Internet of Things: Shift Happens!

The beginning of a new era

The only way to predict the future is to have the power to shape the future. From ancient times, science and religion have always clashed together but the former ends up giving a logical explanation to people’s beliefs, that are usually based on superstition or religion. We have always seen in movies how Gods predict the future, create anything on their own, fly without piloting their planes, cure anyone from diseases, and for doing all this, they do not need wealth or equipment. What if today, humans are able to do that? Imagine if everything in your life is automated and is controlled just by the imagination! With the advent of sharing economic business model, the world has become exposed to new ways of doing business and using resources. Over the last decade, companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Task Rabbit, Lending club, Lyft, and many more have changed the traditional way of doing business. The speed at which industries, technology and business models are changing is very fast. Along with this rapid change, a new buzz word which is being talked about is Internet of Things. It has the power to connect everything around us and make all vivid imaginations real. However, a shift in technology needs a great shift in our approach, way of doing business, and vision. To make this imagination a reality, a change is required in the way we do business today.

The big shifts that society has seen in past century were the shifts towards Keynesianism and later on towards neo-liberalism. Earlier, everyone focused on providing health and education, trying to free the markets, and becoming wealthy. Imagine an ecosystem where humans are living in smart cities with digital homes, intelligent transportation system, additive manufacturing with 3-D printing, clean energy, and best in class healthcare systems. A total new system which believes in maximizing human well-being. A new economic model is in the making which will focus more on humanity rather than focusing on wealth sharing. It is going to change the way we see the world today, our relationship with the planet- work and life will change completely.

With the introduction of artificial intelligence, neural networks, and internet of things, industrial revolution 4.0 has started to take shape. We have all heard the saying, “With great power comes the great responsibility”. Well, with all this advanced technology, businesses will have great power to achieve the main goal of the future economic model.

All of this is going to be true sooner than you think. We are moving towards a new industrial revolution 4.0, which is going to drive all of these changes. In the past, whenever there was an industrial revolution, a huge disruption happened in the way businesses ran.

Industrial revolution 1 – 1784 – Steam, water, mechanical production equipment

Industrial revolution 2 – 1870 – Electricity, mass production,

Industrial revolution 3 – 1969 – IT, Electronics, Automation in production line

Industrial revolution 4 –    ?    - Cyber physical systems

However, the main question is, what effects will this revolution have on the way of doing business? Changes in technology will surely push businesses to innovate and adapt to new ways of serving the society.

To be sustainable in future every business owner needs to have a vision of maximizing human well-being.

To make this possible, it is important to focus more on digitization of businesses. By digitizing, we can give the power to human beings. The impact of digitization will also have an effect on the value chain. Businesses will have to move themselves up along the value chain such that all the work will be done by machines at the bottom of chain and humans can sit on top of the value chain.

Although industrial revolution 4.0 will trigger many changes and disrupt the businesses, the key is to understand the implications of this advancement of technology on business. The most important will be a change in customer expectations. Due to the transparency in businesses in today’s world, customers are becoming more aware day by day. They are looking for more and more features, options and personalized products. As companies also have access to the customers’ demands and are able to guess the new patterns of consumer behavior, they will have to adapt according to the new market. Secondly, the companies will need to enhance their products to become more efficient and align it with the new vision of maximizing human well-being. Thirdly, to achieve all of this, they will have to look for collaborative innovation and to achieve this innovation, companies will have to go the open source way. Once technology is shared and accessible to everyone, all human beings will be able to benefit from it. Fourthly, this will have a great effect on organizational structure. To make open source work, companies need to have a very different kind of culture. To achieve that culture, it is very important for companies to focus on their organizational structure and try to implement collaborative innovation.

In the end, it all boils down to people. Today, all businesses revolve around humans but with a vision of Keynesianism or neo-liberalism. In the coming years, businesses will have to adapt and will need to start preparing for a vision of maximizing human well-being. This can be achieved if and only if businesses are ready for a change. As we all know, shift happens!