Small businesses will be critical to South Africa in the 4th industrial revolution while access to information will revolutionise education.

This is one of the takeaways from a discussion Is South Africa ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution? Hosted recently by Siemens and CNBC Africa in Gauteng, South Africa, in early July 2018.

Panel speakers included Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa CEO Sabine Dall'Omo, CSIR Research and Development Strategy Manager Dr Daniel Visser, and SAA CEO Vuyani Jarana.

Discussion explored effects industry 4.0 would have on the country. Experts acknowledged the impact industry 4.0 will have on society and said shying away from connectivity and AI was not the answer.

"There is no place to hide from connectivity. South Africa cannot step aside and not participate. We need to actively participate and shape South African industries to be more competitive in the global market," said Dall'Omo.

"This revolution is not only for big fishes. We want to help smaller companies get involved and apply technologies in their businesses. This will contribute to a stronger GDP."

Delegates heard that industry 4.0 will have a significant impact the country's workforce and industry.

"... this technological revolution means some jobs of today will not be in existence in the near future and a completely new set of jobs will emerge. This means that there are possibilities to gain new skills so as to fulfil these exciting new roles," according to a statement issued by Siemens.

"People need basic computer skills in this revolution. Africa must not lose out. By moving forward, there will be certain jobs that will be lost forever, but new ones created too."

Dr Visser emphasised that South Africa needed to embrace innovation and become "people-centric".

"The 4th industrial revolution is not an American strategy. It's happening because technology is evolving and everybody must be included...One thing robots cannot be is human." said Visser.

He said we were likely to see small businesses become critical in this revolution, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

"Our young people are born into an era of technology. They understand it and know it; they up skill themselves purely by access to information. So access to information will revolutionise education and small businesses must be able to access these technologies."

Jarana, meanwhile, said skills for this revolution were critical so that no one is left behind. He said poor children needed access to the same digital education as rich children, and that pragmatic action was required from government to move forward.

This revolution, he added, would likely challenge international trade agreements, and an advisory council dealing with different parts of the economy, may be established.