While you sit in a local coffee shop attending a conference call or respond to emails on the train, it's hard to believe that just over a century ago the steam engine was the pinnacle of technological advancement. It revolutionised transport, manufacturing and energy generation. Today, technology is seamless integrated into our lives but it wasn't always the case.
The second industrial revolution delivered mass production and gave us steel, affordable cars, light bulbs. We take these for granted today but how many of us have children or young family members born into a world of modern technology where connected devices are the norm rather?
Next, the third industrial revolution (digital revolution) from approx 1970s onwards gave us the semi-conductor, personal computer and the internet which have both connected and transformed our world. Without these advancements you wouldn't be able to read this great post.
So, how is the forth industrial revolution different?
Technology is merging more and more into our lives, becoming a seamless part of our everyday life from checking the weather before leaving our home to responding to social media posts and checking our train timetable in real time or catching up on a college course online. All this is enabled via your own device (smart phone, tablet, smart wearable device, voice assistant, connected tv, games console etc).
Technology is advancing at a faster rate than ever before...
While it took 75 years for 100 million used to use the telephone, it took Instagram 2 years to capture the same amount (Pokemon Go beat them both and got 100m users in 1 month).
With tablets, smartphones, voice assistants, Augmented reality and wearable smart devices; we truly have come a long way since the First Industrial Revolution in 1760. Lets see what the next century holds with cognitive computing, Artificial Intelligence, 3D printing of organs and custom prosthetics.
But are there downsides to a world?
We are in a winner takes all economy as high skilled workers are handsomely rewarded and low skilled workers are being replaced with Artificial intelligence, automated processed, robotics and autonomous machinery. What will be the impact on society in the next century? Job disruption is emerging and shows the need to up-skill in a changing environment.
Whats more, organisations are collecting growing war chests of information about customers. Today, data is the next hot asset where once oil was, next analytics & insights will replace data alone as a unique source of competitive advantage. Privacy is a new battleground that legislators are scrambling to catch up on.
From the invention of the printing press to the emergence of AI and Quantium computing, technology is revolutionising how we work, rest and play. Organisations must balance their responsibility shareholders and stakeholders such as society. After all, we (currently) have only one planet and are all in it together.