To start the evening off, I would like to thank all in attendance. The organising of this conference would have been for naught had you all not been here.
I am very much looking forward to hearing all the speakers during the course of the event. We will hopefully tantalise a few transistors, woo some silicone and make smaller things, even smaller.
First up on the program we have a man from the future to discuss with us, the fourth industrial revolution. He is a renowned history professor at the University of Carb, and in his spare time, he moonlights as a disco co-ordinator. You all need to see his mad lighting skills, it is just LED on, LED off, LED party up in here.
Now, some of you might be wondering, what a history professor has to do with the still unfolding fourth industrial revolution, but its as simple as - he is from the future. All of this is history to him. Few can hold a candle to his LED, he simply groks the subject matter on a level we can't comprehend, as he has a holistic view, from start to end.
Seeing as he has seen and heard all of this already, including the riddle on your invites to today's event, he is very well equipped to kick things on(ff). Naturally, in order to ensure that "history" progresses as it should, he will not be spilling the proverbial beans. Please assist me in giving a warm welcome to
@Fox22743
What a riveting presentation from
@Fox22743, thank you so much. For those of you who missed it, here is a quick recap.
The first industrial revolution propelled the world forward, literally, by means of steam powered machinery that led to the eventual development of the modern-day petrol and diesel engines. The early 1700s didn’t just usher in the convenience of using the machinery we know today, but this was the start of large-scale factories, with mass production becoming the new strategy to win in markets.
In the late 1800s, a problem was solved, rather than new technology developed. The machines brought to life in the first industrial revolution, were aiding in propelling the world and the economy forward. Factories grew bigger, filled with more machines and more people. Smarter management of the interaction between man and machine is what led to the next breakthrough. Introduce a few consultants with the concept of smarter management dubbed
Scientific Management (Taylor, 1929), and what we could do with these machines improved drastically. This concept is built on organising the work more efficiently, equipping workers with the necessary skills and focus to become specialised in a task and improving the work environment. This first attempt at managing the workplace with a scientific approach led to an improvement in efficiency and increased productivity and what we call today, the second industrial revolution.
The start of the third industrial revolution can be traced back to the 1950s as analogue began the move to digital. From a few ones and zeros to modern day electronics, it brought us the digital world we know today. This revolution was built on the integration of manufacturing and information technology (David, 2012). It can be credited with today’s automation and robotics, changing the landscape of nearly every industry.
The fourth industrial revolution is busy unfolding around us. In a similar fashion to how the second industrial revolution ushered in new ideas, its power of change lies in the application and combination of what came before. From harnessing the power of big data, to machine learning, 3D printing, Internet of Things and more, change will be induced on an unprecedented level across social and cultural areas (Mykhailychenko, 2019). Lines are being blurred as physical and digital worlds become more intertwined, especially with the likes of virtual and augmented reality. These all formerly had separate identities and are now becoming more difficult to distinguish between. Entire systems will be transformed as our Global Village grows more interconnected. New innovative ways to do things, disrupting the status quo, is to be expected around every corner as we rise to new heights with the fourth industrial revolution.
To lead us into the next topic of the day we have a man here, a son of another, who is quite fond of Charles Babbage. A wonderful fit, admirer of the man who originated with the concept of the digital programmable computer, please welcome
@Dante_son, as he gives us a brief overview on Blockchain.
