麻豆原创 Africa News Center /africa/ News & Information About 麻豆原创 Thu, 11 Jun 2026 06:52:21 +0000 en-ZA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Flagship 麻豆原创 Event Highlights Impact of Modernisation Efforts at Leading Organisations /africa/2026/06/flagship-sap-event-highlights-impact-of-modernisation-efforts-at-leading-organisations/ Thu, 11 Jun 2026 06:52:19 +0000 /africa/?p=148763 Organisations show how enterprise modernisation strengthens operational resilience, improves decision-making and creates the foundation for more intelligent, data-driven services. Prysmian and the City of Madrid...

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Organisations show how enterprise modernisation strengthens operational resilience, improves decision-making and creates the foundation for more intelligent, data-driven services.

and the are showcasing how modernisation programmes built on 麻豆原创 technologies are helping organisations move beyond fragmented systems and legacy processes toward more unified, scalable and intelligent operating models.

At this year鈥檚 flagship 麻豆原创 麻豆原创PHIRE event held in Madrid between 19 and 21 May, both organisations shared insights into their modernisation efforts and the impact of initiatives such as RISE with 麻豆原创 to fast-track digital transformation and unlock business outcomes.

, Managing Director for Southern Africa at 麻豆原创, says: 鈥淢odernisation is no longer only about replacing legacy systems. It is about building the digital foundations that allow organisations to simplify complexity, improve efficiency and unlock new value from cloud, data and AI. Whether in the public sector or global industry, 麻豆原创 is helping customers create more agile, intelligent and future-ready organisations.鈥

City of Madrid advances digital public administration

The Madrid City Council is collaborating with 麻豆原创 Spain on the comprehensive modernisation of its internal management through 麻豆原创 software. The objective is to digitalise procedures, improve efficiency and deliver better services to municipal employees and citizens in finance, revenue management and human resources.

The City Council has worked with 麻豆原创 software for two decades, beginning in 2004 with solutions in finance and HR. In 2020, it launched its public administration modernisation project with the migration to the private cloud. This process is now advancing with the adoption of and .

The challenge was to move beyond traditional models based on fragmented systems, paper-based procedures and isolated developments. In public administration, this fragmentation can slow processes, duplicate data, limit visibility and make it harder to manage revenues, budgets and human resources in an integrated way.

The solution has been to consolidate a new public management model based on unified management, real-time information and digitalised processes. RISE with 麻豆原创 provides the foundation for the move to the private cloud, while 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform provides the platform for integration, extension and application development.

The transformation has had a significant impact in the tax domain, where 麻豆原创 tax and revenue management solutions are being integrated into the city鈥檚 financial platform. This enables municipal revenues to be managed as a natural extension of the financial system, supporting an end-to-end view of the full cycle from taxpayer registration and assessment to collection and inspection.

Currently, two-thirds of the City Council鈥檚 tax revenues are already managed within this environment, including Property Tax, the Urban Waste Tax for Business Activities, Capital Gains Tax and the Terrace Tax. The next step will be to incorporate the Motor Vehicle Tax and the Economic Activities Tax.

The project has also focused on data quality. During the first year, the City Council carried out a cleansing and harmonisation of master data from previous management systems, generating taxpayer 鈥淕olden Records鈥 and enabling an efficiency rate of 98.02% for Property Tax in 2024.

, IT Manager of Madrid City Council, says: 鈥淭his project marks a paradigm shift: we are moving from managing paper files and isolated systems to managing information and processes in an integrated and intelligent way, with a 360-degree view.鈥

The impact is being felt across internal management and citizen services. The project supports end-to-end process digitalisation and a 鈥減aperless鈥 administration model, while automation, AI capabilities and robotic process automation are helping reduce manual workloads, minimise errors and improve decision-making through real-time analytics.

Prysmian builds an AI-ready global platform

Prysmian, a global leader in cable solutions for energy and telecommunications, is demonstrating how modernisation can create the foundation for broader business transformation.

The challenge for Prysmian was to strengthen its digital core as it evolved from a cable manufacturer to a global provider of solutions supporting the energy transition and digital transformation. With 鈧20 billion in revenue, 34 000 employees across more than 50 countries, 109 manufacturing plants and 30 R&D centres, the company needed a unified, resilient and AI-ready platform to support its next phase of business evolution.

Prysmian completed the evolution of its digital infrastructure through RISE with 麻豆原创 in just four months, creating a unified, resilient and AI-ready cloud platform. Through the integration of , , and 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, the company built an intelligent platform designed to improve operational efficiency, accelerate decision-making and enhance predictive capabilities.

, Group CIO and Digital Officer at Prysmian, says: 鈥淩ISE with 麻豆原创 provided us with a global ERP foundation, 麻豆原创 BTP connected engineering and business, while embedded AI transformed the way our employees interact with data, redefining how Prysmian operates at scale.鈥

The impact has been significant. Prysmian has achieved 70% automation of repetitive activities through embedded AI, an 80% reduction in the implementation time of new innovative solutions, and a 50% acceleration in time-to-market for new products.

The company has also introduced concrete AI use cases across business processes, including intelligent customer order automation, automated payment reconciliation and smart expense management. At the same time, Prysmian is using 麻豆原创 BTP to build an advanced cable design platform connecting engineering and business functions, standardising rules, processes and bills of materials to accelerate product development and increase competitiveness.

Pillay adds: 鈥淭he City of Madrid and Prysmian show how modernisation creates measurable value when it is connected to clear organisational priorities. By integrating processes, improving data quality and building intelligent cloud platforms, organisations can improve how they operate today while preparing for the next wave of innovation.鈥

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Sanlam Advances People Transformation with Cloud, Data and AI /africa/2026/06/sanlam-advances-people-transformation-with-cloud-data-and-ai/ Wed, 10 Jun 2026 07:03:38 +0000 /africa/?p=148759 For large, diversified financial services organisations, transforming human capital functions is no longer only about digitising HR processes. Increasingly, it is about creating an integrated,...

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For large, diversified financial services organisations, transforming human capital functions is no longer only about digitising HR processes. Increasingly, it is about creating an integrated, data-driven foundation that enables better workforce planning, stronger employee experiences, and more agile business operations.

For ,聽a leading pan-African financial services group focused on emerging markets headquartered in South Africa, with a strong presence in 31聽countries,聽this transformation journey has accelerated over the past 18 months as the organisation expanded its focus beyond HR modernisation toward a broader cloud, data and AI-enabled human capital strategy.

, Group Human Capital: Chief Operating Officer at Sanlam, says the organisation鈥檚 approach balances immediate operational requirements with longer-term transformation objectives. 鈥淲e have adopted an ambidextrous strategy for our digital and data transformation journey, simultaneously exploiting operational excellence, proficiency and efficiency in our current landscape while exploring incremental innovation that enhances and elevates the user experience and driving our longer-term transformation journey 鈥 focused on leveraging intelligent, transformative technology to unlock business value.鈥

A central focus throughout the implementation has been ensuring that transformation delivers tangible business value while also enabling the teams responsible for sustaining change. Sanlam is supported by a dedicated support structure for the programme that includes a technical centre of excellence team, programme management, change management, and business analysis capabilities.

