People take back the power in the next industrial revolution

The first industrial revolution used mother nature to mechanize production through water and steam. The second found mass production through electric power. Electronics and information technology was the third, which significantly contributed to the automation of the production process. Now, the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is the digital era, which blurs the lines between physical and digital, professional and personal, work and home, have and have-nots. However, this trajectory has been short circuited by people power, therefore, the next industrial revolution will not solely be focused on technology but on the people. This article explores how COVID has accelerated and transformed the once de-humanised 4IR of digital technology, back to a human-centric approach, that morphs the two and gives the power back to the people.