Workplace of the Future 2019
A workshop hosted to create a discussion on the technologies involved in the Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 and how it will influence the workplace.
As we approach the next revolution of IR 4.0, the lack of awareness and knowledge of it could be detrimental towards our own future growth. By being complacent in the ever-changing times, Stephen Elop, former CEO of Nokia said, “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost” is what we want to avoid from happening.
Hence, the Monash Malaysia Business Alumni Chapter (MMBAC) conducted the Workplace of the Future workshop to discuss and think through how IR 4.0 will affect us. About 20 of us joined this workshop comprising of working professionals and final-year students to hear from our invited speaker, Arun Kumar to share his thoughts, experiences and ideas on IR 4.0.
Arun, currently leading the Group Developers Relations in Mudah Malaysia has experience working in the Oil & Gas industry in Australia and the USA during his early years. At some point in his career, he realised that his passion was also in the communities of the younger generation. He left the corporate scene and went back to Malaysia to venture into social and community works as a youth pastor and motivational speaker.
After a couple of years, he went back to the corporate scene with Appoint AI - a tech startup he co-founded which was one of the Top 20 start-ups in the world for a smart city program in Dubai. With his vast exposure and experience, his passion is to bridge the gap between technology, innovation and humanity. Being the exciting, impactful and astounding story-teller, he has been featured on BFM’s Raise Your Game and various corporate speaking engagements. He has also written articles on management and leadership in the Leaderonomics publications.
Arun kicked off the session explaining what Industrial Revolution 1.0 to 4.0 is and the influence it has on various industries at each particular revolution. As each industrial revolution progresses, the length of each revolution gets shorter signifying that changes get quicker and the need to adapt quickly has to be significant. Examples were also shown on how IR 4.0 has been affecting jobs and industries at this present time. With each example shown on the Internet of Things (IOT), participants were exposed on the on-going works by large manufacturing companies in crafting their products and services to serve their customers.
All of the participants also had the opportunity to visualize how these changes will affect their current workplace and what would need to be done for them to stay relevant and ahead. With everyone getting to share their current situation at their workplace and what could happen in the future, many got the opportunity to hear from the different industries represented in the workshop. Despite a majority turn-out of students, the on-going conversations brought curiosity and also ideas that could potentially best prepare everyone to stay ahead in the future of workplace.
With all said and done, Arun summarised the session with an important thought to leave behind. The lack of empathy and emotional connection that is found in these technology infrastructures only spells the need for the human touch in these industries. Though we must still work towards equipping ourselves for the future of workplace but not to leave behind the distinct characteristics and human values. The God-given uniqueness each one possesses should not be discredited but to be used to add value to the technology advancement in the Industrial Revolution 4.0. Hence, the need to deep-dive into our talents and use our experiences for us to stay relevant in this revolution.
At the end of the workshop, participants left feeling inspired rather than inferior towards the upcoming changes the future holds. With some of them commenting, “Interesting presentation with impactful insights that I can carry in my daily life” and one of the participants being equipped to discover his own talent and uniqueness that can’t be replaced with this technological advancement. The Workplace of the Future workshop was indeed a successful one, being able to better prepare one-self to stay ahead and to live out the Ancora Imparo motto.
Author & event lead:
Tan Yinn Wayne, Development Manager (MMBAC)