Which Technologies Will Be The Driving Force For The Fourth Industrial Revolution?

What technologies will be the driving force for the fourth industrial revolution? Based on the achievements of the world economic forum's research and Forum Global Agenda Council, I have selected some key technologies that deserve attention.

All new developments and new technologies have an important feature: they are good at using the ubiquitous power of digitalization and information technology. All the innovative achievements mentioned in this chapter are realized and developed by the power of numbers. For example, if there is no improvement in computing power and data analysis, gene sequencing will not be possible. Similarly, without artificial intelligence, advanced robots would be impossible to speak of, and AI itself is highly dependent on computing power.

To clarify these trends and fully reflect the technological driving force behind the fourth industrial revolution, I categorized these technologies into three categories: physical, numerical and biological. These three categories complement each other, and each technology can benefit from each other's invention and progress.

　　 Driverless vehicles 3D printing Advanced robots and new materials

The technical trends in physics are mainly manifested in the following 4 aspects.

Driverless vehicle

Driverless cars have always been a hot topic in the media. But nowadays, many other types of driverless vehicles have been developed, including trucks, UAVs, aircraft and ships. With the development of technologies such as sensors and artificial intelligence, all of these driverless devices will rapidly improve their ability to perceive and respond to the environment. For example, in the field of agriculture, users can make more precise and efficient fertilization and irrigation through the use of UAVs and data analysis.

3D printing

3D printing, also known as additional material manufacturing, prints objects from layers to layers according to digital 3D images or models. This technology has been widely used in the production of all kinds of products, large to wind motors, and little to medical implant materials. In the future, the application of 3D printing will become broader, such as making integrated electronic components such as circuit boards, and even human cells and organs. In fact, researchers have begun to study 4D printing. This process will create a new generation of self-adjusting products that can adapt to environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. This technology can be used to produce clothing, shoes and medical and health related products, such as implant materials that can be adapted to individual differences.

Advanced robot

With the rapid progress of robotics, human-machine collaboration will soon become commonplace. In addition, with the progress of other technologies, the adaptability and flexibility of robots will be further improved. They will get inspiration from complex biological structures in terms of structure and function design (the extension of bionics technology, namely the imitation of modes and means in the natural world).

New materials

Many new materials will soon be put on the market. These new materials have properties that people could not imagine a few years ago. Generally speaking, the new material is lighter in weight and has greater hardness, and its recyclability and adaptability are stronger. For example, some smart materials that have been put into use can self repair and self clean; some metals can be restored to their original shape with memory; some ceramics and crystals can spanform pressure into energy.

Some new materials are expected to play an important role in alleviating the global crisis facing mankind. For example, for some materials which were generally considered not to be recycled but widely used in the production of mobile phones, circuit boards and even aviation components, the innovation of thermosetting resins is expected to achieve the recycling of these materials.

Internet of things

The Internet of things (IOT) is a kind of relationship established by interconnected technology and various platforms, including objects, including products, services and locations. It is an important bridge and link between physical application and digital application in the fourth industrial revolution.

Sensors and other ways to connect physical objects with virtual networks are spreading at an alarming rate. Our housing, Clothes & Accessories Cities, spanportation, energy networks and manufacturing processes can be installed with smaller, lower cost and more intelligent sensors. This process will bring a revolutionary impact on all walks of life, whether it is manufacturing, infrastructure, or health care, and all industries are beyond the bounds.

Remote monitoring, which is widely used in the Internet of things, is taken as an example. Nowadays, all parcels, pallets and containers can be equipped with sensors, signal spanmitters or RFID tags. With them, enterprises can track the movement of goods in the supply chain, including tracking their actual performance and usage information.

The digital revolution is radically changing the way of interaction and collaboration between individuals and institutions. For example, the block chain, often referred to as "assigned ledger", is a very secure spanaction protocol. In the block chain, any spanaction must be collectively verified by a set of computers before obtaining the record and approval. The technology used in block chain does not need to find neutral departments such as custodian or central Ledger as intermediaries, so as to establish credit by facilitating collaboration among people who do not know each other. In essence, the block chain is a shared, programmable, secure and trusted ledger. No single user can control it, but everyone can supervise it. The most famous application of block chain technology is bitcoin, but this technology will soon generate numerous other applications. Block chain technology can now record the financial spanactions of digital currencies such as bitcoins. In the future, it will provide registration services for all kinds of things, including birth certificates, death certificates, ownership certificates, marriage certificates, certificates of academic qualifications, proof of insurance interests, medical procedures and voting.

In a broader context, with all kinds of platforms supported by technology support, the shared economy (also known as on-demand economy) is now possible. These platforms can be easily used on smart phones, bringing people, assets and data together to create a new way of consuming goods and services. They have lowered the threshold for companies and individuals to create wealth, and have also changed their personal and occupational environment.

The company's model reflects the strong subversive power of this technology platform. These platform businesses are growing exponentially, providing laundry. Shopping Housekeeping, parking, home stay, long distance carpool and other services. They have one thing in common: matching the supply and demand in a very convenient (low cost) way, providing consumers with diversified products, allowing interaction and giving feedback, and building trust through these platforms.

