Although it is considered an improvement of the third industrial revolution, it is in particular a fusion of technologies; a strong, promising, prosperous, visionary and completely different revolution coming soon!
The First Industrial Revolution arose to mechanize production using water and steam, while the Second Industrial Revolution began to create mass production. Automated production using electronics and information technology was the mission of the Third. The transformation that is coming cannot be considered as an extension of the Third Industrial Revolution due to its disruptive propagation, exponential evolution and vertiginous transformation without historical precedents.
What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
We are on the verge of a technological innovation; has changed; a surreal transformation! According to the founder and CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF), Klaus Schwab, as a “technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work and interact with each other”. The upcoming and highly anticipated Fourth Industrial Revolution combines digital, biological, and physical systems and will propagate a new interaction between humans and machines. Based on the first three industrial revolutions, this will demonstrate the rapid speed of technological progress by merging its boundaries.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will rule the Fourth Industrial Revolution!
Technological innovation will be the best and most promising of this phase of the Industrial Revolution. Driverless cars, intelligent robotics, 3D printing, autonomous vehicles, nanotechnology, biotechnology, digital manufacturing, synthetic biology, computational design, energy storage, quantum computing and the Internet of Things will be the milestones marked in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A World Economic Forum article by Nicholas Davis, Director of Partnership and Innovation, says that, “Depending on the technologies and infrastructure of the third industrial revolution…, they represent entirely new ways in which technology is integrated into societies and even in our human bodies”. Ways include genome editing, new forms of artificial intelligence, and innovative approaches to governance that rely on cryptographic methods such as blockchain.”
Why is there so much talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
Because there are great opportunities and serious challenges!
Skills will dominate the job market!
One of the largest and most direct impacts of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will be felt in the labor market. The increasing technological encroachment will lead to a large part of the job loss, especially for low-skilled jobs. There will be a great demand for highly-skilled jobs. You will definitely have smart encoders for driverless cars, won’t you? According to economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, there will be an increase in inequality in the labor market. Further technological automation will lead to net displacement of workers and subsequently to an increase in growth and demand for safe and rewarding jobs. Oxfam estimated that just 62 people own as much as the poorest half of the world’s population, and that the wealth of the bottom 50 percent fell 41 percent since 2010. A report by Swiss bank UBS said the spread of AI and Robotics will hurt economies like India and some Latin American countries by reducing their cheap labor advantage. Previously, the Oxford researchers had estimated that 35 percent of workers in the UK and 47 percent in the US may lose their tech jobs over the next two decades. Therefore, the labor market will be like this: “high skill-high demand-high pay” and “low skill-low demand-low pay”. In other words, talent will acquire more space and will be much more in demand in the labor market than capital during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Improvise the quality of life
Technology has improved the quality of life of populations since its inception. The availability of new products, easier access to the market, greater efficiency and pleasure of personal life, and an affordable digital world lie ahead. From high-end crucial daily requirements like making a transaction, buying a product to casual personal needs like listening to music or watching a movie; it will be done remotely and easily. In fact, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will result in a qualitative transformation in people’s lives.
Tremendous gain in efficiency and productivity
It goes without saying that automation and technological innovation will bring about a miracle in terms of efficiency and productivity. Long-term gains are assured. The drop in transportation and communication costs, the greater effectiveness of logistics and global supply chains, and the reduction in the cost of trade will boost economic growth and drive the opening of new markets. Today it is easier to conduct business with fewer workers than it was half a quarter of a century ago. A business can make good money with a smart app with minimal capital requirement and sidestep warehousing, logistics and transportation charges. Explaining in terms of economic jargon, the marginal costs per unit of production will tend to zero and the return on investment will be on the higher side; steeply higher!
Impact on the Business World; It can be a reliable promise as well as a fatal danger!
However, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have a great impact on the business world. Development and prosperity will rest on four platforms: customer expectations, product improvement, collaborative innovation, and organizational forms. Customers will be the epicenter of the business. Greater digital transparency in the business sector will lead to a major change in the world of customer experiences, data-driven services, and asset performance. The emergence of new global niches and business models will definitely require a makeover and retouching of existing talent, culture and organizational forms. Business leaders must understand their changing environment, challenge the assumptions of their operating teams, and constantly and continuously innovate to be in the changing league.
Serious challenge ahead for governments
What will happen if citizens express their opinions and circumvent the work of the government? A serious approach to public participation and policy making must be initiated! And this is what is going to happen very soon in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Rapid digitization will allow citizens to have a greater say in the work of the Government, which will put more pressure on the latter due to the redistribution and decentralization of power. Agile government is the need of the hour. To do so, governments and regulatory agencies will need to work closely with business and civil society. Technology can increase the risk of new war-related fears while also creating the potential to reduce the scale or impact of violence, through the development of new modes of protection, for example, or greater precision in the objectives.
The female mass will have a prominent role in this revolution
The negative effect on the labor market may have a disproportionately negative impact on women than on men. However, with the increase in the pool of talented women, the proportion of women expected to progress to middle and senior positions by 2020 will increase by almost 10%. Job loss due to the automation of technology will affect women and men relatively equally. However, the fact that women make up a smaller proportion of the workforce means that the current gender economic gap may widen even further. According to the Industry Gender Gap Report, “The media, entertainment and information sector is the only one to see a reduction in the number of women over the next five years, and the female composition is expected to decline across all job levels from 47% to 46%, however even here women can expect to see more opportunities as the proportion of women in mid- and senior-level positions is expected to rise from 25% each of them to 32% and 33% respectively”.
When will the start of the Fourth Industrial Revolution be?
Based on the Third Industrial Revolution, the fourth is waiting for a great disruptor to mark its beginning. Many instabilities and unpredictability are associated with the start of this new digital revolution. A possible change in the Smartphone industry or any new technological innovation that devastates the current technical aspects will mark the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. An invention that will “roboticize” humanity will mark the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
How will the Fourth Industrial Revolution affect India?
- It will affect the cheap and unskilled labor market in India. According to a UBS report, “Automation will continue to put downward pressure on wages for low-skilled workers and is beginning to affect the employment prospects of medium-skilled workers. Conversely, the potential benefits for highly-skilled workers skilled and more adaptable are growing.”
- There will be a need to upgrade skills and invest heavily in training initiatives. “However, the greatest disruption could be experienced by workers who have hitherto felt immune to robotic competition, that is, those in mid-skill professions,” the UBS report says.
- Indian governance will face a huge challenge to work with dynamic data in real time. However, there will be an increase in transparency, especially in notoriously opaque sectors like real estate. There will be use of eWallets instead of cash.
- The induction of 4G connectivity will enable Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for youth in small towns and villages and will help market agricultural products at the right price.
- There may also be a potential side effect of increased connectivity. “Connectivity increases the risks posed by cyber threats, and the magnitude of these threats increases further as a result of networks becoming more connected. Extreme connectivity also fosters geopolitical tensions, as it increases the ability of various groups to organize and protest,” said UBS. .
- The era of 3D printing will increase India’s investment in space research. 3D printing can help build space satellites easily.
- A progressive tax regime will yield equity.