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What is Industry 4.0?

Imagine a fully autonomous factory full of interconnected machines producing goods based on real-time order flows, all without human intervention.

Believe it or not, this scenario is already a reality.

In the early 2000s, the Internet gave rise to the third Industrial Revolution, where electronic and IT systems spurred the adoption widespread automation across industries.

Now, machines have become so powerful they can do much more than simply process information and perform basic tasks: they are evolving into super-intelligent and autonomous systems that can interact with each other independently. In a word, they are becoming more ‘human-like’ and capable of exchanging information, analyzing data, and performing advanced tasks much faster than humans can.

Businesses around the world are capitalizing on this development by applying these advancements to manufacturing, creating “smart factories” that are powered by these futuristic technologies.

This phenomenon is called “Industry 4.0”, and it will exponentially increase every industry’s efficiency and productivity, while also slashing costs and eliminating waste.

What is Industry 4.0?

To understand Industry 4.0, we must first explain its origin: the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The world’s economic history is marked by four so-called “Industrial Revolutions”, which are described as periods of fundamental technological disruption:

1st Industrial Revolution (mid 1700s): mechanization, steam and water power.

2nd Industrial Revolution (1870s): mass production and electricity.

3rd Industrial Revolution (1970s): electronic and IT systems, automation.

4th Industrial Revolution (2010s): interconnected “smart” cyber physical systems.

Thus, the fourth industrial revolution is a natural extension of the third, where electronic and IT systems are connected to one another and gradually become autonomous, in a bid to help operators streamline operations, perform holistic data analytics in real time, and progressively remove the burden of dangerous work from humans.

This is made possible thanks to the advent of highly sophisticated technologies.

What is Powering Industry 4.0?

There are 9 key technologies powering the rise of Industry 4.0.

Big Data Analytics

The first technology powering Industry 4.0 – and it is arguably most important – is the Big Data revolution. Big Data refers to modern machines’ ability to ingest, process, compute, categorize, and analyze enormous quantities of data from disparate sources in real time, allowing operators to address business problems they were unable to tackle before.

Enterprise Cloud

Industry 4.0’s second major technological feature is cloud computing: the on-demand delivery of IT services over the internet with pay as you go pricing. This helps organizations store data on a service provider’s remote servers, eliminating the need to pay for the installation, maintenance, repair, and update of expensive IT infrastructure.

Additionally, the service provider is responsible for investing to ensure his clients have access to the latest IT technology, maximum system security, minimal downtime, and effective crisis management. Once again, this translates to substantial savings for businesses.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence is the third major technology powering Industry 4.0. In fact, modern AI has evolved well beyond the point of simply beating the chess world champions at their own game.

Now, thanks to Deep Learning, these systems can continuously improve on their own, without requiring further programming.

Robotics

Robotic equipment is now widely used in many factories around the world because their ability to independently manufacture and move goods increases efficiency, safety and operational management.

Industrial IoT

Industrial IoT is the application of the IoT to industrial sector: creating interconnected warehouses, factories, and production lines where machinery and robotics interact with each other, and a central operating system collects all the data and performs high level analysis to help the business anticipate problems and increase overall efficiency.

Cyber Physical Systems

Cyber physical systems refer to devices that can perform tasks autonomously in a controlled space. Robots, intelligent buildings, implantable medical devices, and autonomous cars and planes are some examples of cyber physical systems.

Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Digital Twin

Augmented reality is a type of technology that makes it possible to display digital images and information on physical systems. This allows organizations to visually change the environment or provide additional information to users.

A digital twin is a dynamic virtual copy of a physical asset, process, system, or environment that looks and behaves exactly like its physical counterpart. This virtual copy ingests data and simulates the behaviour of the physical twin to simulate its performance and anticipate potential real-world issues it might experience.

Cyber Security

Cyber security focuses on defending IT hardware – such as computers, systems, networks, servers, mobile devices, and electronic systems – from digital attacks. Clearly, smart factories relying on interconnected devices need to ensure the environment’s security to avoid malicious attacks such as theft, fraud, and sabotage.

These 9 technologies can be used individually, but their true potential is unleashed when they are combined to create an autonomous, “smart” interconnected Big Data environment.

The 5 Benefits of Industry 4.0

Corporations around the world are rapidly adopting Industry 4.0 because doing so provides clear benefits.

Increased Competitiveness

The globalized world economy has never been more competitive: transnational companies have vast resources, which grants them the ability to innovate faster than everyone else. By adopting Industry 4.0, they can achieve even greater economies of scale than ever before, which will allow them to become more profitable and gain ever more market share.

