Ingenieur Vol 73 ingenieur Jan-March 2018 | Page 14

INGENIEUR Accelerating Success in the 4 th Industrial Revolution By William Genovese The fourth industrial revolution is characterized by confluence, convergence, and fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. It is driven by a combination of foundational, enabling and digital transformation accelerators — Cloud, Big Data, Software-Defined Network, 5G, and IoT. T oday, we are witnessing the fastest pace of change the world has ever seen. The global economy is being transformed and this change can be daunting to all enterprises and industries.  But this is also a moment of great opportunity to thrive as the world enters the digital age. ICT Infrastructure, especially connectivity, plays an increasingly critical role in driving sustainable growth and prosperity.   6 12 VOL VOL 73 55 JANUARY-MARCH JUNE 2013 2018 Hyper connectivity is here The explosion of connectivity is staggering and the world is entering a new period of hyper connectivity. For example, by 2025, the number of connections will top 100 billion, five times higher than the number of connections in 2015. By 2025, 75% of global homes will have access to broadband. Throughout this hyper growth cycle, the Internet is bridging communities in places that