Fourth Industrial Revolution is up
Partnerships are required between research bodies, industry and government
Can you imagine a world where cyberinfrastructure integrates with the physical space, where robots can perform medical procedures, or assist with caring for the elderly? It may sound like the makings of a sci-fi movie, but in some industrial nations the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in daily life is already a reality.
You might think this reality is far removed from you, but if you are using applications such as Google Maps or Apple’s Siri you are already part of this ever-changing new world order.
The world has to date experienced three industrial revolutions: mechanisation through water and steam power; mass production, particularly with the introduction of electricity; and the recent revolution with advances in computers and automation.
We are now arguably in the midst the Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR), also called industry 4.0, which involves a fusion of technologies such as AI, automation, biotechnology and nanotechnology, and the lines are blurring between the physical, digital and biological spheres.
With the intense pace of technology and particularly digital technological development, the FIR is broader and faster than anything before it. The revolution will influence most, if not all economic sectors, but it will also extend, due to the integrative nature of the revolution to business systems, technology developments and society in general. From a technology point of view we will see the integration of physical, digital and biological technologies.
Business systems will change to more decentralised and globalised manufacturing and distribution accompanied by entirely new business models. We will need to consider how this impacts communication, personal privacy and the methods of personal interaction with the world around us. The associated skills base will also need to change and this in turn may lead to more or less equality. We also see that changes will not be incremental but rather broadly disruptive, with changes to entire systems and across sectors.
Drivers of the FIR include advanced robotics, additive manufacturing, augmented reality, simulation, the internet of things, big data and cybersecurity.
As a multidisciplinary scientific and industrial research organisation, the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is already actively involved in technological development in many of these drivers. If we look at what the future of manufacturing will be, we will see increasing data generation, interpretation and reaction on real-time basis across the manufacturing environment and outside of it.
We will need to have the ability to accurately collect, interpret and act on data in near real time, potentially without the need for human interaction, with the introduction of AI and machine learning.
The CSIR is looking at aspects of interoperability, information transparency and accessibility, big data analytics and decentralised decision