Arunkumar Azhagudurai
University of the Cumberlands
Introduction
The digital age has expanded greatly with the rise of mainframes, minicomputers, personal computers, the Internet, mobility, the World Wide Web, social media, the cloud, and big data. However, we’re now entering a second era where digital technologies permeate to a greater extent everything in our lives and are embedded in the operations of many day-to-day businesses.
For example, technological innovations such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, 3D printing, IoT, robotics, drones, the blockchain (distributed ledgers), cryptocurrencies, 5G, additive manufacturing, virtual reality, augmented reality, and synthetic biology, are reshaping the social and economic landscape around us.
This research paper will be split into four parts. Part one will explore the concept of Industry 4.0 and how it’s evolved over time. Part two will discuss the eight essential emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt the economy we know today.
Part three will discuss the sustainable frameworks for smart cities by looking at industries such as health care, supply chain, manufacturing, finance, insurance, and real estate. Part four will relate the eight essential technologies and the concept of smart cities back to how they can help scale and service a living ecosystem for Industry 4.0.
How The World Evolved Through Technological Transformation: A Look At The Industrial Revolutions
The First Industrial Revolution began in the 18th century with the introduction of steam power and mechanized means of production. Before the First Industrial Revolution, certain items such as clothing required spinning wheels, but with the introduction of machinery, these processes could be sped up eightfold. Interestingly, steam power was already known, but its use for industrial purposes was the greatest breakthrough for increasing human productivity.
The Second Industrial Revolution began in the 19th century with the discovery of electricity and the assembly line. Henry Ford took the idea of mass production from a pig slaughterhouse in Chicago and transformed those principles into automobile production and drastically altered the process into a faster and lower-cost assembly line.
The Third Industrial Revolution began in the 1970s with partial automation using memory-programmable controls and computers. Because of the introduction of these technologies, we’re now able to automate an entire production process without human assistance.
Industry 4.0
Industry 4.0 is an advanced manufacturing model that features an extensive set of technologies characterized by its virtual, digital, and technological performance.
For example, consider an era of production facilities, storage systems, and smart machines that can trigger actions, control other devices, and exchange information autonomously without any human intervention – this is Industry 4.0.
Moreover, this new technology revolution has helped to increase the efficiency of the existing economy and manufacturing production system. Below is an image of how Industry 4.0 meshes with the existing means of production.
The Industry 4.0 framework encompasses six design principles – decentralization, virtualization, interoperability, modularity, real-time capability, and service orientation. These principles are called “design principles” because they contribute to the design or transition process of the common industry to Industry 4.0.
Another important aspect of the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a focus on sustainability and the environment. Sustainable development, as defined by the three pillars of sustainability (environmental, economic, and social) – is not only seen as necessary for an eco-friendly future that conserves natural resources, but also an opportunity to improve current manufacturing processes and business profitability.
The Eight Essential Technologies For Powering Industry 4.0
According to a PwC analysis of more than 250 technologies that could have the most business impact across industries, they identified the “essential eight” of artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, drones, Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, 3D printing, and virtual reality (VR), as being the technologies of the future.
1 Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming an important pillar of Industry 4.0 that uses computer programs to perform complex tasks. These programs are installed on robots (of any type) to perform tasks or jobs, thus giving robots the ability to adapt to situations in a faster and more efficient way. AI helps robots learn autonomously, act logically, and communicate with each other. AI has become a fundamental tool for the optimal and efficient operation of production processes in smart industries or smart factories.
2 Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT essentially refers to the growing connectivity of everyday objects in the physical world to the Internet. In particular, the proliferation of wireless sensors and smart devices is giving rise to a seamless computational network that connects every living being and inanimate object to a global Internet of Everything (IoE).
3 Blockchain
Blockchain is the distributed ledger technology underpinning the cryptocurrency revolution. Distributed ledgers can store, manage, and exchange anything of value – money, securities, intellectual property, deeds and contracts, music, votes, and our personal data – in a secure, private, and peer-to-peer manner. Blockchains help people achieve peer-to-peer financial trust not through intermediaries like banks, stock exchanges, or credit card companies, but through cryptography, mass collaboration, and clever code.
Blockchain software aggregates transaction records into batches or “blocks” of data, links, and time stamps the blocks into chains that provide an immutable record of transactions with infinite levels of privacy or transparency, as desired.
How Blockchain Works With Other Technologies: Blockchain Trivergence With IoT & AI
Blockchain enables many computers to collectively perform computational tasks and store information in a decentralized, immutable, and universally accessible manner.