For smaller entities, the only way to survive is to follow suit and adopt modern technologies.

Attract Younger Workers

The second main benefit of adopting Industry 4.0 is the ability to attract talent. Indeed, the Baby Boomer generation is on the cusp of retirement, and companies are fighting to find workers who will fill the void.

The truth is that younger workers are attracted to companies that innovate and adopt cutting-edge technology. Thus, investing in Industry 4.0 maximizes the chances of attracting and retaining top talent.

Strengthen your Team

Another benefit of Industry 4.0 is the ability to deepen collaboration between an organization’s different departments, which leads to better overall communication, minimal information loss and misinterpretation, and thus better results.

Anticipate Problems

Being able to rely on intelligent machines that analyze vast swaths of data is a major benefit because it helps businesses anticipate problems and identify anomalies in real time. This means that businesses can react more quickly and reverse the course immediately.

Boost Profits

Finally, Industry 4.0 is a holistic management system that helps businesses optimize every aspect of their operations. Ultimately, it eliminates waste and errors, which inevitably reduces costs and increases profits. Over time, this accelerates the growth.

Industry 4.0: Two Real-World Examples

Up until now, we have listed the technologies powering Industry 4.0 and explained how they will benefit businesses. But how does this translate to companies operating in the real world?

There are hundreds of examples of Industry 4.0 being deployed around the world with great success. Here are just two examples.

Bosch: Automotive Factory

Bosch, a German multinational engineering and technology company, recently adopted Industry 4.0 technology to increase the efficiency of its Automotive Diesel System factory in Wuxi, China.

Specifically, Bosch is relying on IoT and Big Data to monitor the overall production process. The company embeds sensors it its machines to collect data about their conditions and cycle times.

This data is analyzed by advanced analytics tools and workers are informed in real time of any issues with the machines. This approach helps the company predict failures, so maintenance operations are scheduled in advance, well before any problems arise.

Thanks to Industry 4.0 technologies, Bosch can maximize its machines’ lifespan and total efficiency, while reducing downtime and maintenance costs. In parallel, Bosch can honour its delivery schedule, which streamlines the supply chains and increases customer satisfaction.

This model can easily be replicated across factories all over the world.

Alibaba’s “Smart Warehouse”

Another eloquent example of Industry 4.0 in action is Alibaba’s “smart factory Xunxi” in Hangzhou, which is described as a “digitalized end-to-end manufacturing supply chain that allows for fully-customized, demand-driven production”.

In this factory, robots do 70% of the work: they can carry loads of up to 500kg, are equipped with sensors that help them avoid collision, and take themselves to a charging station before they run out of battery.

If you thought this means that humans have become irrelevant, think again.

In fact, human intervention remains crucial to the factory’s success: designers rely on analog rendering of digital fabrics to avoid wasting dye during experimental phases; garment workers are assisted with AI-powered cutting machines and sewers; and managers can track production progress remotely using a computer or a mobile phone.

The gain of efficiency is simply astonishing, as Alibaba claims the smart factory reduces order delivery time by 75%.

Is this the future of manufacturing?

Well, it is already the present, but not every organization will be able to make the transition to Industry 4.0 as seamlessly as Bosch and Alibaba.

Industry 4.0: Challenges to Adoption

Despite its numerous benefits, Industry 4.0 also presents four major challenges for businesses looking to make the transition.

Lack of Skills

Unfortunately, implementing Industry 4.0 infrastructure is not as easy as it sounds. In fact, its implementation requires trained staff that is well versed with the latest technologies. Since this is still a new area even for the savviest tech workers, most early Industry 4.0 adopters will struggle to find workers with significant experience in the areas of user interface, data science, software development and machine-level controls.

Cyber Security

The second major challenge is the IT risk posed by the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. Indeed, setting up a network of interconnected devices requires diligent and efficient system security. This also requires vast resources, not only for the initial set up but also for the constant monitoring and updating of software, as well as for swift interventions when threats are detected.

Priorities

The third challenge is the fact that organizations face their own internal conflicts, and capital expenditure for ambitious (and expensive) paradigm-shifting technology adoption is not always at the top of the list. For most businesses, the priority is short term profitability and responding to immediate challenges.

Culture Shock

Industry 4.0 radically changes how businesses operate. This means that the entire organization must embrace change, and the individuals leading the project must be prepared to lead by example and deal with blowback if the plan is not executed properly right away. Thus, most organizations will need to proceed with caution and implement changes step by step.

Lack of Capital

Finally, widespread adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies is expensive. While virtually all visionaries dream of an immediate, one-time radical transformation of business processes, most will have to proceed pragmatically and establish priorities.

