India and the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Professor Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum feels that the previous industrial revolutions liberated humankind from animal power, made mass production possible and brought digital capabilities to billions of people. This Fourth Industrial Revolution is, however, fundamentally different. It is characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human.


The much discussed fourth industrial revolution at Davos is more relevant to developed countries, those that have already benefitted from the first three; the developing countries could be better helped by innovative uses of the first three industrial revolutions. India is a country with a pre-dominantly rural population. An acre of land can at best feed one single family; a factory on the same acre could help feed multiple families, besides generating wealth at a much faster pace for the country. Thus the government’s push on developing infrastructure for generating power; road, rail & port connectivity; and other initiatives like ‘Make in India’, ‘Digital India’ and ‘Skill India’ make much more sense for us. All Indians should thus support and facilitate these in whichever way possible. The government on its part should create conditions that are conducive for implementing these grand designs for the betterment of all Indians, specially the poor.

Comments

Nidhi Arora said…
Will come back later to read the post more carefully. For now, I am just sooo glad that one of my favourite bloggers is back!
J P Joshi said…
Thank you Unknown. Yes, I was off blogging for a bit but hopefully am back and would be happy to know the unknown, who is sooo glad to see me back. Thank you once again, and more so for making me feel wanted.