Engineering news
The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum concluded in Davos, Switzerland, last week. The economics talking shop attracts an intriguing mix of celebrities, politicians and industrialists. Any event able to attract Leonardo DiCaprio, Ban Ki Moon and…David Milliband, is sure to attract global attention.
Aside from the celebrity spotting that goes on at Europe’s highest town, Davos also provides a platform for the World Economic Forum (WEF) to expound its latest theories and communicate its latest warnings and recommendations. This year’s main theme was technology, specifically, according to Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the WEF, the “fourth industrial revolution” the world is about to undergo.
The idea is explained at length, in a book published shortly before Davos and available at Amazon. Schwab predicts that the effect of a number of technologies maturing quickly at the same time will have a profound impact on society. These technologies include advances in areas such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.
Schwab describes the fourth industrial revolution as: "the fusion of technologies across the physical, digital and biological worlds…creating new capabilities and dramatic impacts on political, social and economic systems."
“We feel we are not prepared sufficiently for this fourth industrial revolution which will come over us like a tsunami, which will change whole systems,” he says. “There has never been a time of greater promise, or greater peril.”
This isn’t the first time someone has labelled a period of time or the impact of a particular technology as an industrial revolution. It happens on a semi-regular basis, since the first industrial in the late 18th century.
But regardless of the terminology used, there is no denying that there is an unprecedented amount of technological innovation happening currently. These technologies have can have both good or bad effects. For example they could raise income levels and improve quality of life, says Schwab. Just as they have done in the consumer world, automation, constant connectivity, improved transport and improve supply chains, could bring about massive improvements in industry.
However, there are also risks, and the WEF The details these in its eleventh “Risks Report”, also published shortly before Davos.
The report examines 29 separate global risks over the next ten years, and is based on the assessments of almost 750 experts, half of which from emerging economies. Academic advisors include the University of Singapore and the University of Oxford.
According to the report, the fourth industrial revolution cold also increase societal inequality, especially because of increased automation.
Margareta Drzeniek-Hanouz. head of global competitiveness and risks for the WEF, says: “The fourth industrial revolution, the digitisation of industry, is a key topic for economic growth. But we have to understand and deal with the risks with it and the associated technologies.”
Drzeniek-Hanouz says that the fourth industrial revolution could also derail industrialisation in emerging economies in Africa. The region has a high risk of governmental failure and high rates of unemployment. Security risks and refugee flows are highest in Africa. “There is a huge need to stabilise the region.”
The greatest perceived risk to the world the report identifies is the failure of climate change mitigation and adaption, despite the landmark climate change agreement in Paris late last year agreed by nearly 200 countries.
Cecilia Reyes, chief risk officer of Zurich Insurance Group, says: “We are seeing and experiencing the effects of climate change today, in terms of water crises, food shortages, constrained economic growth, weaker societal cohesion and increased security risks.
“Mitigation efforts for climate change are not having any discernible effect. More needs to be done. The challenge is implementing and executing these agreements. There is a risk they will not be and we have to take action today to adapt to climate change.”
There were plenty of short term issues publicized at Davos this year: market volatility, oil prices, migration, the US elections, but technology took centre stage. The debates around these technologies may be intriguing, but its up to engineers to develop and deploy them.