Shaping the Future of Work
The Meet the Leader platform an initiative of the World Economic Forum Global Shapers - Kampala Hub provided a much needed a safe space to share, expand, challenge and refine innovative ideas that will inevitably Shape the Future of Work for the next generation.
Our conversation was largely inspired by the advent of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which focuses on the fusion of cyber, physical and biological technologies, underpinned by internet of things (IoTs) and artificial intelligence (AI). Throughout history these revolutions, have been largely characterized by periods of massive change which feature great extremes such as vast wealth, widespread poverty expansion ; new opportunities and technological advancement.
The First Industrial Revolution was first recorded in Great Britain during the the late 17th century. It held witness to the emergence of mechanization, which largely contributed to processes in Agriculture and Industry leading to increased productivity and improved economic structures much to the advantage of the early adopters such as Great Britain.
As the 18th century, rolled around a Second Industrial Revolution came into emergence rapidly taking center stage across most parts of The United States of America with advancements in Communication, Transport and Energy sources: electricity, gas and oil propelling America into the super power that it is today.
During the early 19th century, New methods of automation, and powerful energy (nuclear) gave rise to what is referred to as the Third Industrial Revolution much to the benefit of several economies across East Asia and Europe.
Today we stand at the cusp of the highly polarized and interrogated Fourth Industrial Revolution which builds upon technological advancements from previous revolutions and with the changing nature of jobs determining what skill sets are, and adapting to them will be crucial to mitigating the potential threat to the Future of Work.
Conventional Wisdom holds that greatness is not a function of Circumstance, but merely a matter of Conscious Choice, by making a concerted effort to adopting fundamental reforms that address the future of work to ensure we will ensure that Africa’s burgeoning youthful population can harness opportunities presented by the unprecedented transformations. Governments, Policy makers, Business leaders and society as a whole should be preparing to proactively manage this transition in order to take full advantage of the opportunities presented.