By John Kevin Rogier and Nawaz Mohamudally
Originally presented at the 2nd International Conference on Emerging Data and Industry 4.0, Leuven, Belgium, 2019.
The Spirit of Innovation in Renewable Energy
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has introduced a new era of convergence between the digital, physical and biological worlds. Artificial intelligence, data analytics and connected systems are redefining how societies manage resources, produce energy and make decisions. For Mauritius, a small island nation striving for energy security and sustainability, this convergence presents an opportunity to transform its energy landscape through technology rather than scale.
The initiative to apply machine learning and IoT to renewable-energy forecasting exemplifies this transition. It demonstrates how data-driven innovation can bridge the gap between traditional infrastructure and the intelligent systems that define 4IR (Rogier and Mohamudally, 2019).
Aligning with 4IR Principles
At the heart of 4IR lies the capacity for systems to sense, think and act autonomously. In the energy sector, this means embedding intelligence within the grid itself. By using IoT devices to collect environmental data and artificial neural networks to forecast solar generation, we enable a form of cyber-physical interaction that mirrors global advances in smart-grid technology.
For Mauritius, these innovations are not mere academic exercises. They represent a roadmap for integrating renewable energy with intelligent management tools, ensuring balance between consumption and production while fostering resilience against environmental variability (Rogier and Mohamudally, 2019).
From Data to Sustainable Decision-Making
The Fourth Industrial Revolution redefines sustainability as a data problem. Predictive analytics converts complex environmental signals into actionable insights, allowing policymakers and engineers to anticipate demand and stabilise supply. Neural networks and IoT platforms, when aligned, create a feedback ecosystem where each watt produced is accounted for, forecasted and optimised.
This integration marks the shift from reactive management to proactive intelligence, a hallmark of modern industrial systems. In such a model, sustainability becomes measurable, responsive and continuously improving through data learning cycles.
A Vision for the Future
This initiative illustrates how emerging nations can participate meaningfully in the 4IR through focused innovation. By applying accessible technologies such as IoT and artificial intelligence to renewable energy, Mauritius demonstrates that progress in digital transformation does not rely solely on size or capital but on the strategic fusion of knowledge and purpose.
It is through such locally grounded, globally relevant efforts that the next phase of industrial evolution will be shaped, one where intelligence and sustainability advance together.
Reference List
Rogier, J.K. and Mohamudally, N. (2019) Forecasting Photovoltaic Power Generation via an IoT Network Using Nonlinear Autoregressive Neural Network. Procedia Computer Science, 151, pp. 643-650.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2019.04.086