Amid the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), energy management and automation multinational Schneider Electric and the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ’s) Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment unveiled the 4IR Experience Room in February.

The 4IR Experience Room – supported by the Schneider Electric Foundation and Schneider Electric – is located at UJ’s Auckland Park campus, in Johannesburg, and offers real-time demonstrations of 4IR technologies such as virtual reality and three-dimensional printing.

Schneider Electric products featured in the 4IR Experience Room include the Modicon Altivar 630, designed for variable torque control that includes features such as pump control and monitoring, advanced drives for fluid and gas handling applications, embedded energy monitoring, information management and process optimisation.

Schneider Electric PowerTags – which are compact, Class 1 wireless communication energy sensors that monitor and measure energy and power in real-time – are also showcased.

UJ Vice Chancellor and Principal Professor Letlhokwa Mpedi noted during the launch that the 4IR escalated in South Africa with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns that increased the population’s dependence on technology, adding that the introduction of various technologies was coupled with fears pertaining to issues such as job losses and an exacerbation of inequalities.

Therefore, 4IR should be adopted using a human-centric approach by emphasising that the societal impact was to “improve lives and not destroy them”.

Those marginalised in society, such as women and children, needed to be considered amid increasing technological advancements, he added.

Further, one of Schneider Electric’s aims is to partner with academia to ensure that students are practically trained to use relevant technologies when they enter the workforce, said Schneider Electric training and education affairs global leader Zanélle Dalglish.

UJ forms part of the French Southern African Schneider Electric Education Centre network and the university first partnered with the company in 2016, with the first Schneider Electric laboratory established at the university’s Doornfontein campus, also in Johannesburg.

“The launch of this lab today is important for facilitating the understanding of 4IR technologies in practice [and] as we consume this technology and embrace it, we [must] do so with humanity in mind. We must find empowerment in advancement and use these tools to create more sustainable frameworks. This, I would argue, is the real future of the 4IR,” said Mpedi.