Closing the Gap is an accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines South Africa’s position been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date

A fascinating behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's biggest tech companies.

In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifthlargest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.

Tencent's ambition to be an essential part of digital daily life means it holds a dizzyingly diverse range of products - music, gaming, messaging, and film.

In this fascinating narrative - crammed with insider interviews, exclusive details about the company's culture - tech reported Lulu Chen tells the story of how Tencent is changing the world and asks what the consequences will be for us all.

In 2022 Elon Musk - one of the richest and best-known people on earth - made headlines worldwide with his bid to buy Twitter, and he is often in the news for his entrepreneurial exploits and his controversial tweets. Who is this boundary-pushing billionaire with grand plans of inhabiting Mars, and what lies at the heart of his vision? Why is he so utterly unafraid of risk?

As an awkward Pretoria schoolboy who loved comics and science fiction, Musk's early years and singular family background were crucial in forming his stellar ambitions. Journalist and author Michael Vlismas, who attended the same high school as Musk, knows well the environment that shaped him and offers new insights into Musk's development, including his troubled relationship with his father.

Tracing his remarkable life, from his South African childhood to his move to Canada at 17 and then to the US - where Musk made millions out of PayPal and built Tesla and SpaceX into two of the world's most famous companies - this is the revealing new story of a man driven to preserve the optimism he sees in humanity and find a future for humans 'out there among the stars'.

Connect: Writing For Online Audiences is a timeous guide for South Africans working in the digital space. It encapsulates the current digital landscape in South Africa, with its constraints and opportunities for reaching audiences via social media platforms, websites, blogs, apps and email. And it is designed to help students as well as industry decision-makers connect with audiences, whether as social media managers, search engine writers, digital analysts, copywriters, content marketing strategists or digital public relations executives.

Primarily, these are all online storytellers and this book aims to assist them in achieving their goals.

The book draws on reputable brands for best-practice examples. It uses South African examples of online campaigns alongside international names to provide a relevant yet globally situated experience for the South African reader. The contributing authors are all well-respected experts in their fields who share their invaluable experience in this book. Connect: Writing for Online Audiences is a must-have on the bookshelf (digital or physical) of every individual reaching out to an online readership.

The story of YouTube, the global phenomenon which single-handedly upended traditional media and transformed Google into one of the world's most profitable companies.

Since 2005, YouTube has exploded, giving a platform to unique and valuable voices, but also to propaganda, misinformation and illicit videos. The algorithm which determines whether a channel lives or dies - how or when videos are seen, and how much creators earn through advertising - is notoriously secretive, remaining a mystery to consumers and broadcasters alike. At the same time, the site is massively profitable for parent company Google, helping turn it into one of the most influential powers on the planet.

In Like, Comment, Subscribe, Bloomberg tech journalist Mark Bergen delivers the definitive account on YouTube, detailing how it started, how it works and ultimately how it drives Google's success. It can be seen as the story of a technical marvel that has upended traditional media and created stars out of everyday people, or the story of the rise of a ruthless advertising conglomerate with little regard for its impact on the world beyond the bottom line - but in reality, it's the story of both.

An expert on China's growing digital empire provides an urgent look at the battle to connect and control tomorrow's networks.

Its vast infrastructure projects now extend from the ocean floor to outer space, and from Africa's megacities into rural America. China is wiring the world, and, in doing so, rewriting the global order.

As things stand, the rest of the world still has a choice. But the battle for tomorrow will require America and its allies to take daring risks in uncertain political terrain. Unchecked, China will reshape global flows of data to reflect its own interests - and the lives of countless individuals enmeshed in its systems.

Taking readers on a global tour of these emerging battlefields, Jonathan E. Hillman reveals what China's digital footprint looks like on the ground, and explores the dangers of a world in which all routers lead to Beijing.

It is almost impossible to keep up with the pace and direction in which business and technology are moving today.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. AUTOMATION. BLOCKCHAIN. BIG DATA. INTERNET OF THINGS. THE FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.

Who actually knows what any of these concepts mean for their business, much less how to integrate them? Things are moving at a faster pace than ever before and trying to keep up has become intimidating and overwhelming. It’s tempting to bury your head in the sand than try to make head or tail of it all. But none of the buzzwords actually matter! You don’t have to jump aboard every single change and adjustment in the market, or trade in your suit for a T-shirt, jeans and sneaker combo. If you have the right context, it’s a lot simpler to understand and use technological shifts as an opportunity to transform your business.

