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Fourth industrial revolution: what, why, when and how?

Although it is considered an improvement of the third industrial revolution, it is in particular a fusion of technologies; a solid, 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 brink of 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 relate to each other.” The upcoming and long-awaited 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 limits.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) will rule the Fourth Industrial Revolution!

Technological innovation will be the best and the most promising of this phase of the Industrial Revolution. Driverless cars, smart 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 of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. A World Economic Forum article by Nicholas Davis, director of Society and Innovation, says that, “depending on the technologies and infrastructure of the third industrial revolution … they represent completely 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 like 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 invasion will lead to a large part of job losses, especially for low-skilled jobs. There will be a high demand for highly qualified jobs. It will definitely have smart encoders for driverless cars, won’t it? According to economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, there will be an increase in inequality in the labor market. Greater technological automation will lead to the net displacement of workers and, subsequently, to an increase in the 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, with the wealth of the bottom 50 percent falling 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, Oxford researchers had estimated that 35 per cent of workers in the UK and 47 per cent 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 a greater space and will be much more in demand in the labor market than capital during the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Improvise 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 profits are assured. The fall in transportation and communication costs, the greater effectiveness of logistics and global supply chains and the reduction in the cost of trade will drive economic growth and encourage the opening of new markets. Today it is easier to conduct business with fewer workers than it was half a century ago. A business can make good money with a smart app with minimal capital requirement and foregoing 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 mark 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 necessitate a makeover and retouching of existing talent, culture and organizational forms. Business leaders must understand their changing environment, challenge the assumptions of their operational teams, and constantly and continuously innovate to stay 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 towards 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. The 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 governance is the need of the hour. To do so, governments and regulatory agencies will need to work closely with business and civil society. Technology may increase the risk of new war-related fears at the same time that it will also create the potential to reduce the scale or impact of violence, through the development of new modes of protection, for example, or greater precision in objectives.

The female mass will have a prominent role in this revolution

The negative effect on the labor market can 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 higher positions by 2020 will increase by nearly 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 economic gender gap may widen further. According to The Industry Gender Gap Report, “The media, entertainment and information sector is the only one that will see a reduction in the number of women in the next five years, and the female composition is expected to decrease at all levels of employment. job, from 47% to 46% However, even here, women can expect to see more opportunities, as the proportion of women in mid- and senior-level jobs is expected to rise from 25% in each to 32 % and 33% respectively”.

When will the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

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 destroys the current technical aspects will mark the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. An invention that will “robotize” 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 the wages of low-skilled workers and is starting to affect the employment prospects of middle-skilled workers. By contrast, the potential benefits for high-skilled workers skilled and more adaptable are growing.”
  • There will be a need to upskill and invest heavily in training initiatives. “However, the greatest disruption could be experienced by workers who have hitherto felt immune to robotic competition, namely those in mid-skilled professions,” says the UBS report.
  • Indian governance will face a big challenge to work with dynamic data in real time. However, there will be an increase in transparency, especially in notoriously opaque sectors such as real estate. There will be use of eWallets instead of cash.
  • The induction of 4G connectivity will enable Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for young people from small towns and villages and 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 fuels geopolitical tensions as it increases the ability of various groups to organize and protest,” said UBS. .
  • The 3D printing era will increase India’s investment in space research. 3D printing can help build space satellites easily.
  • A progressive tax regime will yield equity.