The 13Nov17 Leadership 4.0 Primer, held at The Ravenala Attitude, Balaclava, Mauritius, drew the Line in the Sand for Industry 4.0 in Mauritius. More than 100 delegates across the key industries of FSI, Hospitality, Sugar, Textile, ICT, Media, SME, Construction, Automotive, Professional Services, Education, Medical, Logistics & Transportation, Public Sector and Manufacturing participated enthusiastically and could now craft blueprints and action plans to address the impacts to Businesses, Government, Society & Individuals in Mauritius supported by the adaptive leadership to be compassionate and engaging.

Opening the Primer Workshop, Organizing Chairman, Chee-Peng TAN, the Group CEO, Business Technovise International (BTI) & TeamSYNthesis (TS), set the mood of the Workshop with a powerful visual comprising the objective, outcome and the next steps for this impactful initiative.

More than 12 Keynote and distinguished Industry Guest Speakers graced the occasion to share insights of Industry 4.0 & Digitalization, the current state of Industry 4.0 and the Digitalization Ecosystem in Mauritius as well as the Emerging Technologies, Operational Excellence & Leadership 4.0-ready skills.

The Industry Keynote Speaker, Kok-Hoong CHEAH, Group CEO, Hitachi Sunway Information Systems, shared his view on Industry 4.0: The Myths & Realities in which he elaborated on the Megatrends Driving Change in Global Advanced Manufacturing. He expertly navigated on the accelerating social innovation, leveraging on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics. With local presence in 16 locations across 9 countries serving more than 1,000 clients, he shared illuminating insights on the various successful Industry 4.0 sites with disintermediated value-add and new business models.

The industry-focused Panel Session, chaired by the Keynote Speaker, featured seven (7) Speaker-Panelists from multi-industry background:

Avinash Meetoo, Adviser of the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, enlightened the participants on Public Sector Innovation for Economic & Social Development supporting the Vision 2030 of the Government of Mauritius.

Seasoned Financial Technology (FinTech) expert, Eshan Amiran, shared his views on FinTech Disruptive Innovation for SMEs, Large Businesses & Government, highlighting the evolution of the banking sector from Industry 1.0 to Industry 4.0.

Tommy Wong, the CFO of Sun Ltd, pointed out the Disruptive Innovation in the Hospitality Industry and the Impact to Hotels, Guests & Government. Elaborating on Hospitality 4.0, he showcased the application of digital technologies from Reservation to Checkout.

Managing Director Esquel, Hemant Kumar Jugnarain, presented the Digital Transformation & Solutions in Order-to-Delivery of Customer-specific SMART Textile by demonstrating the advances made in his Mauritian Smart Factory taking a step closer to the ultimate aim of 100% Mauritian Workforce.

David Marjolin, IT Manager of Alteo Group, emphasized on the Disruptive Innovation in the Sugar Industry & Impact to Growers, Millers & Government, expressing the challenges and influential trends influencing Smart Farming and Precision Agriculture (PA) practices. He also showcased advances made in his Smart Factory.

MITIA President, Dev Sunnasy, discussed the Digitalization, Disintermediation & Impact of ICT to Mauritian Citizens & Government, arguing the case for Digital Transformation in the local governments.

Finally, Loic Forget, the Digital Director of La Sentinelle Digital elaborated on the Media (4th Estate) Transformation Disintermediating Through Disruptive Innovation and concluded on wider cyber-physical systems application for the industrial commercial printing infrastructure.

Kick-starting the highly entertaining and insightful afternoon session was the second Keynote Speaker Chee-Peng TAN covering comprehensively Leadership 4.0 all-important nine (9) competencies. Delivered through a flowing story-telling, the what-if scenarios, coupled with realities on the ground, were thoroughly examined. Audience’s thoughts were sought and relevant disintermediation examples impacting their industries were discussed. Real-life examples-laden, the interactive idea exchanges focused on the Societal Impact of Disruptive Innovation, the leadership challenge responses required to address these implications, and concluded by reflecting on Albert Einstein’s wisdom in that most people see what is, and never what can be.

The Skillset Development-focused Panel Session, chaired by the second Keynote Speaker, featured four (4) distinguished Speaker-Panelists from multi-industry background:

Areff Salauroo, MAHRP & African HR Confederation President, delivered powerfully the Digital Employee, Digital IQ & Digital Value in the Digital Economy, elaborating on building Digital DNA in the digital Economy.

Tertiary Education Research & Policy Leader, Prof Dr Theeshan Bahorun G.O.S.K, shared passionately his knowledge about Skilling Digital Workforce in the Education System (STEM), outlining the exponential changes Industry 4.0 would bring and assuring the counter-measures already taken by some institutes of higher learning.

Para Valaydon C.S.K, SMEDA Chairman, touched expertly on Mauritius Entrepreneurship and SMEs in the Digital Economy, expounding on the advantages and constraints of the Digital Economy.

NPCC Chairman, Sanjiv Mulloo, shared very knowledgably on Mauritius Sustained Growth & International Competitiveness in the Digital Economy, enthusing the progression in shaping the Future of Digital Economy.

Successive speakers had highlighted that regulators and Public Sectors will need to come to the Top Table to brainstorm, discuss, finalize and formulate policies to address Data Protection, Alternative Currencies, Digital Transformation Framework, STEM Vocational Training and I40-based curriculum.

The true opportunities of Industry 4.0 reside in the identification and implementation of new business models over many small steps rather than a single upheaval of operations. As is a tale, so is life: not how much Industry 4.0 it is, but how good it is, is what matters. The benchmarking journeys to 10-11 April 2018 Conference with the explicit desire that Faith will triumph Hope & Fear.