Dr. Atish Chattopadhyay
Vice Chancellor,
Vijaybhoomi University

IFIM Business School, Bangalore, India, in association with National Human Resources Development Network (NHRDN) undertook an exhaustive initiative in 2018 to reach out to 292 industry executives to identify the skills required for Industry 4.0.

They organised three round-table discussions in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi in India. Participants included 43 senior executives and 18 chief executive officers.
The study identified the following needs for Industry 4.0

• Learning orientation and analytical mindset
• Integration of data, communication and technology
• Solution orientation and problem solving
• Dealing with change and uncertainty (unstructured situation)
• People and team orientation
• Innovation and creativity – entrepreneurial orientation
• Social sensitivity and cross-cultural orientation
• Managing self (self-awareness, self-development including wellness)
• Business orientation – multidisciplinary approach
• Globalization

The first change will have to be the curriculum. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, the curriculum should facilitate the process of “discovery” – encouraging “exploration” and “experimentation”. Students should be able to customize their learning pathways depending on their style, pace and learning orientation.

The findings showed that future professionals will be “T-shaped”, combining both a liberal mindset covering a wide breadth of knowledge across disciplines and in-depth knowledge in a specialized area.

The research also revealed a need for re-skilling at various levels, the emergence of a multi-generation workforce, wellness as an important element of self-management, and solutions or problem solving as the critical skill set required for Industry 4.0.

The study pointed out that technological disruptions may result in professionals finding themselves becoming “irrelevant”. Hence, “learning to learn” or learning orientation will be key for future professionals to remain relevant.

This skill set can be achieved only when institutions make major initiatives in education that will prepare students for the “future of work”. This will entail educational institutions investing in education that prepares graduates to embrace change and be life-long learners. Institutions will require a rebooting of their curricula pedagogy of teaching/learning and faculty.