Tag: Technology

Automation refusal puts livelihoods in jeopardy

Automation refusal puts livelihoods in jeopardy

Around 3,000 BCE, written language emerged for the first time in human history. The rise of city-states engendered an ever-growing economy, and people could no longer maintain transactional records solely in their minds. Economic progress would halt unless someone found a way to solve the problem of our limited memory.

Such is the genesis of writing and technology — birthed as a solution to a problem, a pathway to progress.

There is much anxiety around automation, understandably so. In the modern economy, humans are employed to the extent that the job at hand requires physical labor, cognitive ability or both. Since […]

Driverless Trucks Will Be (Mostly) Great

Driverless Trucks Will Be (Mostly) Great

A little scary. Mostly good. For generations, the open road has provided good jobs for Americans, whether truckers, novelists or country-music lyricists. Soon it may be crowded with some less sympathetic protagonists: self-driving robots.

Trucks with some degree of automation are already plying ore mines, hauling freight and making beer runs. Investment is pouring into the industry. As Congress debates a new law to promote self-driving technology, however, it may exempt big commercial vehicles in the hope of saving trucking jobs. That won’t work. But it might succeed in holding back innovation and growth.

For starters, automation doesn’t only replace jobs. […]

The fear of automation: Technology actually creates jobs

If you think about it, many of the great inventions over the last 200 years were designed to replace human labor. In the past, technical advances caused temporary disruptions but ultimately improved living standards, creating new categories of employment along the way. Tractors were developed to substitute a farmer’s sweat labor, alleviate the need for a manual plow and horse. That helped them to find better ways to manage their crops, changing the farming industry.

Today their great-grandchildren may design video games instead of taking on the family business.

Assembly lines were created to replace the inconsistent human, with the constant […]

Labor MP ridicules universal basic income push and says it would worsen inequality

Labor MP ridicules universal basic income push and says it would worsen inequality

The Labor MP Jim Chalmers has ridiculed the push to introduce a universal basic income in Australia, saying it would be a “backward step” for workers that could increase inequality and cost the budget billions.

His criticism of the concept puts him squarely alongside the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, who has been pushing back for months against internal and external calls to adopt the welfare policy .

Chalmers has cemented his critique of universal basic income in a new book, co-written with Mike Quigley, the former chief executive of NBN Co, on technological change, the labour force and inequality called Changing […]

WE NEED FRESH IDEAS FOR RETHINKING PRODUCTIVITY

WE NEED FRESH IDEAS FOR RETHINKING PRODUCTIVITY

The recent OCED ( Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ) “Compendium of Productivity 2017” publication showed global growth, measured by GDP (Gross Domestic Product), should rise from 2.1% in 2016, to 3.5% in 2017, and 3.7% in 2018. Though this is good news, these growth numbers are below those before the financial crises started in 2008.

The OCED report states most of the world is stuck in a “low growth trap” . OCED has put the spotlight on productivity as the causality. Productivity continues to decline over the long term, way before the global financial crises.

OCED shows that productivity […]

Robo-pocalypse not-quite-Now

Robo-pocalypse not-quite-Now

Another day, another apocalyptic story about robots stealing human jobs. This time, the headlines shout that over four million UK private sector jobs will be seized by machines, AKA 15% of the total workforce.

Unusually, the story is sourced from YouGov statistics, which are quoted in a new report, The Age of Automation , published by the RSA. However, closer reading of the 83-page document reveals the mainstream media headlines to be sensationalist and inaccurate.

That’s no surprise, but it does little to help organizations locate the signal in the constant media noise about a machine apocalypse.What the statistics actually say […]

Inside Labour: Will it be man vs machine in a frightening future?

Inside Labour: Will it be man vs machine in a frightening future?

I RECENTLY saw again the future of retail – and it works. At the same time, it frightens me. The same applies to many of the observed developments, especially in the service industries, along with the decline in trade union membership across the world.

These issues came starkly into focus during more than a month spent in Britain after a two-year absence. While Britain – and London in particular – may not be at the cutting edge of retail, it is a good guide to where countries such as South Africa are heading.

The spread of self-service is most evident, even […]

U.S. Textiles: Have No Fear, Automation Is Here

U.S. Textiles: Have No Fear, Automation Is Here

Switzerland-based Stäubli is a mechatronics provider with three dedicated activities: Connectors, Robotics and Textile. Automation continues to assist the growth of U.S. manufacturing.

By James Borneman, Editor In Chief

A common thread in recent investments in the U.S. textile industry seems to be the effectiveness of automation and process control in making the United States a globally competitive manufacturing destination. Many announcements cite four factors driving investment in U.S. textiles — superior cotton supply chain, relatively inexpensive and dependable energy supply, highly educated labor force that can handle automation, and good transportation infrastructure including ports and roads.The automation […]

Study: 60% of workforce will be independent by 2027

Study: 60% of workforce will be independent by 2027

Dive Brief:

MBO Partners, a service provider for the self-employed, predicts in a report that 60% of the workforce will be independent professionals by 2027.

The research also predicts that: independent work will be cyclical, with professionals switching back and forth between employment and independent work to gain new skills; independent workers will be concentrated in either the very high-paying or very low-paying ends of the "gig" spectrum; organizations will focus on the results "gig" workers provide and not their labor; and independent workers will team up to provide services. As technology continues to evolve, researchers predict that […]

INSIGHTS Finally Oracle

INSIGHTS Finally Oracle

Future Digital Finance West | Dec 4-5 | Phoenix, AZ
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Oracle showed some very good numbers in its latest earnings announcement. As it begins its second year of aggressive cloud promotion, the company overall is showing significant year-over-year improvements, thanks to its turn to cloud infrastructure, applications and platforms. Yet when read right, the numbers announce the […]