鈥淭ransformation required us to approach change from multiple perspectives simultaneously. We always look at transformation through the lens of people, process and technology. One of the realities organisations face is that many people are not ready to embrace the pace of technological change, which makes change adoption and leadership sponsorship critically important.鈥 

According to Bandyopadhyay, Sanlam鈥檚 broader transformation strategy spans several interconnected focus areas. 鈥淎 key priority being rebuilding our job architecture for relevance to the current and future workforce and more importantly to transition to a skills-based organisation. This will then unlock the opportunity for us to leverage 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI-enabled Talent Intelligence Hub which is the golden thread that links all talent practices to a skills currency.鈥

The organisation has also prioritised the implementation of a cloud data solution, master data management and platform scalability as part of its effort to establish a more unified data core across the business. With multiple business entities operating across the group, standardising and scaling trusted workforce and operational data remains a significant strategic focus area.

, Group: Head of HC Tech and Talent Intelligence at Sanlam, says cloud adoption will continue to accelerate over the next two years. 鈥淲e are moving aggressively towards a cloud-first strategy, including payroll migration, data platform evolution, and broader business integration initiatives. Our focus is on how we build scalable platforms and data capabilities that position us for the future.鈥

As part of this strategy, Sanlam is piloting -related capabilities and is progressing towards broader business data cloud initiatives planned over the coming years. The organisation is also exploring how 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, 麻豆原创 agents, and Joule capabilities can support orchestration, analytics, and employee-related workflows across the employee life cycle.

Alongside its platform modernisation efforts, Sanlam is re-evaluating core HR services and processes, including employee experience, employee relations, and document management, while strengthening its talent intelligence and people analytics capabilities to support better workforce planning and predictive decision-making. The Talent Intelligence function has matured significantly from reports and dashboards to trends, insights and predictive analytics. A key achievement has been the development of a solution to measure productivity across the various Sanlam business entities.

Intelligent automation is also playing an increasing role across areas such as service management, payments, compliance, and administrative HR functions, alongside the digitisation of compliance related scorecards like skills development to improve planning, monitoring and achievement of compliance targets. This has allowed Sanlam to service an increased customer base with a greater service offering at reduced costs.

Govindsamy says the transformation journey remains ongoing rather than a once-off implementation project. 鈥淭he next phase of our journey is focused on accelerating cloud propagation, strengthening analytics and data capabilities, and embedding intelligent automation more deeply into the business. Success depends not only on technology, but on sustained leadership sponsorship, adoption, and preparing the workforce for the future.鈥 

, Managing Director for Southern Africa at 麻豆原创, says: 鈥淎s organisations modernise their workforce strategies, there is growing recognition that human capital transformation depends on more than digitising HR processes. It requires an integrated foundation that combines cloud, data, analytics and intelligent technologies to support better decision-making, stronger employee experiences, and greater organisational agility. Sanlam鈥檚 ongoing transformation journey reflects how forward-looking organisations are building scalable, future-ready HR environments that can evolve alongside changing business and workforce requirements.鈥

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Cape Town鈥檚 Digital Twin Project Earns Praise from Finland /africa/2026/06/cape-towns-digital-twin-project-earns-praise-from-finland/ Fri, 05 Jun 2026 06:24:25 +0000 /africa/?p=148756 Cape Town’s Bellville Civil Center uses a Digital Twin with IoT and AI to optimize building operations, saving energy and water The Bellville Civic Centre...

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Cape Town’s Bellville Civil Center uses a Digital Twin with IoT and AI to optimize building operations, saving energy and water

The Bellville Civic Centre in Africa now has a “digital twin,” a virtual copy that uses 1,200 sensors and a drone to watch everything in real-time. This smart system helps fix problems before they start, like finding leaky pipes or saving energy.聽It’s built for Cape Town’s exact needs, not just copied from Europe,聽and even helps with social issues and teaches people about upkeep. Now, this building can “talk” and help the city run better and save money.

What is a digital twin and how does it work?

A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object or system, updated in real-time with sensor data. For Bellville Civic Centre, 1,200 sensors, a LiDAR drone, and a cloud physics engine created a digital replica, allowing real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. This helps identify inefficiencies and potential issues proactively, optimizing building performance.

1. A Quiet Thursday That Changed Everything

The janitor鈥檚 clipboard still showed the same temperature columns, the electricians still argued about fluorescent tubes, and the leak in the basement still had to be fixed before the next council session. Yet, beneath this ordinary choreography, Bellville Civic Centre had quietly grown a second brain. Overnight, 1 200 credit-card-sized sensors, a spinning LiDAR drone, and a cloud physics engine 60脳 faster than real life stitched themselves into an invisible mesh. The concrete giant could now interrogate itself the way a doctor interrogates a heartbeat – asking, not just answering.

Inside the foyer, a Finnish suitcase snapped open. Out came matchbox fog-computing gateways, a stack of district-heating printouts from Helsinki, and – most convincing of all – signed data-sharing contracts with Nordic utilities that proved the jump from pilot to portfolio was already bankable. A projector threw the building鈥檚 new pulse onto the marble wall: cool blues for steady organs, warning reds for arrhythmias. One red vein leaked two-percent inefficiency from a chilled-water pump; another showed a third-floor zone that had spent three nights 0.4 掳C warmer than its set-point. A fire-exit sensor whispered that someone was forcing the door with three extra newtons – hinges beginning to seize.

In the old script those micro-clues would have become phone calls, Excel rows, and work orders already yellow with age. Now the digital twin ranks every intervention by life-cycle cost, authors its own weekly 鈥渕aintenance dance card,鈥 and beams it to handhelds. The deputy director tapped the red stairwell on the screen; instantly the model surfaced a 2024 actuator invoice, cross-checked the manufacturer鈥檚 mean-time-to-failure curve, and advised a swap before quarter-end. Predicted disruption: twelve minutes during a planned fire-system test. Likely downtime prevented: eleven hours. The Finns grinned; they had seen an Espoo courthouse cut annual energy use 18 % after only six months of the same ritual.

2. Built for Cape Town, Not Copy-Pasted from Europe

Espoo doesn鈥檛 stage blackouts; Cape Town does. Procurement here demands three quotes for anything above R2 000, and one depot may serve 250 scattered sites. So the architects tucked palm-sized, fan-less edge servers into electrical risers. When the fibre dies, these nodes keep a compressed, privacy-scrubbed clone of the twin alive, steering local loops: rooftop PV, battery UPS, smart-lighting relays. During outages, the conference wing stays lit on a 60 kWh buffer while corridors dim to 30 %, trimming 12 kW of peak without a human finger.

