Overview
Digitalisation/Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities. We are transiting into a digitalisation era, the process of moving to a digital business. Some people call this the fourth industrial revolution.
The rise of digitalisation comes with a false fear of losing jobs. Would our day-to-day jobs be replaced by machines, automated electronic services, etc? Singapore’s Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said, “If you work like a robot, you will be replaced by a robot”. I personally agree with this statement as Artificial Intelligence is not very good at jobs that require creativity, empathy, critical thinking, leadership or any forms of artistic expression.
So what can digitalisation bring about?
- Digital technology is taking another great leap forward which affects both globalisation and automation.
- Digital technology is a game changer. It changes not only the type of jobs that will be available in the future, but it also involves a serious shift in the necessary skills for these future jobs.
- The next stage of globalisation is characterised by fast-growing digital trade in services and data, and this will radically change our economies.
- eshaping skills through education and training plays a vital part in preparing for the developments ahead
There can be no doubt that the process of digitalisation is affecting almost all aspects of the world economy. This all-encompassing transformation, mostly in the realm of activities around digital communication and digital media, has brought about a wide-range of changes in our economic and social universe.
For countries in South Asia, growth in the ICT sector will enable it to fully participate in the surge in services trade. New services will emerge which will be outsourced to our ICT firms, and will further boost employment in the technology sector and promote exports. It is expected that the share of service trade could grow from 21 percent to 25 percent by 2030.
Digitisation has led to the flourishing of e-commerce with the domination of Amazon, JD.com and Alibaba. E-commerce is booming thanks to the widespread use of the internet and of internet-enabled devices which provide consumers with direct access to online markets.
You can read more at : https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/29th-anniversary-supplements/reimagining-growth-the-digital-age/news/how-digitisation-changing-the-global-economic-landscape-1868404
Challenges / Disadvantages?
The challenge, as I see it, is to embrace the digital evolution going on around us, but to be thoughtful about how that digitization may be exacerbating marginalization, driving out creativity, or otherwise bringing about unintended consequence. There are ample opportunity to improves ourselves as members of society, to think new thoughts, and to innovate in ways that far exceed machine capacity. The choice is entirely ours. Hence, whether digitalisation brings more advantages or disadvantages solely lies on the innovators/creators and consumers of the technology.
Over-reliant on technology?
The technology can occasionally malfunction, misdirect the user, or provide incorrect information or recommendations that lead the user to change a previously correct decision or follow a pathway that leads to an error. Over-reliance on technology can result in serious consequences. For example, over reliance on technology can cause a life to be lost in the healthcare sector.
- Anxiety / Depression – Constant bombardment of news and information can leave you feeling numb to the real world, and being obsessed with digital interactions can leave you deprived of real-life relationships.
- Impatience – This is due to instant gratification. Technology has also made us impatient. Knowing that most people have 24/7 access to their social media messages or email inboxes makes us expect replies within a few minutes.
- Addiction – Technological dependence can become so extreme that it causes severe anxiety whenever technology is inaccessible. For example, the urge to check your phone for notifications on a regular basis doesn’t mean you’re addicted to it.
- Lack of Privacy – With technology being part of our lives, we are more susceptible to cyber attacks. We will be faced with more privacy breaches as more of our information are connected to the Internet.
Conclusion
Technology has always been a double-edged sword. There are arguments or information floating around of how human evolution will turn into cyborgs, or even how terminator will be a reality. The problem with these viewpoints are neglecting the sheer power of modern technology. We are developing technology fundamentally as a build-up, taking into considerations risks and security concerns. This approach is very different from past generations. Technological improvements is a gradual increase.
For example, an anecdote from history; in 1894, people relied on horses for transportation, with metropolitan areas boasting 50,000 or more horses. All those horses came with problems, such as manure, horse corpses, diseases, and speed problems. Relying on straightforward innovation, people would have continued coming up with better ways to manage horses, such as automated systems for cleaning manure or training programs to make horses faster—rather than inventing the automobile (which is what ultimately transpired).
In other words, depending too much on one of today’s technologies blinds us to future, better technologies. We need to acknowledge the destructive and limiting potential of technological dependence without demonizing technology altogether, and we need to work together to accomplish this.
References:
dnb : https://www.dnb.com/perspectives/analytics/the-impact-of-digitization.html