
Mercy: Number one, yes we are, but in the wrong places. I remember when I came to Channels and I was sharing stats. As of March-April, I went on Google insights just to check what Nigerians were checking online. It was quite fascinating to see that in 2020, Nigerians are searching how to write formal letters. So, you can see that there’s a major gap. As at August, social media report showed Nigerians as the number one social media users globally. What are we doing on the internet, is the big question.
CFA: So, from what I hear you say, capacity development might be the challenge. What do you recommend as a way forward?
Mercy: Okay. Number one, I think for me Covid has been a blessing than a curse but I recognise the astronomical damage that Covid has brought along, job loss, death, pain across boards.
You can watch the full interview here
