The Fourth Industrial Revolution is Here. Are You Ready?

Business as usual was often good enough. No more! Where we are going, good enough is dead. In a world where everything is connected, where everything is equally excellent, where performance is reaching perfection, there’s only one place left to innovate, you! This was the essence of this year’s final Alumni Seminar on Innovation and Leadership in which the Alumni Association hosted the dynamic Alumna, technology entrepreneur, #4IR enthusiast, and Chief Executive Officer of Maarifasasa Limited, Robert Bob Okello.

At the Light Academy Alumni Association, we are committed to equipping all our members with the skills and tools to succeed in the twenty first century but most especially in this new era that industry experts have dubbed the Fourth Industrial Revolution (#4IR) or industry 4.0.

What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0?

Evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a technological revolution characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres (collectively referred to as cyber-physical systems) in ways that are fundamentally altering the way we live, work, and relate to one another.

As Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum described. “In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before.”

Why is this the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

The First Industrial Revolution was characterized by utilization of water and steam power to achieve mechanization of production. During the Second Industrial Revolution, the advent of electric power brought to reality the true possibilities of mass production. In the Third Industrial Revolution, electronics and information technology was used to automate production upon the advent of the mainframe computer and the wonderous internet.

Now, as we speak, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third and has been occurring according to Schwab since the middle of the last century. The World Economic Forum alludes that there are three reasons why the present transformations represent much more than just a projection of the Third Industrial Revolution but rather the impetus of a Fourth and characteristically distinct one: velocity, scope, and systems impact.

“The speed of current breakthroughs has no historical precedent. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace.” Writes Mr. Schwab. “Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.” He adds.

What Are Some of the Technologies of The Fourth Industrial Revolution?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is being premised upon new innovative technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain Technology, Big Data and Advance Analytics, and Robotics to mention a few. The companies, startups, and innovations that will shape the future of work, business, and everyday life will be greatly shaped by these technologies. A few of these technologies discussed during the seminar are described below:

Blockchain: A brainchild of the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, The Blockchain is an undeniably ingenious technology of this new era. According to Don & Alex Tapscott, authors of Blockchain Revolution (2016), “Blockchain Technology is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.” In this digital ledger, transactions are stored in blocks that are identical across its network hence cannot be controlled by any single entity and has no single point of failure. Each block contains a unique code called a hash and also contains the hash of the previous block. The hash codes connect the blocks together in a specific order hence the chain of blocks dubbed “Blockchain.”

Internet of Things (IoT): The IoT is a giant network of connected devices (things) – all of which collect and share data about the way they are used and about the environment around them. These devices produce massive amounts of raw data which companies can analyze to gain new insights, create more efficient products/services, and streamline their work forces. The IoT movement and the increased connectivity of devices at home, work and in public will dramatically reshape the products, services and work people do to earn a living.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the ability for computer systems to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. It is disrupting every industry from farm fields, to trading desks, to medical offices around the world. With the deployment of AI, faster and more disruptive innovations across all industries will be experienced. The technology will reduce human error and, in many cases, eliminate several jobs.

Big Data: Our society is producing enormous volumes of data everyday like never before today. We generated 16.1 zettabytes of data in 2016 and that number is expected to grow ten-fold by 2025. However, only a small volume of data is analyzed. Big Data refers to the large volume of structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data that has potential to be mined for information and used in machine learning projects and other advanced analytics applications.

Virtual Reality: Everything that we know about our reality comes by way of sense perception. In other words, our entire experience of reality is an interpretation of the sensory stimuli relayed to our brains sense-making mechanisms. It stands to reason then, that if you can present your senses with made-up information, your perception of reality would also change in response to it. You would be presented with a version of reality that isn’t really there, but from your perspective it would be perceived as real. That is Virtual Reality. So, by way of definition, Virtual Reality is a technology by which computer-aided stimuli create the immersive experience of being somewhere else through special headsets.

So, Are You Ready for What’s Coming Ya Way?

By the year 2020, the various technological feats of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will have taken full shape for the most of it. They will transform the way we live and work and truth be told, some jobs will literally disappear, others will grow and several jobs that don’t exist today will become commonplace. Are you ready for this wave of change? How could you be best prepared?

The 2016 World Economic Forum Report, The Future of Jobs, looked at the employment, skills and workforce strategy for the future asking chief human resources and strategy officers from leading global employers what these new shifts mean, specifically for employment, skills and recruitment across industries and geographies. The report revealed that there will be a fundamental shift in the skills needed to thrive in this era by 2020.

The best and safest way to embrace and thrive in this new era, is to be equipped with soft skills of the future. What are the top ten skills you will need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution?

Problem Solving: the skill to see relationships between industries and craft creative solutions to problems that are yet to appear is a must to keep up with Artificial Intelligence.

Critical Thinking: people who can turn data into insightful interpretations will be sought after due to the complexity and interconnectedness of various fields like computer science, engineering, and biology.

Creativity: the quality of randomness and the ability to build something out of ideas is a skill that will pay off now and in the future.

People Management: robots may acquire analytical and mathematical skills, but they cannot replace humans in leadership and managerial roles that require people skills.

Coordination with Others: effective communication and team collaboration skills will be a top demand among job candidates in any industry.

Emotional Intelligence: qualities that relate to emotional intelligence such as empathy and curiosity will be among a big consideration factor for hiring managers of the future.

Judgement and Decision Making: the ability to condense vast amounts of data, with the help of data analytics, into insightful interpretations and measured decisions is a skill that will be useful in the information age.

Service Orientation: people who know the importance of offering value to clients in the form of services and assistance will be in demand as business would want to provide solutions to the problems of society.

Negotiation: the ability to negotiate with businesses and individuals to come up with a win-win situation is a skill that will be needed to survive in affected industries.

Cognitive Flexibility: the ability to switch between different personas to accommodate the challenge at hand will be important to be successful in combined industries.

Conclusion

In this new era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a new thinking, a new way of doing things, must be adopted. It’s an era of the agile, fast thinkers and doers. Innovation should become the new way of life, not just a nice thing to do sometimes. The critical role of leadership must be to create and ensure an enabling environment for creativity and limitless imagination to flourish and push the humankind race forward. And as Alvin Toffler once said, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and learn.” Business as usual is forever dead. Disruption is the new normal!

This article was first published on the Light Academy Alumni Association page.