So, it’s important that we frame and give context to the term “fourth industrial revolution” or what some call Industry 4.0.
Without going in to too much history, and there is some debate over the time periods, the change from an agrarian/rural society to where we are today is marked by several periods of technological change. These, let’s call them epochs, result in great economic paradigm shifts where technologies converge and fundamentally change how we move economic activity across the value chain (Holodny, 2017).
The first industrial revolution occurred in the first half of the 19th century (basically up to about 1840); the 1IR is marked as the age of the steam engine, it we see the first use of new materials such as iron and steel; we see fuel sources such as coal, electricity, petroleum and the first internal combustion engine (“Industrial Revolution | Definition, Facts, & Summary,” 2018).
The second industrial revolution occurred in the last half of the 19th century and first part of the 20th century (basically up to 1914 or the start of World War I); the 2IR is marked as the age of synergy (Vaclav, 2005); the emergence of the railroad titans and the telegraph. It marked the expansion of urban society with the beginnings of municipal water; and sewage systems.
Source: https://mjolner.dk/2015/01/14/realizing-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/
Here’s where things get a little blurred; the third industrial revolution, coined by economist and lecturer Jeremy Rifkin in his book “The Third Industrial Revolution: How Lateral Power is Transforming Energy, the Economy, and the World,” started, arguably, in post-World War II from 1950 on. 3IR is marked by the rise of communication, computer, and digital technologies. And the birth of the Internet.
Ok so now… the fourth industrial revolution, a term invented by Klaus Schwab, chairman of the World Economic Forum, will be known for the blurring of physical, digital, and biological systems in to cyber-physical systems (Schwab, 2017). 4IR will be marked by the emergence of breakthrough technologies in the fields of robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), fifth-generation wireless technologies (5G), blockchain and cashless technologies, additive manufacturing/3D printing and fully autonomous vehicles.
Over the next several articles we will look at each of Schwab’s assertions, and what they mean for business and the global economy. Then we will determine how to, if we pay attention, roadmap around the potholes of these technologies and leverage them to drive top line growth and opportunity in the SMB and NPO/NGO sectors.
Some readers will question the commercial/business importance of the technologies mentioned and dismiss them as novelty. I would offer a cautionary word as history is filled with examples of people doubting the technologies of the time, from “The horse is here to stay but the automobile is only a novelty—a fad.” – Henry Ford’s banker, 1903 to “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” – Ken Olson founder of Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977.
We’ll see.
References:
Holodny, E. (2017). A key player in China and the EU’s “third industrial revolution” describes the economy of tomorrow. from https://www.businessinsider.com/jeremy-rifkin-interview-2017-6
Industrial Revolution | Definition, Facts, & Summary. (2018). https://www.britannica.com/event/Industrial-Revolution
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, by Klaus Schwab. (2017). https://www.weforum.org/about/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-by-klaus-schwab/
Vaclav, S. (2005). Creating the Twentieth Century: Technical Innovations of 1867–1914 and Their Lasting Impact. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
image source: Industrial Revolution Timeline (2015) https://mjolner.dk/2015/01/14/realizing-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/