This means implementing small but regular changes.

Closing Thoughts

Industry 4.0 refers is a revolutionary development that will transform how businesses organize the division of labour, but full adoption is still years away, as business have yet to fully understand how to get started. In any case, the movement is well under way and will accelerate in coming years.

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Asset Digitization Will Revolutionize Finance and Real Estate

Most people think that Blockchain technology is limited to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. In reality, most physical and financial assets are being digitized and traded electronically on peer-to-peer networks that largely bypass traditional intermediaries such as notaries and lawyers.

From 2016 to 2022, the total market capitalization of digital assets in the USA grew from $14 billion to $3 trillion, which represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 193%. While this largely concerns digital consumer assets, such as music, videos and pictures, the world of investing is also concerned by this paradigm shift.

In this article, we will explain how asset digitization is driving revolutionizing capital markets.

What is Asset Digitization?

In technical terms, asset digitization is the process by which physical and financial assets are “tokenized” on a permissioned or permissionless Blockchain and then bought, sold, and traded by retail investors and institutions.

In theory, any capital market instrument can be digitized, whether it is securities, derivatives, bonds, real estate, precious metals, private equity investments, or even art pieces. Once digitized, these assets retain the same defining properties as their traditional capital market counterparts, such as lock in periods, voting rights, trading restrictions, and trading conditions.

The radical change is that trade settlement is done by a “smart contract” that self-executes once the buyers and the sellers meet specific requirements.

This setup means that transactions and agreements can be carried out among disparate, anonymous parties without the need for a central authority, legal system, or external enforcement mechanism. Assets can be traded on peer-to-peer exchanges in the same way that stocks trade on online brokerage platforms.

The “Tokenization” of Assets

As mentioned, the digitization of assets involves “tokenization”, a process by which an issuer creates a digital token on a distributed ledger, such as a public or private Blockchain. The tokens represent the digital or physical asset, and they are issued on a Blockchain to ensure that information and transactions are stored permanently and cannot be modified or deleted by any participant.

Asset tokenization converts assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate into digital tokens that can be purchased to acquire a stake in that particular investment.

Since every transaction is tracked and recorded, ownership of the digital asset is immutable and cannot be contested or revoked.

Redefining Property Rights

A major advantage of tokenization is the fact that it can break up large, lumpy investments into investable shares. In fact, it facilitates the creation of a fractional ownership interest in assets that are otherwise difficult to divide.

For example, if you own a house with a market value of $1 million, you can divide this amount in one million ‘tokens’, each representing one ownership stake of 0.0001%. If you decide to sell 250,000 tokens, you are giving up 25% ownership of your property in exchange for $250,000, while retaining a majority stake. This is convenient and opens up the possibility of raising cash in novel ways.

Simultaneously, tokenization grants proportional ownership rights of the underlying asset, which confers the owner with specific duties and privileges. In our example, selling 25% of your property means that your new investors become eligible to receive a portion of the income generated by the asset, but are also required to pay a portion of your property taxes, maintenance charges, and other relevant fees.

Thus, tokenization has the potential to democratize the ownership of traditionally illiquid, expensive, and cumbersome assets while also ensuring increased transparency, security and quicker trade settlement. Indeed, while traditional real estate transactions can take anywhere from several weeks to several months, buying and selling tokens on a distributed ledged can be settled in minutes.

Now that we’ve explained the technical aspects of asset digitization, let’s explore some practical examples that illustrate how it works in the real world.

Example no1: Digitizing Financial Assets

The first example concerns asset digitization on traditional stock exchanges.

In 2021, Switzerland’s stock exchange (SIX) received regulatory approval to launch SDX Bourse, a stock exchange and depository for Blockchain-based securities that enables investors to buy tokenized stocks, bonds, ETFs, real estate and other assets on a single platform running on distributed ledger technology.

On SDX, every transaction will be recorded digitally across multiple sites, which will help market participants authenticate every transaction, guarantee ownership rights, detect fraudulent activity, prevent market manipulation and help enforce anti money laundering and terrorist financing legislation.

By offering a fully transparent ledger protected by a robust regulatory framework, this new digital asset marketplace paves the way for the global adoption of digital asset trading.

Example no2: Digitizing the Gold Market

A second example of asset digitization is offered by Tradewind Markets, a precious metals marketplace that provides institutions with a Blockchain-based platform to purchase gold and silver digitally and directly.

The platform is a private, permissioned, and cryptographically secure interface only accessible to dealers and institutions.

