Industry 3.0

This is a continuation of the series of posts on the main industrial revolutions in history. After talking about the First and the Second as well as explaining the main innovations, today it is the turn of the Third Industrial Revolution, or Industry 3.0

A brief history

In the mid-twentieth century, mankind began to witness countless advances in science and technology, the modernisation of industry and a process of globalisation worldwide. The great innovations made in the Second Industrial Revolution, which were, and many still are, the engine driving the world for decades, gave way to a new series of inventions that continued to transform our way of life, and that enabled us to reach some extraordinary historical milestones; some were terrible, such as the development of the atomic bomb (its use in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in the summer of 1945, will always be remembered as one of the darkest days in our history), and others, both shocking and hopeful, such as the astronauts of Apollo 11 who were the first human beings to land on the Moon in 1969.

However, no precise period has been established period for the Third Industrial Revolution in the history books, as it is supposedly still happening. What is clear is that one of the key starting points for this third world wave of innovations was 1973, with the sudden, unexpected, excessive rise in the price of oil. Much of the progress made during the previous revolution had largely been based this fuel which until then had been cheap. This was when many companies and sectors were forced to reinvent themselves, and this was the trigger that set off very significant changes, especially in telecommunications, robotics and bioengineering, the three fields that were best able to meet the challenges to be faced as a result of the crisis.

But what precise elements give this period enough personality for it to be considered an industrial revolution? To answer this question we need to examine the figure of the American sociologist Jeremy Rifkin, who developed the concept of a "Third Industrial Revolution" which was endorsed by the European Parliament in 2006. According to Rifkin, this new revolution is based on two main pillars: Internet and renewable energies. And there is more: The fusion of both of these technologies will be the infrastructure that will sustain humanity for decades to come, for as long as we wish to survive as a species. That is why the time has come to abandon fossil fuels and realise the full potential of the Internet of Things. Our future will only be possible in a fully interconnected and clean world.

The main innovations

This time we will focus exclusively on two areas that have undergone many great changes in recent decades, and which are precisely the pillars referred to in Rifkin's message: Communications and energy.

Communications

There is no doubt that we are at the most interconnected stage in our history. And it was undoubtedly two inventions that saw the light of day in the twentieth century that laid the foundations for the world of communications as we know it today.

The personal computer. These small computers are capable of managing and storing millions of data, running computer programmes and automating mechanical processes, and without doubt they are now a vital tool for mankind in the 21st century. But how did they begin to be developed? One of the key names is the British mathematician Alan Turing, considered one of the fathers of computing. The incredible work he did to decipher the complex Nazi Enigma machine during World War II laid the foundation for modern computing. The Z1 in Germany and the ENIAC in America were the first computers in history, but the breakthrough in this field occurred in the 1960s, with the development of the first personal computers, with Olivetti and MITS as pioneering companies. A decade later, two names revolutionised the computer industry: Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs with their Apple II. And just a short time later, in the early 1980s, IBM achieved something that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago: There were computers in thousands of homes, as just one more domestic appliance.

• Internet. The other great invention that completely changed the world of communications was the Internet. The Web, first imagined by the American computer scientist J. C. R. Licklider, began its journey in the 1980s. With a direct connection between networks (through a series of protocols), a global system of decentralised communication was created. Soon afterwards, Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau took advantage of this new technology to create a worldwide computer network in Switzerland, still known today as the World Wide Web (WWW). Perhaps no one thought at that time about the impact that this invention would have, making it possible for us to access data from anywhere and in a very short time, and which has become one of the pillars of modern societies. It is impossible to imagine a future without the Internet.

Energy

Much progress has been made in this field in the third revolution. Here are two of the most important and both occurred during the twentieth century; Two vital inventions for the current development of a new, more sustainable energy paradigm.

• The electric car. In this blog we have always defended the importance of e-mobility when we come to build the much sought after smart cities of the future. But when did the first cars of this type appear? We need to go back to shortly before the mid-19th century. Although it is not entirely clear who was the first to invent a car powered by electricity, there are three people who have gone down in history as a result of their designs: The Hungarian Ányos Jedlik, the American Thomas Davenport and two men from the Netherlands, Sibrandus Stratingh and Christopher Becker. They all built vehicles that were driven by an electric engine, which was developed by the German physicist and engineer Moritz von Jacobi. Interestingly, this type of car enjoyed a significant boom during the first two decades of the last century, but for a number of reasons (the cost was too high cost and the autonomy was too low) they were replaced by vehicles using a combustion engine. But as a result of powerful social awareness, and because of tycoons in the sector like Elon Musk the electric car is back in fashion.
• Smart electricity grids. This type of grids, also known simply as smart grids, are those with current that flows bi-directionally. In other words, they can provide energy and get it back. This is in combination with advanced data collection and processing technologies, and all this helps to manage smart grids correctly. Since the installation of the first electricity grid in 1886 much has changed, especially since the end of the 20th century. This is when the number of power stations increased considerably as a result of high demand for electricity, and certain problems with supply became common, including power cuts and shutdowns. There was a need to solve these problems, and as a result of interesting progress made in information technologies, the first smart electricity grids appeared at the beginning of this century. Italy (with the Telegestore project) and the USA were pioneer countries in the deployment of smart grids in some of their territories, and with great success. Fortunately, this type of grid is currently enjoying a boom.