THE 4TH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION RELATING TO THE IMPACT ON OUR CURRENT SOCIETY (QUESTION AND ANSWER)

What is Web 3.0? Based on the article made by E. Harbinja and V. Karagiannopoulos, what are the risks of Web 3.0 in terms of regulation identified by them? 

Web 3.0 is a part of the series of “The DWeb” that strengthens the data security of certain users. Users that always search for reliable information on the internet and share their inputs or unique content with others through blogs, wikis, and social media outlets. Web 3.0 is the evolution of Web 2.0 which has a “semantic web” or “web of data” that provides the user with a much more interactive and enhanced experience.

Web 3.0 has its regulatory risks. Unclear, inconsistent, and nonuniform policy because every country has its own laws and regulation. Regulations in country A may not be applied in Country B. Because of these, the cybercrime policy may not be enforced. Moreover, decentralized systems do not absolutely eliminate the unequal power structure. For example, a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin controls the money of the people but the number of owners is small, hence, an oligopoly seems to exist.

At the end of September 2020, the Morrison Government announced an investment of almost $800 million to enable businesses to take advantage of digital technologies to grow their businesses and create jobs as part of our economic recovery plan associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, Nicholls (2020) explains controversial aspects of the digital identity program that was part of this policy. What are the main arguments of this controversy? 

The Morisson Govt plans to invest almost $800M in order to recover the economy after the destruction of the COVID-19 pandemic. They list the breakdown of how the $800M is being allocated which includes a Digital Identity System worth $256M that becomes controversial.

Digital Identity Systems are important because it helps the government engage with its people and the private sector, and the government will provide services by issuing licenses and permits. They will have transparency in their tax payment between the two sectors. However, the author argues about its systems because of their implementation which is very expensive. There will be a material and unfavorable budget variance that may greatly affect its investment plan. In short, their budget allocation is not enough to cover the expenses of implementing the said systems. In addition, the risk of cybersecurity will increase. A higher occurrence of phishing that may attack the GovID system will be prevalent. 

Give a definition of digital business and e-commerce. What are the differences between e-commerce and digital business? 

E-commerce is a business that sells physical products online. They have their own inventories, manage their supply chain, set up a website as a storefront, process transactions, deliver the goods, and collect payments. They are considered “nuts and bolts” meaning they are like a store in an online world.

Whereas, digital businesses (like Canva, WordPress, GoDaddy, etc) sell goods/services to a customer through an interactive and self-service experience. It covers content management, data analytics, and interrogation. The success of a digital business is usually based on the journey of buyers.

Define the fourth industrial revolution and explain what makes it different from previous industrial revolutions. 

The fourth Industrial Revolution is an evolution of the Third Revolution. It is more of velocity, scope, and systems impact but also in a digital way. It conceptualizes fast change in societal patterns, technology, processes, and industry due to rising interconnectivity and smart automation between two electronic devices. This is the phase where AI, gene editing, and advanced robotics occur. It increases operational efficiency that highlights interconnection, informational transparency, technical assistance, and decentralized decision. The velocity of the transaction or processes is more exponential rather than linear, due to the fact, that consumers are very convenient in buying things just a click away.

Although Industry 4.0 are very far away from Industry 1.0 which uses steam power or water to mechanize production, Industry 2.0 which uses electric power to begin mass production, and Industry 3.0 (digital revolution), they have the same goals which are to have a stable, adaptive and growing economy.

Analyze one opportunity and one risk for businesses associated with the fourth industrial revolution. 

Opportunity: Just a click away! Since the process is mostly remote with a help of technology, higher efficiency and an increase in satisfying personal life prevail like booking a flight, watching a movie, or playing a game – any of these can be done remotely. Potential rising global income levels and improved quality of life for every individual can also prevail.

Risks: As time goes by, labor markets become endangered or threatened since there will be a displacement of workers by technology. Some skills become extinct since machines and programs can also provide them. It also yields a greater inequality between two distinct labors and is segregated into two- “high skilled individual with a high pay” and “low-skilled with a low pay”. 

References:

Harbinja E. and Karagiannopoulos V. (2019) “Web 3.0: the decentralized web promises to make the internet free again”, The Conversation. available on the following link: https://theconversation.com/web-3-0-the-decentralised-web-promises-to-make-the-internet-free-again-113139 

Nicholls, R. (2020, September 29). Government’s $800m Digital Business plan will let you access myGov with facial recognition. The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/governments-800m-digital-business-plan-will-let-you- access-mygov-with-facial-recognition-147048