Sensor playlists are equally mixed. Some wings are 1970s concrete, others 1990s steel sheds, others brand-new mass-timber chasing net-zero. Thread, LoRaWAN and Wi-Sun radios chat in parallel; legacy breaker panels wear NFC tags that any TVET-college student can reflash in 90 seconds. Instead of marrying one vendor, the City hosts an 鈥淢-Bus to MQTT鈥 translator whose YAML recipes live on GitLab under Creative Commons. The only lock-in is curiosity.

Citizen privacy is engineered, not promised. Visitors renewing licences trigger anonymised heat-maps that forget faces after 900 seconds. Maintenance staff sign in with biometric fobs; an HVAC tech may raise a chiller set-point yet cannot unlock court archives. University researchers receive time-boxed API tokens that auto-expire without two-key renewal inside the firewall. The mantra is 鈥渟hare insights, not identities.鈥

3. From Valves to Social Infrastructure – Ripple Effects No Spreadsheet Predicted

Borrowing from shipyards, the Finns gave every component a tamper-proof digital passport. Snap a photo of a corroded valve and the hash, signature, and timestamp lock into a private Ethereum fork. Smart contracts release micro-payment to the plumber only when AI vision confirms the fix. Early runs show disputed invoices down 35 % and warranty cycles shrinking from months to days. The building pays for proof, not promises.

Energy planning dives deeper than kilowatt dashboards. The twin ingests Time-of-Use tariffs, Eskom鈥檚 wind forecasts, and weather-service gust predictions to build a 72-hour optimiser. In a late-June rehearsal it slid 210 kWh from evening peak to pre-dawn, pre-cooling slabs and charging fleet EVs. Saved: R3 420 – one librarian鈥檚 annual salary when extrapolated across 70 facilities. Treasury is now modelling a green-bond tranche: a guaranteed 5 % energy cut could unlock R400 million for further retrofits.

Water joins the choreography. A 30 000-litre basement tank maps stratification layers, predicts Legionella risk, and diverts first-flush to sewer when rainfall tops 6 mm h鈦宦. An ML model schedules irrigation only when evapotranspiration exceeds 3 mm and soil moisture drops below 22 %. Result: 46 % less potable water on landscaping, sparing 2.7 million litres – enough for seventeen households for a year.

Scaling is under way. Three libraries, two clinics, and the colossal Cape Town Civic Centre have already been LiDAR-scanned. The once-labyrinthine 麻豆原创 spreadsheet has collapsed into a lightning-fast graph database; planners can ask for 鈥渁ll coastal-zone boilers older than fifteen years that serve community halls with >30 % Saturday occupancy鈥 and receive a ranked replacement schedule linked to tender calendars.

Social infrastructure is next. Early-childhood centres with no in-house tech get a WhatsApp 鈥渕aintenance buddy鈥 that speaks isiXhosa voice notes. A caregiver photographs a flickering light; vision-recognition IDs the ballast and dispatches the nearest handyman. Where data is scarce, the bot reverts to one-cent USSD menus. Cape Town鈥檚 code is already tempting subtropical eThekwini and equatorial Singapore into south-south exchanges that outbid traditional donor loops.

4. A Living Curriculum for the City of Tomorrow

Every Thursday the disused records room becomes a 鈥淭win Lab.鈥 Failed circuit boards hang like hunting trophies, each annotated with failure mode and intern nickname. A live dashboard streams on the wall; if trainees trim another percentage point off weekly energy, the mayor tweets spinning wind-turbine GIFs. Maintenance is no longer an exile for the IT department – it is a badge for cleaners, clerks, councillors.

Occupants gamify stewardship. Guards hunt daylight sensors left in override, librarians chase dust alerts on HVAC grilles. Points buy canteen vouchers; the leaderboard hangs by the lift like a school sports chart. Behaviour bends faster than steel when feedback loops are witty and immediate.

If the roadmap hits 100 buildings by 2029, the City will have digitised 4.5 million square metres – Helsinki鈥檚 whole downtown. The next mayor will open one map and query every pump, lift, and luminaire in milliseconds. Finnish mentors now log into Cape Town servers to debug their own Espoo high-rises, admitting the student has become the server room. Between Bellville鈥檚 granite walls and Helsinki鈥檚 glass lecture halls pulses a new civic circulatory system whose language is open data, whose currency is kilowatts saved in real time, and whose winner is the resident breathing cooler air long before anyone knew the building had learned to speak.

What is a digital twin and how does it work at Bellville Civic Centre?

A digital twin is a virtual model of a physical object or system, updated in real-time with sensor data. For Bellville Civic Centre, 1,200 credit-card-sized sensors, a LiDAR drone, and a cloud physics engine were used to create a digital replica. This system allows for real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance, identifying inefficiencies and potential issues proactively to optimize building performance. It’s like giving the building a ‘second brain’ to interrogate itself and make smart decisions.

How is Bellville Civic Centre’s digital twin uniquely designed for Cape Town’s needs?

Unlike solutions simply copied from Europe, Bellville’s digital twin is specifically built for Cape Town’s environment, which includes factors like blackouts and specific procurement processes. It features palm-sized, fan-less edge servers that maintain a compressed, privacy-scrubbed clone of the twin during fiber outages, ensuring local operations like rooftop PV and smart-lighting relays continue. The system uses a diverse mix of sensor technologies (Thread, LoRaWAN, Wi-Sun) to accommodate various building types and avoids vendor lock-in by using an ‘M-Bus to MQTT’ translator with open-source YAML recipes.

How does the digital twin enhance maintenance and operational efficiency?

The digital twin significantly enhances maintenance by prioritizing interventions based on life-cycle cost, generating weekly ‘maintenance dance cards,’ and beaming them to handheld devices. For example, it can predict component failures, like a stairwell actuator, by cross-referencing invoices and manufacturer data, suggesting swaps to prevent downtime. This proactive approach has been shown to cut annual energy use significantly, as seen in similar implementations like an Espoo courthouse which reduced energy consumption by 18% in six months.

What are the ripple effects of the digital twin beyond building management?

The digital twin’s impact extends beyond basic building management to social infrastructure and financial benefits. It uses blockchain technology for tamper-proof digital passports for components, ensuring plumbers are paid only when AI vision confirms a fix, reducing disputed invoices. It also optimizes energy planning by integrating Time-of-Use tariffs, weather forecasts, and Eskom’s wind predictions to shift energy consumption and save costs. Furthermore, it optimizes water usage, reducing potable water for landscaping by scheduling irrigation based on precise environmental data. The system also supports social initiatives, such as a WhatsApp ‘maintenance buddy’ for early-childhood centers.

How does the digital twin project foster learning and community engagement?

The project includes a ‘Twin Lab’ where failed circuit boards are studied, and trainees are incentivized to reduce energy consumption, making maintenance a valued skill. Occupants are encouraged to ‘gamify stewardship’ by hunting for inefficiencies like overridden daylight sensors or dust alerts, with points leading to rewards like canteen vouchers. This approach fosters a culture of awareness and responsibility among building users and staff, effectively turning the building into a ‘living curriculum’ for the city’s future.

