Business leaders around the world are looking for a co-ordinated global response to the change that is being driven by technology advancements.
This is according to a report commissioned by Fujitsu in partnership with futurologists Trajectory titled Timeline 2030, which surveyed 1 400 business leaders from around the world. The report explores the impact of technology on businesses and societies on the road to the year 2030, and how to ensure the expected changes work in everyone's interests.
The report says there is a threat of mass unemployment and inequality by 2030 without a coordinated response to the change. It reveals 84% of global businesses surveyed are in favour of a co-ordinated global response to prepare for change, led by intergovernmental bodies and governments.
Timely and co-ordinated action across global governments, business, education and society as a whole will ensure that we have the right leadership, skills and workforce to embrace change and prosper, says Fujitsu.
Respondents believe the most impactful trends driving the change in the next 15 years will be having most of the world's population online, automation and the ageing population. Fujitsu believes by 2030, 70% of the world will have Internet access.
Duncan Tait, senior executive vice president and CEO for Fujitsu Americas and Europe, Middle East, India and Africa, says rapid technological change is fundamentally disrupting the delicate, fragile, interwoven relationships between the state, citizens, civil society and business, and the way people learn, work and communicate.
On the road to 2030, nascent technologies like robotics and artificial intelligence will come to be commonplace, mixed reality will reimagine the way people interact with the world around them and personal biotech will give them greater control over their health and wellbeing than ever before, says the study.
The full potential of these technologies will be driven in no small part by targeted and sustained investment into network infrastructure by governments around the world, it adds. The study says a connected and collaborative world, one in which progress and innovation can thrive, can only exist when local agendas are put aside.
While protectionist and isolationist policies come to define the late 2010s, a renewed focus on global economics by world leaders in the early 2020s paves the way for a more cooperative and prosperous future, it adds. This alignment of political views, focused as they are on global collaboration, ensures that many nations are able to tackle the big questions together, notes the report. Chief amongst those are the growing economic and social implications of automation, it adds.
The starting point in preparing for technology-driven change is a focus on the changing skillset required, says the report. Nearly half of respondents (46%) believe upskilling the current workforce would be the most valuable measure, followed closely by 41% who are looking for a change to the education curriculum, it adds.
About 37% believe that investment in technology infrastructure (such as high speed Internet) is key while 36% think that business and technology specialists need to form stronger partnerships, sys the report.
While the transformative power of automation is huge, if we move too quickly and replace workers on a large scale, we will see high levels of unemployment and labour unrest, says Tait. "By contrast, if businesses take a steady approach and work with governments to invest in STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics], creative and soft skills, we can implement automation in a way that frees workers to do more valuable and engaging work."
Equally, new approach to education is needed to ensure workers of all ages engage in lifelong learning to adapt to new technologies, notes Tait.
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