**3. Education in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution**

systems through suitable interfaces. In case of disruptions, workers and engineers must be able to analyse complex systems through specialised software [6]. Engineers are required to acquire skills, knowledge and abilities about state-of-the-art software architectures, modelling and programming techniques [4]. In addition, statistical methods and data mining tech-

In summary, human-machine interfaces in the Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution have to be developed based on the user-centred approach with a task- and situation-orientation.

Human capital is considered critical for the success of organisations in today's world, however in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution, researchers and management practitioners are already predicting this scenario to take a different shape, given the characteristics of the changes anticipated. The characteristics of human capital that are key to success are education, experience and knowledge that organisations need to tap into to achieve success in the competitive world. Human capital theory considers that knowledge brings greater cognitive skills to individuals, thus impelling their productivity and efficiency potential to develop

"*Human capital can be defined as a set of knowledge, abilities and skills, used in activities, processes* 

However, from this [9] definition, the author coins the definition that matches human capital

*A set of education, experience, knowledge and skills possessed by employees and that is used to create value for the success of the organisation*. In these two foregoing definitions, we can see how experience, knowledge, skills and education are critical for human capital in the organisations, which in essence underscore the importance and role of human capital in the Smart

Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 requires not only just workforce, but also human capital nurtured in competitive education systems that is well prepared for creative work environments. No organisations require physical and tangible humans, as the present and future seems to offer a plethora of challenges to organisations and humanity. Therefore, as humans embrace to usher in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0, it has become imperative for nations as well as organisations to embark on education systems that are more focused on knowledge beyond what the world currently preach. This may require teaching creativity to children at an early age (Early Childhood Education) right up to university levels. A move away from traditional education systems of writing, reading, cramming and memorising as mode of passing an examination that never produce thinkers, creators and ingenuity should be a thing of the past. Therefore, nations need to revolutionise their education systems that produce super humans capable of surviving in Smart Manufacturing and

niques are key capabilities for future production engineers [10].

**revolution**

46 Digital Transformation in Smart Manufacturing

in an organisation as:

**2. Human capital in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0** 

activities [5, 10]. From the national perspective, human capital can be defined as:

*and services that contribute to stimulate economic growth*" [9].

Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution.

There is enough evidence that a country's education system plays an important role in its social, economic and political development. Most successful countries are successful because of their education system, for example, Japan education system requires that from class one to three, children are only taught Japanese moral values and nothing else. This is to ensure that they are imbibed with the Japanese's culture and education system that is supportive of Japanese's work environment ethics. Classrooms should foster quality environment capable of creative thinking and divergent views among children irrespective of their ages and stages of their education. Embracing technologies at an early age make such children more adaptable to the needs of Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution as opposed to adoptions and diffusions of such technologies at a later stage. Education for Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution is defined by technology literacy, information literacy, media creativity, social competence and responsibility, workplace skills and civic engagement. This is because the information made available dramatically increase, hence requiring people to have new skills to critically access and process content to ensure the best social communication and interaction. Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution present an opportunity as well as challenges to nations' education systems and only those nations whose education systems are anchored in inclusiveness and technologies imperatives will remain competitive. It is evident that, Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution rely more on the convergence of networks and devices to build bridges between people and countries. On the one hand, nations are already moving towards digital democracy to make their citizens productive and engaged participants in democracy. While on the other hand, in the workplace, more people are needed with technological skills to meet the demand of digital workplace worldwide. To meet all these demands for Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution, lifelong learning is necessary to ensure that everyone can stay informed. Universities have to lead research efforts not only to identify the skills but also to produce calibre of workforce that have the skills needed in the Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution. The questions that we need to address are: what sort of education systems is conducive for the Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution? How can we match education, knowledge and skills with that of Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution?

The evaluation of the competitiveness in the higher education sector should apply the approach that appraises the competitive advantage of the present systems with its legal, political, economic, social and technological factors [11]. The appropriateness of this method is based on the growth of a higher education environment that inspires, allows and safeguards a competitive higher education system. This takes an active part in increasing the standard of public (society) welfare and satiating the public interests through innovative approaches [11] as shown in

A country's capacity to absorb new technologies depends on upgrading the skills of the human capital, to produce goods and services that can reach standards of quality and performance acceptable in international markets. Such a country engages with the rest of the world in ways that create value. This requires the higher education system's collaboration with the labour market, private, public and secondary education among others. In order for higher education system to contribute successfully to a country's competitiveness, it needs to work hand in hand with all of them [12]. In particular, developing countries' national innovation policy should focus on an education system that is able to develop basic analytical and problem-solving skills, creativity, imagination, resourcefulness and flexibility of its people [8]. These skills and knowledge are critical and relevant to the Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Such countries and organisations that invest and reward their people effectively

