Narayan Prasad Ghimire

Development is a meaningful change in human life resulting from constant endeavour for progress and power. Necessity leads to invention and innovation that ensure changes in the way people think and behave. Similarly, intensified interaction and connectivity among people of different professions and skills whet the appetite for change and the invention of new things, causing efficiency in work and improvement in goods and services. This very evolutionary nature of human life and development has brought us to the present fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
From the hunting-gathering to agricultural life, and from agricultural to production/manufacturing and then to the industrial stage, the first industrial revolution is traced back to the mid-eighteenth century. The mechanization of spinning and weaving erupted in Britain in this stage.
Similarly, the increase in production and steam power dominated the first industrial revolution while electricity and mass production featured significantly in the second industrial revolution that started sometime around the 19th century.

The third industrial revolution witnessed a huge technological change with robots and computers, where internet and digital technology emerged in the ultimate years. Their use and strength went commercial after the 1990s, leading to the present 4IR where ultramodern technology has been so pervasive that neurotechnology, biotechnology and nanotechnology have emerged vehemently.
Big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning are such achievements of the 4IR that have penetrated every aspect of human life and sciences. The progress resulted from the adoption of these new features accelerated by increasingly modern technology has stunned us.

From 3D printing to gene sequencing, effect on human conscience/sense to unique treatment of diseases, climate-smart agriculture to election intervention, the essentially disruptive nature of the 4IR has however forced us to ponder how its governance should run, what model of the global governance for 4IR should be, and who should engage in shaping the 4IR.
The book ''Shaping the Future of the Fourth Industrial Revolution'' by Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, has dwelt well on these very pertinent and pressing issues of the day. Together with the capitalisation of unprecedented opportunities created by the 4IR, writer Schwab with other experts including Nicholas Davis calls for a multi-stakeholder approach to governing 4IR so that its challenges could be faced collectively and firmly.

"A major area where biotechnology is expected to revolutionise healthcare is precision medicine (PM). PM is being used most widely to treat cancer, but success has also been noted in cystic fibrosis, asthma, monogenetic forms of diabetes, autoimmune, and cardiovascular disease, and neurodegeneration." (Page 158, 159)
This indicates how the development in biotechnology is to impact positively on the treatment of various sorts of diseases.
It is indeed a matter of bliss that we are in the 4IR. It not only makes us feel lucky but also regretful that we lost many ancestors who died of very common diseases for lack of medicine and treatment. Chapter 12 on 'Neurotechnologies' contributed by Olivier Oullier, President of Emotive, USA, mentions, "Advancements in brain science have been driven by rapid increases in computing power, the development of smaller, cheaper and most sophisticated sensors, and machine-learning approaches that can discern patterns in huge amounts of unstructured data." Even a plan of engineer and inventor Elon Musk is shared here: "Musk announced that he has invested in a company focused on developing brain-computer interfaces, arguing that he foresees, "a closer merger of biological intelligence and digital intelligence."
In addition to the development ambition in brain science, the writer also warns of an ethical quandary, saying the neurotechnologies are moving from laboratory to mass market slowly. It is quite alarming that it is a stark deviation from the natural human brain to a new brain that dents hugely the privacy and intellectual property of human beings. Can we imagine how we will be with the change in our sense/conscience? Such revolutionary strength of modern technology needs broader discussion to shape its future, the future of a livable world.

One of the most impressive chapters in the book for the readers of the least developed and developing countries is Chapter-4: 'Empowering All Stakeholders'. In this chapter, the writer brings several references to show how billions are left far behind the 4IR. He argues effects of new technologies have disclosed that political systems and economic models are failing to cater benefits to all citizens in a just and equal manner.
Moreover, an instance, "Around a third of people (2.4 billion) lack clean drinking water and safe sanitation, and around one-sixth (1.2 billion) have no electricity- systems developed in the second industrial revolution." It reminds us to mull: Where are we? Where is Nepal in terms of 4IR? When do we become able to catch up with the race to reap the benefit of 4IR? Acute bias and discrimination against women and marginalized must be ended by empowering them gradually with technology.

This chapter also advises how individuals can be empowered with modern technology regardless of ethnicity, age, gender or background and brought onboard. The need for multi-stakeholder discussion at regional and international forums has been further whetted in this chapter so that 4IR would be made inclusive and sustainable.
The unimaginable achievements made by the human is ultimately harmful to societal and moral values, according to the book. The social, economic and political spheres have been disrupted to the extent beyond imagination and practice which warrants rigorous debate and discussion on how 4IR should be shaped to ensure equal benefit to all human beings from across the globe, to build a better world.
It is a sheer contradiction that despite the unprecedented development in human life, the issues of inequality, discrimination, injustice, deprivation, insecurity, poverty and backwardness are still entrenched. These specificities are however more entrenched in the least developed countries like Nepal. There are several references to the stories of paucity and poverty in the book.

Ultimately, it is fair to say that the Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Schwab, and experts ardently advocate for the technology that empowers us rather than determines us. The book may also serve as the manifesto for digital humanism. One can argue that the book is a true reflection of the technology-driven anxiety of developed countries, which are seeking measures to shape 4IR.
The arguments made in this book become more evident when a reader goes through it. The 4IR, as Schwab says, is a fusion of technologies across the physical, digital and biological worlds. Penguin Random House, UK, has published the book.