IoT provides seamless interconnectivity among different everyday objects armed with sensors, microprocessors, and transducers to create a network that can independently sense and gather data, continually analyze it, and perform programmed tasks when the situation calls for it.
AI gives full autonomy of data analysis, decision-making, and action to computers or other smart devices. The convergence of blockchain, IoT, and AI can enable organizations to maximize the benefits of each of these technologies while minimizing the risks and limitations associated with them.
Blockchain, IoT, and AI convergence provide tremendous benefits for security, transparency, immutability, privacy, and the automatization of business processes and helps to drive the digitization of many industries. For example, imagine an autonomous car as an example in which if a passenger wants to travel, blockchain and IoT can be used to validate the identity of the passenger, assist in monetizing the travel, and AI can optimize the efficiency of fuel and time.
4 Augmented Reality (AR)
AR overlays digital information on real-world elements. Pokémon Go is among the best-known examples. Augmented reality keeps the real world central but enhances it with other digital details, layering new strata of perception, and supplementing your reality or environment.
5 Virtual Reality (VR) & Mixed Reality (MR)
VR is the most widely known of these technologies. VR is fully immersive, which tricks your senses into thinking you’re in a different environment or world apart from the real world.
For example, by using a head-mounted display (HMD) or headset, you’ll experience a computer-generated world of imagery and sounds – in which you can manipulate objects and move around using haptic controllers while tethered to a console or PC.
Mixed Reality (MR) brings together real-world and digital elements. In mixed reality, you interact with and manipulate both physical and virtual items and environments, using next-generation sensing and imaging technologies. Mixed Reality allows you to see and immerse yourself in the surrounding world even as you interact with a virtual environment using your own hands – all without ever removing your headset. MR gives people the ability to have one foot (or hand) in the real world, and the other in an imaginary place, thus breaking down basic concepts between real and imaginary and offering an experience that can change the way we game and work today.
6 Robotics
Robotics is the engineering and operation of machines that can autonomously or semi-autonomously perform physical tasks on behalf of a human. Robots typically perform tasks that are either highly repetitive or too dangerous for a human to carry out safely. Mechanical robots use sensors, actuators, and data processing to interact with the physical world.
7 3D Printing
3D printing is a relatively new manufacturing process and can be said to be done mostly by robots, or in a robotic manner. It’s a completely automated process where machines build an object layer by layer. In merely two decades, 3D printing has come out of labs and a few niche companies’ hands to the global market, spanning from industries such as toys to aerospace.
8 Drones
Autonomous drones are unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that operate using AI-powered navigation and operational software. As drones are unmanned, they don’t require a human pilot. This feature gives them certain beneficial applications for e-commerce, delivery, and the military.
How Can These Eight Technologies Play A Role In Creating Smart & Sustainable Futuristic Cities?
In 2018, the United Nations Population Division reported that about 55% of the global population lived in cities. They project that by 2050, the number will rise to 68%. As city populations continue to grow, governments will need to be able to support this increase in population. With more people moving toward the big cities, there will be an increase in environmental, societal, and economic challenges. However, the introduction of smart cities can address some of these challenges – thus making the city a better place for people to work and live.
Six Key Factors That Will Make Smart Cities Efficient
1 Smart Energy
Residential and commercial buildings in smart cities use less energy, and the energy used is analyzed and data collected. Smart grids collect data and redirect energy to where it’s most needed.
2 Smart Transportation
Traffic monitoring is already happening in many large cities. But by making parking smarter, people spend less time looking for parking spots. Smart traffic lights have cameras that monitor traffic so that it’s reflected in the traffic signals.
3 Smart Data
The enormous amounts of data collected in a smart city must be analyzed in real-time to be useful. Open data portals are one option for smart cities.
4 Smart Infrastructure
Smart infrastructure can be defined as a cyber-physical system that uses a data-feedback loop to improve decision-making regarding any infrastructure matter of the city. A system that can monitor, measure, analyze, communicate, and act based on data collected by sensors – and not just based on their physical structure, but also on four principles such as data, analytics, feedback, and adaptability.
5 Smart Mobility
The technology and the data that travel through a city and its network must be able to seamlessly move in and out of different municipal and private systems. Without this mobility, a smart city won’t work.
6 Smart Internet of Things (IoT) Devices
Sensors are an essential part of a smart city. The information collected from sensors can be used to dispatch repairmen for immediate maintenance or emergency services for a car accident.
How The Essential Eight Technologies Can Help Make Smart Cities Better?
Industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), blockchain, drones, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics, 3D printing, and virtual reality (VR) work in tandem to make smart cities smarter. As the world’s population continues to grow and people relocate to urban areas, the demand for smarter cities will help bring out the potential of the Industry 4.0 technologies mentioned above (and below).
Which Sector/Industries Are Being Propelled To Achieve True Industry 4.0 For The Future Of Smart Cities?
HealthCare 4.0
In the healthcare sector, the “digital data foundation” consists of modern technologies such as IoT, which is also one of the technologies being most rapidly adopted. Remote patient monitoring devices are basically a core digitized technology that sends and receives information between patients and medical facilities. With this technology, patients can monitor themselves and collect data – and with the help of IoT devices, the data can be electronically transmitted to physicians. IoT is a necessary element of Healthcare 4.0, which has led to remarkable changes in the healthcare sector. IoT operates to identify, detect, and authenticate intentions and people for special medical services.
Second, the immutability of blockchain data is one of the main reasons why blockchain is an attractive technology for healthcare sector applications. In particular, blockchain is expected to improve medical record management and insurance claims and has a role
to play in advancing clinical and biomedical research.
Third, AI is another technology that’s being used in the healthcare sector. For example, robotics-based treatment can be conducted on patients using AI to reduce the risk for doctors using virtual reality.
Technologies used in Healthcare 4.0 such as AI can detect any problems that the patient is going through immediately. These emergencies can also be detected using sensors.
Currently, Healthcare 4.0 technology is being used for AI-based video monitoring in multiple countries, helping to observe the activities of patients affected by COVID-19 and to stop the spread of the virus.
Retail 4.0
Deploying an omnichannel strategy was heralded as the key to success in retail before the pandemic. However, the pandemic emerged as an inflection point in the industry, especially as the gap between physical and digital channels began to shrink. Building upon this opportunity, retailers are combining the in-store experience with digital interactions. Three key trends have surfaced as a result.
1 Easing in-store navigation: Grocery and fashion supermarkets have helped customers easily locate an item inside their stores by issuing directions in an augmented reality environment. Brands like Marks & Spencer are already trialing this feature in some of their stores.
2 Real-time experience curation: Some retail stores have experimented with in-store sensors and cameras to detect footfall and consumer identities and deliver personalized offers as they walk into a store.
3 Immersive VR/AR journeys: Virtual reality can help customers understand what they are paying for. One use case that has emerged is the use of VR in demonstrating the impact of sustainable choices across the supply chain. In addition to VR is the use of AR through magic mirrors and AR tryouts. In some apparel stores, magic mirrors are reducing trial room queues and helping customers speed up their purchases. Brands like IKEA are already enabling customers to try their furniture in physical spaces in real-time while letting users edit their environments on the screen.
Virtual reality, augmented reality, gamification, and personalization — are all elements perfectly contained in the metaverse. In an ideal metaverse, like the OASIS, there are endless possibilities to create a new and exciting virtual shopping experience. For example, in the metaverse, people can interact with each other as they would in the real world, which can be a huge boost for social commerce. The main benefit of the metaverse is that it can make shopping more engaging and interactive.
Supply Chain & Manufacturing 4.0
IoT, AI, blockchain, drones, and autonomous robots can bring a lot to the table with regard to the sustainable supply chain and manufacturing sectors.
For example, by using an integrated IoT solution (and with the help of other technologies), we can find better driving routes that reduce the consumption of diesel and gasoline fuel used by freight vehicles. Moreover, with connected IoT technology, we can track and have real-time visibility for all goods (from their point of origin to their final destination). Therefore, it’s now possible to reduce things such as product loss, theft, and damage.
In addition, internet-connected sensors can be put in locations around a factory or warehouse and worn by workers. This allows for data about their activity and movements to be analyzed to discover quickly any dangerous or risky behavior.
Another technology that’s used in the supply chain and manufacturing sectors is blockchain. The blockchain enables a healthy supplier and customer relationship by providing transparency and trust between the supply chain stakeholders. Blockchain can also be beneficial for humanitarian supply chains. It allows easy and quick financial transactions in times of crisis or disaster. In addition, through blockchain technology, it’s now possible to fully guarantee healthy, safe, and high-quality food, which will certainly reduce the spread of foodborne illnesses and increase customer trust in the food industry.
In addition to blockchain, AI can instantly analyze vehicles, volumes, routes, and stops to identify optimal opportunities to share shipping with other organizations. Sharing shipping doesn’t help just in reducing transportation costs, it also reduces the environmental impact. AI can therefore be a very useful tool to accurately predict customer demand. As a result, companies will know to only manufacture and ship what customers are going to buy.
