Fourth industrial revolution: Significance of hi-tech robotic era highlighted

FAISALABAD: A comprehensive and long-term strategy is imperative to harvest the benefits of the fourth Industrial Revolution and to survive in the hi-tech robotic and artificial intelligence era, said Hafiz Wasif, Technical Director of “Keyup Technologies”, U.K.

He was addressing a seminar on “Sustainable Automated Strategies to Implement Industry 4.0” in collaboration with the Research & Development Department of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI). He explained in detail the different phases of the Industrial revolution and said that the world is knocking at the door of the fourth Industrial Revolution as old technologies have become inefficient in addition to losing their efficacy.

He said that at the global level robotic and artificial intelligence will soon dominate the Industrial sector but would foment unemployment which is a major cause of concern particularly for the 3rd world countries like Pakistan.

He further said that our Industrial sector is still using phased-out machinery which is lacking precision, quality and cost effectiveness. He said that most of the workers employed in this sector are still unskilled or have got negligible on-job training without any theoretical knowledge. He further said that the efficiency of our engineers and highly skilled workers is also very pathetic. He said that his company will provide cost-effective solutions to these problems and the industrial sector must take initial measures towards the 4.0 Industrial Revolution.

Rana Fayyaz Ahmad, Vice President FCCI said that new technology is dominating the industrial sector at a much faster pace. He said that it is very encouraging that our youth is fully capable of absorbing these technologies and putting Pakistan on the road to progress and prosperity. He urged that we must train our youth on modern scientific lines so that they could face future challenges.

Engineer Ahmad Hassan, Chairman FCCI Standing Committee on Research & Development and CPEC said that as per Pakistan Engineering Council about 1 lac engineers are unemployed but their capabilities are also below the mark. He said that we must harness their professional, mental, innovative and creative capabilities to make them compatible with the needs of the future. He also stressed the need to further strengthen Industry-Academia linkages and said that knowledge and technologies created by universities and R&D organizations must be utilized by the industrial sector to bring qualitative as well as quantitative improvement in the overall system.

Continuing he said that the machines developed with robotic and artificial intelligence will enhance quality and production but its negative impact will be very horrifying as it will open the flood gates of unemployment. Quoting intellectual debate at the global level, he said that the global intelligentsia was actively working on a new system to dole out stipends to the unemployed families so that their basic and fundamental needs could be fulfilled. He said although Pakistan is far away from this stage, we must prepare ourselves to brace the challenges of 4.0 Industrial Revolution.

Engineer Asim Munir, Khawaja Amjad, Dr. Khurram Tariq, Mirza Muhammad Aslam, Muhammad Naeem and Dr. Habib Aslam Gaba also attended this productive session.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022