Tuesday, September 29, 2015

IoT productivity revolution. Re-modelling of the workforce

Giving  the developments in the technology and the expected implications of IoT in business and society - we are [most probably] at the early phases of a new productivity revolution.
The industrial revolution brought with it significant social changes – urbanization, new social classes, new working class, changes in family structure. 
Is IoT and digitization going to generate a new productivity revolution, impact the society and re-model the workforce?
As in the past, technological innovation will make some of the jobs redundant. But will also create new ones or will reshape the workforce dynamics and structure.
The workforce is already undergoing a massive change. It has been called Gig Economy, the rise of creative class, the e-conomy, with “e” standing for electronic or entrepreneurial. Employees are leaving the traditional workplace and opting for freelancer or entrepreneurial life. While the economy has unwillingly pushed some people into independent work, many have chosen it because of greater flexibility and possibility to focus on more personally fulfilling activities.
 The work is becoming more digitized and more global
Working across geographies in real-time is becoming the new status-quo. Certain professions are at the foreground of the transformation - with the journalists and software engineers being the first ones to heavily enter the world of digital-global-freelancers. These are the first professions and activities to be impacted (and potentially benefit) from the fact that most information work is already digitized.
With the growth of the industrial IoT, the digitization and connectivity is extending to previously analog tasks and processes. Machines can be controlled remotely, processes are automatized, and the need for on-site workforce is decreasing.
In all productive revolutions, skills greatly determined the quality of life.  The digitization & globalization of the workforce means that potentially any skill can be employed real-time from any location on the globe. Where you live & where you work does not matter anymore - as long as you are “connected”. What matters is the quality of your work. The skills you can deploy. A reverse of the urbanization could even be possible, as the need to live close to the “factory” disappears. Maybe the next step in our societal evolution is a world of “highly connected villages”, with people working from home, and a life where the separation between work and life time is not well-determined? 
Will consumer IoT applications offer us the chance to improve certain skills and consequently enhance our competitiveness?
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