The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or IR4.0, however we like to label it, is now well and truly upon us. Even though computer technology has been evolving rapidly for several decades, what causes people to consider that we are now in a new industrial revolution is the rapid pace of technological development across a number of fronts simultaneously and the synergies between them that have the potential to transform businesses, economies, and societies. We can include Artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), advanced materials, cloud computing, and big data analytics among such technologies. All of these have the potential to transform the way businesses and ordinary citizens do things. It has of course already been happening and we can say that we are already several years into this revolution.
What we can see now is that some businesses and business sectors are vigorously and rapidly embracing the new technological possibilities whereas others are not. It may take time for everyone to fully appreciate the power and potential of new technologies and to adopt them effectively. One thing we can say for sure is that industries adopting IR4.0 technologies should be able to increase productivity and competitiveness whether it be through adoption of robotics to streamline production or warehousing activities or to use big data analytics for logistics and strategic marketing.
Whilst adopting advanced robotics technology might present a big opportunity for a company in terms of efficiency, production quality, and long-term cost reduction, there are a number of challenges associated with this. For example, there are significant up-front costs associated with bringing in such technology, there may be a lack of highly trained personnel to oversee it and there is the potential dislocation of the existing low-skilled workforce which would have an impact on the local population. These are the kinds of challenges that companies as well as government have to address in order to make the most of IR4.0.
One of the keys to success is for businesses to integrate diverse new technologies and effectively re-design what their businesses do. Twenty years ago, business process re-engineering (BPRE) was very much in vogue. Today, with IR4.0 we can and must take this to a new level and undertake business model re-invention (BMRI). This takes great foresight and creativity, but it is necessary for long-term business growth and sustainability.
Ride-hailing has become possible because of the ubiquity of location-aware smartphones, 4G and 5G communication networks, and digital mapping systems. Effectively ride-hailing firms re-invented the business model of personal transportation through recombinant innovation.
This kind of approach is how firms will guarantee their success into the future, not through simply making incremental efficiency gains through automation, but through re-invention of their businesses by combining and adapting the new and emerging technologies to their business sectors. We shall need more people to be educated to understand the technologies and to be able to see potential connections between them that can transform existing business activities in revolutionary ways. On the face of it, IR4.0 is about a revolution in technologies, but to make the most of it we need a revolution in business thinking. Professor Dr. Graeme Wilkinson is the Vice-Chancellor of Sunway University. He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a British Chartered IT Professional. He formerly undertook research on space satellite imaging and artificial intelligence. He now writes on education and technology issues.
