_why academy 4.0?

Wayne Gretzky has been credited with saying, "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." Most good  education and training is focused on current knowledge and best practice -  where the puck is not where it will be.  This implies most contemporary education and learning gives good, not great insight.  

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As we enter the 4th industrial revolution and the prevalence of exponential growth curves explode and increasingly intersect across industries, having a good understanding will no longer be sufficient.  Relentless, accelerating innovation is the hallmark of modern business, spurred on by globalisation and increased competition the implications are legion. Job markets will increasingly segregate and polarise into “low-skill/low-pay” and “high-skill/high-pay” segments - as the average education, skill levels and experience demands placed on the average worker rocket in tandem with the demands of technological innovation and global competition.

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Popular author and historian Yuval Noah Harari suggest two dramatic extremes, the rise of a "useless class" alongside a race of 'super humans".  Where the previous industrial revolutions gave rise to the working class, future technologies like AI will potentially culminate in the "unworking class" as automation, machine learning, the internet of things (IoT), robotics and other technologies gradually begin to supplant humans in the workplace. 

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The intent behind _academy4.0 is to offer education, insight and to stimulate debate and thinking as to how best individuals, organisations even nations can prepare themselves to tackle and embrace the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. TiOLi's  _academy4.0 comprises _4th rev academy and _connected academy, the focus of each is outlined below.

_4th rev academy

Like the revolutions that preceded it, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world. At the same time, as the economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee have pointed out, the revolution could yield greater inequality, particularly in its potential to disrupt labour markets. As automation substitutes for labour across the entire economy, the net displacement of workers by machines might exacerbate the gap between returns to capital and returns to labour. We cannot foresee at this point which scenario is likely to emerge, and history suggests that the outcome is likely to be some combination of the two.

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Increasing global inequality represents the greatest societal concern associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The largest beneficiaries of innovation tend to be the providers of intellectual and physical capital—the innovators, shareholders, and investors—which explains the rising gap in wealth between those dependent on capital versus labour. Technology is therefore one of the main reasons why incomes have stagnated, or even decreased, for a majority of the population in high-income countries: the demand for highly skilled workers has increased while the demand for workers with less education and lower skills has decreased. The result is a job market with a strong demand at the high and very low ends, but a hollowing out of the middle.

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Amongst other emergent consequences of industry 4.0, a key trend impacting business is the development of technology-enabled platforms that combine both demand and supply to disrupt existing industry structures, such as those we see within the “sharing” or “on demand” economy. These technology platforms, rendered easy to use by the smartphone, convene people, assets, and data—thus

creating entirely new ways of consuming goods and services in the process.

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_4th rev academy seeks to introduce, examine, educate and debate the implications, opportunities and challenges this paradigm shift heralds as well as the steps individuals, organisations and nations can and must take to both survive and thrive in these exponential times. 

_connected academy

Higher Education has not been immune to the disruption brought about by technology and an accelerating pace of change. As a result, many Higher Education professionals have felt unsure of how to harness the power of the EdTech revolution in the great work they do. CONNECTed offers an EdTech & Strategy for Higher Education online certificate course, founded on a credible and curated body of knowledge from leading EdTech and Higher Education experts. The course is designed to help anyone working within the Higher Education ecosystem to understand both the challenges and opportunities that exist in the next wave of Higher Education. The next course start is in Q4 2021.

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_Comments form some previous delegates 

"I think I've exhausted my support for this program throughout my posts. It's been great and I'd be happy to support your continued success for future students who chose to learn from this edTech & strategy course.! Thank you again for your comments, support, and encouragement along the journey!" 

Joseph Allen, Director of Community College Pathways - San Diego, California 

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"I thoroughly enjoyed the content and the care that went into all the detail. The organization was done well and there certainly was enough in-depth knowledge displayed."

Joanna Bauer, Associate VP of Academic Affairs, Claremont Lincoln University 

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"I enjoyed this course and the perspectives of such a varied array of global participants. The perspectives and examples were rich in my opinion.​"

Carlise Wynne,  ConsultantGateway International Georgia, United States

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"Loved the course, thank you very much."

Karolyne Williams, Head of Strategic Innovation SACAP South Africa

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