The World after Big Data: What the Digital Revolution Means for Us

Abstract

The digital revolution is changing human history. The invention of the steam engine turned agricultural society ("economy 1.0") into industrial society ("economy 2.0"), and wide-spread education turned it into service society ("economy 3.0"). Now, the invention of computers, the Internet, the World Wide Web, and Social Media are transforming service societies into digital societies ("economy 4.0"). With computers reaching the level of human brainpower in about 10 years, with intelligent service robots, and the Big Data tsunami, 50 percent of jobs in the industrial and service sectors will be lost within the next 20 years. How will this transform our society?

Keywords: digital revolution, second machine age, third industrial revolution, economy 4.0, Big Data, self-regulation, invisible hand