The Fourth Industrial Revolution includes the advance of Internet and digital technologies; economic challenges and globalisation trends; broader environmental sustainability and social equity concerns. These shifts represent opportunities globally, continentally and nationally; thus they are driving new forms of business innovation which can be used as a vehicle for rural modernisation and development which impact on youth populations. The implementation of the creative economy as a solution in the rural communities has undoubtedly been a topic of increasing interest to researchers and policy makers. This paper, which grows out of fieldwork undertaken in these nodes to explore the effectiveness of innovative practices such as the implementation of creative economies, will suggest that this sector is sustainable. It can start out small, use local resources and indigenous knowledge while demonstrating the potential for massive commercialisation. Starting with the developmental challenges while also pronouncing on solutions drawn from global experiences as possible resolutions for the country’s rural dilemma, this paper will also interrogate the value of technology for poverty alleviation, sustainability and rural industrialisation. This is considered vital as the Fourth Industrial Revolution represents new methods through which technology can become embedded within societies and rural communities. The paper will then examine the value of the five-phased plan and highlight its implementation process and successes and will conclude with directions and cautions for policy makers in South Africa. To support the hypothesis, the choice of methodology for the research presented few challenges because the researcher chose an implementing partner already working in the field in the seven provinces in South Africa. A qualitative and quantitative approach was used as a component of the field project on the value of the creative economy in the regeneration of rural nodes of the country. Data was drawn through the use of images, reports, testimonies (structured and unstructured), focus groups and visual analysis – all which corroborated and enhanced conclusions reached in the field and project reports of project directors and trainers. More importantly, this methodology did prove effective in providing the answers to the questions raised.

Keywords: commercialisation; creative economy; creative industries; development; employment; fourth industrial revolution; globalisation; Ifa Lethu Foundation; income generation; innovation; poverty; rural diversification; rural industrialisation; unemployment; World Economic Forum; youth