**5. Opportunities related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution**

Besides the problems that may arise or get bigger during the Fourth Industrial Revolution, there are also significant economic and social opportunities that may contribute to a sustainable socioeconomic growth (see [32, 33] among others). Concerning entrepreneurship, new technologies must not be treated as a threat for human work but as a valuable tool/assistant for employees to increase their productivity and facilitate their decision-making and for entrepreneurs to boost their business competitiveness and productivity. Governments could also support entrepreneurship, focusing on the following:


These policies may benefit both businesses and governments; entrepreneurs will be smoothly adapted to the new technological conditions and the digitalization having the appropriate support, and governments will increase their tax revenue due to the higher labor income and the increased business gains (due to the use of new technologies that improves businesses' effectiveness). This additional tax revenue may finance higher public spending on health and education and support additional jobs in these areas.

The new IT systems may also give to entrepreneurs the chance to participate in new supply chains for small- and medium-sized enterprises and have access to new product and service markets that under other conditions would be difficult and costly. The development of new markets with greater quantity and variety of products and services, and eventual lower prices, in combination with the improvement of the existing jobs' efficiency and the improvement of customer service, will benefit consumers driving to a demand increase and consequently to a labor demand increase. New technologies may further increase the labor demand by creating new, stable, and well-paid jobs in innovative technological sectors that will

**21**

hunger.

**6. Case study: Greece**

and elderly care and less to routine tasks.

*Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Proposed Policies*

acquire a healthy social life having a better work-life balance.

reduce the potential job loss due to automation and will substantially contribute to the fight against poverty worldwide. A characteristic example is the information and communication technology (ICT) sector that has been a key driver of economic growth in OECD countries and led to a 22% increase in jobs in 2013. Briefly, new technologies may contribute to the reduction of unemployment, to the fight against poverty and to the improvement of the quality and the prices of products and services offered to people improving in this way the quality of their lives.

In the direction of human life quality improvement, significant steps have also been done in the health sector. The broad technological innovation in the field of medicine, involving nanotechnology and genetic engineering, allow the treatment of devastating diseases and illnesses increasing the life expectancy. Moreover, smart digital assistants and intelligent robots are able to perform complex surgical procedures that under different circumstances would be impossible to be done. Except the physical health, the opportunity for more flexible forms of work due to the technological progress improves the mental health of people as well; workers have the possibility to distribute their time according to their needs, to create family and

Digital technology also facilitates the access of all people (in developing and developed countries) to education giving them the chance to improve their knowledge and their skills by attending educational and training programs by distance. In this way, the barriers in access to quality education for all are reduced, and the fight against inequalities and discrimination among countries and social classes becomes more effective. Moreover, the improvement of their skills enforces the self-confidence and the competiveness of individuals in labor market, helps them to be smoothly and quickly adapted to the new conditions, gives them the incentives to live and work in their country (and not to immigrate), and helps them to efficiently deal with their economic problems by becoming more productive in their work. In this way, labor income increases contributing to the reduction of poverty and

The *fight against poverty and hunger* is also supported by the technological progress in the field of sustainable agricultural production and the "smart farming," using new effective "smart" cultivation systems that may help people not only to have food for a specific period but also to learn how to easily and effectively cultivate the land in order to ensure their food forever. In this direction, the varieties of drought-resistant vegetables and fruits that may ensure food to people who live in countries that are strongly affected by drought like many countries in Africa also contribute. The technological innovations in recycling for industry and households such as the innovative composting methods may also help in the direction of food

An interesting case study is that of Greece. It is about a country that does not belong to heavy industrial economies, such that of Germany, Slovakia, and Italy which have relatively inelastic labor markets and large tertiary service sectors that may be strongly affected by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Jobs in Greece are more related to tasks that require the involvement of human factor such as teaching

In general, the automation process involves three overlapping waves: (i) an *Algorithm wave* that mainly focuses on automating simple computational tasks such as structured data analysis and mathematical calculations, and it is expected to reach its full maturity by 2020, (ii) an *Augmentation wave* that focuses on the

waste reduction contributing further to the fight against hunger.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90412*

### *Fourth Industrial Revolution: Opportunities, Challenges, and Proposed Policies DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90412*

reduce the potential job loss due to automation and will substantially contribute to the fight against poverty worldwide. A characteristic example is the information and communication technology (ICT) sector that has been a key driver of economic growth in OECD countries and led to a 22% increase in jobs in 2013. Briefly, new technologies may contribute to the reduction of unemployment, to the fight against poverty and to the improvement of the quality and the prices of products and services offered to people improving in this way the quality of their lives.

In the direction of human life quality improvement, significant steps have also been done in the health sector. The broad technological innovation in the field of medicine, involving nanotechnology and genetic engineering, allow the treatment of devastating diseases and illnesses increasing the life expectancy. Moreover, smart digital assistants and intelligent robots are able to perform complex surgical procedures that under different circumstances would be impossible to be done. Except the physical health, the opportunity for more flexible forms of work due to the technological progress improves the mental health of people as well; workers have the possibility to distribute their time according to their needs, to create family and acquire a healthy social life having a better work-life balance.

Digital technology also facilitates the access of all people (in developing and developed countries) to education giving them the chance to improve their knowledge and their skills by attending educational and training programs by distance. In this way, the barriers in access to quality education for all are reduced, and the fight against inequalities and discrimination among countries and social classes becomes more effective. Moreover, the improvement of their skills enforces the self-confidence and the competiveness of individuals in labor market, helps them to be smoothly and quickly adapted to the new conditions, gives them the incentives to live and work in their country (and not to immigrate), and helps them to efficiently deal with their economic problems by becoming more productive in their work. In this way, labor income increases contributing to the reduction of poverty and hunger.

The *fight against poverty and hunger* is also supported by the technological progress in the field of sustainable agricultural production and the "smart farming," using new effective "smart" cultivation systems that may help people not only to have food for a specific period but also to learn how to easily and effectively cultivate the land in order to ensure their food forever. In this direction, the varieties of drought-resistant vegetables and fruits that may ensure food to people who live in countries that are strongly affected by drought like many countries in Africa also contribute. The technological innovations in recycling for industry and households such as the innovative composting methods may also help in the direction of food waste reduction contributing further to the fight against hunger.