What is the future outlook and scalability of Bellville Civic Centre’s digital twin initiative?

The initiative is already scaling, with three libraries, two clinics, and the colossal Cape Town Civic Centre having been LiDAR-scanned. The goal is to digitize 100 buildings by 2029, covering 4.5 million square meters, equivalent to Helsinki’s entire downtown. This will allow city planners to query every pump, lift, and luminaire in milliseconds. The project has also garnered international interest, leading to ‘south-south exchanges’ with other cities like eThekwini and Singapore, demonstrating its potential as a global model for smart city development.

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AI has Fundamentally Changed Enterprise Support /africa/2026/06/ai-has-fundamentally-changed-enterprise-support/ Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:46:03 +0000 /africa/?p=148751 AI is reshaping enterprise support and changing how solution providers think and operate, says Stefan Steinle, executive VP and head of global聽customer聽support at 麻豆原创, who...

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AI is reshaping enterprise support and changing how solution providers think and operate, says Stefan Steinle, executive VP and head of global聽customer聽support at 麻豆原创, who adds that support has evolved into a strategic driver of business value.

Support in this context refers to services, management and resource allocation used to troubleshoot, address issues and optimise infrastructure within an organisation.

鈥淭he focus is on value generation and customer health,鈥 says Steinle. 鈥淪upport is central to driving business outcomes with AI-integrated platforms. Support teams are becoming more embedded in business strategy. They provide visibility into system performance, user behaviour and operational trends.鈥

According to Steinle, AI-assisted toolchains and intelligent automation allow organisations to anticipate issues before they arise, streamline performance and improve long-term agility and resilience.

This is an entirely different approach to traditional support execution and application.

鈥淭raditionally, support operated on a break-fix model 鈥 issues were addressed when disruption occurred. AI changes this dynamic entirely. Through machine learning, pattern recognition and real-time data analysis, AI can continuously monitor systems, detect anomalies and predict potential failures before they impact operations. This enables preventive intervention rather than reactive troubleshooting.鈥

AI is also improving decision-making, adds Steinle. 鈥淚t surfaces insights from vast datasets, identifies optimisation opportunities and recommends actions that improve performance, reduce costs and enhance user experience. In this way, enterprise support evolves from a technical necessity into a value-generating function that actively contributes to business strategy.鈥

Shift from break-fix significant

AI expert and founder of AIforBusiness.net Johan Steyn says the shift from break-fix to strategic value driver is one of the most significant 鈥 and under-appreciated 鈥 transformations AI has enabled in organisations.

鈥淔or years, IT support was seen as a cost centre: reactive, ticket-driven and measured by how quickly problems were resolved. AI has fundamentally changed that equation. Predictive diagnostics, intelligent triage and automated resolution are not just making support faster 鈥 they are making it anticipatory. The best organisations are no longer waiting for things to break; they are using AI to understand system behaviour patterns and intervene before users are even aware of a problem,鈥 says Steyn.

The current status is one of rapid but uneven adoption, he adds.

Rise of autonomous enterprise

AI-assisted toolchains and intelligent automation are transforming ERP systems from static platforms into adaptive, self-improving environments.

According to Steinle, the shift is being driven by predictive maintenance capabilities, where AI analyses historical and real-time data to forecast failures and enable pre-emptive repairs. AI is also accelerating automated root cause analysis by identifying issues across complex system landscapes more quickly and accurately.

In addition, self-healing capabilities are enabling some system problems to be resolved automatically without human intervention, while AI-driven process optimisation tools continue to identify operational inefficiencies and recommend improvements.

The result is ERP systems that become more intelligent over time, enabling organisations to respond more rapidly to change, scale operations more effectively and strengthen operational resilience.

鈥淭he integrated toolchain breaks silos and drives collaboration between business and IT. You can confidently modernise your ERP landscapes while staying agile in today鈥檚 competitive climate,鈥 says Steinle.

鈥淎I plays a key role in enhancing capabilities by reducing errors and speeding up transitions. Take AI-powered change point detection as an example, where fundamental shifts in system downtimes can be found reliably and hence resolved faster. At the same time, AI-generated requirements reduce manual effort and accelerate the implementation process.鈥

People and culture

However, Steinle warns that technology alone is not enough.

鈥淲hile technology is at the core of transformation, you can still fall short when it comes to outcomes if your people are not on board. When you continue to operate in old ways, the AI copilots or the automations are pointless. You get the same issues, but with more dashboards.鈥

He adds that culture and leadership are critical to successful AI adoption. 鈥淎s they say, culture is what people do when no one is watching. Establishing this culture is what leadership is ultimately about. How motivated are your people? Are they as excited as you are about new innovations?鈥

Diverse teams are also essential in solving problems within complex ERP environments.

Nazia Pillay, MD for 麻豆原创 southern Africa, adds: 鈥淭he next phase of AI adoption is about execution. Organisations are looking for trusted data foundations, strong governance and practical business use cases that can deliver measurable value.鈥

Early stages

According to Steyn, larger, more mature organisations are already seeing measurable gains 鈥 reduced mean time to resolution, lower support costs and IT teams freed up for higher-value work.

鈥淏ut many organisations, particularly in markets like South Africa, are still in early stages, often constrained by legacy infrastructure and skills gaps. The outlook, however, is clear: AI-augmented support will become the baseline expectation, not a competitive differentiator,鈥 he continues.

Organisations that invest in this transition thoughtfully 鈥 with the right human capability alongside the technology 鈥 will build a genuine and lasting operational advantage, adds Steyn.

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South Africa Cannot Solve Today鈥檚 Jobs Crisis with Yesterday鈥檚 Industries /africa/2026/05/south-africa-cannot-solve-todays-jobs-crisis-with-yesterdays-industries/ Sat, 30 May 2026 11:37:59 +0000 /africa/?p=148747 驰别蝉迟别谤诲补测鈥檚听2026 Future of Jobs Summit™聽highlighted an urgent national call to reposition South Africa around future industries, future skills, and future-ready leadership. The 2026 Future of...

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驰别蝉迟别谤诲补测鈥檚听聽highlighted an urgent national call to reposition South Africa around future industries, future skills, and future-ready leadership.

The 2026 Future of Jobs Summit™ in Sandton did not begin with optimism. It began with urgency.

Held against the backdrop of, the summit brought together business leaders, policymakers, educators, innovators, investors, and youth voices at a moment when the country is confronting one of the deepest employment challenges in its democratic history.

The latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) released by Statistics South Africa paints a sobering picture: official unemployment has climbed to 32.7%, more than 8.1 million South Africans remain unemployed, and youth unemployment among 15鈥24-year-olds stands at a devastating 60.9%.

But perhaps the most important insight emerging from the summit was this: South Africa cannot solve today鈥檚 jobs crisis with yesterday鈥檚 industries.

