Happy (belated) 2020! I hope everyone had a safe Christmas and Holiday season.
I’ve delayed this set of “random musings” by a week or so as I’ve had the opportunity to attend a few recent seminars on this very topic, focusing on the technological impact the world (and companies) might experience going forward.
I’m sure, like many of you, the Holidays are a time to reflect back and look ahead. Aside from the personal and business reminiscing, I’ve also had the time to think about technology, the impact it’s had on me, and what changes could be in store.
Although I’ve seen technology grow very rapidly for a number of decades, and each decade had their own nuance: the 90’s was particularly disruptive from my perspective (the internet really came to be and Y2K preparation), and yes, “to google” is a valid verb (according to Webster’s back in 2006). The last 10 years have shown a different type of change; high technology advances coupled with struggles from a cultural/behavioural/privacy perspective on how to adapt (and some, quite frankly, haven’t been successful).
For a decade that began with keyboard-driven devices (PC’s and laptops), a few social media platforms, cell phones primarily for voice and text, not to mention we booked hotels, hailed cabs and drove our own cars. We’ve now landed on touchscreen devices (tablets, smartphones), which can do (almost) everything for us (apps, banking, biometrics, GPS), social media proliferation, by individuals, companies *and governments*, plus companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Tesla. All of these changes are underpinned by the technology advancements along the way.
Since I’ve started JEWAL, I’ve needed to refine and update my IT skills to try and be current with my Operational knowledge; I’ve read a lot (and put into practice) over the last 6 months knowledge on AI, Machine Learning, IoT, IIoT, 5G, Sensors, Data security, Python, and numerous other tools of the trade.
Many of these tools form the foundation (and excitement) of what is called Industry 4.0 (coined by a German team in 2011). Why is that? While I won’t profess to be a big history buff, the 1st and 2nd Industrial revolutions are very clear to me (steam & water power, machinery, mechanical production, then gasoline engines & oil, mass production, assembly lines), the difference to me is more subtle between the 3rd and 4th IR’s. For clarity, most define the 3rd revolution as a digital revolution beginning in the 1950s; semiconductors, electronics, computing power, the internet (although it includes other aspects like nuclear power and space research). The 4th revolution? Some say it boils down to one word – “connectivity”. People, machines, pets, homes, everything is connected and talking to one another to make things more seamless. I might call it Industry 3.5, as much of the fundamentals came to be in IR 3.0, but that’s nitpicking, and I would be in the minority.
I won’t be the one to predict the future (there are plenty of movies, books and articles that have taken that leap). Will a car ever be able to drive people completely independently? Can a home reach the point where it will make dinner and take out the garbage (yes, I’m thinking “The Jetsons” here)? Will we begin to blur the line between robots and people? Voice recognition and AI that can predict/know what we might otherwise forget to do? Which industry will gain more efficiencies and better quality? Industries that will blossom and just be founded due to technological advances that we haven’t even seen yet. Will we be able to do almost everything from our phones/watches/sensors embedded in ourselves (why carry/wear anything)? Should we? Regardless, I do think the answer is yes to almost all of those questions, at some point in the future. Technology can’t be stopped (but yes, it does need to be monitored; there will be many ethical questions to debate).
Many insightful, global organizations say the next decade will see advances that we can only begin to imagine. With technology like AI, Cyber-physical systems, 5G, IoT, Cloud computing, and Nanotechnology forming a lot of the foundation. Smart homes, smart cars, smart factories, smarter people (?), robotics will grow exponentially. Disruption is only just beginning; it will likely soon be the new “norm”. It’s an exciting time. That I guess is the way the world should always be.
And with that, let me go find my Sony Betamax player and try to find a store to rent and watch “1984” again. If I can’t find it, I can always plug in my trusty Commodore 64 with its 1200-baud modem, since I have some Usenet newsgroups I need to check up on. Where is technology when you need it? 🙂
Darren