The world is changing and evolving faster than ever before in human history. It’s no secret that one of the main drivers of this change is technology.
It’s everywhere around us, from the businesses we interact with to the entertainment we consume, and the way we travel. In fact, many of the things we’re able to do today were considered science fiction a mere two decades ago.
This technological change is ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It promises to change how businesses work, how we live, and how we, as humans, interact with each other.
Underpinning most of these technologies is a common denominator, data. As a result, data science is becoming increasingly important to enable us to gather, analyze, and gain insights from data to bring about the improvements that modern technology offers.
In this post, we’ll look at these technologies in more detail and the role data has to play.
The Technologies of the 4th Industrial Revolution
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is blurring the boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. It’s the force behind many products and services that are becoming indispensable in our daily lives.
Some of the technologies driving this change include:
– Artificial intelligence and machine learning. Artificial intelligence or AI describes computer systems that mimic human thinking processes. As a result, they’re able to recognize complex patterns, process and analyze data, and make recommendations and predictions through the application of algorithms to massive datasets. For this reason, it’s becoming increasingly important in everything from business to manufacturing and healthcare.
– The Internet of Things. IoT devices are around us everywhere we go. These include everything from medical wearables to cars, tracking devices, and smart devices like watches, TVs, and fridges. These devices promise to bring increased convenience and impact the way we live. For businesses, these devices enable them to collect customer data no matter where the customer is. As a result, they’re able to tailor their products and their marketing to what their customers want and need.
– Robotics. Robots are increasingly used in fields like manufacturing, health and safety, and human assistance. Using artificial intelligence and data they’re becoming prevalent in a variety of both personal and commercial applications.
– Blockchain. Blockchain offers a secure, decentralized, and transparent way of recording and sharing data. Although it’s commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, it can be used in several other ways. For example, it can be used in e-commerce to battle fraud and improve supply chain management. Also, it’s used in the health industry to secure sensitive medical data.
– Cloud computing. Cloud computing allows businesses to store and have access to their data from anywhere. In this way, they can analyze their data in an instant and gain insights from it. This, ultimately, results in better business processes and better products.
Keep in mind that these are just some of the technologies driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution. There are many more. No matter what the technology, though, these technologies will have a significant impact on the way we live our lives.
It will also have a profound impact on businesses globally where they will be able to use their business data to make better decisions and improve their business processes.
One of the places where the change will be most evident is in the customer experience businesses offer. Simply put. by using data, businesses can offer greater personalization and more connected experiences.
Apart from that, it will also have a significant impact on the future of work for humans and automation will come together in an entirely new way.
The Common Denominator: Data
In all these technologies, there is one common denominator – data. By implication then, data is playing a substantial role in ushering in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In fact, data is now seen as an integral part of not only driving these technologies but also making further innovation possible.
So, what does this mean for businesses?
To take advantage of all the benefits that these technologies offer, businesses will need to find ways to extract, analyze, and gain insights from their data. That’s one of the ways in which they will guarantee success in the data economy.
The problem is, however, that there are significant skill shortages when it comes to data science. In fact, data scientist roles are now some of the highest in-demand roles in the labour market. As a result, businesses will need to undergo a fundamental transformation in the way they invest in talent to keep up with evolving technology.
They can do this in two ways.
The first is that they’ll need to invest in equipping their employees with the right skills so that skills shortages do not hinder their progress in a world driven by data. And it’s important to keep in mind employees will not need to update their skills only once but it requires a continuous investment to maintain the skill set to respond to fast-changing technologies.
The second is by outsourcing their data science needs. In this way, they get the best skills and up-to-date expertise without the need to reskill their employees. The main benefit is that they don’t face the possibility of upskilling an employee who leaves their labour force. Simply put, they don’t have wasted expenditure and they get the best return on investment from their data.
Ultimately, when businesses succeed in this, they’ll be able to reap the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The Bottom Line
As technology propels the world further into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, data science will become increasingly important. As a result, businesses will need the right data science skills and expertise to take advantage of the benefits that these technologies offer.
If they don’t, the promise of the Fourth Industrial Revolution will pass them by.
For more information on how data science can help your business, visit our website, or contact us for more details. At Florijn, we are launching our new business unit focused on leasing out data specialists such as Data Scientists, Data Analysts, Data Architects, Data Engineers, and Machine learning engineers. We only want to provide top-of-the-class specialists with extensive experience.
Sources:
- https://towardsdatascience.com/industry-4-0-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-is-now-38361fb509da
- https://www.salesforce.com/blog/what-is-the-fourth-industrial-revolution-4ir/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2016/06/20/what-everyone-must-know-about-industry-4-0/?sh=406e1f39795f
- http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Data_Science_In_the_New_Economy.pdf