Taslim Ahammad :
Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR/Industry 4.0) is the emerging and revolutionary step transforming the overall industrial manufacturing business model. Over the past decade, 4IR is witnessing growing attention by both scholars and practitioners due to its ability to attain high attractiveness growth and innovation. Implementation of industry 4.0 technologies (I4T) can massively improve the operational performance of any industry and it can solve many complications linked to the production process, provision of services, and overall supply chain.
History of the term, “fourth industrial revolution” emerged in 2011 as soon as the German government developed a project that promotes computerized manufacturing. The first industrial revolution occurred in the mid-18th century, where water and steam power used to mechanise production. The second industrial revolution extended from the late 19th century into the early 20th century, where electric power was used to generate mass production. The third industrial revolution happened in the mid-20th century, where electronics and information technology used to automate production.
Merely to define 4IR, it is a new era in human development, enabled by extraordinary technological advances. These advances are merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and thinkablerisk. It is the fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the internet of things (IoT), web3, blockchain, 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, cloud computing, nanotechnology, cyber-physical systems (CPS), autonomous vehicles, energy storage, smart manufacture, smart factories, and other technologies. Examples are GPS systems that show the fastest route to the destination, voice-activated virtual aides such as Apple’s Siri, personalized Netflix and YouTube recommendations, and Facebook’s capacity to recognize your face and tag you in a friend’s photo and so forth.
Utilisation of the fourth industrial revolution is the several technologies that automate and speedup the traditional industrial and manufacturing practices. The industry 4.0 is about more than just technology-driven change; it is an opportunity to help everyone, including leaders, policy-makers and people from all income groups and nations. The actual prospect is to look beyond technology, and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organisations and communities. Hence, it is the collective force behind many products and services that are fast becoming essential to modern life.
Challenges and opportunities, like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has possible to increasethe global income levels and expand the quality of life for populations around the globe. As yet, those who gained the most from it have been consumers able to afford and access the digital world; technology has made possible new products and services that increase the efficiency and pleasure of our personal lives. Like, ordering a cab, booking a flight, buying a product, making a payment, listening to music, watching a film, or playing a game, any of these may now be done remotely.Subsequently, technological innovation will also lead to a supply-side miracle, with long-term gains in efficiency and productivity. Transportation and communication costs will drop, logistics and global supply chains will become more effective, and the cost of trade will reduce, all of which will open new markets and drive economic development.
On the other hand, the revolution might yield greater inequality, particularly in its potential to upsetlabour markets. As automation substitutes for labour across the whole economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might make worse the gap between returns to capital and returns to workforce. However, among the jobs that are likely to stay, 50 percent will have need of reskilling. The current difference between the skills possessed by today’s youth and what the market needs at risk of spreading even further as 4IR revolutionises businesses and job roles faster than people can keep up. Also, one of the greatest individual challenges will be privacy. Peopleautomatically understand why industry 4.0 so essential, yet the tracking and sharing of information about us crucial part of the new connectivity. Discussions about fundamental issues such as the impact on our inner lives of the loss of control over our data will only intensify in the years ahead. Similarly, industry 4.0 occurring in biotechnology and AI, which are redefining what it means to be human by pushing back current thresholds of life span, health, cognition, and capabilities, will force us to redefine our moral and ethical boundaries. As this process takes place and new technologies such as autonomous or biological weapons become easier to use, individuals and small groups will increasingly join states in being capable of causing massive harm. This new liability will lead to new fears. Then again, at the same time, developments in technology will create the potential to reduce the scale or impact of violence, through the enhancement of new modes of protection, for example, or greater accuracy in targeting.
The implementation of I4T in the automotive industry can bring significant advantages, such as increasing capacity of customization, agile supply chain, network flexibility, faster delivery, among others. However, in the end, it all comes down to people and values. We need to shape a future that works for all of us by putting people first and empowering them. In its most cynical, dehumanized form, the Fourth Industrial Revolution may indeed have the potential to “robotize” and thus may to deprive us of our heart, soul not humanity. Nonetheless, as a complement to the best parts of human, nature, creativity, empathy, trust can also lift humanity into a new collective and moral consciousness based on a shared sense of destiny.
(The writer is Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies,
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University).