Productivity is considered a key source of economic growth and competitiveness in the current environment as the world is experiencing the birth of a new term of industrial revolution.

The Fiji National University Council Chancellor and Chairman, Ikbal Jannif echoed these sentiments while speaking at the 22nd National Convention on Quality at the University’s Namaka campus yesterday.

The two-day convention, with the theme ‘Raising Productivity for Sustainability’, was aimed to provide local organisations with the knowledge and techniques to build a more innovative prosperous future for Fiji.

Mr Jannif said this new age was dominated by the so-called ‘internet of things’ which was the concept of connectivity of devices to the internet and allowed the economy to be largely information driven.

“Right now we have challenges and opportunities ahead of us that make it even more important to uplift Fijian productivity performance.

“In this fast paced world with many challenges creeping on us, the idea was to work smarter rather than working harder.

“We are talking about how to produce better output and not just how to produce more output,” he said.

Mr Jannif also said the Fijian economy could achieve productivity growth, higher income and better standard of living if it capitalised on introducing innovations and encouraged entrepreneurial activity.

He added that promoting natural resources management was another key factor in Fiji’s economic growth.

“In order for productivity and innovation to be able to generate shared benefits, investing in the skills that complement technological change will be key,” Mr Jannif said.

The real innovation challenge for companies, he added, was to shift innovation potential from labour to resource based productivity.

“For this we need change, we need to rethink the way we function, the way we produce and consume,” Mr Jannif said.

The process of economic growth couldn’t be about stimulating growth, he added, it should be focused on building the basis for different quality of growth in order to ensure prosperous, inclusive and sustainable future.

Mr Jannif also thanked Fiji National University’s National Training and Productivity Centre for fostering productivity and innovation for greater socio-economic prosperity and development in Fiji.