Human Capital in the Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 Revolution

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73575

49

Culture is the glue that glued a particular people together. In defining culture, several scholars have offered different definitions; however, of interest is that of [13] who defined culture as *"the shared ways in which groups of people understand and interpret the world"*. While on the one hand, Ref. [14] states that culture is something that is learned and therefore is entrenched in a society or nation. It is akin to a "mental programme" that is developed early in life and fortified through a widespread programme of socialisation. "The usual act of idea is greatly changed by culture" [15]. This is because of the effect, culture has on the lives of people; it provides a structured and highly consistent way of living that is not deliberately constructed [15]. Tse [13, 14] postulates a real-world application of culture to living, implying that culture can be perceived as an "onion" in which the central represents the value systems and the covers growing out of it denote customs and rites expected from values. The question that bog us are how does a national culture promotes and hinders a country's innovation capacity? Throughout history and civilisations, those involve in innovation are gifted people who take creativity and risk. Others work independently, while some with groups and organisations. But, in almost cases, these persons want support and infrastructure to transform their concepts and creative ideas into something concrete and marketable. While individual instinct, inventive ability and tendency are instrumental in moving innovation projects forward, the surrounding environment and culture serve as the incubator that aids or inhibits innovation [16]. It is common to see in developing countries' people laugh at innovators or inventors simply because they failed to make ingenuity materialise or their experiment could not see the light of the day. This is what I call "great killers of creativity and innovation". Such innovators, inventors or creators need moral support irrespective of the outcomes of their experiments. Otherwise, the would-be innovators will naturally shy away from such innovation endeavours in future fearing to be turned into a laughing stock by the society in which they live. The support from the society and the government naturally make these innovators, creators and inventors to aspire for more of innovative ventures. Therefore, supportive national culture irrespective of success or failure will motivate more innovators to come forward and offer something new, which in turn can

compete in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution.

**4. Organisation culture**

be transformed into innovation imperatives.

**Figure 1.** A model of human capital for Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution. Source: Author's own illustration.

**Figure 1**. Not only the competitiveness of higher education system that plays critical role, but also right from early childhood education (Pre-school), primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary education that ensures a country's competitiveness in its overall education system.

The effectiveness of higher education system stresses the element of human capital (scholars, higher education managers, educators, academics, students, etc.): the overall effectiveness evaluation system is based on the human competencies, ensuring the performance of higher education institutions, its evaluation, quality assurance frameworks, potential demand or final outcomes [11]. This is where most developing countries should focus to revolutionise their education for knowledge and innovative society that results in the national competitiveness. Good and competitive education system ensures a country of creative and knowledgeable population that contributes immensely at national innovation systems (NIS) as individual or organisation. In this study's conceptual (**Figure 1**), this relationship has been demonstrated.

Any education system or policy should focus learning outcomes that stimulate the three components of creativity (creative-thinking skills, expertise and cognitive) at any level of the education. When these people are nurtured under this type of education system, then that assures a country of not only creative, but also knowledgeable society [7].

Education systems that encourage and promote learners to question what they have been taught in formal as well as informal classrooms is an ideal for innovation-driven economy as it develops calibres of society where creative thinking is the norm of the day. This type of behaviour should be entrenched in the society as a whole, for example, early childhood education development level. When children are allowed to questioning, it leads to knowing, which develop their mental faculty to reason and analyse things from different perspectives. However, in most developing countries, particularly sub-Saharan-Africa countries, the cultural practices are that a child must not question anything coming from an adult person, as this is considered to be rude. In addition, it is viewed as a taboo and such children are seen as disrespectful to adult persons. But to create innovation-driven economy, any education policy should be such that it foster and nature creativity of the learners right from early childhood education development to higher education. This equips a country with creative and knowledgeable population that is capable for innovation imperatives. An attempt has been made to demonstrate three components of creativity that any education systems should focus on given creativity is a precursor to innovation. Education systems in the developing countries are products of colonialism that was developed without most of the developing countries people's participation, since then little has been done to reflect the changes that have taken place in the world.

A country's capacity to absorb new technologies depends on upgrading the skills of the human capital, to produce goods and services that can reach standards of quality and performance acceptable in international markets. Such a country engages with the rest of the world in ways that create value. This requires the higher education system's collaboration with the labour market, private, public and secondary education among others. In order for higher education system to contribute successfully to a country's competitiveness, it needs to work hand in hand with all of them [12]. In particular, developing countries' national innovation policy should focus on an education system that is able to develop basic analytical and problem-solving skills, creativity, imagination, resourcefulness and flexibility of its people [8]. These skills and knowledge are critical and relevant to the Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0. Such countries and organisations that invest and reward their people effectively compete in Smart Manufacturing and Industry 4.0 revolution.
