Innovation + Technology

Back to the Lab! Innovation, Technology & Industry 4.0

Through multiple cycles of disruption and growth, we have been adjusting to the new normal since 1760.

Image by FunkyFocus from Pixabay

When heads are spinning from talk of automation and Industry 4.0, it’s good to recall the transitions and outcomes that resulted from the first three Industrial Revolutions. Change can be uncomfortable, but the prevalence of smartphones and the internet of things (IoT) isn’t the first time humans have been subjected to the invasion of new technologies and machines into everyday life, work, and social transactions.

Industry 1.0 disrupted society with the steam engine, assembly lines, mass production of steel, and chemical manufacturing. These innovations gave rise to the Technological Revolution of Industry 2.0, marked by the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the expansion of telegraph lines, and access to electricity.

Mass transportation and communication ushered in the free flow of ideas, culture, capital, goods, and people, which helped push globalization to new levels. During this time, society began coming to grips with the new realities of industrialization in service to growing productivity, profits, and the pressing need for efficiency in…