Last December 5, 2018, at the ISC Mezzanine Hall of Centro Escolar University (CEU) in Manila, Stratpoint’s Chief Technology Innovation Officer, Jay Sabido, Ph.D. was invited to be one of the speakers of CEU’s Management Review to discuss “Industrie 4.0 and Higher Education”.

Industry 4.0 was initially coined by the German government for their high-tech strategy. It has since been widely adopted and now refers to the current trend of automation and data exchange. It includes cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud computing, and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution

There are some challenges in most traditional learning environments that sometimes cause graduates to face a world of transformed technology unarmed. Some mentioned the need to focus on quality education experiences, the need to evolve outdated teaching methodologies, the imperative to prepare students to become part of the workforce in the future, the skyrocketing operational costs, the need to keep tuition rates down, the generation of students who are increasingly tuning-out and turning-off from the traditional approach of age-old instructional methods, among a lot more. Customer preferences and expectations are also constantly changing.

The ever-evolving state of technology has impacted the way that people consume media and communicate with each other. Like “There must be an app for that” or comparisons like “Why can’t it be like Apple… or Waze… or Amazon… or Facebook… or Netflix… or…”

The solution for these is DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION. Being digital means having physical products at the core, augmented by digital interfaces and data-based innovative services, working together with customers and suppliers in the industrial digital ecosystem.

But it is not about using technology to do the same things you have always dons, only faster, cheaper, and better. It is about using the technology to do things that were not even possible before – it is creating new products and services that drive more revenue.

So what role will higher education play in the next phase of this revolution? Why do Digital Transformation and Industry 4.0 matter? How should higher education leaders prepare their institutions for the changes ahead?

Shown below is a diagram of what drives higher education.

 

A number of alternative education models have emerged over the last decade such as massice open online courses (MOOC), bootcamps, learn now – pay later education, nanodegrees, and alternative credentialing.

There are four (4) key technologies that are driving innovation in the higher education sector – Social, Mobile, Analytic, and Cloud (SMAC). There were at least 45% of college students in the United States (US) who has used Social Media as a learning tool and about 85% to 97% who use mobile phones for accessing student services. About 81% use IoT devices while the higher education cloud market size stands at USD 9 billion.

Jay confidently went over this topic as Stratpoint has its expertise as a Digital Transformation Enabler. Stratpoint employes cutting-edge open source and cloud technologies for top enterprises and start-ups in the U.S. and in the Philippines.