A new transformation in technology and industry
Buy book - The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab
What is the subject of the book The Fourth Industrial Revolution?
The film The Fourth Industrial Revolution (2016) recounts the tale of a new era of technological and industrial change. In these notes, you will learn about the great industrial revolutions of the past, as well as how a contemporary industrial revolution is generating new technologies that are fusing areas that were previously distinct - with amazing consequences.
Who is it that reads the book The Fourth Industrial Revolution?
- Those pursuing degrees in political science, technology, or economics
- Those in positions of authority and education
- Employees that are concerned about their job security
Who is Klaus Schwab, and what does he do?
Klaus Schwab received his education as an economist and an engineer. As the creator of the World Economic Forum, he has worked to make the world a better place by bringing together individuals from politics, industry, and academics to work together to make the world a better place. He is also the author of Modern Enterprise Management in Mechanical Engineering, which was published in 2004. (1971).
What exactly is in it for me? Learn how to stay one step ahead of the curve in order to comprehend the future generation of technology and life.
When most people hear the term "industrial revolution," they immediately think of the invention of steam-powered machinery and the development of railways in the nineteenth century. However, this is not the first or only Industrial Revolution. We've really had three of these so far, and we're now in the midst of the fourth. This current industrial revolution, like those that came before it, is changing the globe, but it is doing so in a much more important way than any of the previous industrial revolutions; it is occurring at a faster rate, on a bigger scale, and having a far greater effect on life and industry.
We are currently seeing the development of amazing technology such as self-driving vehicles, 3D printing, and robots that are capable of following very exact directions. In the meantime, sectors that have never before interacted are coming together to create unfathomable outcomes. A new age has begun with the commencement of the fourth industrial revolution, and it is critical that you grasp what this means for you. Discover a new nanomaterial that is stronger than steel and thinner than a strand of hair in these notes, as well as why automation will actually increase the amount of employment and benefit the economy, as well as what to anticipate in the future.
Our planet has already been changed by three industrial revolutions, and mankind is now undergoing a fourth such upheaval.
Humans first started farming about 10,000 years ago, marking a watershed moment in the history of mankind. This shift away from foraging and hunting has had a significant impact. Indeed, it signaled the beginning of a revolutionary period in human history — the agricultural revolution. This was only the first in a series of revolutions that would completely alter the way people lived on Earth in the future.There have been three industrial revolutions throughout the course of human history, the first of which occurred in the 18th century. It was the first time that humanity started to rely on mechanical power rather than pure human muscle. It took place between 1760 and 1840, and was fueled in part by the development of steam power and the building of railways, among other factors.
It was the development of mass manufacturing in the late nineteenth century that marked the beginning of the second industrial revolution, which lasted until the first part of the twentieth century. The assembly line and electric power were the two defining features of this industrial revolution. Finally, the third industrial revolution is referred to as either the computer revolution or the digital revolution, depending on who is talking about it. Its contributions include the invention of computers, as well as the development of semiconductors and the internet, which were both created in the later part of the twentieth century.
However, it is important to note that this was not the final industrial revolution to occur. In reality, we are now in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which started in the early twenty-first century and will continue until the year 2050. This revolution has resulted in a lot more mobile internet, as well as better, cheaper, and smaller sensors, all of which are allowing the creation of new technological innovations. Machine learning and artificial intelligence have also experienced significant growth in recent years.
However, intelligent robots are just one aspect of this new industrial revolution. It also covers a variety of diverse disciplines, ranging from material science to nanotechnology, energy to biology, among others. What really distinguishes this fourth industrial revolution from others that have come before it is the way in which it brings together different disciplines and links them across digital, physical, and biological platforms to create new possibilities. There are, of course, a variety of additional features that differentiate the Fourth Industrial Revolution from previous ones. In the next note, we'll go into more depth about this change, attempting to tease out what makes it so different from others that came before it.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is more rapid, more widespread, and more significant than any of the three that came before it.
As you may be aware, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is now in progress. It is occurring at a quicker rate and on a bigger scale than past revolutions, and it is having a greater effect on the globe. To begin with, it is moving at breakneck speed.This makes perfect sense, considering the fact that the contemporary world is more linked and more technologically advanced than it has ever been in history. For all of these reasons, this revolution can progress exponentially rather than linearly.Consider the smartphone, for example. It was just eight years after the iPhone was launched that there were about two billion smartphones in use worldwide in 2015. Furthermore, throughout those few years, this technology saw a significant amount of development and improvement.
