Reskilling policies must in Industry 4.0 era, says APO secretary general

We need to rethink how we can also shape the national productivity agendas of member countries, said APO chief Santhi Kanoktanaporn

GN Bureau | October 25, 2017


#modern economy   #industry   #national productivity   #trade   #APO   #energy  


 Countries in the Asia-Pacific region need to gear up and prepare themselves for transition to the Industry 4.0 era that will have a major impact on their economies and productivity, said Asian Productivity Organization (APO) secretary general Santhi Kanoktanaporn.

“With dramatic advances in technology shaping the economy of the future, we need to rethink how we can also shape the national productivity agendas of member countries,” said Santhi at the opening plenary session of the 58th Workshop Meeting of heads of National Productivity Organizations (NPOs) in Seoul, South Korea.
 
The WSM is the annual strategic planning meeting where APO member countries deliberate on the biennial program plan and review initiatives to ensure that they respond effectively to the needs of their economies. A current key APO focus area is building the capacity of member countries for strategic foresight planning, enabling them to anticipate changes in the dynamic global environment.
 
Highlighting the need for APO members to acquire foresight capabilities, Santhi pointed out that the disappearance of old jobs and the creation of new ones had been a constant since the birth of the modern economy, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution would be no exception.
“While it may be inconceivable that the technological revolution will leave no role for humans, we need to understand the key drivers of change well before the trends develop. Only then can we develop strategies to build flexibility into our policies to ensure that our economies are prepared for the transition to the digital economy,” he stressed.
 
South Korea’s deputy minister for industrial policy, ministry of trade, industry and energy Gunsu Park stated that the adoption of recent technologies like the Internet of Things, big data, and artificial intelligence had transformed facets of productivity enhancement. “It has become more common for productivity enhancement to significantly enhance value added through new services such as preemptive responses as accuracy in predictability increases, while maximizing efficiency in individual input factors,” he noted.
 
Emphasising that the role of the APO and NPOs had become more important than ever before the seamless spread of the 4th Industrial Revolution throughout Asia, including South Korea, as well as to achieve productivity enhancement and economic growth, the deputy minister pointed out the need to create a new productivity paradigm befitting the upcoming era of super connectivity or intelligence driven by the 4th Industrial Revolution.
 
Korean Productivity Center Chairman and CEO Soon Jick Hong said that the world was “standing at an inflection point in human history”, with advanced countries competing fiercely to dominate the 4th Industrial Revolution stage. “It is necessary for Korea and all APO member countries to take advantage of these changing times to take a leap forward,” he said.
 

Comments

 

Other News

“Green steel is now viable and scalable"

Emphasising the strategic role of green steel in India`s industrial and environmental future, Union Minister for Steel and Heavy Industries, Prahlad Joshi, Friday underlined that the  strategic shift is not just an economic objective but a national imperative. “Green steel is now

Bihar SIR: Disability inclusion should not be an afterthought

The ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar is an extensive exercise to update voter lists through verification of existing voter information, removal of deceased or ineligible voters, and correcting errors. Several concerns have been raised about SIR regarding wrongful deletio

The silent toxin undermining India’s fight against anemia

In a village in Bihar, a mother brings her pale, lethargic child to a government health camp. A hemoglobin test confirms anemia. She leaves with iron tablets and dietary advice. Months later, the child remains unwell. What if the problem was never iron deficiency, but lead poisoning, silently damaging the

Economic inequality and the psychopathology of the parasite

Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us: The Psychology of Indians By Manu Joseph Aleph Books, 280 pages, Rs 599

New GST rates: Should medicines be recalled for relabeling MRP?

With days to go for the new GST rates to come into effect, the finance ministry on Tuesday issues an FAQ to guide users about possible problem areas. Here are some of the questions and answers. Q: Is it required to recall and re-label MRP on medicines already in the supply chain befo

NITI Aayog deploys AI to navigate the way to Viksit Bharat

NITI Aayog on Monday launched two transformative initiatives, AI for Viksit Bharat Roadmap: Opportunity for Accelerated Economic Growth and NITI Frontier Tech Repository under its Frontier Tech Hub. The Roadmap was launched by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, electronics & IT minister Ashwini Vaish

Visionary Talk: Amitabh Gupta, Pune Police Commissioner with Kailashnath Adhikari, MD, Governance Now





Archives

Current Issue

Opinion

Facebook Twitter Google Plus Linkedin Subscribe Newsletter

Twitter