First call deadline: 05 November 2021

1. INTRODUCTION

The technological advances in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, inevitably, have both merits and risks. The extent to which the benefits are maximized and the risks mitigated depends on the quality of governance protocols – policies, regulations, norms, standards, and incentives – that shape the development and deployment of technologies. Governance must be stable, interoperable, predictable, and transparent enough to build confidence among investors, companies, scientists, and the public, but also agile enough to remain relevant in the face of rapid advances in technology.

South Africa’s adoption of transformative technologies should be in the form of a unique model, strategy, and objectives, informed by South Africa’s socioeconomic imperatives, and shaped by South Africa’s unique contexts and circumstances as a developing economy.

The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution(C4IR) South Africa is an initiative of the South African government, acting through the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), to lead the process of developing quality governance protocols that aim to maximize the benefits of the South African economy. The C4IR South Africa is managed and operated by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). It is affiliated to the World Economic Forum’s Fourth Industrial Revolution Network (C4IR Global Network) to tap into the expertise available within the C4IR Global Network.

The C4IR Network’s vision is to help shape the development and application of emerging technologies for the benefit of humanity. The C4IR Network’s mission is to co-design, test and refine governance protocols and policy frameworks to maximise the benefits and minimise the risks of advanced science and technology.

2. INVITATION TO PROSPECTIVE PROJECT PARTNERS TO PARTNER WITH THE C4IR SOUTH AFRICA ON THE ADOPTION OF IMPLEMENTATION OF IOT BY SMME’S.

C4IR South Africa invites companies and organizations in the private sector, and other stakeholder groups representative of any of the sectors of the economy to herein express their interest to partner with the C4IR South Africa as a Project Partner in response to this call focusing on technologies/solutions that will lead to accelerated implementation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Industrial Internet of Things (IoT).

C4IR South Africa is conducting a pilot project to demonstrate the use and benefit of Fourth Industrial Revolution technology within the Automotive Industry. The Centre aims to accomplish this by partnering with IoT solution providers to provide solutions that will bring the benefit of emerging technologies to more people and industries. The selected partners will work together to co-ordinate, and pilot an IoT implementation that aims to lower barriers and encourage adoption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution technology particularly the IoT, in a small to medium sized manufacturing business.

2.1. The projects objectives are:

• Raising awareness of emerging technology, and IoT in particular.
• Create a database of local and global vendors.
• Demonstrate the validity of technologies and their potential to increase revenues in the sector.
• Provide costing models for a use case catalogue.
• Fostering collaboration environments for vendors and SMME’s to partner with one another and build trusted business partnerships.

The call seeks to develop a database of vendors who can provide tried and tested IoT solutions in line with the attached use case catalogue.
Despite the headwinds, vendors also have the advantage that their technology can be deployed to help overcome challenges and drive innovation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Submissions should provide sustainable 4IR and IoT beneficiation solutions to the manufacturing industry. Solutions that promote operational effectiveness, affordability, economies of scale, and cost reductions will be considered.

The expression of interest should be forwarded to Mr. Obakeng Hlatshwayo via email to rhlatshwayo@csir.co.za or SAC4IR@csir.co.za.

The C4IR South Africa prospectus with details of the benefits and obligations of the Project Partners, will be provided during the briefing session that will be held on the 28th of October 2021 from 11 am to 12 pm. To attend the briefing session kindly complete the attendance register Attendance Register and follow the link to join on the day. Click here to join the meeting.

2.2. Qualification Criteria

To qualify as a prospective partner/s and take part in this pilot project, the partner/s will have to have proven experience in the following.

• Previous IoT Implementation Experience
• Data and Device Management
• Data Analytics
• Ensure Compliance and Security
• Solution’s stock on hand
• Combination of cloud and on-premises deployment
• Support Services for the duration of the project
• Engineering robustness to prevent down time

2.3. Project Partners Capabilities

The prospective Project partner/s must be able to provide solutions that can supply Monitoring (using sensors and external data sources must enable comprehensive monitoring of:

• The products condition
• The products operation and usage
• Alerts and notifications
• Provide the above in a cyber secure environment

2.4. Membership Project Partners

Project Partners are parties with a specific interest in one or more of the priority areas in the C4IR South Africa and the associated projects in that portfolio.

Currently, the C4IR South Africa has initiated an Industrial IoT project for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMME), with a primary focus on the below use cases (Refer to attached detailed use case catalogue).

• Asset tracking
• Image quality control
• Machine Learning (ML)
• Process scanning
• Sensing (equipment and machinery)
• Telemetry and power consumption analysis

3. EXPRESSION OF INTEREST BY PROSPECTIVE C4IR SOUTH AFRICA PROJECT PARTNERS

3.1 All expressions of interest must be in writing, preferably in electronic format and should be sent to the person named above.

3.2 The last date for submission is 05 Nov 2021 at 17:00.

3.3 Submissions will be subject to evaluation and acceptance by the C4IR South Africa.

3.4 The C4IR South Africa will apply a broad evaluation and selection criteria, including demonstrated ability to add immediate value to C4IR South Africa focus areas, sound corporate governance experience and reputation of the entity.

3.5. The center will contact all organization’s that made submissions and advise them of the outcomes of their submissions.

3.6 The expression of interest document must give full details of the organization; stating the sector of the economy in which it operates, and the focus area in which it is mostly interested.

3.7 The organization’s submission must further state how it intends to make a contribution to advancing the aims of the project.

3.8 Once it has been submitted and accepted, the expression of interest will reinforce the entity’s commitment.

3.9 The C4IR South Africa will hold further discussions and provide more information on many other aspects of its current and intended future programs.

3.10. All submissions and subsequent discussions will be treated with utmost confidentiality and strict observance of the principles of the Protection of Personal Information (POPIA) Act, 2013 (Act 4 of 2013). Shortlisted or selected organization’s may also be required to enter into a formal confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement.