People are backing science and tech to build a better world
By Shunichi Miyanaga, President and CEO, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
All revolutions are characterized by rapid change and the digital revolution is no different.
People are often wary of change and the prospect of rapid technological progress can be daunting. But we must recognize that innovation – especially when it comes to technology and engineering – is key to overcoming many of the world’s greatest challenges.
But who to trust?
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) recently conducted a poll of business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos.
Our survey of 288 samples found that 70% of those polled had confidence in individuals (44%) or business leaders (26%) to bring about meaningful change, but less than a quarter placed their trust in politics.
Similarly, the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer suggests that confidence has been growing in the potential of science and technology to solve global challenges over the past five years. The Edelman survey is a reliable indicator of public attitudes, with more than 33,000 people across 27 markets taking part. The results show that the technology sector is the most trusted of any industry, with 78% of respondents approving, up from 74% in 2015.
All this means that science and technology firms have a huge responsibility to help resolve some of the world’s most pressing issues.
The Future of Work
One of those issues is working out how to ensure that developing economies – especially people without access to the internet or broadband for example – don’t get left behind by the next wave of globalization.
The central theme of this year’s Davos meeting was Globalization 4.0, and throughout the event there was much talk of how the jobs market will be affected by the digital revolution.
While some existing jobs will be made redundant, new technologies will also create new roles for humans in the workplace as well as industries that don’t yet exist. Just as many of today’s jobs, from social media mangers to drone operators to AI engineers, didn’t exist as recently as 30 years ago.
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2018 forecasts that 75 million jobs will be lost to automation, while innovation associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution will create 133 million new jobs.
The impact of such a dramatic realignment of the global employment landscape shouldn’t be underestimated.
The need for active reskilling
One of the risks is that a skills gap will open up in the labor market between current ability and future need. It’s down to companies to ensure workers are equipped with the skills necessary to maximize the potential of the technical revolution.
In place of existing divisions between white-collar and blue-collar roles, the future will depend upon “new collar workers”. Sectors like manufacturing and engineering must invest in developing this new breed of tech-aware workers, capable of interacting with increasingly sophisticated and complex machines, robotics and data systems.
Rather than robots replacing workers in tomorrow’s world of work, the aim must be for workers to take advantage of machines for better output.
Innovating for sustainability
Another of the world’s most urgent issues is sustainability, and this is arguably most palpable in the energy sector.
Sustainable energy is both a future and current challenge. While the sector boosts how to better use renewable power sources, we still have to work on realistic options for those who need more time in the energy transition.
Last year was a record year for renewables. MHI Vestas launched the world’s most powerful wind turbine, the first to have a double-digit megawatt output. Elsewhere, documents show that Tesla’s battery system in South Australia is saving the region from intermittent blackouts and also tens of millions in dollars.
But for most economies that are depending on gas and fossil fuels, carbon capture technology is an option. Emissions can be lowered and the captured gas is given new life as a resource material for manufacturing processes. Elsewhere, scientists from Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) have successfully added hydrogen to existing fuel sources used at a natural-gas fired power plant, creating a mix that dramatically reduces CO2 emissions without compromising capacity.
Moving forward
These are just a few of many examples of how technical innovation is living up to public confidence in its ability to drive positive change. But let’s not take this confidence for granted. We have a huge amount of work ahead of us, in order to preserve this world for future generations. Let’s continue innovating in order to maintain people’s confidence in business, creating solutions to the problems they see around them.
It is by working together – and harnessing the full potential of technology and science – that people will feel greater certainty about the future when faced with the prospect of such rapid and far-reaching change.
Read more from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group:
– Designing the regional aircraft fleet of tomorrow
– Solving aviation’s biggest challenges
–How one Japanese philosphy can help drive the future of clean, affordable energy
–Chowa: A business philosophy to bridge a fractured world
This content was supplied by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group and published by WP BrandStudio. The Washington Post newsroom was not involved in the creation of this content.