The global economy is reorganising itself at extraordinary speed around artificial intelligence, automation, renewable energy, digital services, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, and entirely new forms of work and entrepreneurship.

New categories of jobs are emerging globally while traditional sectors face increasing disruption.

And yet much of South Africa鈥檚 national economic conversation remains anchored in the assumptions of the past. This is not simply a jobs crisis. It is a future-readiness crisis. That reality shaped the central focus of the 2nd Future of Jobs Summit™: Next10!, recognised in 2025 as an official T20 Side Event linked to South Africa鈥檚 G20 Presidency.

Rather than positioning itself as another conference filled with abstract policy discussions, the summit was designed as a national strategy platform focused on implementation, collaboration, and future industries.

Throughout the day, speakers repeatedly returned to one central theme: South Africa鈥檚 future competitiveness will depend on how quickly the country can align government, business, education, technology, and investment around scalable job creation ecosystems.

Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Agriculture and Rural Development Hon. Vuyiswa Ramokgopa opened the summit by outlining how Gauteng is working to build a more inclusive growth economy capable of creating opportunities for young people.

Lance Williams, Public Sector Lead at 麻豆原创 South Africa, challenged delegates to rethink how technology and human potential can collectively rewrite South Africa鈥檚 economic story in the age of artificial intelligence.

Melvyn Lubega, Head of the Digital Service Unit in The Presidency, highlighted the growing importance of digital infrastructure and the digital economy in expanding pathways to employment and entrepreneurship for young South Africans.

One of the strongest messages emerging from the summit was that no single sector can solve the unemployment crisis alone.

The 2026 CEO Dialogue™, CHRO Dialogue™, and CMO Dialogue™ brought together business leaders, HR executives, and marketing leaders to discuss practical interventions around youth employability, leadership development, skills alignment, and industry collaboration.

Additional contributions from leaders such as Prof Bismark Tyobeka of North-West University, Marc Lubner of Afrika Tikkun, Faith Mangope of the Faith Mangope Technology & Leadership Institute, and Barry Hendricks of SASCOC reinforced the importance of education, technology, sport, and social innovation in building pathways toward employment and inclusion.

Importantly, the summit was not positioned merely as a discussion platform, but as the beginning of a longer-term national movement around future readiness and collaborative action.

Among the key outcomes announced were:

  • The development of a Future Industries Report™ for national stakeholders;
  • The creation of a Future of Jobs Charter™ co-authored by delegates;
  • New collaboration pathways between business, education, government, and youth-focused organisations;
  • Practical recommendations on youth employment, entrepreneurship, digital inclusion, and future skills development;
  • A roadmap positioning South Africa as a continental hub for future industries and innovation.

But perhaps the summit鈥檚 most important contribution was psychological rather than technical. At a time when unemployment statistics dominate national headlines and pessimism increasingly shapes public discourse, the summit sought to reposition South Africa鈥檚 narrative from decline toward possibility.

Because despite the severity of the crisis, South Africa possesses many of the ingredients needed to compete in the future global economy: a sophisticated financial sector, globally respected entrepreneurs, expanding digital infrastructure, deep natural resources, world-class creativity, a strong tourism brand, and one of the youngest populations in the world.

What South Africa lacks is not potential. It lacks alignment.

One of the most powerful historical reminders referenced during the summit was South Africa鈥檚 preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Between 2004 and 2010, the country created approximately three million jobs during a period of coordinated infrastructure investment, tourism growth, and national mobilisation.

The lesson remains relevant today: when South Africa aligns around a compelling national mission, progress accelerates. But the challenge facing the country now is arguably even greater.

South Africa is no longer competing only for tourists or investment flows. It is competing for relevance in a rapidly changing global economy increasingly shaped by technology, sustainability, innovation, and talent mobility.

Countries that fail to reposition themselves around future industries risk being left behind economically, technologically, and socially.

South Africa cannot afford to arrive late once again. Because ultimately, the future of jobs is not only about employment. It is about dignity. It is about inclusion. It is about restoring belief among millions of young South Africans that they still have a meaningful place in the future economy.

And perhaps the most important question raised by yesterday鈥檚 summit is this: Will South Africa continue defending industries of the past 鈥 or will it finally begin building the industries of the future?

Dr Nik Eberl is the founder and executive chair: The Future of Jobs Summit™ (Official T20 Side Event). He is also the author of Nation of Champions: How South Africa won the World Cup of Destination Branding).

This article first appeared in .

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2026 Future of Jobs Summit: Why SA鈥檚 Future Workforce Must Adapt Faster to Survive the AI Revolution /africa/2026/05/2026-future-of-jobs-summit-why-sas-future-workforce-must-adapt-faster-to-survive-the-ai-revolution/ Fri, 29 May 2026 06:30:34 +0000 /africa/?p=148742 As South Africa grapples with an unemployment crisis the 2026 Future of Jobs Summit held at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton on Thursday provided a detailed road map on...

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As South Africa grapples with an  the  held at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton on Thursday provided a detailed road map on how government and businesses in South Africa can come together to put an actionable plan in place to create jobs and prepare the future workface in gaining employment. 

During panel discussions held at the Summit, it was revealed that the worsening unemployment crisis and the rapid rise of  are forcing business leaders, policymakers and youth advocates to confront an urgent reality: traditional approaches to job creation are no longer enough.

With youth unemployment among people aged 15 to 34 sitting at 45.8%, experts said the country must rethink how it prepares young people for a rapidly changing labour market increasingly shaped by technology, automation and digital skills.

Speaking during discussions focused on the future of work and employability in Africa, business leaders and youth development advocates stressed that collaboration between corporates, government and civil society will be critical to creating sustainable employment pathways.

, Chief Executive Officer of the , one of the panelists at discussions held during the Summit said connecting young people to opportunities and networks is one of the biggest challenges facing the country.

鈥淪kills become more powerful when young people are able to connect to people who can teach them and upskill them,鈥 said Gibbs.

She explained that many young South Africans face fear and uncertainty when trying to enter the workforce, particularly as AI transforms industries and career paths.

鈥淭here is so much fear in trying to find a job. It is all of us that need to do something different,鈥 she said. 鈥淐onnecting skills with opportunities is what we need to look at and AI is a fantastic tool to help you with creating and opening up that conversation.鈥

Gibbs added that behind the unemployment statistics are real people and communities struggling to find stability and opportunity.

鈥淏ehind these figures there are faces, names and stories,鈥 she said.

They further argued that while AI is often viewed as a threat to employment, it also presents significant opportunities for those willing to adapt and learn new skills.

,聽麻豆原创 Young Professionals Graduate (YPP), Global Government Affairs & CSR Intern at 麻豆原创, said fears around AI replacing jobs often stem from resistance to change.

鈥淭he notion of AI taking jobs comes from the notion of not willing to learn,鈥 Motseta said. 鈥淲e need to learn and adopt as it can assist in daily work lives.鈥

She encouraged young people to invest in understanding AI and digital tools in order to remain competitive.

