Its continuity differentiates it from similar past revolutions

Throughout the recorded history of mankind there are several references to technological marvels and breakthroughs. They have come in the form of building constructions, weapons of warfare and handling of water flows and other sectors. The evidences are available from the Andes area, river valleys such as Tigris/Euphrates, Indus/Ganga valleys, Yangtze region in China, and more. Be it the Inca civilization, that of Mayas or the pyramids of Egypt and some of the temple construction of India, there are many technological marvels. Some of them are yet waiting to be fully deciphered and replicated. The unique thing about all these experiences is — most of them could not replicate themselves. There was no continuum, and it came to an abrupt break, illustratively, some of the features of the temple architecture of peninsular India are still fully to be explained. How pyramids came up without any current evidence of cranes remains a marvel. How these powerful intellectual traditions came to an end is not known. But come to an end they did. The unique feature of the present'industrial revolution' is not only that it has a technological base, but that revolution is a continuing one and has gradually spread to more areas. It is not only continuous and continuing but the spread is widening and deepening. That is what makes the technological dimension of this industrial revolution a unique one in human history. It is this continuity which puts it apart from other previous similar revolutions.

The current technological revolution has often meant faster, diversified and constant upgradation. It has given rise to a whole new technological expertise. An expertise which is required not only at the operational end where more and more people are covered but at other levels also. The other levels includean almost continuous upgradation of technology. Of this the mobile phone is a good example. Ever so frequently the technology reaches a new threshold and the commands become more complex or simple. Whichever way one looks at it, they keep changing. This simply means a technology is impacting every day lives on a continuous basis almost everywhere. Its not possible to ignore this process because even in one of its manifestations, let us say digitalization - it has been adopted as a governance instrument almost universally. This leaves the technologically uneducated individual - not just in the backwaters, but in wilderness. The person can attract clauses of legislation in areas wherethey may not simply have the ability or opportunity to adopt or even upgrade. It may need access to resources, of purchasing aninstrument for which he may not even have the capacity. When daily living is itself a matter of doubt because of deficiency of resources available at an individual level, what can be the hope of looking at technological literacy let alone technological upgradation? Concerns like the one outlined above need to be flagged as important policy concerns which need to be built into the larger civil society debate. Excessive admiration and observation of technological compulsions may create divisions in the society which will ultimately need a response. However, it is much better to anticipate them. The above narrative amongst other thing, intends to focus on an urgent need of policy realignment and refocussing of the protocols of progress. This has become more evident during the pandemic. There are several country cases from South Sudan to Singapore which needed to be addressed, analyzed and understood to ensure that the evolutionary growth of the human race continues to be more uniform and manageable. That is a much-needed requirement of the future for which action must begin now.

(The writer is an acclaimed management consultant. The views expressed are personal.)