LETTERS: One of the most momentous challenges that will come from the spread of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the fusion of technologies across physical, digital and biological realms which is beginning to transform our way of life, at work and how we relate to one another.
Billions of people across the globe are connected by mobile devices with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity and access to knowledge is unlimited.
And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields internet of things, autonomous vehicles, nano-technology, bio-technology, material science, energy storage and quantum computing.
The 4IR transformation involves various stakeholders of the global polity, from public and private sectors to academia and civil society. Disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain and 3D are transforming social, economic and our political systems often in unpredictable ways.
The changes are revolutionary not only due to the breadth of the sectors impacted but also to the speed. New technologies are emerging faster and being adopted more quickly.
For example, fixed telephone lines took 75 years to reach 100 million users whereas the Apple App store unveiled in 2008, took just three years to reach 100 million users. It creates new ways for citizens to connect to each other domestically and internationally.
At the civil service workplace 4IR promotes greater automation and digitalization of customs and immigration department and other public administration, processes and procedures. It reduces rent-seeking and abuses by its personnel.
It will reduce human capital, improve productivity, lower cost and raise quality of work and will have access to new sources of information. New forms of education such as online courses and virtual learning intensified during the Covid-19 pandemic, learning from home rather than in classrooms for students.
Employees must reskill and upskill their information technical skill to keep abreast of the demands of their workplace to stay relevant to the changing workplace demands by acquiring the relevant skills and knowledge and being multi-skilled rather than been displaced.
New health care, tele-medicine powered by smartphones linked to diagnostic pills and enhanced banking system with better quality products and financial services could also empower small and medium enterprise (SME) businesses.
One of the greatest human challenges posed by information technologies is privacy, loss of data, cyberattack and scammers which is a threat to a country's security and safety.
C. Sathasivam Sitheravellu
Seremban, Negri Sembilan
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times