Tech Adjacent is about understanding the principles of tech and its pace, hearing the footsteps of where it might be going, knowing how disruption and innovation work tangibly and, most importantly, leveraging it for your individual exponential success. Innovation is contextual, so while Uber, Airbnb and Facebook are grandiose Silicon Valley success stories, they have little relevance in our own market. This book shares stories and case studies of African businesses, exposing who is getting disrupted as we speak and why, as well as how new companies are leading the next wave of growth. Mushambi Mutuma’s experience and expertise in both business and as a tech entrepreneur give real-life context to rapid change, unlocking future opportunities and offering tools to predict where your audience and industry are heading. He sells no big ideas, but genuinely shares his unique perspectives and know-how to help whoever he can in the process.

Tech Adjacent isn’t just another book on growing your business in 100 days, nor is it dry academic theory. It is the guidebook for not only surviving but excelling in a world of exponential growth. Whether you are a start-up entrepreneur or a corporate executive, this guide is a must for both present and future leaders.

An accessible overview of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) and the impact it is set to have on various sectors in South Africa and Africa. It explores the previous industrial revolutions that have led up to this point and outlines what South Africa’s position has been through each one.

With a focus on artificial intelligence as a core concept in understanding the 4IR, this book uses familiar concepts to explain artificial intelligence, how it works and how it can be used in banking, mining, medicine and many other fields.

Written from an African perspective, Closing the Gap addresses the challenges and fears around the 4IR by pointing to the opportunities presented by new technologies and outlining some of the challenges and successes to date.

This thoroughly revised and expanded second edition of IT Contracts and Dispute Management provides an in-depth analysis of the legal issues that could potentially arise within each critical stage of a technology project. The authors draw on their extensive practical experience of advising and litigating in this evolving field, and have produced a work that is both authoritative and pragmatic. Key Features: Discussion of recent judicial decision of relational contracts, and the Supreme Court’s judgment on ‘no oral modification’ clauses and their applicability to change control procedures Updated information to account for the new High Court rules on disclosure Guidance on how to manage frequently occurring issues, such as delayed delivery Examination of important methods of project resuscitation when experiencing difficulty, as well as potential end of project issues This informative book will be a hugely valuable resource for lawyers in private practice who are advising clients striving to avoid or resolve disputes occurring from IT projects. It will also be beneficial for in-house legal counsel who advise clients at each stage of IT projects.

The Business Analysts completely dissolves the perception that the IT industry dictates to businesses what IT systems they will use and dispels the myth that business users and IT technicians are from different planets. It suggests how to create an environment in which everybody works together in an exciting and refreshing way – a paradigm shift in the way business analysis projects are done.

The IT industry has to move to a point where it realises that the users of IT systems and the technical personnel are both equally responsible for getting the system to work. The users of the IT system should be an integral part of the team when the system is being put together. This, unfortunately, is not the norm within the industry. It is the business analyst’s responsibility, among others, to make sure that communication flows freely between all the parties involved.

This book gives the business analyst the tools and techniques to find out what the business users of IT systems really need and to guide the project to meet those needs.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences, business and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Providing a comprehensive overview of the current and future uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare, this Advanced Introduction discusses the issues surrounding the implementation, governance, impacts and risks of utilising AI in health organizations Key Features: Advises healthcare executives on how to effectively leverage AI to advance their strategies and plans and support digital transformation Discusses AI governance, change management, workforce management and the organization of AI experimentation and implementation Analyzes AI technologies in healthcare and their impacts on patient care, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, population health, and healthcare operations Provides risk mitigation approaches to address potential AI algorithm problems, liability and regulation Essential reading for policymakers, clinical executives and consultants in healthcare, this Advanced Introduction explores how to successfully integrate AI into healthcare organizations and will also prove invaluable to students and scholars interested in technological innovations in healthcare.

A gripping look at the rise of the microchip and the British tech company caught in the middle of the global battle for dominance.

One tiny device lies at the heart of the world's relentless technological advance: the microchip. Today, these slivers of silicon are essential to running just about any machine, from household devices and factory production lines to smartphones and cutting-edge weaponry. At the centre of billions of these chips is a blueprint created and nurtured by a single company: Arm.