鈥淲e should be investing in learning more about AI and to remain up to date,鈥 she said.

During a panel discussion under the banner:聽Creating Jobs in the Age of AI,聽,聽a senior solution advisor and AI specialist at 麻豆原创 said聽organisations and individuals alike need to embrace a mindset shift around reskilling.

鈥淚f we do not come to terms that we need to adapt and reskill, people who are willing will not be left behind,鈥 Sevel said.

The discussions also highlighted the widening digital and skills gap facing corporate South Africa.

, 鈥檚 Tech Consulting Leader and Tech Alliances Leader said many technology firms and banks are already facing ageing skills gaps and increasing demand for digital talent.

鈥淢ost tech and banks have an ageing skills gap,鈥 Shaun said. 鈥淚t requires people to think differently and work together.鈥

He added that stronger collaboration between businesses is needed to scale meaningful employment interventions.

鈥淔orums such as these are exceptional. We need more corporates in the room with more commitments made,鈥 he said.

The role of infrastructure in enabling long term job creation also emerged as a major theme.

, Head of the Digital Service Unit in the Presidency and chairperson at the , argued that sustainable job creation depends on building strong digital infrastructure rather than relying solely on companies to create jobs directly.

鈥淛ob creation does not come from companies. It comes from infrastructure,鈥 Lubega said.

He pointed to countries such as India, where investment in digital infrastructure unlocked innovation and large scale economic participation.

鈥淪outh Africa has good foundations, a strong banking sector, strong institutions and incredible talent,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut everyone is working in their own silos and we need to come together and collaborate.鈥

Executives from聽聽also stressed that Africa鈥檚 future workforce will need to adapt rapidly as industries evolve.

, Managing Executive: TalentManagement and Transitions at Absa Group, said Africa鈥檚 future growth story depends on decisions being made now around skills development and employability.

鈥淭he decisions we make every day shape the continent,鈥 Bako said. 鈥淲e need to build the skills of the future and create sustainable jobs.鈥

According to the World Economic Forum, roughly 60% of Africa鈥檚 workforce will need reskilling in the coming years as technology reshapes industries and business models.

, Chairperson and CEO, warned that the speed of change is leaving many young people underprepared for the realities of modern work.

鈥淭he change that is taking place is chaotic and we are not necessarily equipping young individuals for what is out there,鈥 Mark said.

He argued that businesses, and civil society organisations need to work more closely together to understand the realities facing young communities.

鈥淐ivil society lives on the streets. They have a deep understanding of what the young community wants,鈥 he said.

Amanda Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer of the African 麻豆原创 User Group, one of the panelists at discussions held during the Summit said connecting young people to opportunities and networks is one of the biggest challenges facing the country.

鈥淪kills become more powerful when young people are able to connect to people who can teach them and upskill them,鈥 said Gibbs.

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Signpost: Does Software Have a Future? /africa/2026/05/signpost-does-software-have-a-future/ Mon, 25 May 2026 06:10:22 +0000 /africa/?p=148738 At Sapphire 2026 this month, 麻豆原创, the world鈥檚 largest ERP company, lined up Anthropic, Nvidia and JPMorgan Chase to endorse its vision, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK....

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At Sapphire 2026 this month, 麻豆原创, the world鈥檚 largest ERP company, lined up Anthropic, Nvidia and JPMorgan Chase to endorse its vision, writes ARTHUR GOLDSTUCK.

鈥淲ill 麻豆原创 actually be a software company in the future?鈥

It鈥檚 not the kind of question the CEO of a software company would usually ask thousands of customers, partners and analysts. At Sapphire 2026, 麻豆原创鈥檚 annual conference held this month in Orlando and Madrid, CEO Christian Klein asked his audience if they were scared by the question.

鈥淚鈥檓 not scared,鈥 he answered himself. 鈥淔or me, the time right now is the beginning of something even better.鈥

The conference saw the launch of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Business AI Platform, a unified environment for building and governing AI agents across enterprise operations, grounded in real business context.

The strategy is to enhance critical business workflows, so that humans and AI work together to meet the accelerating demands of global business.

鈥淎ccording to a recent Stanford AI survey, almost every company is now using AI, but many see only little value,鈥 said Klein. 鈥淲hy do we face such huge challenges with AI in business? At the top of this iceberg, visible to everyone, is that large language models are getting better and better at tasks like generating text or images or in specific domains like writing software.

鈥淎ll of these use cases are related to publicly available content the modules are trained on. But if you go below the waterline, beyond the level of sales demos, and into the real business world, you鈥檙e going to find out that none of these models are trained on your business data and processes.

鈥淭hese AI agents also don鈥檛 naturally adhere to governance requirements, like your security compliance framework, your data privacy requirements, or to your company鈥檚 identity and authorisation rules. All AI agents 鈥 have faced these challenges until now.鈥

The solution, he suggested, was that a company鈥檚 enterprise resource planning system, or ERP, should be recognised as the brain of every business. Since 麻豆原创 is world leader in ERP software, one might argue, naturally the CEO would say that.

But Klein made a good case for it: 鈥淔or over 15 years we have been developing an ERP with incredibly deep process and data domain know-how. On top of that, all your governance requirements and customer-specific extensions are stored in the ERP. The ERP is the trusted system of execution running your company.鈥

Powerful external validation came from Anthropic, the company behind the Claude family of AI models, and that is competing neck and neck with Open AI to become the most valuable AI platform company in the world. At Sapphire, 麻豆原创 shared video testimony from Anthropic co-founder and president the Daniela Amodei in which she declared: 鈥淭he world鈥檚 largest enterprises run on 麻豆原创. That鈥檚 exactly where trusted AI belongs.鈥

That significance of this alignment revolves around the core value proposition of the Business AI Platform: trustworthiness.

JPMorgan Chase CFO Jeremy Barnum, who joined Klein on stage in Orlando, said his bank was already running agents in production on 麻豆原创, operating within defined compliance boundaries.

鈥淭he agents that we鈥檝e built are not inventing their own business rules,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hose rules rather come directly from 麻豆原创 Embedded Control Framework, and every AI-driven intervention is logged and fully traceable.鈥

One organisation鈥檚 production deployment does not establish a category. But the compliance architecture it describes is precisely what most organisations attempting enterprise AI have not yet achieved.

Jensen Huang, CEO of $5-trillion AI chipmaker Nvidia, also appeared in a pre-recorded video segment, making it clear that AI agents would not replace ERP. The most ringing endorsement? Nvidia itself used 麻豆原创 as its ERP brain: 鈥淲hat 麻豆原创 and Nvidia are building together is one of the most important platforms in enterprise AI. Nvidia鈥檚 supply chain is incredibly complex. Millions of parts, hundreds of partners and factories, all connected through 麻豆原创. But what鈥檚 changing is not just how enterprise systems are managed, it鈥檚 how work actually gets done.

