Breakout Session presented by Yvon Audette, National Leader, IT Advisory, KPMG LLP
The presentation, facilitated by Yvon Audette, National Leader, IT Advisory, KPMG, started with the introduction of “Industrie 4.0 – the fourth industrial revolution.” Germany is credited with coining this phrase with emphasis on the tremendous social impact this next revolution is going to have. There will be true disruption with the intensive collision points between people and technology.
The speed of change with technology is increasing. KPMG is experiencing the sunset of 2-3 services every year. At the same time, they accelerate 2-3 new services every year. The number of devices connected to the internet is growing quickly as well. By 2020 the estimate is for 26 billion devices to be connected. Audette offered that this presents the opportunity of a lifetime for CIOs. “The challenge is not going to be how to enable the technology,” he suggested, “it will be how to deal with it.
To stay ahead of the game, CIOs should think about “not where the puck is, but more where the puck is going!” In other words, CIOs need to have a plan to deal with all this change. He offered some recommendations including suggesting piloting technologies with a “fail fast” mentality. Use methods such as agile for piloting and development.
On the people side, he believes that people will be the best asset you can have in this next revolution. He recommended that companies consider leveraging new university or college grads to educate more senior or seasoned IT professionals.
With all the connected devices, a major concern is the security risk presented. Standardization will be key and although talks are ongoing, standards have yet to be put in place. It is a fact that Robotics will displace human workers. A key challenge will be re-skilling and up-skilling displaced workers. Also suggest establishing an innovation centre within your business to pilot new technology solutions. In doing so, keep in mind the organizational culture and preference and alignment of the leadership direction.
CIOs can be in the driver’s seat of change. “Have a vision, drive the vision.”