The Impact of Information Technology in the workforce - Revision history

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Conclusion */

2019-05-17T07:42:39Z

Conclusion

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	==Conclusion==		==Conclusion==

			Many of us probably remember a science fiction film based on the book by Isaac Asimov “I, Robot” . Father of the main character has lost his job because of implementing robots in production.He was not the only one, though.

			But what awaits us tomorrow? What kind of future do we want?

			If people want to stay relevant for a long time, they need to develop the most important skills like interaction with other people, ability to persuade, to sense other people’s emotions and imagine what someone else might be feeling. It will become people's main competitive advantage over machines. Only real leaders can motivate their teams to work effectively, only real doctors can discuss the problem with their patients and choose a treatment plan together according pitients' wishes and comments.

			Human potentional is limitless, isn't it?

	==Sources==		==Sources==

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Cognitive insight via data analysis */

2019-05-17T05:34:22Z

Cognitive insight via data analysis

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	===Cognitive insight via data analysis===		===Cognitive insight via data analysis===

	~~cognitive~~ insight via data analysis - advanced technology which allows to analysis of large volumes of data, applying cognitive skills and algorithms getting better at their job. These machine-learning applications are being used to:		Cognitive insight via data analysis - advanced technology which allows to analysis of large volumes of data, applying cognitive skills and algorithms getting better at their job. These machine-learning applications are being used to:
	*Predict what a particular customer can buy;		*Predict what a particular customer can buy;
	*Identify credit fraud in real time and identify insurance claims;		*Identify credit fraud in real time and identify insurance claims;

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Just little bits of history repeating */

2019-05-17T04:18:42Z

Just little bits of history repeating

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	Digitalisation and machines are all around us. In addition to pleasures of better communication and access to intellectual richness of the world, digitalisation is also bringing problems. Addiction, separation from the real life, echo chambers of social media, anonymousness as fertilizer for anger and radicalisation to name a few. Above all looms a growing anticipation of a miracle or disaster the technology is bringing to the employment landscape. If you are an optimist, you are looking forward to the 3 day working weeks and increasing leisure time. If you are an pessimist, you are scared of grim future of unemployment and sustenance provided by our silicon overlord or their capitalist owners. How is it going to be?		Digitalisation and machines are all around us. In addition to pleasures of better communication and access to intellectual richness of the world, digitalisation is also bringing problems. Addiction, separation from the real life, echo chambers of social media, anonymousness as fertilizer for anger and radicalisation to name a few. Above all looms a growing anticipation of a miracle or disaster the technology is bringing to the employment landscape. If you are an optimist, you are looking forward to the 3 day working weeks and increasing leisure time. If you are an pessimist, you are scared of grim future of unemployment and sustenance provided by our silicon overlord or their capitalist owners. How is it going to be?

	==[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLT6_TQmq8 ~~Just little bits of~~ history repeating]==		==Just little bits of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzLT6_TQmq8 history repeating]==

	Digitalisation and machines are not the first and most probably will not remain the last radical revolution impacting human employment and civilization. All started with invention of fire, which facilitate radical change in human evolution and cultural change. Fire provided early humans with source of warmth, protection from wilderness and new methods of cooking food. Fire allowed early humans to conquer the world and gave basis for technological advancement. Fire changed us slowly - the technology of fire was adopted over hundreds of thousands of years and we only know for sure that the modern human had fire in widespread use 125,000 years ago <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_of_fire_by_early_humans Control of fire by early humans]</ref>. Back then things were rough - masters of the new technology prospered, and hominid species and human tribes without the technology went extinct.		Digitalisation and machines are not the first and most probably will not remain the last radical revolution impacting human employment and civilization. All started with invention of fire, which facilitate radical change in human evolution and cultural change. Fire provided early humans with source of warmth, protection from wilderness and new methods of cooking food. Fire allowed early humans to conquer the world and gave basis for technological advancement. Fire changed us slowly - the technology of fire was adopted over hundreds of thousands of years and we only know for sure that the modern human had fire in widespread use 125,000 years ago <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Control_of_fire_by_early_humans Control of fire by early humans]</ref>. Back then things were rough - masters of the new technology prospered, and hominid species and human tribes without the technology went extinct.

Ekaterina.radchenko at 04:14, 17 May 2019

2019-05-17T04:14:58Z

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	Autorid:		Autorid: Kaupo Lepasepp, Jevgeni Vassilejv, Viktoria Vessener, Jekaterina Metsavas

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Changes to support the Great Transformation */

2019-05-17T03:15:49Z

Changes to support the Great Transformation

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	Society must act in order to avoid silent resentment turning into political landslides or violent confrontations - between employed and unemployed classes; between the owners or machines and the rest. In order to assist people thrown between the rock and the hard place four kinds of policies are considered advisable. First, countries must reshape their educational system - education must become more flexible and prepare people for lifelong learning. Educational institutions, especially universities must facilitate re-education of adults with existing employment and family life. This requires more flexible admission criteria and form of study without jeopardising the quality of the education. Second, the education and employment must become more focus on exploring the value of human-machine complementaries. As we saw before, the machines have their great strengths, but still in many fields humans are expected to surpass the machine. The studies and business R&D should explore and create value from the activities where technology and human skills are supporting each other, and not competing with each other.		Society must act in order to avoid silent resentment turning into political landslides or violent confrontations - between employed and unemployed classes; between the owners or machines and the rest. In order to assist people thrown between the rock and the hard place four kinds of policies are considered advisable. First, countries must reshape their educational system - education must become more flexible and prepare people for lifelong learning. Educational institutions, especially universities must facilitate re-education of adults with existing employment and family life. This requires more flexible admission criteria and form of study without jeopardising the quality of the education. Second, the education and employment must become more focus on exploring the value of human-machine complementaries. As we saw before, the machines have their great strengths, but still in many fields humans are expected to surpass the machine. The studies and business R&D should explore and create value from the activities where technology and human skills are supporting each other, and not competing with each other.

	Last but not least the focus should be of diligent and careful management of growing income inequalities. First, all the necessary readjustments in the educational system are costly - the investments must be made upfront and the returns are reaped after decades. Meanwhile governments must be able to finance the transformation of the system and also contribute to the welfare and safety net for the people falling out of employment. Secondly the rise of the machines also the rise of capital and capitalist. Studies have shown that a feature of the capitalism tends to be that the rate of return or profit from capital always exceeds the return on labor <ref name="e">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century Capital in the Twenty-First Century]</ref>. This means that even in normal circumstances the wealth tends to accumulate more quickly to the owners of capital rather to the employees. In case of radical changes requiring heavy capital investments, these normal forces of economy are even more pronounces. Thus one consequence of the Information Revolution is growing inequality which we can already see in real data <ref name="e" /><ref>[https://inequality.org/facts/global-inequality/ Global Inequality]</ref>. The mix of having substantial part of the society unemployed and living next to superrich, would be dangerously similar to the toxic situation which lead to revolutions and wars of early 20th century in Europe		Last but not least the focus should be of diligent and careful management of growing income inequalities. First, all the necessary readjustments in the educational system are costly - the investments must be made upfront and the returns are reaped after decades. Meanwhile governments must be able to finance the transformation of the system and also contribute to the welfare and safety net for the people falling out of employment. Secondly the rise of the machines also the rise of capital and capitalist. Studies have shown that a feature of the capitalism tends to be that the rate of return or profit from capital always exceeds the return on labor <ref name="e">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century Capital in the Twenty-First Century]</ref>. This means that even in normal circumstances the wealth tends to accumulate more quickly to the owners of capital rather to the employees. In case of radical changes requiring heavy capital investments, these normal forces of economy are even more pronounces. Thus one consequence of the Information Revolution is growing inequality which we can already see in real data <ref name="e" /><ref>[https://inequality.org/facts/global-inequality/ Global Inequality]</ref>. The mix of having substantial part of the society unemployed and living next to superrich, would be dangerously similar to the toxic situation which lead to revolutions and wars of early 20th century in Europe.

