Reskilling and upskilling essential to deal with 4IR

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is giving a new dimension to world civilization. The process and potential of this revolution are already being widely discussed around the world. We have to create skilled manpower by making Bangladesh suitable for leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution. 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? Intellectualization is taking place, the human-machine is interfacing, and realism and virtuality are becoming one. Now if we want to prepare for the fourth industrial revolution, we have to put things like emotional intelligence, physical intelligence, social intelligence, contest intelligence at the forefront.

There is a dearth of skilled programmers in our country. Technology is changing very fast during the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. New technology is bringing in more new technology. Combining different technologies is bringing changes in the economy, society, business, and personal life. The instruments will communicate with each other, know what the situation is and take actions accordingly.

Bangladesh has has to give the utmost importance to technical education. In the future not only Bangladesh, but the whole world will need more skilled manpower. Those who go abroad have to become proficient in technical matters and that is why our education system has to be upgraded  putting more emphasis on technical education. The government is assisting the non-governmental organizations which are imparting technical training. Skilled manpower is most important for building a country and the authorities concerned are working to create skilled manpower. We should develop manpower in such a way that they can compete anywhere in the competitive world and utilize the opportunities provided by the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The first industrial revolution began with the discovery of railways, steam engines, and the use of machinery in production. The Second Industrial Revolution began with power generation. The third industrial revolution, also known as the computer or digital revolution. Small and powerful sensors, mobile internet, artificial intelligence, and machine learning are the main features of the fourth revolution.

The machine is being made intelligent through artificial intelligence or machine learning. The capacity of electronic devices is much higher than the human brain and the processing capacity is much faster. Due to the wide prevalence of the internet, the scope of its activities has expanded a lot. An intelligent computer installed in Bangladesh can command a connected instrument in any country, measure the temperature of a room, and order to increase or decrease the temperature. However, there is a need for people to provide services that have a human touch. On the other hand, the need for merit-based professions such as programmers, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things (IoT), etc., the demand for skilled people is increasing.

People can also send or receive various information through the internet by rubbing their clothes. Computer processing capacity is increasing and prices are decreasing. Sensors or chips are being used in various electrical appliances and they can communicate with each other. It is the Internet of Things or IoT that can send messages to people through the Internet. There is a lot of research being done on IoT in the developed world. Through the internet your car, home AC, the fridge will be turned on automatically at the specified time, setting the desired temperature in the room. The robot will be able to ready breakfast in the microwave from the fridge. The fridge will be able to scan food stored inside it, consider eating habits, place orders in online e-commerce. Even chips are going to be placed in the body of the animal in which the physical condition of the cattle, disease, breeding season, etc. are known in advance, and action is taken accordingly.

Digitisation is now creating a lot of data, where you are going, where you are spending time, your smart car is getting the data. Your bank account, mobile, wallet, credit card can match your expenses. What we see is that smartphones, smart TVs have data. These data could not be saved earlier. Now saving data in the cloud is easy and low cost. Because of its fast-processing power, computers can easily analyze these data and make decisions. Driverless cars will be relatively safe and efficient. They will also reduce traffic jams and pollution and the driver’s requirement will be reduced. Computers are being given artificial intelligence. AI can decide by analyzing the data based on the previous situation. Computers are first trained, such as how to see an object.

The demand for computer programmers, data analysts, and people with technical knowledge and skills is increasing. The hope is that preparations have begun in advance to take advantage of the opportunities and possibilities of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and to meet its challenges. Bangladesh formulates the Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, and Robotics Strategy of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In 2019, the a2i Program and the International Labor Organization (ILO) identified six areas in a joint survey aimed at identifying the possibilities and challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These are the transformation of the traditional education system, inclusive innovation, development of research and development, simplification of government policies, utilization of skills of expatriate Bangladeshis and branding of Bangladesh as an innovative nation.

In the light of this survey, various initiatives including cooperation in innovation at the school level, teaching programming are being implemented. About a year ago, the Department of Information and Communication Technology started training on 10 modern technologies to create skilled people. These initiatives are making us hopeful of turning the risk of the Fourth Industrial Revolution into a possibility.

Once the organization identifies a skills gap, reskilling and upskilling training programmess can better position the organization for expected workforce changes as well as provide a path for workers so they don’t become displaced by technology. AI and automation may be replacing many jobs, but they are also creating new ones. Around the world, many employers who already are struggling with the existing mismatch between youth skills and employer will become even wider as the industry transforms business and jobs faster than workers can adapt.

It’s time to invest in new innovative ideas and approaches for upskilling youth in a coordinated way. Improving the potential employment outcomes for the youth demands that businesses, governments, and other key players cooperate to align educational initiatives, workforce development programmess, and public policy.

People here are not equipped for the work that needs to be done and avail of the opportunities facing 4IR. It also outlines recommendations that are taken together - as coordinated action between the organization and other stakeholders create a strong framework for advancing the cause. But it’s more than a collection of ideas.

In the face of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the IT sector in Bangladesh has emphasized various infrastructural developments including the development of skilled human resources. Bangladesh is trying to be in the top 50 countries in the UN e-Governance Development Index for the next five years. 5 initiatives of Digital Bangladesh have been praised internationally. These are Digital Centre, Service Innovation Fund, Empathy Training, Time-Cost-Visit (TCV) and SDGs Tracker.

With the help of information technology, young people are building small and large IT firms, e-commerce sites, app-based services, and other organizations. Besides, some big achievements including the Bangabandhu satellite of Bangladesh in space have taken Bangladesh to a unique height to the world.

The writer is a Research Fellow, BNNRC. He can be [email protected]