It relies on a comprehensive ecosystem to tokenize gold and silver that is physically held in depositories. From the mining of the metal to the distribution by retailers, every transaction that occurs on the supply chain is recorded on the Blockchain.

When clients purchase the physical metals digitally, they can consult the Blockchain to trace its origins, quality, and current storage location. This marketplace combines the properties of an ETF or derivative with the assurance of having effective ownership of the underlying metals.

The advantages of this platform over traditional methods of buying and selling precious metals are numerous:

The digital token is backed by physical metals which can be delivered upon request.

There are no management and administrative fees, which reduces the cost of ownership.

The underlying Blockchain upon which the system is based preserves vital information about the entire supply chain, which guarantees that the assets purchased are legitimate.

The metals are stored in secure locations – such as the Royal Canadian Mint – which means that investors don’t have to worry about storing them themselves.

This type of platform increases the overall security of precious metals ownership, which has traditionally been blighted by major risks to investors, and also suffered from a lack of transparency as to the origin of the metals traded on secondary markets.

Example no3: Digitizing the Real Estate Market

Our third example comes from real estate, which is arguably the most important asset class in the world.

In 2020, BrickMark, the world’s leading Blockchain real estate investment firm, purchased 1,600m² of prime commercial real estate in the heart of Zurich’s central business district. While this sounds like a regular everyday transaction, the novel aspect of this deal is that a large part of the $160 million investment was paid using BrickMark’s Ethereum-based tokens.

Historically, real estate is regarded as an illiquid investment reserved for high net worth investors and institutions. Further, the high cost of acquisition makes it difficult for retail investors with limited means to build diversified property portfolios.

However, the digitization of real estate assets facilitates the fractionalization of physical property into tokens that can be owned by several hundred – even thousands – of different investors who can exchange them on the secondary markets. This will create a highly liquid market where shares of real estate will be traded much like stocks and bonds.

Each token represents a share of ownership of the building, and holders are entitled to receive a portion of the rent earned and, if the property appreciates, part of the capital gains.

These tokens can then be sold on the secondary marketplace, enabling investors to a small stake in the investments. Also, the fact that tokens are based on the Blockchain eliminates the need for buyers and sellers to hire notaries to keep transactions secure.

If generalized, this system will help retail investors and institutions invest in private real estate, a sector that is reserved for high net worth investors and institutions.

The Challenges to Global Adoption

Asset digitization is not a niche phenomenon. It is a growing trend that will permeate every aspect of the capital markets. However, like most innovations, its adoption will have to overcome several challenges.

First of all, every country has their own legislation and rules, which means that the creation of cross-border digital assets will challenge national frameworks.

Second, there is also varying appetite amongst governments to promote asset digitization for commercial purposes. While the Swiss are at the forefront of this trend, not every country is as forward-thinking or willing to disrupt existing industries.

Third, every country has different systems controlling land ownership, disparate approaches to investment regulation, varying tax and accounting regimes, and a myriad of structures underpinning investment vehicles. Overcoming these obstacles and unifying approaches will be a major challenge.

Lastly, while tokenization is itself a seemingly easy process, it requires independent regulatory oversight and robust infrastructure to ensure control over the fractionalized assets. At present, Blockchain is a novel technology that is yet to be fully understood by most politicians and business owners. Thus, it will take a lot of education and lobbying to ensure that adoption can spread beyond the spheres of early adopters.

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How Quantum Computing Can Revolutionize Life Sciences

How Quantum Computing Can Revolutionize Life Sciences?

Quantum theory tries to explain the nature and behavior of energy on the atomic and subatomic level. Computing uses computer technology to develop algorithms that are tasked with solving specific tasks.

How are these two seemingly separate fields related?

Quantum computing combines computers and quantum theory to help scientists process complex tasks much faster and with higher accuracy than traditional computers. Indeed, quantum computers can process a high number of bits – the smallest units of data that a computer can process – that are in different states at the same time.

The result?

“Supercomputers” with radically enhanced processing capabilities.

Indeed, quantum computers can process highly realistic simulations involving millions of interconnected and evolving inputs – such as the reaction of the human body to drugs, medicine, and therapeutics.

In fact, quantum computing is being applied with great success in the field of life sciences – the study of living organisms and life processes. A study conducted by Pistoia Alliance found that 82% of life science organizations agreed that quantum computing will have a commercial impact within the next decade.

So why is Quantum Computing such a big deal? What are examples of its real-world use cases? Can we expect quantum computing to contribute to the betterment of healthcare processes for organizations and patients alike?

In this article, we will present 3 ways in which quantum computing can revolutionize life sciences.

