| Danial Norjidi |
THERE is a need to empower youth with the skills required to succeed in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Dr Anjan Ghosh, Regional Director of the Corporate Affairs Group (Greater Asia Region) of Intel said this while delivering a presentation at the recent Asian Forum on Corporate Social Responsibility (AFCSR) in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
Ghosh began his presentation by declaring that the world is at the onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and highlighted this point by showing a video by the World Economic Forum entitled ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’.
In the video, it is stated that the Fourth Industrial Revolution “will bring change at a speed, scale and force unlike anything we’ve experienced before” and that it “will affect the very essence of our human experience”.
The First Industrial Revolution brought mechanical innovations like the steam engine, cotton spinning and railroads. The Second Industrial Revolution brought mass production through assembly lines and electrification. Meanwhile, the Third Industrial revolution brought mainframe computers, personal computing and the Internet.
The video goes on to highlight that, today, “radical system-wide innovation can happen in only a few years”.
“The interplay between fields like nanotechnology, brain research, 3D printing, mobile networks and computing will create realities that were previously unthinkable.”
It notes that access to technology will spread like wildfire, and almost anyone will be able to invent new products and services cheaply and quickly. The business models of each and every industry will be transformed.
Dr Anjan Ghosh, Regional Director of the Corporate Affairs Group (Greater Asia Region) of Intel delivering his presentation at the AFCSR in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. – DANIAL NORJIDI
The video then poses the question, “How do we avoid a world of joblessness, low productivity and inequality?” before concluding with an answer, “By ensuring the Fourth Industrial Revolution really does improve the state of the world.”
Ghosh highlighted that the real challenge lies in addressing joblessness and inequality.
“Going back to the video, almost anyone will be able to innovate quickly and cheaply. At the same time, this is where I’d like to draw your attention to, this rapid change is going to give rise to inequalities and joblessness like never before. That is something we should all be very concerned about.
“So the question is, is the next generation ready for this change; this changed world that we are about to embark on or are already a part of?” he asked. “By and large, I think we are not.”
“Today’s figures show that an estimated three hundred million young people are either not studying or not working. This number is only going up, and it’s going up at an increasing pace.”
Youth in Asia make up 60 per cent of the world’s youth, and 50 per cent are unemployed or under employed, Ghosh pointed out. He highlighted that jobs of today will not exist 10 years out.
“This is a region that has 60 per cent of the world’s young people today. About 180 million of them live in extreme poverty, earning less than $1.25 a day.
“There is a need to empower youth with skills required to succeed in the fourth industrial revolution,” he said. “We’re talking about the skills of design thinking, physical computing, sensory perceptions, novel and adaptive thinking, new media literacy, etc.”
Other such skills mentioned in his presentation were in the fields of virtual collaboration making, big data and cloud computing as well as Artificial Intelligence (AI); machine learning, and robotics.
“This has to be done in a pervasive way,” he said. “This cannot be trickled down to the privileged few. This has to be irrespective of gender, ethnicity and economic strata, and that’s the only way we can tackle this threat of expanding inequalities which can actually make or break the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
He noted that, in a sense, it is all about enabling everybody.
In this context he shared that, for their part, Intel works on programs, on platforms, in partnerships and on policy engagements, all towards addressing innovation, inclusion, access and employability.
He went on to speak about impact, and showed examples of people who have benefitted from what has been done, including community innovation, a braille printer, an epileptic glove, 3D printing for prosthetics and empowering for employability.
Ghosh illustrated how social innovation is possible across all segments of the pyramid, from student-driven innovations in India that led to cleaner water or less incidents of drunk driving to innovations from remote communities in Indonesia, helping fishermen catch more yield in the most efficient manner possible.
“People at the centre of the problem are best placed to create a solution,” he highlighted.
Concluding, Ghosh highlighted three points: funding is no longer an issue, knowhow is; the importance of unleashing innovation across the pyramid; and that partnership is key.
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