The shared economy has posed a fundamental question for us: what is worth having, whether it is a platform or assets behind the platform? The largest taxi company in the world does not have a car. The most popular social media company, Facebook, is not producing anything. The most valuable retailer Alibaba has no inventory. The largest provider of accommodation, airbnb, has no real estate. In the process of sharing assets or services by individuals or organizations, the digital platform greatly reduces spanaction costs and frictional costs.

Biological genetic engineering

The innovation in the field of biology, especially in genetics, is also breathtaking.

In the past, the human genome project took more than 10 years to complete and cost up to $2 billion 700 million. Today, the sequencing of a genome takes only a few hours to complete, with no more than 1000 dollars. With the improvement of computing power, scientists no longer need to repeat trial and error. They can directly test which symptoms and diseases the specific gene mutation will cause.

The next step is the development of synthetic biology. By writing DNA, synthetic biology will give us the ability to customize organisms. These technological advances will have far-reaching and direct effects on the production of medicine, agriculture and biofuels.

Many medical problems, including heart disease and cancer, are genetically related. Therefore, if we can identify a person's genetic makeup in an efficient and low-cost way (using sequencing equipment in routine diagnosis), we will radically change the personalized medical and therapeutic effects.

In fact, gene editing technology can be applied to all types of cells, which can help people create spangenic plants and animals, and improve the cells of adult organisms (including humans). This science is developing very fast, limiting its application is not technology, but legal, regulatory and ethical resistance. This technology can be used to improve animal genes to reduce feeding costs or better adapt to local conditions, and can also produce food crops that can tolerate extreme temperatures or droughts.

Different technologies will fuse and promote each other. In the future, 3D manufacturing will be combined with gene editing for the manufacture of living tissue to achieve tissue repair and regeneration. We call this process biological printing, which has been used to make skin, bone, heart and cardiovascular tissue. Eventually, the printed layer of liver cells will be used to make spanplant organs.

We are developing new ways to implant equipment into the body to monitor our activity levels and blood chemical values, and to understand how these factors relate to our physical health, mental health and work efficiency. In addition, our cognition of human brain function has also been greatly improved, and encouraging progress has been made in the field of neural technology.

Today, it is much easier to manipulate the human genome in viable embryos than before. This means that babies born in the future are likely to be born with certain characteristics or immunity to certain diseases. Needless to say, people are discussing opportunities and challenges brought about by these technologies. It is worth mentioning that during the 12 month of 2015 years, the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of medicine, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the royal society jointly held an international summit on human gene editing. Although we have had some thoughts about the technology that will soon become a reality, we are not yet ready to cope with the reality and consequences of the latest gene technology. These technologies have brought great challenges to society, medicine, ethics and psychology. We need to tackle them at least.

Innovative vitality

Innovation is a complicated social process. We can not regard innovation as a matter of course. Therefore, although this part focuses on a series of technological advances that are expected to change the world, we should pay attention to ensure that such progress can continue and guide them towards the best results.

Academic institutions are often considered to be the main frontiers in exploring frontier concepts. However, new evidence shows that nowadays, universities are more inclined to progressive conservative research rather than bold innovation projects under the constraints of career incentives and funding conditions.

It is a good recipe for us to break away from conservatism in academic research and encourage more commercial research. However, doing so will also bring challenges. In 2015, the excellent technology company hired 40 Carnegie researchers and scientists from the University of Mellon, who took a considerable proportion of manpower in the school laboratory, which not only impacted the school's research ability, but also brought great pressure to the school to fulfill its agreement with the US Department of defense and other institutions.

If we want to encourage pioneering and basic technological innovation in the academic and business circles, the government should invest more in funding some ambitious research projects. Similarly, when conducting collaborative research, the public and private sectors should pay more attention to training the knowledge and research power that can benefit the whole mankind.

Technology detonating point

These general trends will be very abstract, but these trends have spawned very practical applications and development results.

In September 2015, the world economic forum released a report pointing out that the 21 technology detonating points, that is, the time nodes of certain specific technological changes that impact the mainstream society, will shape the highly interconnected digital world in the future. These tipping points are expected to appear in the next 10 years, and this is a clear reflection of the profound changes triggered by the fourth industrial revolution.

　　預計將在2025年前出現的21個引爆點是：10%的人穿戴接入互聯網的服飾，90%的人享受免費的(廣告商贊助的)無限存儲空間，1萬億傳感器將接入互聯網，美國出現首個機器人藥劑師，10%的閱讀眼鏡接入互聯網，80%的人在互聯網上擁有了數字身份，首輛3D打印汽車投產，政府首次用大數據源取代人口普查，首款植入式手機將商業化，5%的消費品都是3D打印而成，90%的人使用智能手機，90%的人可經常接入互聯網，無人駕駛汽車占到美國道路行駛車輛的10%，首例3D打印肝臟實現移植，30%的企業審計由人工智能執行，政府首次采用區塊鏈技術收稅，家用電器和設備占到一半以上的互聯網流量，全球拼車出行、出游的數量超過私家車，出現首座人口超過5萬但沒有紅綠燈的城市，全球10%的GDP以區塊鏈技術進行存儲，第一個人工智能機器將加入公司董事會。

These tipping points provide us with a very important background to remind us of the major changes that may occur in the future and how we should prepare and respond. Because these changes are systemic, their effects will be further amplified. As I will discuss in the next chapter, if we want to make a successful spanition, we must first fully understand the changes that are taking place and are about to happen, and their impact on all levels of the world.