Taavi Laur: let's jump straightaway to industry 5.0

As a small and smart country, we have the opportunity to implement innovation on a society-wide level, and by successfully applying it, we can offer it to the entire world, writes Taavi Laur in an article submitted to the opinion contest "Successful Estonia."

For me, innovation means the immediate testing, development, and adoption of the latest ideas and technologies.

If we have the choice between lagging behind in the implementation of Industry 4.0, which began over 10 years ago, or taking the lead in the world as a small country with the implementation of Industry 5.0, a concept currently discussed by the brightest minds in the best universities, there can be no question—we will not wait another 10 years but will start right away!

Simply put, while Industry 4.0 focuses on the potential of technology to optimize production, Industry 5.0 expands this vision by incorporating the human element, working alongside technology (including artificial intelligence) to create a more sustainable and ethical future.

When pessimists say that our industry, composed of small businesses, is only at level 2.0 or 3.0 and falls far behind the 4.0 industrial revolution dedicated to digitalization, I say: very good, we'll skip a couple of steps and have no fear repeating what has been done in history!

Technologies Already in Primary School

When Estonia gained independence, our banking sector also skipped several developmental stages, jumping straight to card payments instead of checks and immediately starting to develop the innovation idea of that time, which was e-banking. The result was impressive on an international scale.

We have made political decisions toward a green transition, but what this means more broadly and how to implement it is still being discovered. In addition to renewable energy sources, this means developing and adopting digitalized technologies that consume less energy and produce fewer residues. The future trend is digitalized products produced close to end consumers, just when needed and only in the quantities that will be consumed. Why is this good?

It reduces energy-intensive mass and overproduction, storage, logistical pollution, and time costs, but—very importantly—it creates new opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which make up over 90 percent of the business sector in Estonia. Certainly, there will be resistance from those less adaptable to changes, but we have the positive experience of an e-state, which initially caused alienation in the outside world as well.

The key to achieving this success lies in the development of knowledge, because these technologies don't arise by themselves, and using existing technologies also requires knowledge.

We will be successful if we start mastering the use of technologies already in primary school, moving onward to the next levels and enabling adult education in this direction for those already participating in the labor market. Technology cannot be learned on paper; it requires investment in technology and education, and these investments are not small, rather very large, much like the future benefits!

Like One Computer in a 1990s School

Almost 30 years ago, the Tiger Leap initiative began, which seemed uncertain and expensive, but the vision was promising and bright. From small steps and tangible state investments came a nationwide leap that garnered societal support, including investments from entrepreneurs. Then came the e-state, the first startup, and soon the most unicorns per capita in the world.

One desktop computer and internet access, compared to the living standards of the 1990s, could mean the same as the currently frighteningly expensive digital and adaptive robotics technology to some schools or small businesses, but it quickly paid off because young people immediately embraced and applied it.

My successful Estonia observes global future trends and wisely adopts them before others. It makes plans, invests purposefully, taking targeted loans if necessary, and engages society in successfully implementing its innovative plan.

*The opinion article was first published in Estonian on 4.12.2024 at business newspaper ?rip?ev Taavi Laur: hüppame tasemelt 2.0 kohe 5.0-le