Innovation in 4th Industrial Revolution: The Role of Businesses and Social Scientists (Players or Spectators?)
The School of Business (SoB) & Intellectual Property Management Office (IPMO) hosted a webinar to discuss Innovation in the 4th Industrial Revolution and the role played by businesses and social scientists. The event brought together academia, government officials and industry experts.
The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by advances in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Nano Technology, Quantum computing, 3D Printing, The Internet of Things (IOT) and Genetic Engineering. The lines are blurred between the physical, digital and biological worlds.
According to Bidco Africa’s Chairman, Dr. Vimal Shah, Covid-19 has served as a custom acquisition capitalist having disrupted and changed the best of business levels. A lot of services such as banking and shopping are offered online to ease the spread of the virus. In light of this, Dr. Shah encouraged the government and companies to seize the opportunities brought about by this disruption instead of being mere bystanders. Every computer can be a hospital; access to healthcare can be liberized. ‘Our thinking needs to change, we need some visionary leadership and that leadership comes from anyone’.
Dr. Evans Baiya who is a Global Innovation and Commercialization Advisor echoed Dr. Shah’s sentiments, ‘The technology is already there, and we just need to participate as Africa. Healthcare is ripe for disruption. This technology already exists, the business model already exists; Covid gave us the model on how to take advantage of technology.’ Dr. Baiya challenged social scientists and academia with the responsibility of commercializing technology.
With regards to the role Social Scientists can play in the 4th Industrial Revolution, Mr. Vincent Odhiambo, Regional Director, Ashoka East Africa, noted that Social Scientists can provide discipline related skills, foundational skills, the ability to identify new opportunities and the ability to work with sophisticated teams.
All in all the discourse was highly engaging and it offered much needed insight on the role policy makers, academia and industry can play to ensure Kenya does not lag behind. We are connected to the internet and empowered with applications and ideas; that is where the revolution comes from. The role of data cannot be ignored; it is significant in various industries and necessary in stirring innovation.
We need to think about the supply chain in order to spark successful innovations but this can only be successful if we link and incorporate training in it. In addition to this, Kenyan universities need to incorporate practical aspects in their modules.
