Fourth industrial revolution can be an opportunity: experts

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There is nothing to worry and afraid about the fourth professional revolution as this transformation might create occupations rather than turning an enormous number of individuals redundant, said professionals yesterday.

Looking when the first, second and third professional revolutions took place, persons in many countries thought that the arrival of the internet and computer would claim many jobs.

However, all three actually proved to have created job opportunities for the masses across the globe over the years.

So the fourth industrial revolution, popularly referred to as the process of automation, will rather create jobs for thousands of people, the only need being learning the latest technologies and reskilling of workers.

For example, if countries which already are industrialised or developed want to choose the mass production of goods such as for example apparel, they need a lot of robotics.

So opportunities will come for Bangladesh to create millions of robots for industries of other countries. So personnel won't lose their jobs, the experts argued.

"We should not fear the fourth industrial revolution. We have to take it as a chance," said Md Rashedur Rahman, a co-employee professor of the Department of Organisation Strategy Leadership at the University of Dhaka.

"We must be resilient to look at this," he said at a virtual discussion on the 4th commercial revolution in the wake of Covid-19 organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).

Government high-ups, including a minister, manufacturers, experts, university teachers and businesspeople participated in the discussion.

The fourth professional revolution will mainly bring opportunities for the country and the government can make 5G available in major cities in 2023, said Mustafa Jabbar, minister for posts, telecommunications and it.

However, Jabbar warned against adopting innovations without a thought, reasoning that that which was useful for other countries however, not be the case for Bangladesh.

He suggested adopting home grown solutions for professional and manufacturing sectors, reasoning that Bangladesh has a lot of talented persons and university graduates, many of whom have gone to perform strong worldwide.

The fourth industrial revolution is not the future, it is already occurring as many manufacturing units are adopting advanced technologies to reduce business costs, said Mohammad Abdul Momen, a professor of the university's Institute of Business Administration.

Instances are the printing and sweater industries seeking to cut back on production and manpower costs, said Momen, also a director of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association and Pride Group, a leading garment producer. There is absolutely no option but to adopt the technologies, he said.

The fourth professional revolution bears immense potential for Bangladesh and fears that it'll dry up skilled and semi-skilled workers' jobs are unfounded, said Parag, additional secretary to the industries ministry.

Garment workers might think that they will lose their jobs however the reality is that no technology has had the opportunity to eliminate jobs overnight, she said.

The garment workers must shift to using new, high-end technologies, she said.

Moderating the discussion, DCCI President Shams Mahmud said despite challenges of losses of low-skilled jobs in the short-term, launching fourth industrial revolution technologies would unlock a new era of growth and employment across all sectors of Bangladesh.

For seizing the opportunities, the federal government can form a high-level national committee engaging relevant agencies and authorities from public and private sectors, he said.

Mahmud also recommended keeping the perspectives in consideration while formulating the national commercial policy.

Upon assessment, a robust national fourth professional revolution technology policy should be framed to support application of big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, robotics and the web of things, he said.

This will add value to Bangladesh's commercial and financial competitiveness and connect to the digitally-enabled global value chain, he added.

Presenting a keynote paper, Associate Prof Sajid Amit of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh highlighted the transformation being caused to the complete system of production, management and governance by the manufacturing industries.

Based on the World Economic Forum, about 800 million people worldwide may lose jobs by 2030, he said.

Though the threat of job losses lies mainly for the low-skilled workforce for the fourth industrial revolution, reskilling and upskilling schemes must be taken to sustain them, he said.

A shift to electronics and automation will take place automatically and though it will pose some challenges, it'll open doors to increased productivity and connectivity, innovation and sustainable production, said Amit.

The rise of the digital marketplace will hook up small and medium enterprises to the huge regional markets beyond the neighborhood customer base, he said, recommending concentrating on skills-based education systems and long term policy measures. 

Fahim Ahmed, president and CFO of ridesharing platform Pathao, said over 6 million persons in Bangladesh who use the internet have availed their services.

During the past 5 years, over $250 million have already been committed to the technology sector of Bangladesh, he added.

"Usage of connectivity and technology is more important. We should build up on soft skills and innovation," he said, citing resilience and preparedness as critical indicators for dealing with challenges of the fourth commercial revolution.

SME Foundation is attempting to raise the skills and capacity of SME entrepreneurs during this time period of Covid-19, said its general manager, Md Sirajul Haider.

The foundation conducts trainings to improve capacity of entrepreneurs to create spaces for them in online marketplaces. "We are providing the training," he said.

Anowarul Fattah, a professor of the electrical and electronic engineering department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, urged motivating entrepreneurs on adopting ways of the fourth professional revolution.

He also known as for working on inter-university, ministry and industry collaborations for building capacities.   
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net

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