As a result, this revolution is characterized not just by its rapidity, but also by its extraordinary returns on scale, which enables companies to generate the same or more value while incurring much fewer employment-related expenses. The digitalization and automation of manufacturing are the driving forces behind this transformation. Consider the fact that, when combined, the three most successful companies in Detroit in 1990 – when the city was still a thriving industrial center – had a combined market value of $36 billion, generated $250 billion in sales, and employed 1.2 million people. While the three biggest Silicon Valley firms generated combined sales of $247 billion and a market value of over a trillion dollars in 2014, they only employed 137,000 people. That represents slightly more than a tenth of the total workforce employed by Detroit-based companies in 1990.
Finally, by bringing together a diverse variety of areas and disciplines, this revolution is having a significant effect on our world today. Disciplines such as 3D printing, computational design, materials engineering, and synthetic biology, for example, are currently being brought together in ways that may one day allow the creation of completely new organs for individuals in desperate need of them.
Because of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an amazing number of new physical possibilities have opened up.
Okay, so the Fourth Industrial Revolution is obviously distinct from the prior three revolutions. But, more specifically, how is it being propelled? Additionally, there are certain notable physical developments, such as autonomous cars, 3D printing, sophisticated robotics, and novel materials, that are occurring in tandem with the increased digital processing capacity that is at the heart of contemporary information technology and digitization. A driverless automobile is one kind of autonomous vehicle, but there are other types as well, such as trucks, boats, and even airplanes. These new modes of mobility are made feasible by technology breakthroughs such as artificial intelligence and sensors, both of which are essential components of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and are penetrating a wide range of industries and sectors.
For example, advanced sensor technology has enabled drones to navigate much more effectively in response to their surroundings, allowing them to be used for a variety of new tasks, such as dropping medicine into war zones and assisting farmers in determining their crops' needs for water or fertilizer. The second physical trend of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is 3D printing, often known as additive manufacturing or additive manufacturing technology. Advanced computers, such as digital sketching and modeling, have made it possible for this new technology to be developed. 3D printing is already being utilized in areas as varied as health and energy production, creating anything from tiny medical implants to huge wind turbines, which is incredible considering how new this technology is.
Advances in robots, the third trend, are spreading like wildfire across all industries, from nursing to precision agriculture. In recent years, robots have become more adaptable to their surroundings, since they no longer need independent direction and can instead draw information from the cloud. They are even capable of collaborating with humans. Finally, new materials are having an impact because they are stronger, lighter, more recyclable, and more adaptable than the materials used in the previous generation. Some people have the ability to heal or clean themselves. Take, for example, graphene, a recently discovered nanomaterial. It is 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a single human hair, making it the strongest and thinnest material known. Aside from that, it is a very effective conductor of both electricity and heat.
However, not every development associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution is physical in nature. Following that, you'll learn about several that are much more ethereal in nature.
The present industrial revolution includes both digital and biological tendencies that are transforming the world.
While physical inventions are a significant part of the fourth industrial revolution, there are also digital breakthroughs that are as important. One of them is referred to as the Internet of things, or IoT, for short. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a fundamental idea that connects physical and digital applications. It refers to a network that exists between physical items – such as cellphones or home appliances – and the people who use those devices to communicate with one another. The advancement of technology such as transmitters and sensors has made it feasible to build such a network. Examples include parcels sent via the mail, which are often outfitted with a sensor, a transmitter, or other radio frequency identification technology, allowing us to track their journey as they are delivered to our homes or other locations.
Uber and Airbnb are two more instances of on-demand services. These companies link real things, like automobiles and homes, with the people who need them via the use of digital platforms. Finally, in the fourth industrial revolution, there are a variety of biological trends and advances centered on topics such as genetics that are being explored. Genetic engineering, in particular, will have a profound effect on the human race. When compared to the Human Genome Project, which took 10 years and cost billions of dollars, a genome may now be read in hours for less than a thousand dollars, saving time and money. We attribute this advancement to the advancement of computer power. Modern geneticists can examine genetic variants using models, which allow them to evaluate them much more rapidly than they could before via the trial and error approach.