Founded in Cambridge in 1990, Arm's designs have been used an astonishing 250 billion times and counting. The UK's high-tech crown jewel is an indispensable part of a global supply chain driven by American brains and Asian manufacturing brawn that has become the source of rising geopolitical tension.

With exclusive interviews and exhaustive research, The Everything Blueprint tells the story of Arm, from humble beginnings to its pivotal role in the mobile phone revolution and now supplying data centres, cars and the supercomputers that harness artificial intelligence.

It explores the company's enduring relationship with Apple and numerous other tech titans, plus its multi-billion-pound sale to the one-time richest man in the world, Japan's Masayoshi Son.

The Everything Blueprint details the titanic power struggle for control of the microchip, through the eyes of a unique British enterprise that has found itself in the middle of that battle.

This comprehensive Research Handbook provides international perspectives on the role of information systems in environmental sustainability, drawing on groundbreaking research from leading scholars to predict future trends. This Research Handbook presents in-depth studies on green information systems which utilise a diverse range of approaches and methods, including reviews of previous literature, experimental studies, surveys, and interviews. Chapters focus on the development and promotion of energy informatics, the use of digital technologies in the implementation of a circular economy, and the role of information systems in supporting the integration of renewable energy. This Research Handbook further analyses the ways in which digital nudging, demand response, and the impact of psychological ownership can influence consumer behaviour and encourage sustainable consumption. Tackling the issues facing information systems and the environment on an individual, organisational, and societal scale, this Research Handbook will be crucial reading for students and scholars in business ethics, environmental management, information systems, and management and sustainability. It will also be beneficial for practitioners in business management and corporate social responsibility who are interested in environmental sustainability.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world's leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. This cutting edge book introduces the origins and consequences of digital platforms, examining how artificial intelligence-enabled digital platforms collect and process data from and about users by providing social media and e-commerce services. Robin Mansell and W. Edward Steinmueller compare and contrast neoclassical, institutional and critical political economy approaches. They show how uneven power relationships between platform operators and their users are analysed in different economic traditions. Key features include: analysis of economic and public values provides a foundation for platform regulation examines the impacts of platforms on the media industry challenges claims of the inevitability of platform dominance discusses key challenges, including: artificial intelligence, data sharing and competition in the digital economy. This concise book will be indispensable for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of media and communication studies, innovation studies and economics, particularly those focusing on platform economics.

This cutting-edge book presents a detailed overview of digital marketing strategy, which has evolved following rapid digitalization that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing detailed examinations of different digital marketing techniques, it demonstrates how organizations’ digital marketing strategies can be developed and implemented. Digital Marketing Strategy features a thorough analysis of how digital marketing can be utilized to increase sales through new customer acquisition and through increasing the life cycle value of its existing customers. Chapters explore how buyer personas can be used to frame marketing as an advantageous service. Ultimately, this instructive book highlights that the core of digital marketing is based on market analysis, the value proposition built on it, and observed competitive advantage. With fresh insights into the developing areas of content and influencer marketing, this book will be of immense worth to students and scholars studying digital marketing strategy. It will also be highly applicable to those working in the field of digital marketing who promote products and services that require buyer judgement.

This authoritative Handbook compiles a diverse set of contributions on digital entrepreneurship, providing an in-depth study of how digital entrepreneurship research has evolved over the years, and where it stands today. Offering a snapshot of the major themes in digital entrepreneurship research, the Handbook highlights a wide range of both practice-engaged and practice-relevant works and explores the fundamental concepts and common themes in the field. Chapters examine key topics including the digital platform economy, the digitalization of work, the blockchain economy, and the rural-urban digital divide. The Handbook further analyzes the history and theory of digital entrepreneurship, while also sparking ideas for future research through a consideration of emerging phenomena and new ways to approach research in this broad area of study. Discussing a diverse set of questions, contexts, theories, and methods, this Handbook will be a key resource for researchers and advanced students with a particular interest in entrepreneurship, innovation, technology management, and digital business models. Managers and entrepreneurs will also find the discussion of digital entrepreneurship in relation to financing, social issues, and technology beneficial.

