Technology through time

To understand what it means to be ‘future ready’, let me share a quote, which, ironically, goes against what it means to be future ready. It goes thus- ‘If it is not broken, don’t fix it’. This is the mindset we need to break out of, because being future ready means developing solutions anticipating the problems of the future.

25 years ago when computers became mainstream and everything started going online, from e-newspapers to grocery stores, it paved the way for new technologies: Machine Learning, AI, and cybersecurity . This in turn flashed a huge amount of importance on coding. Today every student who aspires to break into the field of technology, needs to know at least one programming language. Did anyone from the 20th century even think that these unfamiliar fictitious terms would be taken up as professions now?

 

Technology today

Having these skills is of utmost importance but these were not acquired in one day. We had to anticipate their requirements beforehand so that now, when they are the need of the hour, we already have a skilled workforce in place ready to tackle the new problems arising due to these new technologies. This would not have been possible without the thought of being future ready. Things which might have seemed like science fiction two decades ago are now our reality.

Now let us talk about the situation during Covid 19. We struggled to adjust to a virtual world because the transition happened overnight. Had we been better prepared, or even anticipated the catastrophic consequences of this pandemic, we might have made the shift from a physical to a virtual world much easier and less jarring.
Taking lessons from this, we can look at the future of jobs and also understand that preparing for inevitable shifts in trends and technology is of utmost importance.

 

Adapting to technology

Let us better understand this with the example of “switchboard operators”, a profession hugely popular in the early twentieth century. Once an indispensable profession, it has now become obsolete with the convenience that mobile phones have brought into our lives. Let us take a moment to think about the employees. If they were not prepared to switch to a new job, they would have found themselves unemployed once the demand for “switchboard operators” declined. Without learning other skills that would be more important in the future, it would be immensely difficult for them to survive.

Many such jobs that exist now might similarly not exist a decade later. Similarly, many new jobs that are not there now, might soon be relevant. We need to envision the world of the future and develop skills in line with  upcoming trends, in order to thrive in this fast-paced world.

 

Stay abreast

This is where future planning is required, this is where there is a need to alter the school and college curriculums. If there is more emphasis on vocational education involving new skills, the unemployment rate might be much lower than it is in the present.

To stay ahead of the curve and keep pace with the fast changing world, we must adjust our learning system and develop skills that will help us in the future, because then we will not only help ourselves, but also society as a whole. Today it is not important to know all the answers but rather to know what questions to ask and move towards the solution accordingly. This is what being future ready means- to be ready to take on the future with the strengths and resources of the present.

 

About the author

The article has been contributed by Annesha Sengupta- a student of St Joseph’s High School, Matigara, Darjeeling.