Background: Many technology jurisdictions have peddled the narrative that the key determinant for an innovative and sustainable fourth industrial revolution (4IR) environment is possessing hard technical skills. Hard technical skills are important to design the actual 4IR-based applications. Postmodernity demands that appropriate soft skills complement the hard skills to effectively integrate technology into various socio-economic value chains. In fact, soft skills are slowly becoming one of the critical enablers to harness the promise of the 4IR.Objectives: This research article aimed to critically understand the soft skills considered to be essential in the South African context by different information and knowledge management (IKM) practitioners. The aims and objectives of the study were to fill the gap where other disciplines have specified soft skills whilst IKM does not. This study looked to identify soft skills to allow IKM practitioners an opportunity to identify and develop these skills.Method: This research was designed based on the Delphi study principles and further used a systematic and targeted literature review to allow the researchers to make logical conclusions deductively. The authors followed a multimethod approach and analysed data using content analysis.Results: The study results have demonstrated that soft skills are considered significantly more important than hard skills in South Africa. The study identified 57 total skills. However, only 17 had consensus from experts.Conclusion: This study provides insights into the critical success skills needed to harness the socio-economics brought about by the 4IR. Further studies are required in different contextual settings to understand the global skills pertinent to the 4IR.

Background: Many libraries, archives and museums (LAMs) all over the world have begun digitising their collections, and with a good number of these institutions failing to sustain their digitisation projects because they cannot afford to, it is best to find ways to lessen the financial burden that comes with digitisation.Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the possible benefits and challenges if LAMs in South Africa were to collaborate on digitisation efforts.Method: A mono-method qualitative study was undertaken. The objectives were addressed by making use of a literature review and by conducting non-standardised, semi-structured interviews with 21 interviewees located at different LAMs.Results: It was found that funding for digitisation projects was a major problem, while collaboration between LAMs would involve sharing the financial burden among several institutions. In addition, reasons preventing LAMs from forming collaborative partnerships for the purpose of digitisation were also identified. A lack of collaborative digitisation policies and funding, both internally and between LAMs, was found to be a major obstacle for the formation of such partnerships. In determining the relevance of the research, it was important to determine whether or not LAMs in South Africa were open to collaboration and responses to this question were positive. It can thus be concluded that the results of this study can be used to motivate and guide collaboration partnerships for the purpose of digitisation between South African LAMs.Conclusion: It was concluded that collaboration could indeed appreciably alleviate problems related to digitisation, the most prominent being the cost associated with such endeavours.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has changed the rules of competition, resulting in organisations needing new and improved business strategies. The execution of these strategies is critical to organisational success. One way of ensuring that employees execute strategies optimally is by developing key performance areas (KPAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). This study focused on the IKM related departments or teams. Thus, the study aimed to determine KPAs and KPIs needed by IKM teams for success in the 4IR. To fulfil the aim of the study, the researchers took on a Delphi study where experts participated in two rounds of data collection. One was to identify the KPAs and KPIs necessary for IKM teams, and the second was to get the experts to share their thoughts on each other's views regarding KPAs and KPIs necessary for success in the 4IR. The experts identified 54 KPAs and 33 KPIs in total. Individual organisations should undertake further research to determine whether they help them achieve optimum success. Furthermore, there is a need to decide whether they need to update the existing KPAs and KPIs or not.

Technological innovation has led to disruptions in the global economy. In South Africa, one such disruption has been the shift towards the digitisation of resources that were previously only available in hard copy. Institutions most notably affected by the digitisation drive, have been libraries, archives, and museums (LAMs), which serve as important cultural heritage organizations. Considering the significant financial implications of a digitisation project, this paper explores the possible benefits and challenges that are faced when LAMs collaborate with each other, when digitising content. This qualitative, cross sectional study compared results from the data of 21 interview transcripts, which were first analysed through thematic coding in ATLAS.ti, and then analysed in Leximancer, a software tool which applies natural language processing to text. The results discuss relevant themes and concepts, revealed during the interviews with digitising-focused employees, at various LAMs in South Africa. This paper aimed to illuminate which user-generated perceptions of concerns and opportunities should be noted when an organization considers a collaborative technological intervention, specifically in the context of LAMs in South Africa. Findings showed that the sharing of technology, skills and knowledge was prevalent when considering potential benefits of a collaborative digitisation project, while access to resources and the inefficient use of resources, were identified as significant challenges in collaborative digitisation projects. The novelty of this discussion lies within the triangulation of results by using different analysis tools, and the value of the research is the unique view given of the challenges and opportunities which arise when a collaborative digitisation project is deployed.