Being in the middle of a revolution that has been recognised as an era with ‘the potential to connect billions of people, drastically improve the efficiency of business and have the ability to regenerate the natural environment through more effective asset management’ means that this generation will see progress in digital, physical and biological systems that will hugely impact change and have a fundamental effect on how we interact with our environments and material assets.
Despite this being labeled the Fourth Industrial Revolution, according to Klaus Schwab, the executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, it is the first revolution that has focused on the advances in communication and connectivity rather than technology, which is what the previous three revolutions have hung their proverbial hats on.
According to WeForum: “Connectivity is a by-product of technology. It leads to a more inclusive workspace, a chance for co-workers to collaborate despite miles and oceans between them. The digital era now allows us to work anywhere at any time, playing a vital role in the work/life balance for families.”
Selecting a technology partner therefore becomes so much more than a simple aesthetic decision and more about how a device’s technological and cross-industry capabilities will support future development and innovation.
“It’s imperative that we empower our younger generation with technology that will allow them to find future solutions for today’s daily challenges” says Glenn du Toit, Acer Africa’s lead for BYOC digital business development. “It is through this approach and consistent product development processes that meet this need, which will enable businesses to maintain their lead in this fourth industrial revolution era.”
Like Stewart Wallis from the New Economic Foundation in the UK says: “This revolution will be the catalyst to how we maximise human well-being’ so it becomes so important to understand how we digitise human functions that will lead to cleaner, more sustainable and mindful solutions that will reinvent our relationship with life and the planet as we know it. “It is also fundamental that industry leaders engage today’s youth by making technology more accessible in their day to day lives.”
The current technological position in which we find ourselves means that we are constantly discovering and untapping more potential; of the human brain, of our world and its resources and how the efficiencies of this symbiotic relationship will persistently push the envelope.
“Internal research and development focuses becomes a key part of any businesses strategic priorities – much like the way we’ve developed and nurtured our Chrome Enterprise business model and launched our AIoT (artificial intelligence + Internet of Things) edge computing device,” concludes Du Toit