A while ago I wrote about IR 4.0 and how it may not be significant enough to render an evolution. Been in the research of sensors technology since the early 90’s, I have seen the big wave of 3.0 and how it impacted the whole industry. I grow up in the 3.0 era, seeing the changes (or rather, attempt to change), got involved in the implementation of factories,
Then came 4.0, I was prepared for 4.0 even in the late 90’s, and in the early years of 4.0, I was involved in it heavily as a project manager. Though the title said IT Project Manager, It was not that much of IT. The biggest challenge when I first took up the job, I was faced with people rejecting change. I recalled all the smaller project I had managed before and the one I put aside to take up an employment, I took to myself to study the missing skill that industry revolutions need – Change Management.
Though it was something I had started back in the 90s when I was doing sensors, I have noticed the rejection of people against newer tech. Back in the late 90’s people mistaken sensor to camera. Essentially, electronic camera is using sensors matrix to generate the image digitally and stored them on media or wired stream, I have to spend a lot of time convincing them that what was taken was not image of a picture, but rather just one dot. That’s what triggers me to go further with my pursuit of Change Management.
Another factor that influenced me a lot was my dad. He was a project officer in a Government owned corporation implementing community related project and Industry Revolution 3.0 related project. He spoke to me in my dialect about his work problem, how people cannot accept the good that the community project is going to bring to them. The term “empowerment” only came about the year he retired in the late 80’s
Here is the thing, Industry Revolution 3.0 has ended. It is now the time for Industry Revolution 5.0. 2.0 brought in the was on the model of factory operation. 4.0 extends the factory’s reach across multiple location that can be connected via Internet.
I must rant about what the government has missed about 4.0. It was not about industrial estate or landed property. It is all about Interconnectivity, Flexibility, Logistics and Data.
By now, it is too late to change the mistakes. I only see that government was doing catching up at towards the end of the 4.0. Since the first review on 4.0 in 2017 (damn late to do one) the correction only came in at December of 2017. The real push for 4.0 came in 2018 but that was seriously too late to just do “introduction to IR 4.0”
Here is the thing. we need to upgrade. We need to change. I made the upgrade from 3.0 to 4.0. I have also upgraded and ready for 5.0. Our tools need to be upgraded. Back then, the upgrade ware from mechanical machines to computerised machineries, Now we have to go for another upgrade. We need to upgrade our tools, our sensors, our robotic extension, We need to go bionic.
Scary, right? “The six million dollars man”? The forefront of these technology was used in the aerospace technology. We need to move into the virtual world.
I was fortunate that a company asked for my skill back in March when global lockdown starts. In the matter of 2.5 weeks we have built a virtual expo hall. Though I am not been paid for managing this, I was fortunate that they put my name there, both in the virtual hall and the real hall.
I am not talking about Virtual Reality, Something that I was very much into it since 1991. My friend Ken Ong, the project manager of the MBKS Building registered a company called Virtual Reality Sdn. Bhd. in 1992. VR walk-thru of a building was made possible in 1993 with the company’s HQ in London. VR that I am talking about was not VR 2.0 where you have remote viewing. This is VR 3.0 we are talking about.
VR 3.0 includes senses, such as temperature (up to 80°C for safety reason), pressure, wet and dry sensation, stickiness in viscosity, tensile tactile, half 3D air sensation, numbness, and pulse sensing, all at a resolution of 1Mhz over the internet with network latency of <=10ms response time. Audio quality at 44,100Hz, 256k, Video quality of 1920×1080 at 100Hz. (144Hz upgrade in 1 month time)
This is what we have in 2020.for 5.0, By mid term, I hoped we can increased this to over 200 sensory input and 1335 for output. Yes, it is easier to control robotics and bionics remotely, it is harder to get sensors and telemetry remotely. In my list of sensors type, there is only 12,335 types of sensors that can be input into a computer while we have over 30 Millions type of robotics and over 500k types of bionics.
I hoped this pandemic is not going to slow down 5.0 as it has already started due to the pandemic with a real case at end of March and first global level use case in April 2020.
On the side note, I know one or two government outfits tasked to look into 4.0 is still at the kickstart stage of 4.0 while globally, we are at 5.0.
All the countries in the world that leads the industrial revolutions, Germany was the helm in 3.0, America was the helm of 4.0 and I can safely say that China is already at the helm of 5.0 though 5.0 has no country boundary.
This change will also changes the social structure. The “lawmakers” of 5.0 is now in the tech companies. The companies that has the sensors/bionic/robotic/telemetry/Data tech of 5.0. in 4.0, that part was called the “king maker” and it was in the hands of social networking companies.
Unfortunately, the country that I resides in still have leaders with the mindset of 2.0 though some of the gadgets and tech we have is up-to-date with 5.0 ready. 70% of government development projects is still 3.0 in nature while 28% is of 4.0.
I will put special focus in three countries and they are China, Vietnam and Indonesia. All three are 5.0 ready last year. I think this is the thing that cause US to shit in its pants.
That is why I would like to call for the redefinition of the term developed country. The benchmark of such was based on 2.0. Changes has to be made to redefine that so that any country that is now 4.0 done is a developed country and in 2 years time, any country that is not 5.0 is not a developed country.
Development advances forward. It also pushes forward the benchmark and with that, status change needs to be reflected with the advancement.
We are at a light speed in development advancement. Something that countries that is compleasant cannot catch up. If we based on the benchmark of 3.0, yes, China, Vietnam and Indonesia are not there yet. If we based on 4.0, America, Canada, Japan, Germany, UK are not there yet. and if we based on 5.0, the whole ball game is turned around with China, Vietnam and Indonesia at the very top followed by Argentina and Nicaragua.
The skill demand in 5.0 has changed. It has gone from tech to etch. From scientist to butcher. The life science is the needed skill at the forefront of 5.0. This made scientist such as myself obsolete. But I am not stopping here. Knowledge in the basics of each fields and industries is the sought after skills of 5.0, not programmer. not maker and not social entrepreneurs.
Tech is turning neuro, turning bionic. And soon, we need microbiologist that can fix an electronic circuitry problem and not electronic PhD.
Another part of the evolution is the evolution of technology going from digital back to analogue. That is the direction of sensor technology. It is no longer zero and one. Look at NAND flash technology, from single-layer to multi-layer, to tri-layer to quad-layer. I won’t be surprised the next storage will be in analogue after hexa-layer.
The reason why I took up Chemistry and now Physics is because I do not want to be left behind. I did take up another study that I will not disclosed. If my hunch is right, I will be spot on just like when I took up statistics and epidemiology.
I think this is getting long enough for an update. I’m in Industry Revolution 5.0. Please catch up!