David Chalmers, Chief Technologist, Vice President for Europe Middle East Africa (EMEA) at Hewlett Packard Enterprise says the continent is poised to gain the most from a digitised world, if the right steps are taken.

Speaking at the Datacentrix Showcase 2017 hosted in Johannesburg today, Chalmers said, "It is scary, it is absolutely exciting but it also undoubtedly a huge opportunity. I think it is more scary for other parts of the world who are looking Africa and realising that this continent is going to be their competitor in the future because of the talent pool, the average demographic and how we are developing. We don't have the traditional Harvards, Cambridges - or Italian schools of excellence, but we have the talent and we are moving much faster. The speed and scale are on the continent's side. We have to work to catch up, but the opportunities are amazing."

Chalmers adds that the fact that Africa has less of a legacy is both a good thing and a bad thing in terms of the benefits it can provide to leapfrog and for the challenges in rolling out solutions more speedily.

"We see some really interesting initiatives like East Africa using SMS as a method of payment years before Western Europe made it legal, never mind possible! I think that the opportunities for rapidly developing parts of the world and the continent to be able to take advantage of digital technology to leapfrog over some of the other places are huge. It is an exciting time."

Chalmers recommends that leaders on the continent look into rolling out more massive open online courses and further digital infrastructure investment – including ensuring more devices are in the hands of young and talented Africans.

He also highlighted security challenges and the inability for some business to keep up with the rate of change.

"It is going to become harder to keep up as things become faster and faster. We see this in how many of the lifespan of companies on the stock exchange."

Ahmed Mahomed, CEO of Datacentrix agrees with Chalmers' emphasis of the need for business to ensure their sustainability by embracing digitalisation.

"I think the pace of technology is going to accelerate. Not only do we need to think about the technology and its impact on our business, but we need to start to think about how to legislate these technologies. As leadership both in government and business we need to start understanding the implications for businesses and society. We have a responsibility to change how the way we engage the workforce."