COVID-19 has created a global disturbance, worldwide economic crash, and brought unique challenges for the healthcare sector all across the globe. However, there are also some positive things associated with the pandemic. A recent study asserts that COVID-19 would probably support the development of Industry 4.0, leading us towards a super-smart society.
Although there are plenty of negative things associated with the recent global pandemic, COVID-19 is revolutionizing some aspects of the human world in a positive way.
A group of four researchers, Zounia Sarfraz, Azza Sarfraz, Hamza Mohammad Iftikhar and Ramsha Akhud tried to explore a positive revolution associated with COVID-19. From these researchers, the first one belongs to the Fatima Jinnah Medical University Lahore Pakistan while the other three are from Agha Khan University Karachi Pakistan.
These researchers explored the association of natural disasters with industrial revolutions experienced by mankind so far. These industrial revolutions have significantly changed the patterns of doing different tasks in different industries and Society 5.0 is expected to be the final bridge between humans and machines. Society 5.0 is also known as the super-smart society which supports the employment of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare manufacturing and logistics.
This short communication by Sarfraz et al., (2021) provides the timeline of the industrial revolution and the emergence of society 5.0 in the times of global pandemic COVID-19.
- Society 1.0 Mechanics (1780): Introduction of Industrial production equipment backed by water and steam power
- Society 2.0 Electrification (1870): Use of Electrical energy and assembly lines for mass production
- Society 3.0 Automation (1970): Increased use and popularity of electronics, telecommunications and computers led towards the adoption of automated production
- Society 4.0 Digitalization (2011): The use of cyber-physical systems on connected devices supported the further automation of processes
- Society 5.0 Personalization (2020): The emergence of man and machine interdependence using human intelligence and cognitive computing. This super-smart society is characterized by mass customization and personalization for humans.
All these revolutions have left mankind with significant changes and every successive revolution set an advanced pattern for current generations of the era.
In society 5.0, Artificial Intelligence seems to have a strong relevance since its computing power is doubled every two years. Other important technologies of the super-smart society are robotics, 3D printing and digital platforms. Artificial Intelligence and Big Data has already paved its way by changing the face of white and blue-collar jobs.
Artificial Intelligence has become advanced enough to not only win humans at games but also to interpret the meanings of Big Data. COVID-19โs push towards more smart technologies that support Work from Home practices, E-learning, and Personalized healthcare services through Futuristic Telemedicine that use Artificial Intelligence has proved that the capacities of industry 4.0 are limited and there is an increased need of incorporating the technologies of society 5.0
Particularly in the healthcare perspective, society 5.0 would support the use of drones and robots to deliver medical supplies to healthcare centers and medicine and food to Corona-positive patients. In Pakistan, technological advancements and industry 4.0 can address particular problems of the healthcare system i.e. gradually diminishing levels of patient care, and lack of resources. The researchers assert that nationally Industry 4.0 helps to ensure every vital step to curb health impacts to reduce human exposure.
In order to assist and ensure the successful application of these techno-smart solutions in Pakistan, they further suggest that:
- The application of cryptocurrencies i.e. Bitcoin can prove to be successful alternatives for the financial sector in an emerging economy like Pakistan.
- Mobile money can provide vendors and customers an option of going cashless
Although connecting the healthcare system using Society 5.0 tools would prove to be beneficial, a large part of the world, specially the developing countries like Pakistan does not have access to these innovations. The bright side of the picture is that in Pakistan, successful application of Society 5.0 technologies is possible in terms of applicability if we overcome the basic limitations i.e. lack of funding, skilled technological support and adequate managerial measures in the healthcare sector.
References:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13132-021-00854-2
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2020.556789/full
