G20 china_web

Innovative technologies
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The arrival of new technologies
can be rapid or slow
Disruptive technologies can blend
with or replace incumbent offerings
Disruptive innovation:
opportunities and
threats
We are in our fourth industrial revolution, which is
being driven by information technology and the internet,
writes Henry C Lucas
A
technology becomes disruptive
when it offers a new product
or a service that leads to
individuals abandoning
incumbents’ offerings and
embracing the innovation. The movement
from the old to the new may be rapid,
for example the expansion of Uber and
Airbnb, or it may take longer, as has been
the case with higher education. We are now
in a fourth industrial revolution, which
focuses on technology in general and most
often involves information technology and
the internet. Evidence of this upheaval in
the traditional way of business comes from
firms such as General Electric (GE), which
is investing $1 billion to become a ‘software
company’. GE is adding sensors and data
analysis services to all its products so
customers can monitor the performance
of their equipment.
Higher education is a case where
opportunities and threats are well defined.
Opportunities come in the form of blended
and online classes and massive open
online courses (MOOCs). Blending a class
creates a more active learning environment
than the lecture because a blended class
presents class materials on the internet
using a learning management system.
Classes are devoted to discussions and
team exercises, involving students actively
in their education. Online classes with
interaction with a faculty member via a
video conference system also encourage
active learning.
MOOCs provide instructional materials
from hundreds of instructors on a wide
variety of topics. All of these technologyenabled
approaches to teaching and
learning provide new opportunities for
colleges and for students. They also present
threats to schools that do not have the
skills, talent and resources to create content
for their own use and to make it available
to other institutions. A number of US
colleges are likely to fail in the next decade,
especially smaller private schools with
high tuition and limited reputations.
From Baxter to drones
There has been progress in robotics in the
past few years, affecting many industries.
Baxter, a simple robot, is programmed by
walking it through motions rather than by
writing a program.
If we consider a drone as a type of robot,
it is clear that robotics will expand at a
Research robot Baxter at the
International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo
HOW SHOULD
GOVERNMENTS
EMBRACE NEW
TECHNOLOGY
AND DISRUPTION?
• Encourage and support
innovation in all its forms
until they become available
for profit-making ventures,
as the US government did
with the internet
• Prepare for a massive
impact on employment,
including job losses and
people movement
• Invest in education and
worker retraining, targeting
jobs creation in sectors
where workers are scarce
• Develop regulatory
frameworks to respond
quickly to new innovations,
such as drones
• Encourage the growth of
disruptive technologies.
Long term, they are key to
improving the quality of life
86 G20 China: The Hangzhou Summit • September 2016 G7G20.com