1. Precision Medicine Therapies

The first way that quantum computing can revolutionize life sciences by successfully linking genomes and outcomes. This will facilitate the development of precision medicine therapies.

What does this mean?

Thanks to 30 years of research, scientists have successfully mapped the human genome, and are now able to understand primary sequences. Their attention has now shifted to fathoming how genomic sequences translate to function.

In layman’s terms, this simply means understanding what specific genomes actually do.

Unfortunately, understanding genome function is no easy task. Indeed, scientists must somehow make sense of the 3 billion DNA base pairs that exist across human populations. The sheer number of possibilities and outcomes is beyond the capabilities of current computing technology.

Thankfully, quantum computing can help scientists accelerate fundamental genome to function discoveries in three main ways:

Motif discovery and prediction: quantum computing’s powerful algorithms can accelerate the identification of important patterns that activate or inhibit gene expression.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS): this process tries to establish a link between the single DNA mutations and the expression of diseases. Current algorithms developed on ‘normal’ computers are high-dimensional and computationally challenging. Quantum computing has the potential to narrow the list of candidate genes and hone in on the specific candidates that need to be closely examined This will save organizations both time and money, while accelerating the development of life saving drugs.

De-novo structure prediction: scientists have an abundance of sequencing information and technology. What they lack is deep and intricate understanding of how various structures translate into actual function. Quantum computing can improve the structure prediction for RA molecules, DNA-protein complexes, and other constructs.

All of this may seem highly technical and fairly abstract. Here is a real-world example of how quantum computing can link the relationship between genomes and diseases. Imagine this scene: you are in the hospital for a particular ailment, which turns out to be a serious disease. Your doctor runs your DNA in a quantum computer, analyzes the results and says: “Based on your genetic makeup, we can confidently say that our treatment will produce this specific result”. At this stage, medical uncertainty will be a distant memory. 2. Improving Patient Outcomes Developing predictive therapies will improve patient outcomes. In a perfect world, they will result in medical treatments with a 100% rate of success. Indeed, how can such treatments fail if they are tailored to your individual genome? This sounds simple, but the human body has millions of variables that interact not only with each other, but also with external inputs. It is very difficult to predict how a foreign substance – in this case, a drug or treatment – will impact different bodies. There are so many factors at play that the same drug can produce very different reactions in people with almost the same genetic makeup. Thus, it is vital that treatment being developed do not produce negative effects due to minor molecular oversights. This is an extremely important aspect of drug development – one which quantum computing can solve. Typically, drug discovery involves screening 200,000 to > 106 compounds in experimental and computational workflows. Ultimately, only a few thousand are produced and tested in the necessary battery of assays. Quantum computing could help scientists assess more candidate molecules and evaluate their characteristics and impacts more accurately. This is a very important advance because the number of small molecules is enormous. Current computational limits mean that only a fraction of molecules are considered during the discovery process: indeed, while up to 106 of compounds are screened, it is estimated that the total possible carbon-based compounds whose molecular masses are similar to those of living systems is 1060 or more. Quantum computer would be a major step towards running comprehensive and realistic simulations. 3. Developing Novel Biological Products The third way that quantum computing can revolutionize life sciences is by helping scientists develop biological drugs based on protein folding predictions. Biological drugs use a protein or another macromolecule to fight a given disease. For example, antibodies and insulin, two notable biological drugs, have been used with great success for decades. With the advent of quantum computing, these types of drugs will become easier to develop and market. Until now, researchers were overwhelmed by the sheer number of potential conformations and chain lengths. Consider this: in a single model, a chain of twenty amino acids can have 109 potential conformations, and chains with 60 and 100 amino acids can have up to 1028 and 1047 potential conformations. Further, the FDA requires that proteins studied during biological drug development have more than 40 amino acids. Obviously, this pushes current computational power to its limits. Thankfully, quantum computing has the ability to score the vast number of possible structures and identify the ones likeliest to achieve the desired results. In addition, quantum computing can significantly improve the calculation of protein force fields. Ultimately, this will help researchers discover proteins that can treat and cure diseases that currently rely on legacy treatments with questionable efficiency. The Bottom Line Quantum computing has the potential to radically improve healthcare processes and deliverables:

On the one hand, drug companies will be able to perform high-precision research, which will help them minimize costs and increase the likelihood of commercializing new drugs, therapies and treatments.

On the other hand, patients will benefit from individualized treatments that will produce higher success rates and, ultimately, increase longevity.

Despite promising initial results, quantum computing is still in its early innings, and billions of dollars are being invested in order to accelerate its development over the coming years. By: Michael Megarit