			Thus we see that technology, advancements and computers are capable of bringing a lot of joy and relief to the society, but the road to fully employing the benefits of the technology and its adoption can deeply touch the fundamental functions of human being and society. Unless properly managed by the society, educational institutions, organisations and government, unless the root causes of the changing circumstances are explained to the people most affected together with an aspirational roadmap, a hope, a dream of a the better future, the despair of the people thrown at the wind of changing times may cause turmoil which destroys the benefits of the technological advancement. On the other hand if all this is done, there a bright new future full of intellectual challenges and less tedious tasks waiting ahead the employees of the future.
			Therefore, the likely challenge for the future lies in coping with rising inequality and ensuring sufficient (re-)training especially for low qualified workers.<ref name="q" />

	==Conclusion==		==Conclusion==
	==Sources==		==Sources==

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Changes to support the Great Transformation */

2019-05-17T03:14:02Z

Changes to support the Great Transformation

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	Yet, this swift is coming with a price. Despite of the general progress and development substantial part of population and electorate is expected to experience real wage stagnation of reduction as its direct and immediate result. On personal level such changes are tough, and often the re-training and re-education referred as a solution by scientists and policymakers will be buried under mundane realities of life - it’s tough to get another education while taking care of a family. So the greater benefit to the society will happen via great personal discomfort and pain. Losing a job without a prospect of recruitment touches the fundamental values of being a human and thus the disruption to traditional employment and business structures is likely to stretch and break the underlying social fabric causing silent resentment - like the Appalachian Rust Belt despair <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt Rust Belt]</ref> which brought Donald Trump to the US Presidency <ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]</ref> - or upright violent uprisings caused by gilets jaunes as close as in Paris <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/more-violence-in-paris-as-gilet-jaunes-protests-enter-13th-weekend More violence in Paris as gilet jaunes protests enter 13th weekend. The Guardin]</ref>		Yet, this swift is coming with a price. Despite of the general progress and development substantial part of population and electorate is expected to experience real wage stagnation of reduction as its direct and immediate result. On personal level such changes are tough, and often the re-training and re-education referred as a solution by scientists and policymakers will be buried under mundane realities of life - it’s tough to get another education while taking care of a family. So the greater benefit to the society will happen via great personal discomfort and pain. Losing a job without a prospect of recruitment touches the fundamental values of being a human and thus the disruption to traditional employment and business structures is likely to stretch and break the underlying social fabric causing silent resentment - like the Appalachian Rust Belt despair <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt Rust Belt]</ref> which brought Donald Trump to the US Presidency <ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]</ref> - or upright violent uprisings caused by gilets jaunes as close as in Paris <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/more-violence-in-paris-as-gilet-jaunes-protests-enter-13th-weekend More violence in Paris as gilet jaunes protests enter 13th weekend. The Guardin]</ref>

			Society must act in order to avoid silent resentment turning into political landslides or violent confrontations - between employed and unemployed classes; between the owners or machines and the rest. In order to assist people thrown between the rock and the hard place four kinds of policies are considered advisable. First, countries must reshape their educational system - education must become more flexible and prepare people for lifelong learning. Educational institutions, especially universities must facilitate re-education of adults with existing employment and family life. This requires more flexible admission criteria and form of study without jeopardising the quality of the education. Second, the education and employment must become more focus on exploring the value of human-machine complementaries. As we saw before, the machines have their great strengths, but still in many fields humans are expected to surpass the machine. The studies and business R&D should explore and create value from the activities where technology and human skills are supporting each other, and not competing with each other.

