The Fourth industrial revolution; is the fourth major industrial era . it’s illustrated from the merging of technologies that is changing the way we physically act, and work, it leads to several breakthrough in different fields.
With all the intelligent robots, self-driving cars, we have already began a new revolution that will dramatically change our lives.
To demonstrate more, two guest speakers who are expertise of the industrial revolution has explained each revolution and all the digital trends that may lead to a revolution.
Introducing the speakers; Firstly we have Reef Alawwad, as the seven years experience she has from working at Accenture consulting company, a company that design and implement business transformations in partnership with the world’s leading companies, she was capable to explain the revolutions in a very easy to understand presentation. Secondly we also have a second speaker, Jack Molony, he is a senior consultant at New independent payment services, as Jack has stated the fact that as a tech consultant, the most important event that happened while he’s alive , was the fourth industrial evolution.
Furthermore, the two speakers have explained the 4th industrial revolution revolution by revolution;
- The 1st Revolution; it was below the 90s, which as Reef named ‘ The dark ages’ of services, where the industry were all about production, the focus was on mechanization to help people to their job ,
- The 2nd revolution; at the 90’s where the named it the’ automation age , as Reef described the second revolution that was the globalization of automation and productivity , and as Jack mentioned it was name ‘ electrification’ where the electricity had a huge impact in the cost output.
- The 3rd revolution: this revolution were at 2000’s, where Reef mentioned that this revolution integrated the business line of , customer focus, customer experience, and the focused automation. Where Jack stated that this revolution is named ‘informatization’ where it also introduced computers to job sectors.
- The 4th revolution: this revolution started at 2010’s, where Reef called it ‘The digital age’ it is where new business models were introduced, and new digital generations like AI and blockchain. Molony did discuss the 4th revolution in more detail, as he mentioned that in this revolution technologies were formed together as one to create new advanced technologies that had a huge impact on people’s lives.
Moreover, Molony gave detailed examples of what technologies were introduced in this revolution, and how important they are;
- Augmented reality ; Is what you imagine in your mind, can be seen as a picture in
front of you, how it would look like in real life. Augmented reality have changed the shopping process, for example people can try out cosmetics before buying them by seeing it on a digital picture of them with the product, you do not need to try the product in real life to see how it would look on you, as well as checking how a piece of furniture would fit in your home.
Studies showed that by 2020 people more than 250 million people will be shopping by AR.
- Artificial intelligence: AI has impacted PayPal to develop their security protection, as when they suspect harmful actions, the computer it self will react on it, as no
human interaction will be needed. Another important example Jack mentioned was driving cars, as he believes would decrease the level of car accidents, and will spare people from traffic tickets. As he also noted that social and economical implications might be felt in all country’s with these changes.
- Cryptocurrency: the golden example for cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, you can set an
account without having the need to provide your details like what central banks requires, it got to the point where central banks couldn’t keep ignoring the bitcoin boom , and needed to consider it as actual competition., however as Molony has noted that Bitcoins may offer a huge risk regarding the legal side banking, as criminal can use them. - Advanced analytics; advanced analytics can influence country’s and not just company’s, as Russia was accused of influenced the US elections, as advanced
analytics can be so detailed that it can tell us what happened?, why did it happen? And what will happen or how we make it happen? , The answers to the pervious questions can lead to a high understanding of how organizations can achieve success.
- Robotics & machine learning; robotics and automation are impacting the
unemployment rate already, as a high percentage of jobs are being automated, people are losing their jobs to machines.
Moreover; the 4th revolution are impacting not just how people behave/work, they also have a huge impact on governments forcing them to adapt into latest digital trends. Reef Alawwad as a consultant was able to be a part of participating the overcoming the challenges governments face while adapting to digital technology trends. Reef have illustrated the three top digital trends that challenges governments;
- Focus on citizen experience ; the government future strategy is to keep their focus on the citizen, , as the vision 2030 has made a huge shift in the work proposal and forced companies to change their directions to offer better citizen services.
- Unleash the power of data; to be able to satisfy your citizen, you need to develop a better understanding of their needs and wants, as governments are interested in collecting more Data to develop an insight to the citizens minds.
- Public-private innovation; Its when governments focus on supporting and recognizing creativity, like how the 2030 vision is focusing on entrepreneur.
To conclude, the 4th revolution and all the digital trends in it are sculpting a new future for us, it will impact the economy in both positive and negative ways, as people and governments will face a lot of challenges trying to successfully adapt and implement digitalization.
Bibliography:
World Economic Forum. (2018). The Fourth Industrial Revolution, by Klaus Schwab. [online] Available at: https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab [Accessed 2 Nov. 2018].
Digitaltrends.com. (2018). [online] Available at: https://www.digitaltrends.com/ [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Industrial Revolution | Definition, Facts, & Summary. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018]
HISTORY. (2018). Industrial Revolution. [online] Available at: https://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution/industrial-revolution [Accessed 3 Nov. 2018].
Dragonette, L. (2018). Artificial Intelligence – AI. [online] Investopedia. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/artificial-intelligence-ai.asp [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
3Pillar Global. (2018). Augmented Reality – Introduction and its Real World Uses. [online] Available at: https://www.3pillarglobal.com/insights/augmented-reality-introduction-and-its-real-world-uses [Accessed 4 Nov. 2018].
Out of my box 