The fourth industrial revolution

Technological trends such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) allow zero marginal cost economics to have an increasing impact on our industry.

Technological advancements blur the lines between the digital and physical worlds with IoT, while AI is not just automating manual tasks – it’s impacting many intellectual pursuits.

Industry impact

Some industries are already experiencing significant change (eg. energy and education), while others are only starting to see the effects (eg transport, property, architecture, engineering). As zero marginal cost impacts industries at different rates, some are being completely transformed. For others the full impacts are yet to be felt, but now is the time to anticipate change and prepare.

It’s time to pay attention to zero marginal cost economics

When zero marginal cost is real, it weakens and reshuffles value chains, it forces us to rethink how we view and commercialise intellectual property, and it necessitates critical analysis of business models.

Organisations across the built world must look beyond digital innovation as a technology, efficiency or operational innovation challenge. They must understand the fundamental economic and business shifts that reshape some of the basic assumptions around how their industries work.

Contributing authors & reviewers: Stewart Bird

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