			Last but not least the focus should be of diligent and careful management of growing income inequalities. First, all the necessary readjustments in the educational system are costly - the investments must be made upfront and the returns are reaped after decades. Meanwhile governments must be able to finance the transformation of the system and also contribute to the welfare and safety net for the people falling out of employment. Secondly the rise of the machines also the rise of capital and capitalist. Studies have shown that a feature of the capitalism tends to be that the rate of return or profit from capital always exceeds the return on labor <ref name="e">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_in_the_Twenty-First_Century Capital in the Twenty-First Century]</ref>. This means that even in normal circumstances the wealth tends to accumulate more quickly to the owners of capital rather to the employees. In case of radical changes requiring heavy capital investments, these normal forces of economy are even more pronounces. Thus one consequence of the Information Revolution is growing inequality which we can already see in real data <ref name="e" /><ref>[https://inequality.org/facts/global-inequality/ Global Inequality]</ref>. The mix of having substantial part of the society unemployed and living next to superrich, would be dangerously similar to the toxic situation which lead to revolutions and wars of early 20th century in Europe

	==Conclusion==		==Conclusion==
	==Sources==		==Sources==

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Changes to support the Great Transformation */

2019-05-17T03:09:27Z

Changes to support the Great Transformation

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	There are plenty of opportunities to improve our services to clients, make our work more fun and interesting, more rewarding and meaningful. And we just cannot value based on our current needs - also future employees and future clients will love to work in fun and forward looking environment.		There are plenty of opportunities to improve our services to clients, make our work more fun and interesting, more rewarding and meaningful. And we just cannot value based on our current needs - also future employees and future clients will love to work in fun and forward looking environment.

	==Changes to support the Great Transformation==		==Changes to support the Great Transformation==
			Whichever way you look at the phenomena of Machine-Human substitution, it is happening and bringing on fundamental challenges to the society. The great transformation will bring many benefits to the humanity in general and history is likely to see the coming decades as another intellectual and economical Era of Enlightenment laying foundations for ever greater future.

			Yet, this swift is coming with a price. Despite of the general progress and development substantial part of population and electorate is expected to experience real wage stagnation of reduction as its direct and immediate result. On personal level such changes are tough, and often the re-training and re-education referred as a solution by scientists and policymakers will be buried under mundane realities of life - it’s tough to get another education while taking care of a family. So the greater benefit to the society will happen via great personal discomfort and pain. Losing a job without a prospect of recruitment touches the fundamental values of being a human and thus the disruption to traditional employment and business structures is likely to stretch and break the underlying social fabric causing silent resentment - like the Appalachian Rust Belt despair <ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_Belt Rust Belt]</ref> which brought Donald Trump to the US Presidency <ref>[https://www.amazon.com/Hillbilly-Elegy-Memoir-Family-Culture/dp/0062300547 Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis]</ref> - or upright violent uprisings caused by gilets jaunes as close as in Paris <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/09/more-violence-in-paris-as-gilet-jaunes-protests-enter-13th-weekend More violence in Paris as gilet jaunes protests enter 13th weekend. The Guardin]</ref>

	==Conclusion==		==Conclusion==
	==Sources==		==Sources==

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Cognitive engagement */

2019-05-17T02:49:46Z

Cognitive engagement

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	===Cognitive engagement===		===Cognitive engagement===

	~~cognitive~~ engagement - engaging employees and customers using natural language processing chatbots, intelligent agents.This category includes:		Cognitive engagement - engaging employees and customers using natural language processing chatbots, intelligent agents.This category includes:
	• Helping in IT support, predicting the questions and answers; internal HR support the same way;
	~~• product~~ and service recommendation systems for retailers that enhance personalization, engagement, and sales;		*Helping in IT support, predicting the questions and answers; internal HR support the same way;
	~~• medical~~ treatment recommendation systems that help providers create individualized care plans.		*Product and service recommendation systems for retailers that enhance personalization, engagement, and sales;
			*Medical treatment recommendation systems that help providers create individualized care plans.
	According to study, companies tend to use cognitive interaction technology more often to interact with employees than with customers. In the same time the most advanced enterprises are launching customer service, but mainly for testing. Nobody has switched from actual people to machines in customer services.		According to study, companies tend to use cognitive interaction technology more often to interact with employees than with customers. In the same time the most advanced enterprises are launching customer service, but mainly for testing. Nobody has switched from actual people to machines in customer services.
	Harvard Business review further looked at what has been the expected outcome. According to that reduction of headcount is the least important one. Even with robotic process automation only few had target of reducing cost.		Harvard Business review further looked at what has been the expected outcome. According to that reduction of headcount is the least important one. Even with robotic process automation only few had target of reducing cost.
	So the main goal is not cost optimization, but rather quality, reliability, avoidance of errors.		So the main goal is not cost optimization, but rather quality, reliability, avoidance of errors.


