– local tech company boss

THIS year will see emerging technologies disrupting human lifestyle on an epic portion with Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Starr Computer Inc. President Michael Mohan said.
He made the observation at one of the seminars held at the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GTT) inaugural Innov8 Summit and Expo being hosted at the Guyana Marriott Hotel, Kingston, Georgetown.
The event brought together hundreds of technology-based businesses, business leaders, entrepreneurs, students and youth group members to showcase their creativity, exchange ideas and to create linkages for business.
Mohan said technology will bring a scale, scope, and complexity unlike anything mankind has ever experienced before.

“Over the last four years, we have seen more technological disruption occurred than during the prior 20 years. And through 2018, we will see emerging technologies disrupting human lifestyle at epic portion with Artificial Intelligence and Robotics,” he explained.
The businessman added: “Therefore, the time has come when all stakeholders in Guyana from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society will need to work together to protect our young nation from falling into the cracks of unemployment and poverty.”
The first industrial revolution used water and steam power to mechanise production; the second used electric power to create mass production; and the third used electronics and information technology to automate production.

Now, Mohan said, the fourth industrial revolution is enhancing and fusing the best of the past with new technologies into a new force of deep learning smart machines to replace unproductive manpower at an exponential pace.

“A large number of industries are either already been disrupted with new technologies to create a higher level of productivity, or, on the verge of being disrupted with new changes,” Mohan told persons attending the seminar.
He continued: “Countless consumers are already addicted to using more technologies to supposedly increase their productivities from the use of an electric tooth brush and can opener to operating a business at home. The end result will be loss of jobs and risk of crime increase.”

Adding that 3D Printing now opens a world of new opportunities from printing physical objects to human body parts, he said bio-medical technologies will fast forward the waiting time for crucial body parts.

Autonomous vehicles in the form of driverless cars, buses and trucks on a subscription basis will eliminate over-crowded streets and significantly reduce transportation cost.
“Man controlled drones will now serve as a search and rescue tool to help to find missing people in hard to reach places, deliver emergency medical supplies to the helpless faster. Small countries like Guyana can defend itself from bulling aggressors without loss of its human life with the use of military drones. Biological Nano size drones can be deployed to vaccinate its citizens against uncontrolled diseases,” he emphasised.

DAYS GONE
He told the gathering that learning is an ongoing process and long gone are the days when someone could sit on a university degree and tell the world that they know it all – “pay me well or you lose me forever”.
Mohan said the focus for all should be on science and technologies, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “Subscribe to academical contents so we can open our imagination and develop ourselves,” he said.

By the year 2022, he opined that over 30 million current jobs will be discontinued and five million new jobs will be created from this change.
And, he said as time goes by, “we will likely to see the extreme high skilled/high pay jobs, low pay/low skilled jobs, and an unemployment “donut” in the centre unless government start planning a solution.

He said an immediate action plan that can be deployed in Guyana with the use of Industrial 3D Printers is that “we can now print an entire home in 48 hours for under G$2,000,000.”
As such, he said that this process can be a big breakthrough for low income Guyanese.
With the massive influx of international investors to Guyana seeking their fortunes, Mohan explained that this would be a good opportunity for government to negotiate with these investors to contribute to a special funding pool for the start-up assets on this project.
Then government can guarantee loans through local banks for these low-income residents to make home purchases.

And, 50 per cent of the housing production is allocated for export while the other 50 per cent becomes available for the local consumption.
“The foreign exchange earned from export can then be used to purchase imported raw materials, renewable energy components (solar panels, inverters, batteries and controllers), and spare parts. This ongoing project can create employment, solve our homeless problem and help with national development,” he said.
He said government and businesses will be faced with new challenges as the revolution matures. Procedures and processes will need to be overhauled to adapt to new changes – faster, secured and more connected.
Mohan said this means, software application must be smarter, adaptable to changes, and cloud ready.

Hardware will be driven by the software to execute the manual process. However, data will need to be better encrypted, regularly backed-up with consistent password updates. Most importantly, repetitious process will need to be replaced with software and hardware automation.
Cybercrime via system hijack, ransomware, and adware will be some of the biggest challenges to all. So far, Symantec amongst others, have been a good defense from intrusion.

Businesses in Guyana need to focus its energy on innovation and productivity to compete while banks will need to encourage more encrypted Debit and Credit cards issuance to customers so as to help move away from our “cash-based” society.
He noted that government may be better off continuing with its drive for improved Infrastructure, utilities, and vocational school development along with incentising private entities to promote this new initiative for the betterment of Guyanese.
The event ended with a video footage interview of a robot named `Sophie’ at the Future Investment World Forum held last October.