The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is occurring now, has seen the integration of the cyber, physical and biological worlds. The technology and tools that have emerged impacts every aspect of individual life, but what makes this revolution unique is the speed of change and the pace at which technology is being created and adapted. The technological impact on world citizens has been unprecedented.

Delivering the 12th convocation address of the Great Lakes Institute of Management here today, Subra Suresh, President of Carnegie Mellon University, said the role of the individual with smart phones is tremendous. There is opportunity for two-way communication; to receive information from the cutting edge of this revolution but equally to send information back. Individual communication can be useful but can also lead to confusion. Misinformation can also be communicated easily fast.

Technology has two sides, said Suresh. An individual can participate on a global scale but it also empowers him to do either good or evil. “The intersection of the real and virtual worlds and the tug of war between natural and artificial intelligence will also create interesting questions in the way in which the 21st century will unfold. Fifty years from now, whether we will emerge as better human beings or not will depend on how this generation will use or abuse the tools of this revolution,” explained Suresh.

The three Ms Suresh said that one of the areas we have to pay much greater attention to in the 21st century is not just science, technology and discovery, but equally how science interacts with human behaviours and human conditions.

Delivering his convocation address through a video message, Prof MS Swaminathan told the students that they are ending one phase and beginning the next phase of their career. “Always, remember the three Ms – Monitoring, Measurement and Management – to move ahead,” he exhorted the students.

Internet of Things Bala V Balachandran, Chairman, Great Lakes Institute of Management, emphasised that the Internet of Things (IoT) is going to have a great impact in the work place and the outgoing students should be prepared for it.

A total of 725 students graduated this year across five different full-time and executive programmes. Six best outgoing students and four academic toppers received gold medals. NR Ramanathan and Rini Solomon bagged the gold medals for the best outgoing students in the one-year post-graduate programme in management.

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