Industry 4.0, Fourth 밤 알바 Industrial Revolution, and 4IR refer to the current age of connected, advanced analytics, automation, and enabling manufacturing technologies, which has been transforming global businesses for years. It is the convergence of these technologies, and their interactions between physical, digital, and biological domains, that makes the Fourth Industrial Revolution dramatically different than prior revolutions.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)–characterized by a convergence of the digital, biological, and physical worlds, and a growing use of emerging technologies like AI, cloud computing, robotics, 3D printing, IoT, and advanced wireless technologies, among others–has brought about a new era of economic disruption, with uncertain socioeconomic consequences for Africa.1 Yet, Africa was left behind in the last Industrial Revolution. The acceleration of the pace of technological, demographic, and socio-economic disruption is changing industries and business models, changing the skills employers require, and reducing the shelf-life of existing skill sets for employees. The World Economic Forum has warned of the rapid shortening of…the shelf-life of employees existing skill sets, with key technological advances in robots and machines calling for workers to redirect their efforts towards new tasks.
The World Economic Forum reports that a third of the skills needed for todays jobs will be entirely new by 2020. On average, more than a third of the desired base set of skills for most jobs will consist of skills not considered essential for jobs today, by 2020. Over the next decade, nearly 3 1/2 million manufacturing jobs are estimated to need filling.
This could be an opportunity, too, as new technologies come online, so too will new occupations, creating millions of jobs in new industries. The pace of growth of the technology industry over recent years has created significant skills gaps, with more than 500,000 jobs open as of November 2015 in fields such as software development, network administration, and computer security. As Industry 4.0 draws closer, a new generation of tech has arrived on the job, leading to an explosion of demand for IT experts who possess the specialized skills needed to benefit from it.
As the Fourth Industrial Revolution draws nearer, a new generation of workplace robots has led to an uptick in demand for IT professionals, or bot builders, with the niche skills and qualifications needed to make use of them, according to recruiting company Hays. Data scientists and those who possess analytics skills are increasingly sought after, with practically every industry continuing to embrace new ways of using data to make costly decisions. As industries experience transformative changes, the role of programmers, who can build tailored codes for controlling robots and driving intelligent work processes, will become more critical for companies across sectors.
In the coming Industrial Revolution, robotics engineers and software programmers will be joining forces to design, construct, and maintain sophisticated robot machines. Robotics is always evolving, and the cobot, which is specifically designed to interact physically with humans in a collaborative setting, will become a critical piece of industry. While we are not seeing robot helpers in every household just yet, advances in technology are making robots more and more sophisticated.
In 1969, advances in computer science led to the development of machine programming, opening the door for gradual automation. The introduction of the steam engine in the 18th century led to the First Industrial Revolution, which allowed production to be mechanized for the first time, and drove social changes as people became more urbanized. The First Industrial Revolution was, simply put, the most fundamentally transformative change the world has seen, economically, technologically, and socially.
According to WEF, the speed, scale, and systemic impacts of the transformations we are seeing today warrant calling the Fourth Industrial Revolution, instead of treating it as merely extending the Third Industrial Revolution, marked by the rise of the Internet, renewable energy, and rudimentary automation starting in the 1950s. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is the confluence of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies. ARN reported last January that while the Fourth Industrial Revolution is underway, and may result in more than seven million jobs lost in coming years, it is expected to also lead to more jobs being added to computer science, mathematics, and engineering.
Without skilled software programmers who can build the codes controlling complex machines and applications, the fourth industrial revolution will stall on its tracks. The World Economic Forum calls this revival a disruptive shift, noting it took years to create the infrastructure needed for earlier industrial revolutions. Todays industries are heavily automated, using cyber-physical systems, IoT (Internet of Things), cloud storage, artificial intelligence (AI), real-time logistics, and more. These intelligent factories and production facilities are dependent as much on computers and the Internet as industries were dependent upon electricity in the past.
It is impossible to know the future, but we know technology is rapidly changing the workplace. That is, real digital literacy today involves being able to adapt and grow to constantly changing technologies and industries. Modern workers need to be agile, adaptable, and understand well that digital tools and technologies are springboards for performance and efficiency; therefore, the way in which you operate–as an individual, on teams, and in organizations–all play significant roles in your adaptability.
This requires forward-thinking organizations who are keenly interested in collaborative work environments, and who acknowledge that digital tools and technologies have the potential to foster positive change. The modern workplace is a term that defines organizations that acknowledge technological evolution and are ready to equip workers with necessary technologies and tools that promote collaboration and efficiency. Industry 4.0 is also expected to change the skillsets of the workforce, shifting the standards of the desired talent.
Computer science also promotes critical thinking, creativity, and innovation–skills that will be necessary in order to navigate an even more complex world and job landscape. Requiring skills that go beyond traditional computer science and programming, ML engineers will need to have solid knowledge in probability and statistics, and data modeling and estimation. Coding improves creativity and writing skills, critical thinking, problem-solving, and an acute awareness of appropriate technologies to use and when.