There is an underlying theme in any discussion about the 4th Industrial Revolution, this includes but not limited to, the speed of doing things, the vast storage capacity present to us, the ease of doing global business, the rate of technology adaptation or diffusion, and among these underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution impact on businesses.
A trend, to watch out for, is the development of technology-enabled platforms or systems that combine both demand and supply sides to disrupt existing industry structures, making it very easy for customer and supplier to engage and exchange notes. These technology platforms and systems have been rendered easy to use by the smartphone, people, assets, and data—thus creating entirely new methods of consuming goods and services in the process. In addition, they lower the barriers for businesses and individuals to create wealth, jobs, altering the personal and professional environments of workers and new business opportunities i.e. mobile shopping, e-health, smart cities, etc.
In the main, there are four (4) distinct effects that the 4th Industrial Revolution has on business—on customer expectations, on product improvement, on collaborative innovation, and on organizational methods. A world of customer experiences, data-based services, and asset performance through enhanced analytics, requires new forms of collaboration, particularly with the speed at which innovation and disruption is taking place. Overall, the shift from simple digitization (3rd Industrial Revolution which was underpinned by Information Technology and Systems) to innovation based on combinations of technologies (I.R 4.0) is forcing companies to re-look the way they are doing business. The bottom line, however, is the same: business leaders need to understand their changing business environment, challenge most the assumptions of their current operating teams and systems, and relentlessly and continuously innovate new ways in order to survive. For example; “Robots And AI: The Future Is Automated And Every Job Is At Risk [Automation, Pt. 1]” | (AJ+, 2018), See video Here.
References
AJ+, 2018, “; Robots And AI: The Future Is Automated And Every Job Is At Risk [Automation, Pt. 1]” Accessed on 17 Feb 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnBAdnNIIXk
Miyoba Sichimwi 