Emergence of newer technologies needs talent
Published on: Tuesday, June 07, 2016
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In my last article I wrote about the coming of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the need for us to leverage upon this new revolution to benefit our nation.
From steam engines to the introduction of electricity for industrial production and then the change from mechanical and analogue electronic technology to digital electronics, we are now embarking into a new exciting era where new technologies are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds.
The growing use and intelligence of machines is already helping us to boost productivity, safety and efficiency.
The line between man and machine is getting blurred in this new revolution. According to the World Bank Group, two thirds of all jobs could be susceptible to automation in developing countries in the coming decade.
The requirements of jobs are shifting into expert knowledge versus catering for physically demanding roles.
Machines and automation have replaced humans in gruelling and dangerous tasks. In the automobile industry for example, industrial robots have replaced humans in spray painting and welding. The internet can be used to access and process information from machines, users and services. It is now easier for users to programme, control and make decisions based on the processed information.
The internet of things, services and people are fast becoming three important factors in the coming revolution.
The future of our industry will rely on communication between people, services and things as it will open up entirely new opportunities. Between these three factors, human capital or talent is the key. Having the best technologies or the fastest internet connection are meaningless if we do not possess the right group of people to handle it.
Emerging technologies and new operating systems also mean that talent has to be nurtured in light of new skill requirements.
Agriculture for example has gone through massive changes thanks to these revolutions. From basic agriculture tools like plow and blade, the Industrial Revolution brought farmers steam-powered threshers and tractors although at that time they were considered dangerous because of fire hazard. With the rise of the Second Industrial Revolution, farmers were able to move their crops across the country and discovered new markets as railroads between isolated communities were linked.
With the advancement of connectivity and technology that was initiated during the Third Industrial Revolution, we now have “telephone farmers” where sensors are being deployed to measure water tank levels or the amount of moisture in the soil.
All this data is streamed to the cloud and farmers can access it through their mobile phone. The Fourth Industrial Revolution will take farmers into an unprecedented new world where agriculture activities feed on data from GPS services and sensors to give farmers information on rainfall, crop yield, pest infection, and soil nutrition.
This will result in better productivity and less waste of resources.
In families where farming is a job passed down from generations to generations, it is now no longer the case.
To work in the agriculture sector does not mean that one has to be a farmer, instead there is a need for sensor specialists, network engineers or biotechnology experts.
So what role will people play in this industrial revolution?
We may have the tendency to point out that technological advances will make traditional jobs obsolete but one must not forget that it takes people to control, monitor and make decisions. Not just any person, but one that is high skilled and specialized.
So what type of talent do we need in order to excel in this new era?
The Fourth Industrial Revolution leverages on the pervasive power of digitization and information technology.
Advanced robotics for example, would not exist without artificial intelligence, which itself, largely depends on computing power. This shift towards digital and information technology will surely increase demand for high-skilled workers and digital technology expertise.
The attempt to marry digital technology with another discipline in order to thrive in this new era has already started in other countries. The Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) suit that was developed in Japan merged digital technology and medical sciences. The suit is designed to support and enhance the mobility of its users, particularly those with physical disabilities.
It can help the disabled and the elderly to do movements like stand up, sit down or walk. This suit may also serve as rehabilitation aids for patients who have experienced nerve or muscle damage. More than 300 units have been rented out to 130 different facilities in Japan.
Noting this, the new breed of talent in my opinion will have to become proficient in more than one discipline.
However, the most important discipline that we need to become skilled at is digital technology.
Digital technology is the enabler of the future economy because it creates innovative new industries, and coupled with the right ingredients it has the capacity to transform traditional industries and to adopt innovative business models for lucrative gains.
We are still caught playing catch-up whereby students in our education system are being taught skills for current needs but by the time they enter job market, the skills that they learnt will not be aligned with market needs.
As technologies evolve at such a rapid pace in this new revolution, we need to realize that the concept of traditional education is becoming irrelevant. We need to have the foresight to develop our talents effectively to ensure future competitiveness. Life-long learning is now becoming a necessity rather than a choice and future employees will require constant up-skilling, re-skilling, and specialization.
Young Malaysians need to learn to cope with changes and be adaptable as the impact of this new revolution will lead to constant surprises. We need to understand that the future does not belong to just one particular technology and for us to fully leverage on this revolution, we need to be flexible. We should be focusing on nurturing our talents with a broad set of skills for their future workplace.
Just having the right number of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) talent is insufficient if we are to prosper in this new era. In Malaysia, we often ask our youngsters what do they want to be when they grow up.
We need to change this habit and instead ask what problems do they want to solve in the future. Instead of those typical answers like “engineers” and “doctors”, we will get answers like “I want to deal with air pollution problems”, “I would love to solve traffic congestion in big cities” or “I would like to find a cure for cancer”. By doing this, we aspire them to be a problem-solver and not just a follower. We nurture them on the path to becoming job-creators instead of job-seekers which is critical in order for them to lead this revolution in our beloved country.
Together we must develop our own talents by design, not by chance. To ensure that we will not get lost in the trail of followers, the right quality and quantity of talent must be engaged, developed, and deployed effectively.
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