Assessing Cyber-Security Readiness of Nigeria to Industry 4.0

The fourth industrial revolution (4IR), widely known as Industry 4.0, is a revolution many authors believe has come to stay. It is a revolution that has been fast blurring the line between physical, digital and biological technologies. These disruptive and innovative technologies largely rely on high-speed internet connectivity, cloud computing, augmented reality, additive manufacturing, data science and artificial intelligence. Most developed economies have embraced the revolution, while the developing economies are yet to do so probably because of the lack of enabling facilities, e.g. requisite skills, knowledge and technologies. Thus, this study investigates Nigeria, one of the developing economies, to understand its readiness for 4IR adoption, and preparedness to mitigate cyber threats associated with 4IR. Our investigation adopts a quantitative research approach, utilises an online questionnaire survey for its data collation from a sample population comprising academia, industry and government stakeholders. A total of 116 respondents were analysed with descriptive statistical tools in SPSS. Results show that 60% of the respondents believe that Nigeria is not yet ready to adopt 4IR as evidenced by the lack of basic prerequisites, such as 4IR-relevant laws, strong institutional frameworks and policies. The country lacks essential facilities to mitigate risks associated with 4IR. So far at the university level, 52% of the courses offered at the undergraduate and 42% at the postgraduate levels are relevant in the development of skills required for 4IR.