Shaping a new generation of innovators in the era of the 4th Industrial Revolution

What a difference a few decades can make! The world around us is changing at blistering speed. Welcome to the ‘Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)’. We are smack dab in the middle of incredible changes that are causing our physical, digital, and biological worlds to merge.

In this vastly altered reality, age-old rules no longer apply, especially when it comes to education and to leveraging the best approach in empowering the innovators and thought leaders of tomorrow.

Let us undertake a quick comparison between the past and present to highlight some interesting insights.

Consider computers as an example. Years ago, the only people building their personal computers from scratch at home or tinkering with them were those inordinately dedicated to and involved with various aspects of computing technology – the ‘geeks’ if you will. Fast forward to the present and the geeks are now considered ‘young innovators’, who are pushed to build their own drones through integrating and optimising their hardware.

What’s more, realising that innovation requires an agile and rapid prototyping environment, major corporations now see the merit in setting up their own HackerSpace/Innovation Lab/FabLab. Big companies are vying with one another to unleash the creativity of their employees and to motivate them through transitioning from slide-based demonstrations to showcasing working prototypes.

The innovators of tomorrow are agile, efficient, and out-of-the-box thinkers. Generation Alpha are risk takers, who are at once curious and also readily accepting of failure. They are resourceful and inquisitive, go-getters who prefer to spend their free time, on vacation or otherwise, in productive pursuits where they learn something of value in their fields of interest. And above all, they value critical thinking.

Combined, these values result in a host of unbeatable attributes. They put the onus on educators and mentors to ensure that training the innovators of tomorrow is done correctly and effectively to reap the richest dividends.

As one of the emerging hotspots of innovation in the world today, and a test bed for scientific and creative projects, Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, is firing on all cylinders as it seeks to establish an enabling research ecosystem for young innovators and scientists. The emirate’s Hub 71 at the Abu Dhabi Global Market seeks to attract tech entrepreneurs to its fold through incubation and financial support. Periodically hosting tech challenges, like the recently launched “XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion” sponsored by ASPIRE, that bring together students and industry, the focus on prioritising STEM learning is evident everywhere in the emirate.

Abu Dhabi’s Hub 71 at the Abu Dhabi Global Market.

Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, the overarching entity tasked with shaping an advanced technology ecosystem and building national competencies in the diverse deep-tech domains such as AI, crypto, quantum computing, advanced materials, directed energy, and digital security, among others, is also a catalyst in building a cadre of scientific and advanced tech professionals that can assume their rightful roles as innovation leaders of tomorrow.

The emirate is also home to tech accelerator startAD, which nurtures seed-stage start-ups and helps connect them with corporate partners.

Clearly, when we discuss building an innovation ecosystem, there are several prerequisites to consider. STEM learning has evolved considerably over time and several of today’s educators may well find themselves ill-equipped to teach Gen Alpha, who are digital natives in more ways than one. So, how is this challenge to be overcome?

Some of the goals in empowering young innovators is to refocus education systems away from generating defined bodies of knowledge and highlight critical thinking, problem solving skills and other related competencies.

There is an urgent need to increase the quantity and quality of graduates from STEM disciplines and equally to broaden knowledge of STEM fields to better equip citizens to meet the demands placed on them in technologically advanced societies.

For any degree of success, STEM education needs to be delivered by STEM specialists – from an early age.

There is an urgent need to increase the quantity and quality of graduates from STEM disciplines.

W. B. Yeats, the English poet, famously said: “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” This captures in a nutshell the spirit and purpose of STEM education as it builds a cadre of lifelong learners with an inquiring mind and the capability to get to the solution of a challenge, no matter how complex it may be.

STEM education is more than just the teaching of subjects – it involves shaping a mindset – certainly no trivial responsibility when you consider the wider goal of nation-building or indeed, of shaping the future of human civilisation.

While it may take a village to raise a child, for STEM education to succeed requires something similar – community engagement and investment in steering the shift to an all-round scientific learning and training mindset.

With the growing digitalisation of education today, comes a host of new demands on teachers, educational systems, and on the next generation of leaders – Gen Alpha. How do you make sure that what you learn today will still be relevant in 15 years’ time when you want to enter middle management? Or if you are a scientist – what tools do you need to pick up now that will still serve you well in the next two decades? The answer is simple. Teach them to learn.

Learning by doing and being actively engaged in the creative process of shaping breakthrough solutions alone can ensure rich dividends. Teachers must rely on reskilling themselves to get up to speed ahead of taking on the ambitious project of educating the innovators – seminars and online resources abound – but just like the innovators, they need to be willing to invest the time to leverage resources.

Learning by doing and being actively engaged in the creative process of shaping breakthrough solutions alone can ensure rich dividends.

Contemporary learners want to make things – whether it is a super computer or their own media. Choice is important to them and they want a say in what they learn and how. In addition, as the most technologically literate generation in history, technology in itself might not matter as much. Their focus – and what we need to guide these students to do – is use that technology to create products of value, discover information, collaborate, give and receive feedback, and ultimately, foster innovation.

Equally significantly, traditional gold standards, such as grades, homework, rigour and process will be set aside in favour of feedback, flexibility, and blended learning formats.

While engaging with so many bright young minds as part of TII’s NexTech Programme, that seeks to inspire UAE national youth to explore promising careers in advanced technology, an irrevocable insight that comes to mind is that we need to revisit educational curricula to focus on craft-based learning, digital fabrication technologies and ‘maker education’ that is prevalent in select schools in some European countries.

A young hi-tech-minded nation like the UAE – unencumbered by legacy systems – can easily switch tracks now to shape a new educational ecosystem that can build these skillsets in students.

Rome was not built in a day and shaping an advanced technology mindset requires early intervention to ensure all the enabling elements are in place. Government support, well-structured and sustained research funding, ancillary support incentives, public-private partnerships, getting industry invested in academia with a view to meeting the future economic and workforce demands – these multiple and vibrant notes must blend together in a harmonious chorus to realise the vision of shaping a vital research ecosystem.

Dr Chaouki Kasmi, chief researcher – Directed Energy Research Centre (DERC), Technology Innovation Institute.