How are digital technologies changing the creation of new ventures? What are the critical skills for entrepreneurs in the digital age? How does digitalization change product design and communication with customers? How can small businesses in non-digital industries overcome the digital divide? This book helps answer these questions through real-world case studies and lessons learnt from the perspectives of real entrepreneurs in various industries, countries and types of business. Each case has abundant materials to support learning and reflection, including: discussion questions and assignments to stretch students decision-making simulations rich and detailed teaching notes to help enliven your teaching. Highlighting how entrepreneurship is changing in the digital age, this book will be an excellent resource for teachers and students of entrepreneurship, innovation management, new venture creation, marketing and strategy.

An insider's account of Apple's creative process during the golden years of Steve Jobs.

'If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work in a hotbed of innovation, you’ll enjoy this inside view of life at Apple. Ken Kocienda pioneered the iPhone keyboard, and this book gives a play-by-play of their creative process –from generating ideas to doing a demo for Steve Jobs.' Adam Grant

Hundreds of millions of people use Apple products every day; several thousand work on Apple's campus in Cupertino, California; but only a handful sit at the drawing board. Creative Selection recounts the life of one of the few who worked behind the scenes, a highly-respected software engineer who worked in the final years of the Steve Jobs era, the Golden Age of Apple.

Ken Kocienda offers an inside look at Apple’s creative process. For fifteen years, he was on the ground floor of the company as a specialist, directly responsible for experimenting with novel user interface concepts and writing powerful, easy-to-use software for products including the iPhone, the iPad and the Safari web browser. His stories explain the symbiotic relationship between software and product development for those who have never dreamed of programming a computer, and reveal what it was like to work on the cutting edge of technology at one of the world's most admired companies.

Kocienda shares moments of struggle and success, crisis and collaboration, illuminating each with lessons learned over his Apple career. He introduces the essential elements of innovation, inspiration, collaboration, craft, diligence, decisiveness, taste, and empathy, and uses these as a lens through which to understand productive work culture.

An insider's tale of creativity and innovation at Apple, Creative Selection shows readers how a small group of people developed an evolutionary design model, and how they used this methodology to make groundbreaking and intuitive software which countless millions use every day.

The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone Microsoft's CEO tells the inside story of the company's continuing transformation, while tracing his own journey from a childhood in India to leading some of the most significant changes of the digital era. LONGLISTED FOR THE FT & MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD Satya Nadella grew up in India, studied in the US and went on to become Microsoft's third CEO after Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. In Hit Refresh he offers a unique view of the transformation happening inside one of the world's most iconic tech companies, and the arrival of the most exciting and disruptive wave of technology humankind has experienced - including artificial intelligence, mixed reality, and quantum computing. Nadella examines how people, organisations and societies can and must transform - 'hit refresh' - in their persistent quest for new energy, new ideas, and continued relevance and renewal. Yet at its core, this book is about humans, and how one of our essential qualities - empathy - will become ever more valuable in a world where technological advancement will alter the status quo as never before.

This book is targeted at senior students in any of the many branches of Information Technology, including Computer Science, Informatics and Information Systems.

It is intended to introduce the students to the operation of the research process in these subjects. It highlights the essential aspects of various research methods.

The exercises at the end of the chapters are intended to encourage students to learn from published reports; to stimulate them to think about applying each method to a research problem of their own; and to point them to related topics that were not covered in the chapter.

'Essential for any leader in any industry' - Kim Scott, bestselling author of Radical Candor Working Backwards gives an insider's account of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership and best practices from two long-time, top-level Amazon executives. Colin Bryar and Bill Carr joined Amazon in the late 90s. Their time at the company covered a period of unmatched innovation that brought products and services - including Kindle, Amazon Prime, Amazon Echo and Alexa, and Amazon Web Services - to life. Through the story of these innovations they reveal the principles and practices that drive Amazon's success. Through their wealth of experience they offer unprecedented access to the 'Amazon way' as it was refined, articulated and proven to be repeatable, scalable and adaptable. Working Backwards shows how success is not achieved by the genius of any single leader, but rather through commitment to and execution of a set of well-defined, rigorously executed principles and practices that you can apply at your own company, no matter the size. 'Working Backwards should be read by anyone interested in the real thing - the principles, processes and practices of twenty-first-century management and leadership' - Forbes 'Gives us the story as it developed at the time - and that is probably worth the cover price of the book in itself' - Financial Times