	===So what's next?===		===So what's next?===

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Cognitive insight via data analysis */

2019-05-17T02:49:06Z

Cognitive insight via data analysis

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	cognitive insight via data analysis - advanced technology which allows to analysis of large volumes of data, applying cognitive skills and algorithms getting better at their job. These machine-learning applications are being used to:		cognitive insight via data analysis - advanced technology which allows to analysis of large volumes of data, applying cognitive skills and algorithms getting better at their job. These machine-learning applications are being used to:
	• Predict what a particular customer can buy;		*Predict what a particular customer can buy;
	• Identify credit fraud in real time and identify insurance claims;		*Identify credit fraud in real time and identify insurance claims;
	• Analysis of warranty data to identify problems with the safety or quality;		*Analysis of warranty data to identify problems with the safety or quality;
	• Automate custom digital ad targeting;		*Automate custom digital ad targeting;
	• Provide insurers with more accurate and detailed actuarial modeling.		*Provide insurers with more accurate and detailed actuarial modeling.

	Cognitive Insight applications are typically used to improve performance on tasks that can only be performed by machines — tasks such as buying software for an ad that includes such high-speed data analysis and automation that they haven't been humanly available for a long time — so they generally do not pose a threat to human work.		Cognitive Insight applications are typically used to improve performance on tasks that can only be performed by machines — tasks such as buying software for an ad that includes such high-speed data analysis and automation that they haven't been humanly available for a long time — so they generally do not pose a threat to human work.


	===Cognitive engagement===		===Cognitive engagement===

Ekaterina.radchenko: /* Robotic process automation */

2019-05-17T02:48:19Z

Robotic process automation

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	Let's consider these processes in more detail. Firstly, robotic process automation - RPA is more advanced than earlier business-process automation tools, because the “robots” (that is, code on a server) act like a human inputting and consuming information from multiple IT systems. Tasks include:		Let's consider these processes in more detail. Firstly, robotic process automation - RPA is more advanced than earlier business-process automation tools, because the “robots” (that is, code on a server) act like a human inputting and consuming information from multiple IT systems. Tasks include:
	• Taking data from one system, and using it elsewhere, no learning functionality;		*Taking data from one system, and using it elsewhere, no learning functionality;
	• Mainly back office administrative and financial activities		*Mainly back office administrative and financial activities
	• Measuring time worked on a document and automatically prefills timecards in billing system,		*Measuring time worked on a document and automatically prefills timecards in billing system,
	• Automated searches across large volumes of documents.		*Automated searches across large volumes of documents.
	All these processes automation guarantee so to say “lowest hanging fruit” (highest return on investment) as well as speed and quality. It can be assumed that robotic process automation would quickly put people out of work. But according to HBR review conclusions the replacement of administrative staff was neither the main goal nor the overall result. Only a few projects have led to a reduction in the number of employees, and in most cases, the tasks in question have already been transferred to external workers. As technology advances, robotic automation projects in the future may lead to some job loss, especially in the outsourcing industry of offshore business processes. Obviously If you can outsource the task, you can automate it.		All these processes automation guarantee so to say “lowest hanging fruit” (highest return on investment) as well as speed and quality. It can be assumed that robotic process automation would quickly put people out of work. But according to HBR review conclusions the replacement of administrative staff was neither the main goal nor the overall result. Only a few projects have led to a reduction in the number of employees, and in most cases, the tasks in question have already been transferred to external workers. As technology advances, robotic automation projects in the future may lead to some job loss, especially in the outsourcing industry of offshore business processes. Obviously If you can outsource the task, you can automate it.