If the term Fourth Industrial Revolution doesn’t resonate with you — then you might already be behind. Industry 4.0 has been in motion, slowly building on the revolution that came before it. Where the Third Industrial Revolution sparked the digital revolution, utilizing digital technologies to advance automation, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is fusing new technologies that will impact society and disrupt various industries across the globe.
The question is: Are you and your business bracing for this change, looking ahead to how you can harness the full potential of Industry 4.0?
The Fourth Industrial Revolution: What is it?
The previous three industrial revolutions—steam, electric and digital— liberated humanity from labor intensive jobs, made mass production possible and delivered digital capabilities globally. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is, radically different and will impact all economies, industries and society at its core. It may very well challenge the fundamental ideas about what it means to be human.
We are currently in the early stages of The Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to Professor Klaus Schwab, and it is blurring the line between physical, digital and biological and changing the way we interact with emerging and digital technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), analytics and the Internet of things (IoT).
“This knowledge, which takes an organization decades to gain, becomes more accessible to new organizations with less experience but the right technology.”
The biggest possible effect, is that essentially anyone can enter into and disrupt an established industry. According to a new report by Deloitte, a newcomer to an industry utilizing digital data augmented by artificial intelligence can end up rivaling expertise of an established business, gathered over many years of experience.
Are Business Leaders Prepared to Embrace Industry 4.0?
A new report by Deloitte revealed that only 14 percent of CXOs are highly confident their organizations are ready to fully harness the changes associated with Industry 4.0. This represents just how much work is still needed when it comes to adopting and integrating both the digital and physical technologies of the fourth revolution.
And while 57% of respondents to the report placed developing business products as their top priority, organizations need to learn how to utilize digital technologies to create new business models, not just improve existing ones.
Clearly, there is a disconnect in regards to what executives and companies understand about the changes Industry 4.0 will bring, versus how they should take action to be ahead of those changes.
This new wave of automation and technology will ultimately change how our businesses run, how our workforces do their work and how customers will interact with us. Eventually, the technology of this new industrial revolution could begin to replace the work and jobs done by your workforce, instead of complementing and running parallel to it.
How To Prepare for The Fourth Industrial Revolution
One way to prepare and get ahead of this revolution is to help reskill your workforce so they can learn new digital technologies and ways working with automation. Artificial intelligence is just one example of tech that is widely being used today and that has already begun to advance the FinTech industry forward.
Business leaders who make changes now and adapt before the fourth revolution hits, will be best equipped to shape the future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. This will allow you to meet your customers where they are, instead of scrambling to catch up.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution creates unlimited possibilities for the people who are interested in business. While it can be scary when companies apply technology to transform business models in their industries or across other industries, it generates innovation and improves competitiveness.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already at work, transforming businesses, societies, jobs and the world’s economies. Companies need to be prepared to transition into this new era of technological advancement. This disruptive shift must be dealt with comprehensively by executives in order to seize the new opportunities it can bring.
Whether it is finding new ways to better serve customers, creating new jobs or business models, Industry 4.0 has the potential to not only drastically affect how we work, but the type of work we do.
Now is the time for leaders to be bold and take decisive action in order to propel their companies forward and be a leading force in this new generation of technological change.
How can business leaders stay ahead of payment technologies? Future-proof your business and attend this year’s Mobile Payments Conference to learn more about how the world of the Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 is evolving. Get your Mobile Payments Conference 2018 tickets today.
