Overcoming 4IR challenges

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has ushered in a new dimension to global civilization. 4IR can be defined as an era in which emerging technologies and digitisation are impacting life in an unprecedented and unanticipated manner. The process and potential of this revolution are already being felt across the globe. The Bangladesh government has been working tirelessly to create skilled manpower to make Bangladesh well equipped for the 4IR.

An agency report carried in this newspaper states that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday underlined the need for taking preparation from right now to deal with the possible changes that would happen in the domestic and international labour markets as a result of the 4th industrial revolution (4IR). “We have a huge labour force, which will have to be included in it. They will have to be trained, educated and developed as skilled manpower,”

The government is working on 39 high-tech parks and software technology parks to develop the high-tech industry and create employment. When the construction is completed, more than three lakh people will be employed. To meet the competition of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, 31 specialized labs of high technology in IoT, robotics, and cybersecurity have been set up in various universities and IT business incubators will be set up in the universities. Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Center is being set up in every district to build technology and knowledge-based generation.

As we know, the fourth industrial revolution is the fusion of physical, digital, and biological spheres. Here physical is human, biological is nature and digital is technology. It is becoming difficult to separate these three. What is happening as a result? What kind of change is happening in society? This results in intellectualization, the human-machine interface, and realism and virtuality becoming one. Now if we want to prepare for our 4IR, we have to take heed of things like emotional intelligence, physical intelligence, social intelligence, contest intelligence, etc.. Then in the future, we will be able to prepare everyone for the revolution.

The technological impetus of the 4IR is everywhere. This revolution is making a huge difference in the world of thought, in the production of goods, and in the provision of services. Human lifestyles and the nature of the earth are changing drastically. The walls of distinction between the biological, terrestrial, and digital worlds are forever blurred.

The revolution is a combination of artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, virtual reality, 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies. The magnitudes of this revolution, the technological modernity, and the complexities involved have put governments across the world to the test.

To cope with the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, both developed and developing countries will face serious challenges. Developed nations will, perhaps, face fewer risks than developing nations like Bangladesh because of their advanced technologies and skilled human resources. Because of a lack of skilled human resources, large-scale investments, modern infrastructure, unstable political culture and ineffective public policy, developing countries are lagging on a global scale.

Bangladesh has to be prepared for the challenges and opportunities offered by the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). The country has to hone the technical skills of its human resources, to avail of the full potential and economic rewards of this phase of industrialisation.

Technical and vocational education and training are the master key to the socio-economic development of a country. Graduates of technical and vocational education and training are majorly considered the key change-makers in the labour market. For global competitiveness, major graduates should have 21st-century skills as well as the ability to adopt and adapt to the disruption of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Without this ability shortly, no one will get a job or sustain on the job market for a longer period. Poor quality in technical and vocational education and training can lead us to produce poor products and services and dissatisfied customers.