The Chief Information Officer will play a decisive role in companies that decide to embrace the processing methods of the fourth industrial revolution
An important change is underway that, as in past eras, constitutes a watershed between two processing systems, one now in the past and one anchored in new technologies. A passage that imposes not only a renewal of machines, but also of human capital.
The fourth industrial revolution coincides with the adoption of new working tools. The always-connected objects of the Internet of Things enter the factory. Production systems are no longer governed only by humans, but also by robots. We rely more and more on intelligent methodologies, able to interact with the physical world and make decisions autonomously. There is a move to more efficient storage techniques, known as cloud computing. And that’s not all. A fundamental role will also be played by virtual reality, to be used in multiple fields. Industry 4.0, however, needs new figures, able to face all these new challenges.
Need to invest in human capital
It is not enough to buy robots or change old machines with Internet of Things devices to move to Industry 4.0. A company absolutely must take into account that a part of the investments will have to be allocated to staff training. In fact, to take advantage of the benefits offered by the fourth industrial revolution, companies will have to focus heavily on human capital. People are needed who are capable of dealing with the new production technologies. It will be crucial to have people capable of interpreting the data collected by intelligent machines. Big Data, in fact, will allow, if correctly analyzed, to minimize business risk.
Chief Information Officer
In all this, a role of primary importance will be that of the Chief Information Officer, a liaison figure between the manager responsible for the financial sector and the CEO. He will be tasked with managing many of the company’s most important areas. The reason is quite simple. If production is going to be based on automation and on connected and intelligent work tools, it is natural that the Chief Information Officer will be fundamental to the company. Not only will the Chief Information Officer have to control the operation of the machines, but he or she will also be instrumental in making decisions.