Robots are also already bringing innovation to the supply chain and delivering significant value. This is because they can help improve the speed and accuracy of routine operations, particularly in warehousing and manufacturing, add efficiency through side-by-side work with humans, and reduce the risk of employee injury in dangerous environments.
In particular, autonomous robots are re-defining the future supply chain by helping companies decrease long-term costs; provide labor and utilization stability; increase worker productivity; reduce error rate; reduce the frequency of inventory checks; optimize picking, sorting, and storing times; and increase access to difficult or dangerous locations.
Decentralized production is another factor to consider. The 'portable' nature of 3D printing technology will enable businesses to take production to local markets or customers faster. As a result, we will see a shift away from mass production in low-cost countries in favor of more local assembly hubs.
Product customization is also important for the supply chain. For example, as a toolless process, 3D printing technology gives manufacturers unprecedented freedom to tailor offerings to clients' specific requirements and therefore enhance the customer experience by reducing complexity and improving time-to-market along with improving resource efficiency and rationalizing inventory and logistics.
Drones can be used to scan and check inventory anywhere in the warehouse using OCR and RFID – and barcode readers can offer better inventory management, especially when the drone can move from warehouse to warehouse on the property in moments and deliver this information instantaneously to an integrated WMS system.
With regards to speeding up deliveries between commercial buildings, drones can also move finished products from warehouse shelves to store shelves, or place products on pallets for shipping to end users and retailers. Moreover, drones can monitor road conditions, construction slow-downs, and other hazards while reporting the information to logistics managers who can quickly select alternative shipping routes.
Finance & Insurance 4.0
The eight essential technologies are also disrupting finance and insurance, in particular, through IoT, AI, and blockchain.
Integration of IoT and blockchain is refining risk management by ensuring that accounting records match real-world transactions, facilitating a brand-new system of trust. IoT is shaking up traditional trade finance, allowing banks to develop new products based on goods flow tracking, such as on-demand liquidity, and other innovations delivered via smart contracts.
How Blockchain Is Being Used In The Finance Industry
One financial use case for blockchain is Decentralized Finance (DeFi). For example, decentralized non-custodial applications can replace intermediaries by automatically validating the parties involved. This makes it possible to obtain loans, make investments, or trade financial products without relying on financial entities under centralized management.
Another blockchain use case in the finance industry is digital asset support services. For example, institutional investors are seeking DLT capabilities, including tokenization for unlisted companies or private equity funds.
Blockchain can also be used for real-time transaction settlements. For example, banks can use smart contracts to settle the collateral and cash part of a transaction at the same transaction time. Security lending and equity trades can also be settled on the blockchain to improve the efficiency and scalability of cross-border sales.
Lastly, blockchain can be used for authentication ecosystems based on zero-knowledge proof. Here, customers are using agreed-to-share information from partner institutions to verify their identity online, face-to-face, or through phone calls – thus simplifying authentication procedures and offering streamlined access to health records and government services.
How Blockchain Is Being Used In The Insurance Industry
Blockchain-enabled smart contracts can be used to aid in underwriting and claims management. For example, a person can give access to health-related data such as lifestyle habits, age, eating choices, exercise routine, employment type, and past and current medical records (to an insurance company). This entire information will be uploaded and encrypted onto the insurer’s blockchain, which processes all the data for calculating a premium. The rate will then be modified on a quarterly basis based on the rules set in the smart contract. Hence, blockchain has the potential to smarten the health insurance premium process for both insurers and customers.
Interestingly, automating the claims process has a low barrier to implementation. Blockchain-based claims will process much faster than brokers and insurers by eliminating multiple manual verifications, duplications, and delays, ensuring easy availability of all the relevant data.
In addition, the digitalization of customer interaction will also require financial institutions to increase their focus on cybersecurity, KYC, and fraud detection, where data and AI/ML technologies play a major role.
With regard to accelerating claim settlement, AI is very important. The time taken to pass claims will be an essential key to increasing customer retention. Here, AI offers a competitive advantage and enhances performance metrics by increasing claim settlement speed.
Lastly, accounts payable processes, for instance, have the potential to be 60% automated using robots that mirror human actions for basic paperwork and decision-making.
Real Estate 4.0
The real estate industry is also prime for disruption by the eight essential technologies.
IoT is the future of smart home technology. The Internet of Things in real estate also provides valuable insights into the property that can be used as input for insurance, real estate management, and compliance.
