22

Oct

Is Your Company Ready for the 4th Industrial Revolution?

Category : Blog, Eugena Valadkevich

In the September issue of IITD’s online publication TD I read an article. The article was about an event exploring digital talent trends by Robert Farrell. In the article he speaks about the 4th industrial revolution. As I was born and raised in USSR I have strong feelings about revolutions. I had looked into the 3 previous industrial revolutions and it makes for fascinating reading.
Industrial revolution #1 began in 1760. Manufacturing moved from hand production methods to machines. They began to use steam and water power in factories. There was a large increase in the development of machine tools and the introduction of total mechanisation. Who won in this revolution?  Arguably the people as they were afforded more free time. The 1st Industrial Revolution was the first period in history during which there was a simultaneous increase in the world population.
Industrial Revolution #2 dated between 1870 and 1914. We saw the introduction of the telegraph, electrical power, telephones and railways. Technology was moving at a much faster rate than ever before. It was an exciting era.  I saw a great film called “The Current War” this summer. It really captured the excitement of the time.
Industrial Revolution #3 started in late 1950 and is known as the Digital Revolution. We shifted from mechanical and analogue technology to digital electronics. Transistors, computers and Internet made their debuts. The first home computer was developed in 1977, the Apple II, made its way into homes. The Third Revolution comes to an end with the iPhone 11 and now we are entering the 4th industrial revolution.
Industrial Revolution #4 was first mentioned in 2015. It is  all about robots, artificial intelligence, 5G, 3D printing and technologies that combine hardware, software and biology.
Sounds great but I am not really comfortable when words “robots” “intelligence” and “revolution” are used together. I decided to ask my Echo Alexa about this revolution. My smart speaker and it’s voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant had very little to say. The only response I’ve got was “Hmm, I am not sure”. Very suspicious, don’t you think? I think I am going to be very nice to Alexa from here on in.
All this information made me think about some quality assurance and compliance processes that are still stuck at the end of Industrial Revolution #2. Reams  of paperwork (on high quality manufactured paper) and telephone as the communication channel. Here at Veri we can help you to win in the Digital Revolution and get your data ready for event #4. We can’t escape changes but we can prepare.

Eugena Valadkevich – Customer Success Manager