The 4th Industrial revolution and the steps to get there | Tech Show

Improving the industry, as Novak stressed, is imperative. But as the rest of her talk highlighted it isn’t solely to stay competitive. No, the 4^th Industrial revolution, which promises the rapid change to technology, industries, and societal patterns and processes due to increasing interconnectivity and smart automation, has challenges, but stepping up to them brings benefits to the companies engaged in the process and the wider society. And as Novak went on, the challenges, are often flipped to positives when correctly addressed.

AI improving power consumption

“45 to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions are from the built environment,” Novak said.

Facts like this highlight the scale of the challenges currently faced by companies, particularly in terms of their scope 123s. Yet this further digitalisation brings promises to benefit companies in this way and others with its knock on effects.  

“You can use artificial intelligence to reduce your cement or pick a product that you can benchmark against other products to avoid further greenhouse gas emissions.” Was one example Novak presented.

This example therefore shows how the transition: reduces power used by being more precise, which in turn reduces material production cost and the emissions from its creation.

Bridging the digital divide

“60% of the Internet is in English. Only about 50% of world's population speaks English. So it's this huge ecosystem that needs to get solved to bring people up to parity.”

Addressing access to digital offerings was also an issue Novak brought up. Imagine all the talent that is currently boxed out the wider digital sphere because of it, and imagine how much it is costing. Outsourcing, is off the table in some circumstances like this. Yet, not only would this be eliminated addressing this imbalance, but imagine the social ramifications of people who are now getting better access to information, Novak posed.

“This is something that is everyone's problem. So just because you have access, have tools,  have different literacy, doesn't mean you're not going to benefit from others who are currently hideaway as well. A rising tide lifts all boats, economically, and also like I said, innovatively.”

Diversity and inclusion

With the talk taking place on International Women’s Day, it’s no wonder our woman speaker wanted to highlight how making a work place more inclusive will help usher companies in to the Industry 4.0.

“Diversity is going to equal this innovation of all these things I was just talking about for the fourth industrial revolution to be successful.”

Novak brought the conversation around to how many of these things mentioned in the talk were contingent on diversity and inclusion. The building blocks for creating an algorithm involves getting talented staff, for instance. But what if some of these women are mothers? Providing childcare at the office can bring this talent back to your workforce. Bridging the digital divide? This could help with the chronic staff shortages that many, including the tech sector, is currently facing.

Although the talk highlighted more aspects to bring companies in to this new age, what is clear is Novak is optimistic for the businesses that choose to meet this incoming age with the willingness to meet the challenges.