Digital advances could be just what is needed to boost service delivery

Robotics, artificial intelligence and other technologies of the fourth industrial revolution could provide a welcome boost to government service delivery and help reduce the ever-escalating costs of running the public service.

On April 9, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the membership of the new 30-person presidential commission on the fourth industrial revolution, which he himself will chair. The role of the commission is to “assist government in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the digital industrial revolution”, according to a brief statement from the presidency.

The new digital technologies associated with the fourth industrial revolution have enormous efficiency-boosting and cost-cutting potential for the public service.The gig economy, in which the labour market is characterised by freelance, flexible, on-demand work, is seldom equated with the public service, where fixed monthly salaries and benefits seem cast in stone. In fact, gig work is already happening in the South African public sector.

However, just as private sector employers are grappling with the legal status of gig workers, the government also has to. Are gig workers employees or independent contractors? Or neither? Is it time for new definitions altogether? Considering our sky-high youth unemployment rate, this new rule will inevitably result in an inundation of job applications from desperate young people. Sifting through them would be a task that AI could make immeasurably easier, quicker and more cost-effective.

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