Fourth Industrial Revolution: Skill Development and empowerment
Asoke K Laha, President & MD, Interra Information Technologies
After a lot of self-deliberations, I decided to write on skill development, a much discussed, so called trivial matter as compared to other subjects.
Skill development, however mundane the subject may be, I feel can give us a greater insight to human existence. Indeed, of late, the subject is a top priority for policy makers, politicians and for those who embark on welfare economics. Skill development is an enabler for the masses to earn their livelihood. Has anyone thought of how the skills would have come to existence? Did it happen just like that or whether there is any divine intervention in the evolution of skills. It depends on how you would like to look at it.
Skill development would have been a matter of great care and concern during different trajectories of human history. Profile of skills would have undergone a paradigm shift in modern times. The technological transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society. Klaus Schwab, who is associated with the World Economic Forum, billed as the most powerful organization for public-private partnership, has coined the term, Fourth Industrial Revolution, to sketch the course of skill development in the present and future.
Before dwelling on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, let us have an idea about the previous ones, that changed the course of skill development. The First Industrial Revolution is synonymous with water and steam power to mechanize production. The Second Revolution used electric power to create mass production. The Third used electronics and information technology to automate production. Now the Fourth Industrial Revolution is building on the Third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. When compared with previous industrial revolutions, the Fourth is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace. Moreover, it is disrupting almost every industry in every country. And the breadth and depth of these changes herald the transformation of entire systems of production, management, and governance.
What are the major drivers of this revolution? Artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing are the hallmarks of this revolution, which is essentially different from the previous ones on account of its scope, range, velocity and the likely impact on the mankind. It is also true that these developments will have a significant impact on skill development and formation. Can we afford to nurture the same type of skills that was there during the third industrial revolution? Inertia to upgrade skills can create deleterious social, economic and political problems. That is why the nations are harping unprecedented focus on skill development as an enabler of growth.
Let’s look at how artificial intelligence is impacting societies. From self-driving cars and drones to virtual assistants and software that translate or invest, we have everything before us now. Computing power to data mining is helping us to invent new products, solutions, and algorithms that short cut processes are changing the process of growth. Innovations are the key factors that drive the economy and help it to reach new levels of accomplishments.
The global and multi domain multi vertical spread of digital technologies can be another factor for growing discontentment. More than 30 percent of the global population are dependent on social media platforms to connect, learn, and share information. This helps information to move faster and to reach the maximum number of people. But the flipside is that it can trigger social unrest and discontentment in the equal manner since they can also create and propagate unrealistic expectations as to what constitutes success for an individual or a group, as well as offer opportunities for extreme ideas and ideologies to spread.
The other reality that is dawning on us is the gig economy. A gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organizations hire independent workers for short-term commitments. The term "gig" is a slang word for a job that lasts a specified period of time. Examples of gig workers include freelancers, independent contractors, project-based workers and temporary or part-time hires. Gig apps and digital technology are often used to connect customers and gig workers.
The gig economy is a recent trend, with a number of factors contributing to its rise. The two most important factors are the following: The workforce has become more mobile. The work is done more remotely through digital platforms. As a result, jobs and locations are being decoupled. That means freelancers can take a job or project with an employer anywhere in the world. At the same time, employers can select the best person for a specific project from a larger pool than is available in any given area.
The emergence of the new economy will have global impact. No country can be spared from that. It can affect both developed and developing economies. Jobs can travel through the digital mode to anywhere in the world, where the employer can find a person to accomplish the work.
Does it mean that all countries are making a conscious effort to strategize their manpower policies to take care of the need for imparting the right skills to the people? It may be a wild guess to imagine so. But the fact is that only those countries, which can rise above the present to evolve an imaginative manpower policy will be able to grapple with their manpower policy. The rest will be falling on the way side.
Coming to India, undoubtedly, in the recent years, there has been focused attention on skill development. Various institutional setups were created to give focused attention to the subject. However, taking into consideration the size of our demography and the future growth that we anticipate, we have to move faster.
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