Better employee training needed to prepare for 'fourth industrial revolution,' Suntory chief says

Takeshi Niinami, chief executive officer of Suntory Holdings Ltd., believes that companies and governments need to offer proper training and education to their employees with a long-term view toward new technologies as people still lack the skills needed for "the fourth industrial revolution." "Technology will be the rule-changer in the future, and we need to maximize the sensitivity of our antenna for technological innovation," Niinami told The Japan Times in an interview during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, last month. Niinami pointed out that the fourth industrial revolution, along with the growth of protectionist sentiment and female empowerment, were the topics that dominated discussions among business and political leaders. The fourth industrial revolution refers to the drastic social and industrial changes being caused by the recent emergence of disruptive technologies including the internet of things, robotics, virtual reality and artificial intelligence that will fundamentally alter the way we live and work. Last March, the WEF established the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco to bring together business leaders, governments, startups, academics and international organizations to accelerate cross-sector cooperation and to co-design policies for such emerging technologies as artificial intelligence and drones.