In reality, science may be on the verge of developing the ability to provide precision medicine. As a result, scientists could do tasks such as decoding the genetic makeup of a tumor and developing a cancer therapy that was customized to the particular instance of cancer in question. And it is just the beginning of what genetic innovation might do. This technology will also let us to create plants, animals, and even infants that have the traits we want. It is no longer possible to imagine such technical applications as the stuff of science fiction. While such interventions, of course, raise ethical and regulatory concerns, the technology necessary to make them a reality has either already been created or is in the process of being developed shortly.
Automation will stimulate the economy by eliminating some jobs while generating a large number of new ones.
As a result, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is unquestionably a strong engine of advancement and development. But what impact will this have on the world around us?There are many sectors that will be particularly impacted, the first of which is the economy, which will be the first of them. For further specificity, this industrial revolution will almost certainly have a major beneficial effect on the world economy, primarily via the stimulation of economic growth. While some pessimists claim that we are still in the throes of the recession brought on by the 2008 financial crisis, the reality is that we are in the middle of a tremendous economic boom brought on by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Furthermore, this technological advancement is just getting started; over time, it will be transformed into genuine economic development.
Investments in renewable energy, energy storage, and more efficient fuels, for example, are becoming more affordable as a result of improved technology and digitalization. The outcome will be a significant increase in the profitability of investment, which will decrease the need for businesses to depend on government subsidies. As a consequence, GDP will increase while we minimize the risks presented by climate change. While this is the case, it should be noted that the global economy may suffer as a result of these new technologies challenging the existing job sector. More specifically, the fourth revolution may have a devastation effect on the labor market, with individuals losing their jobs as a result of computerized production processes.
As a matter of fact, we are already seeing computers take over a variety of jobs, such as telephone operators and bookkeepers. More occupations, such as those of legal secretaries, tax preparers, and real-estate agents, are expected to suffer the same fate in the near future. However, the same industrial revolution that is responsible for the automation of the economy will also be responsible for the occurrence of a capitalization impact. In other words, the rise in automation will result in increased affluence, which will boost demand and lead to the creation of new employment and companies.
In other words, although critics may portray this as a conflict between people and robots, that isn't entirely accurate. Humans are very adaptive creatures who should not be alarmed by this shift. Instead, we should concentrate on assisting people who are at risk of losing their jobs in order to help them transition into other employment, as well as educating ourselves on the best ways to cooperate with machines.
Technological advancements have an effect on public institutions as well.
Now that you have a better understanding of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, let's take a step back and look at it from a national and global perspective. In light of the fact that public entities, particularly governments, are being affected by this technological change, it is important to have such a wide perspective. After all, emerging technologies threaten to destabilize old, centralized power systems. The private sector and individual individuals, for example, have been able to voice their views on digital platforms with relative ease and public visibility, while also being able to band together and perhaps even act in opposition to conventional government institutions. WikiLeaks is an excellent illustration of this. This very tiny business was able to effectively compete against the whole state. Having said that, it is also conceivable for governments to utilize new technology – surveillance systems, for example – to counterbalance the growing power of citizens.
Whatever the final result, it is unavoidable that public institutions will be impacted by new technology and will be compelled to come up with innovative methods to engage with their constituents. Therefore, in the fourth industrial revolution, governments must adjust their laws in real time to the continuous changes that occur in their environment or face repercussions. Governments could, for example, adopt a completely top-down approach to regulations prior to the Industrial Revolution; they could take their time to develop, modify, and enforce all sorts of industrial laws before the Industrial Revolution. Although technology is developing at an amazing rate now, laws must be updated much more quickly than in the past, and the rapid news cycle means that leaders are under constant pressure to make quick choices.
Governments must cooperate with their people and commercial organizations in whole new ways in order to react to the continuous changes that exist. The investment in e-governance, which makes use of digital technology to enhance public involvement and the effectiveness of the government, is an example of such an investment. Whatever the form that these new methods take, the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the technology that it generates can only imply one thing: the future will be radically different from the past.
The book The Fourth Industrial Revolution comes to a close with a summary.
One of the most important messages in this book is that human civilisation has been characterized by a sequence of three industrial revolutions, and that we are now experiencing the fourth. It distinguishes itself from its predecessors by operating at a breakneck speed, on a massive scale, and having an unparalleled effect on everything from industry to our everyday lives.
Buy book - The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab
Written by BrookPad Team based on The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab