Editorial: New Frontiers of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Abstract

As humanity struggles to adequately conceptualize the society of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), some fundamental truths remain: that change is steeped in digital transformation; organizing forms are in flux; and that innovation could be the anchor to the future sustainability of humanity. The Open Innovations Conference (OIC) provides a platform for discourse on these fundamental truths of profound digital transformation, changing forms of organizing and a re-think of the notion of innovation. The 2019 Open Innovations Conference (OI), technically co-sponsored by IEEE, addressed the theme of “New Frontiers of the 4IR” by engaging with policy makers and practitioners shaping the 4IR discourse, and collating scholarly contributions from cognate disciplines germane to the 4IR. The theme of the 2019 Open Innovations Conference sought to unravel the intricacies, contradictions and innovations of the 4IR, but, from a multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary scholarly perspective. The emphasis on open innovations, a paradigm that shifts viewing innovation from an internal to an external orientation, undergirds the value system of the Open Innovations Conference (OIC) series. Several disciplines sought to frame their understandings of the 4IR by investigating the foundations, practices and impact of emerging technologies on human development, particularly within the context of Africa. Contributions at the fore of the 2019 Open Innovations Conference are from Computer Science, Information Systems, Mechatronic Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Civil Engineering, Public Administration, Environmental Sciences, Public Health and Science and Technology Education. From these contributions, the view is that the society of the 4IR needs to envisage a sustainable future thatelevates the role of humanity and the individual in influencing technological change for human progress.