鈥淲e鈥檙e moving from hand-coded software to AI that can understand, reason, and act. AI no longer simply answers questions. It works for you. And enterprise systems are where work happens. Finance, supply chains, procurement, and every workflow in between.

鈥溌槎乖 is the foundation of enterprise. And now they鈥檙e building the agents that sit on top of it, trained on proprietary data with the skills to act. Soon, every company will have a workforce of agents. These specialised agents will not replace enterprise software. They will make enterprise software more powerful than ever.鈥

Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of , and author of 鈥淭he Hitchhiker鈥檚 Guide to AI 鈥 The African Edge鈥.

This article first appeared in .

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AI Unleashed as Companies Showcase Business Impact at Flagship 麻豆原创 Event /africa/2026/05/ai-unleashed-as-companies-showcase-business-impact-at-flagship-sap-event/ Fri, 22 May 2026 07:14:23 +0000 /africa/?p=148735 Leading global companies reveal how artificial intelligence is moving beyond experimentation and into core business operations to improve decision-making, increase productivity and deliver measurable operational...

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Leading global companies reveal how artificial intelligence is moving beyond experimentation and into core business operations to improve decision-making, increase productivity and deliver measurable operational impact

Leading organisations throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa are revealing how business AI has shifted from experimentation to realised business value at this year鈥檚 麻豆原创 麻豆原创PHIRE, held in Madrid between 19 and 21 May.

The event included demonstrations of two different but connected approaches to AI adoption by and . Ericsson is building the governed data foundation needed to scale AI across the enterprise, while Martur Fompak International is embedding AI directly into physical manufacturing operations to transform execution on the shop floor.

Nazia Pillay, Managing Director for Southern Africa at 麻豆原创, says: 鈥淭he next phase of AI adoption is about execution. Organisations are looking for trusted data foundations, strong governance and practical business use cases that can deliver measurable value. By embedding AI into the systems and workflows companies already use, 麻豆原创 is helping customers scale AI responsibly and turn ambition into real-world impact.鈥

Nazia Pillay

Ericsson builds the foundation for trusted AI at scale

Ericsson is moving from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide execution by building a unified business data fabric with . The approach enables the company to scale AI use cases across the business, accelerate decision-making and deliver measurable operational impact.

Ericsson, which celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, provides mobile network infrastructure across 180 countries, with more than 40% of the world鈥檚 mobile traffic passing through its networks. As AI becomes central to both its technology roadmap and how it runs the business, Ericsson has prioritised building a strong, governed data foundation to support scalable and trusted AI.

鈥淥nce you scale AI, it stops being an AI problem鈥攁nd becomes a data problem,鈥 says , Vice President, Customer Experience, Enterprise IT at Ericsson. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we invested early in a business data fabric. With 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, we can define what data means once鈥攆rom revenue to market structures and access rules鈥攁nd apply it consistently across the enterprise. That鈥檚 what allows us to scale AI in a way that is trusted, repeatable and delivers real business value.鈥

At the core of Ericsson鈥檚 approach is a federated data architecture that allows data to remain in place while centrally managing business semantics, governance and lifecycle policies. By focusing on high-impact use cases and organising around end-to-end business processes rather than isolated solutions, Ericsson has moved beyond pilots to scaled deployment. Today, more than 85 000 users are live on unified Joule, supported by strong executive sponsorship and governance.

麻豆原创 and Ericsson are also collaborating on AI co-innovation initiatives, including an intelligent goal recommendation capability developed within 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors. The solution generates contextual, business-aligned goals for employees, improving execution and reducing administrative effort.

Martur Fompak brings AI into physical manufacturing operations

Martur Fompak International, a global leader in automotive seating and interior systems, has deployed an autonomous intralogistics model enabled by and embodied AI capabilities from 麻豆原创, marking a significant milestone in its journey toward intelligent, AI-driven manufacturing operations.

In an industry rapidly shifting toward AI-powered operations, Martur Fompak International saw an opportunity to reimagine its material flow. Building on efficient, people-driven processes already in place, the company partnered with 麻豆原创 and , a UK-based robotics and AI company, to explore how embodied AI-powered robotics could redefine material flow across its automotive manufacturing environment.

Using Joule and embodied AI capabilities from 麻豆原创, Martur Fompak International now connects production signals and business context directly to autonomous execution, creating a context-aware automation system that prioritises, picks and delivers materials while adapting in real time to changing business conditions.

Built on and enabled by , the solution enriches humanoid robots with real-time knowledge of tasks, attributes and exception handling. Guided by material data, storage locations, sequencing and production priorities, humanoid robots execute material flows across a live automotive manufacturing environment, identifying, transporting and delivering materials to the line while continuously confirming back into 麻豆原创 solutions.

Together with autonomous mobile robots, the company has created a fully automated, scalable material flow that boosts throughput, improves accuracy and reduces reliance on manual coordination. By assigning repetitive, non-value-adding and physically demanding tasks to robots, Martur Fompak International is enabling its people to focus on safer, more meaningful and higher-value work.

鈥淥ur humanoid robot collaborates with digital production systems to ensure seamless coordination across order management, logistics and production, enabling scalable AI adoption and improving efficiency, consistency and operational resilience,鈥 says , Group Intelligent Technologies Director at Martur Fompak International.

Early results show increased throughput, fewer errors and a scalable, AI-driven intralogistics model. With 400 daily production line feeds and 100% 麻豆原创 software-driven decision-making already in place, Martur Fompak International is advancing beyond traditional automation and pioneering a scalable, intelligent factory model.

Pillay adds: 鈥淓ricsson and Martur Fompak International show that AI delivers the greatest value when it is grounded in business context and embedded into core processes. From enterprise data foundations to intelligent robotics on the factory floor, these examples demonstrate how organisations can scale AI responsibly, improve productivity and create measurable business impact.鈥

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Africa鈥檚 Election Cycle puts Service Delivery under the Spotlight /africa/2026/05/africas-election-cycle-puts-service-delivery-under-the-spotlight/ Thu, 21 May 2026 06:50:07 +0000 /africa/?p=148731 African governments face two powerful converging forces this year: a rapid acceleration in digital government initiatives, and one of the most intense election cycles in...

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African governments face two powerful converging forces this year: a rapid acceleration in digital government initiatives, and one of the most intense election cycles in the continent鈥檚 recent history.

At least 24 countries went to the polls in 2024. A further 17 held elections in 2025. And 2026 continues the trend, with landmark contests in Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, and South Africa鈥檚 municipal elections. What each of the countries holding elections in 2026 have in common is expressed public support at the highest levels of government for the role of technology to improve citizens鈥 lives.

Across the continent, governments are investing heavily in digital identity systems, e-government platforms, and AI-enabled public services. The result is a profound shift in how governments function and how citizens engage in the democratic process. In the most recent UN e-Government Development Index (EGDI), . Mauritius and South Africa joined an elite group of countries with a very high EGDI, a first for the continent.

