Electricity + Control November 2018

COMMENT

ON THE COVER

Technology ... the great growling engine of change

I was recently invited to say a few words at the opening of a conference about the Fourth Industrial Revolution – as if oth- ers have not already said enough. But it is worth noting that people view this revolu- tion, and what it means, in very different ways, and in many quarters the angst is profound. Preceding industrial revolutions were about steam, electricity, IT – all terri- fying in their own ways. Steam and mechanisation were pro- found. The industrial revolution in England saw manufacturing change forever. Between 1811 and 1816, a band of English workers, inspired by a fellow called Ludd, actively destroyed machinery, which they believed threatened their jobs. They became known as the Luddites, and were distressed by the mechanical chang- es they saw in industry. From the mechanical genesis grew the electric motor – and the next big revolu- tion – the rise of electrical machinery and, in fact, the emergence of a new branch of engineering – electrical engineering. But what a revolution! From steam, belts and mechanical linkages – we sud- denly had a way of generating and trans- porting massive amounts of energy over huge distances and running rotating ma- chines – many of which simply coupled back into legacy mechncial systems. There were decades – almost a centu- ry – between these fundamental changes, these revolutions. At least our forebears had time to reflect – to retread – and to advise their children to consider some of the new and exciting opportunities that were emerging. Then, just the other day, last centu- ry mind you, we were experiencing the emergence of IT– the Third Industrial Rev- olution, that digital revolution.

These three revolutions were funda- mental. They certainly threatened people’s job security – and they changed the way the world works. But I am not sure they could be described as being ‘sudden’ – we saw them coming and were able to adapt, to ed- ucate and train – to capitalise on, and meet the needs that the revolutions offered. I have a sense that, slowly, each sub- sequent revolution has clicked up a little – from the level of the most basic manual labour, to more complex and detailed ac- tivities. And each one was based on tech- nologies that required an increasing level of education to allow people to actively engage with them. For all that, each subsequent genera- tion has simply absorbed what it sees as if it always was. The technological develop- ments we are witnessing today are unlike any time before, and the speed of change is far more rapid than we experienced dur- ing the Digital Revolution. Make no mis- take, the new changes have the ability to do great things for humanity. But the angst we see is because, for the first time really, almost no aspect of human endeavour will be left unaffected. Learn how to harness this revolution as quickly as you can. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is not just about the technol- ogy we will be working with now and in the future. It is about how we as humans learn to work with the technology in ways that do not take away our humanity.

FEATURES: · Drives+motors+ switchgear · Energymanagement+ Environmental Engineering · IIoT+ Industry 4.0 · Plantmaintenance, test+measurement · Temperaturemeasurement+ Instrumentation

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