Moreover, the blockchain is changing the way real estate records and information are kept and maintained. For example, blockchain will bring down the rate of real estate fraud and increase compliance. This will also lead to minimizing tax leaks and result in better property prices.
In addition, AI in real estate algorithms combined with a robust IoT device framework will facilitate high-quality property management, including better control of power, lighting, and security systems. Data and real estate agents are a match made in heaven. Big data in real estate is helping to predict trends, opportunities, and strategies for companies. Companies can make data-backed decisions. Virtual assistants, voice bots, or chatbots help consumers get immediate answers to all their queries in no time. This keeps the communication going and helps in providing clear solutions.
There’s also the trend of virtual house and apartment tours using VR. Thanks to VR technology, 3D virtual house, and apartment tours are becoming popular because it allows buyers to see their desired properties through virtual viewing which brings them close to the real viewing experience.
Lastly, drones can be used for future real estate because they can provide efficient and budget-friendly aerial photography that helps create a better and more elaborated virtual experience. Real estate drones make compelling and dynamic images of otherwise inaccessible areas.
Examples Of Real-Life Global Blockchain Adoption
Digital ID
Estonia has the most highly-developed national ID card system in the world. Much more than a legal photo ID, the mandatory national card also provides digital access to all of Estonia’s e-services. Digital ID provides legal travel verification for Estonian citizens traveling within the EU, national health insurance card, proof of identification when logging into bank accounts, digital signatures, for i-Voting, checking medical records, and using e-Prescriptions.
Energy Credits
Based in Beijing, Energy Blockchain Labs Inc has used IBM’s blockchain technology to develop a DLT platform for trading carbon credits. The platform aims to promote transparency and streamline efforts to limit greenhouse emissions by allowing high- and low-emitters to trade carbon credits through smart contracts, enabling compliance with government-mandated Certified Emission Reductions (CER) quotas.
Land Titles
The recorded history of corruption, Georgia converted its land registry to blockchain on December 3rd, 2017. The blockchain land register cuts costs by over 90% and the time to handle land-related issues is considerably shortened. The register has seen over 300,000 entries. The blockchain register handles the registration of new title deeds, rentals, mortgages, sales of title deeds, and plenty more.
Finance
As of October 2017, Interbank payments are made in Singapore using the blockchain concept, through a partnership between the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and a consortium of financial institutions. Project Ubin takes the lead in a greater strategy to adopt blockchain in Singapore’s financial sector. The government plans to tokenize the state’s currency on the Ethereum network. The authority also announced an allocation of over $225 million dollars dedicated to blockchain research and development. Singapore’s government and financial services are bracing for a Great Blockchain Revolution.
Data Infrastructure
In April 2018, 22 European countries came together to form a new group called the European Blockchain Partnership, an alliance made up of countries including Netherlands, Germany, France, UK, Norway, and Spain.
Blockchain is a great opportunity for Europe and member states to rethink their information systems, promote user trust and the protection of personal data, help create new business opportunities, and to establish new areas of leadership, benefiting citizens, public services, and companies.
Government
The government of Dubai has a very ambitious goal when it comes to cryptocurrency and blockchain – to be the capital for blockchain technology. To that end, the government plans, through the Global Blockchain Council, to roll out blockchain-supported initiatives in 2022 such as education, energy, healthcare, road, and transport. To date, the government of Dubai has partnered with IBM in the trade and logistics field as a start.
Conclusion
With the ideas and frameworks presented in this paper, the development of Industry 4.0 will continue to change and transform the lives of everyone in the urban environment.
As discussed in the paper, the convergence of the eight emerging technologies will disrupt how businesses operate and function in the coming decade. Moreover, the success of blockchain will play a crucial role in that architecture. Data is the new oil in which the blockchain will hold all the internet’s data in a trusted, immutable, and uncensorable repository of data and information that’s accessible worldwide. This will pave the way for the third generation of the internet, which is profoundly called Web3. With the right data architecture designed with the blockchain combined with other high-level features including AI, ML, IoT, and 3D printing, countries can truly realize sustainable smart cities. AR, VR, and drones in particular have the potential to architect a virtual shopping and delivery marketplace, which is profoundly called the metaverse.
Smart cities are no longer something unknown, they’re our reality and our future. In the coming years, we can expect a substantial increase in the number of smart cities worldwide, but also an improvement in smart solutions that are implemented to manage cities and city operations.
Additionally, we can expect increased awareness concerning the importance of the sustainable development of smart cities and the application of a circular economy, which will enable higher efficiency in terms of environmental protection, public health protection, and care for the needs of future generations.
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