Digital Transformation and its Effects on Work, Communication and Lifestyle
"By the end of the decade, everyone will be connected."
Eric Schmidt, GoogleThe future world of work will be quite different from today. One major factor is the digital transformation, which is already affecting our forms of employment, our work processes, our ways of working and our social interactions. All this creates opportunities but also uncertainty.
The transition from analog to digital technology started in the 1980s. The internet arrived in the 1990s. Since the beginning of this century, mobile end devices have become our everyday companions.
Around 80 percent of employees in Germany now use digital information and communication technologies – for both personal and professional purposes.
We have crossed a threshold, and now digitalization is penetrating many areas of everyday life, value-added processes and work. The internet connects people and machines, changes the way we communicate, and is rapidly pushing for an ever-faster exchange of data. The resulting cultural transformation is placing increasing pressure on people, who have to adapt more and more quickly to technological changes, new lifestyles and social values.
These developments are also affecting the expectations we have of work in general.
Take a video trip to the future and hear interesting people talk about the effects that the digital transformation has had on their work.
The Making of "Countdown to the Future"
The film originated from an interdisciplinary project that TÜV Rheinland conducted with the Köln International School of Design (KISD) / Technology Arts Sciences TH Köln and Angela Recino / Bewegte Kommunikation.
As a first step, 21 students from 14 nations considered the following question: "How will the worlds of work change in future and how is the digital transformation affecting people, work, lifestyles and the way we communicate?"
Their aim was to examine "the future of work" from a variety of perspectives and launch creative projects on that basis.
The groups presented their results during the final presentation in June 2016. In a second step, the video installation entitled "Industry 4.0 and its potential effects on people" was implemented by a smaller project team, consisting of Johanna Rohrer (Germany), Angélica Viviana Padilla Camargo (Colombia), Kaon Kim (South Korea) and Ashley Morgan (USA).
14 personalities from the media, arts, sports, business and science were interviewed for the film. These interviewees describe how their work has already been affected by the digital transformation and venture predictions as to how work might develop in the future.