This is significant because digital government is not just about digitising and modernising administrative tasks but equipping governments with the ability to respond faster, serve better, and build stronger, more participatory relationships with citizens. These capabilities are becoming increasingly important given that citizens judge governments not only on policy intent, but on visible delivery outcomes.

From ambition to Digital Public Infrastructure

The scale of investment into digital government initiatives indicates that governments today see digital capabilities as core national infrastructure. The World Bank鈥檚 Digital Economy for Africa (DE4A) initiative has already delivered around $9 billion in projects . Mobile technologies alone , with further network investment expected to reach $77 billion by 2030.

This investment is paying dividends as is evidenced by several fundamentally transformational initiatives. In Ethiopia, the Fayda digital identity programme already has  out of a target of more than 90 million citizens. South Africa鈥檚 ) aims to transform government Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) through the implementation of a Digital ID, Data Exchange, and the first government payment and service integration projects. From 2028, MyMzansi intends to scale the technologies to the broader public sector, including health, education and business services.

The World Bank-funded  is reported to be approximately 55% complete and already fast-tracking broadband access, public service digitisation and strengthening the foundations for a single-login digital identity experience. Kenya offers possibly the continent鈥檚 most mature evidence of digital governance impact with its eCitizen platform, which now provides .

For citizens across the continent, the impact is tangible through improved access to critical services, more targeted social protection systems, and greater financial inclusion. For governments, the dividend is improved fiscal control, higher transparency, and better ability to allocate scarce resources where they have the greatest public impact.

A structural shift in how governments operate

Governments are increasingly looking to integrate data, applications, and AI into unified environments that allow them to scale services, improve decision-making, and respond faster to change. The ability to connect budgets, programmes, and citizen data in real time represents a structural shift in how governments operate.

This is a critical shift given their role in shaping nearly every citizen outcome. Health systems depend on the efficient moving of medicines, people, funding and information. Public safety depends on coordination across departments, faster access to reliable data, while meeting sustainability goals requires better planning, stronger monitoring, and the ability to align policy, spending, and implementation. In each case, disconnected systems slow governments down and limit their impact, while connected systems improve their ability to act.

Here, foundational technologies such as ERP, cloud and AI are proving central to governments鈥 digitisation drives. ERP systems help governments unify core functions such as finance, procurement, human resources, grants, and programme management. Cloud environments provide the flexibility and resilience needed to scale digital services quickly and securely. AI adds another layer of value by helping public institutions analyse large volumes of data, identify patterns earlier, automate routine tasks, and support better policy and service decisions.

Bringing these technologies together creates a system where every decision informs the next to significantly improve citizen experiences, and which has the potential to contribute to better service delivery outcomes. Equally important, it creates the controls, auditability and resilience needed to operate in an era of cyber risk, fiscal constraint and elevated citizen expectations.

From digital ambition to measurable delivery

The success of digital government initiatives will ultimately be measured by their demonstrable ability to serve people better.

Trust grows when citizens can access services more easily, receive information more quickly, and engage government through more responsive channels. When public institutions can draw on integrated data and analytics, they are better positioned to identify service gaps, respond to emerging needs, and allocate resources more effectively. Technology, in this sense, becomes an enabler of a more capable and more accountable government.

Countries making the most significant progress are showing that digital transformation works best when it is tied to practical outcomes. Digital identity drives inclusion, AI supports better decision-making, and ERP and cloud modernise administration and improve financial controls. The opportunity now exists for governments to build on these foundations with platforms that are secure, compliant, designed to scale and are future-fit.

Public institutions need technology environments that can integrate data across functions, support mission-critical processes, and adapt quickly to changing citizen and policy needs. They need the ability to improve productivity, optimise service delivery, and enhance policy decisions without adding new layers of complexity.

Critically, digital government cannot succeed without resilience. Beyond day-to-day efficiency, governments require continuity, cyber preparedness, and the ability to scale services safely during spikes in demand, whether driven by elections, emergencies, or economic shocks. Platforms must therefore be engineered for reliability and recovery, not only functionality.

Africa鈥檚 digital government push is about capacity, and whether governments can use technology to become more agile, more connected, and more responsive. In a year shaped by elections across the continent, digital transformation has become a civic priority as well as an administrative one.

The governments that will stand out are those that move from 鈥渄igital projects鈥 to 鈥渄igital public infrastructure鈥: platforms that are trusted, secure, interoperable, and designed to deliver measurable outcomes at national scale.

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AI the Main Focus at This Year鈥檚 麻豆原创 Sapphire /africa/2026/05/ai-the-main-focus-at-this-years-sap-sapphire/ Thu, 14 May 2026 07:26:08 +0000 /africa/?p=148727 At its annual Sapphire conference, 麻豆原创 has launched its Autonomous Enterprise which it says will help enhance the world鈥檚 most critical business workflows so that...

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At its annual Sapphire conference, 麻豆原创 has launched its Autonomous Enterprise which it says will help enhance the world鈥檚 most critical business workflows so that humans and AI work together to meet the accelerating demands of global business profitably, strategically and safely.

鈥淔or the mission-critical processes of our customers, 鈥榓lmost right鈥 just isn鈥檛 good enough,鈥 says Christian Klein, CEO of 麻豆原创 SE. 鈥淏y uniting 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform with 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite, we anchor AI agents in the business processes, data and governance so they can deliver accurate, compliant and secure outcomes 鈥 unlocking new sources of revenue and meaningful cost savings.鈥

The Autonomous Enterprise includes a unified AI platform for building, contextualising and governing agents, an autonomous suite that executes core business operations and a new user experience that redefines how people work with enterprise software.

Introducing 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform

麻豆原创 Business AI Platform is a new foundation for building and deploying enterprise AI grounded in real business context. 麻豆原创 Business AI Platform now unifies 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, and 麻豆原创 Business AI into a single, governed environment.

At its core is the 麻豆原创 Knowledge Graph solution, which gives AI agents a structured map of business entities, processes and relationships across a customer鈥檚 麻豆原创 landscape. Joule Studio is 麻豆原创鈥檚 AI-first solution for building enterprise agents, applications and agentic workflows. Developers can build using the no-code, pro-code, and AI frameworks of their choice on 麻豆原创-managed infrastructure that is secure, scalable and optimised for enterprise AI.

Building on this foundation, 麻豆原创 also introduced 麻豆原创 Autonomous Suite which enables 麻豆原创鈥檚 existing business applications with AI agents capable of running processes from start-to-finish.

The suite will deploy more than 50 domain-specific Joule Assistants across finance, supply chain, procurement, human capital management and customer experience. These assistants will automate end-to-end processes by orchestrating a subset of over 200 specialised agents to execute precise tasks. For example, the new Autonomous Close Assistant can compress the financial close process from weeks to days by automating journal entries, reconciliation, and error resolution across the entire process.

麻豆原创 also launched Industry AI, expanding its deep industry portfolio through seven autonomous solutions that will enable start-to-finish industry processes and embed sector-specific process logic, data models and regulatory requirements.

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