Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution

By Frank Diana | 29 January 2018
Reimagining the Future

In a new book titled Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Klaus Schwab explores a future shaped by scientific and technological advances. The book builds on his earlier work where he describes the emerging Fourth Industrial Revolution. In this latest work, the author describes how rapid advancement in science and technology promise to disrupt the digital systems of our day, creating entirely new sources of value. He touches on a key point that I have articulated in my anchor visual; that the digital technologies that organizations are struggling to make sense of today, turn into the core infrastructure that business models will take for granted tomorrow. Said another way; digital is the foundation for the innovation that is emerging.

The book is a great read for leaders, as they look to navigate this complex future. That navigation depends upon what the author describes as a zoom-in and zoom-out strategy. Zooming in means acquiring an understanding of the characteristics and potential disruptions of specific scientific and technological advancements. But more importantly, it is critical to zoom out and see the patterns that connect technologies and assess their impact. This connecting of dots is aided by books that scan horizons, such as the recent efforts of The World Economic Forum.

The book of the week for the week of September 24th: Shaping the Fourth Industrial Revolution written by Klaus Schwab – A Full list of recommended books can be found in my book library: https://t.co/e6RgwQXWNo #Industry40 #FourthIndustrialRevolution #WEF pic.twitter.com/Czf5kBcZVf
— Frank Diana (@frankdiana) September 24, 2018

Other key messages from the book:

A minimum viable appreciation of scientific and technological advancement is required to understand their role in the bigger picture. Learning just enough about these advancements is the first order of business.

Improved living standards and well-being were not evenly distributed as the first three revolutions progressed. As such, the world continues to struggle with a range of challenges: median wages in advanced economies are stagnating or falling; developing economies are struggling to translate economic growth into broad-based, sustainable progress in living standards; and nearly one in 10 people lives in extreme poverty. The question posed is: what type of thinking, and what kind of institutions do we need, to create a world where everyone has the chance to enjoy the highest possible levels of human development?

This point – made early in the book – highlights one of the critical challenges of navigating this complex future: we face the task of understanding and governing 21st-century technologies with a 20th-century mindset and 19th-century institutions.

The authors state that the lion’s share of human development comes from the technologies and systems developed during the second Industrial Revolution – such as electricity, water and sanitation, modern healthcare and the huge expansion in agricultural productivity driven by the invention of artificial fertilizer. This is an argument that Robert Gordon has made persuasively, and something that I covered in an earlier Post.

The historical perspective provided in the book is also very helpful in providing context compared to our current day issues. For instance, before 1750, even the richest countries (Britain, France, Prussia, the Netherlands, the North American colonies) averaged growth of only around 0.2% per year, and even this was highly volatile. Inequality was higher than today, and per capita incomes were at levels we would consider to be extreme poverty today. By 1850, thanks to the impact of technologies, annual growth rates in those same countries had risen to 2-3%, and per capita incomes were rising steadily.

The world is at a crossroads. The social and political systems that have lifted millions out of poverty and shaped our national and global policies for half a century are failing us. The biggest problem is antiquated laws that are ill-suited to deal with contemporary problems. What is needed is a set of interconnected activities that have the goal of shifting the structures of our social and economic systems to succeed in an area where previous industrial revolutions have failed to deliver sustainable benefits to all citizens, including for future generations.

The first and second Industrial Revolutions were built on energy sector transitions, first to steam and then to electricity. Now, at the beginning of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the energy sector is on the brink of another historic transition as fossil fuels give way to renewable energy sources. Clean energy technologies and improved storage capabilities are moving from laboratories to factories and markets, and with a broad coalition of countries investing in potential history-changing breakthroughs, such as nuclear fusion, a new energy future could be on the horizon. I had a great discussion with David Cohen on the future of energy Here.

The pace of innovation and the pace of regulation have always differed – but the rate of change and the scope of impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution expose this mismatch in ways that call for entirely new governance models.

And in the fascination department – there’s this as it relates to criminal activity: as capabilities in brain science improve, the temptation for law enforcement agencies and courts to use techniques to determine the likelihood of criminal activity, assess guilt or even possibly retrieve memories directly from people’s brains will increase.

Fascinating times indeed.

Reprinted with permission from the author.

Frank Diana is a recognized futurist, thought leader and frequent keynote speaker. He has served in various executive roles throughout his career and has over 30 years of leadership experience. At Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), he is a thought leader and advisor in the context of business, societal and economic evolution. He blends a futurist perspective with a pragmatic, actionable approach – leveraging horizon scanning and story telling to see possible futures. His leadership experience obtained through various executive roles connects practical realities with the need to focus on an emerging future filled with complexity and change.

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