Technology is the lifeline to future excellence

Nowhere is the contrast between old and new methods of working more starkly apparent than in the international freight business, says Sue Wood, operations director of Cargocare Freight Services. “Although many industries throughout the modern world enjoy the benefits of centralised international conferencing – VOIP, Skype, etc – the technical boffins helping to develop our freight processes have moved us into areas of excellence when it comes to electronic order and shipment tracking.” One of the more recent developments, most especially important for the African environment, is electronic devices that you can attach to just about anything that moves, says Wood. ‘They provide full satellite tracking in the same way that your GPS gets you to your destination regardless of how many miles of dirt road are in between. “It is possible to sit at your workstation almost anywhere in the world and see the progress of your shipment as it winds its way across the globe, through its various channels, with fully interactive commentary between yourself and those parties controlling the processes until delivery,” Wood notes. She is convinced that these and many other inventions still to be conceived or developed will guide South Africa into the world-class technological environment of the future. Therefore the drive by government and industry to enrol many more science and maths students in the coming years is critical. “I firmly believe the bright future that we South Africans so actively seek will lie in the hands of those bright and talented young people who have the desire to stay in South Africa and help us grow to where we belong,” Wood concludes.