Lloyd’s Register Foundation and the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit announced a new partnership focusing on the safety challenges for global manufacturing and support safe innovation. The collaboration provides research into identifying and assessing the knowledge gap, safety challenges, risks and opportunities associated with the deployment of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in critical manufacturing infrastructure.
Specifically, the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS) is a joint initiative by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
The developing automation in the shipping industry results to more complex networks and a state of wireless IoT connections, which in the end comes with cyber security risks and threats; Today, people are more exposed to risk elevating unanswered questions on the safety standards of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
Recognising the vast skills gap and the imperative to anticipate and mitigate risks in order to facilitate the adoption of 4IR technologies, this outcome-driven partnership will contribute knowledge, promote safety and enhance public understanding of risk, ultimately resulting in a better and safer world for all.
Professor Richard Clegg, Chief Executive, Lloyd’s Register Foundation commented
As new manufacturing techniques are increasingly adopted and automated, where control systems are autonomous, and where complex networks and the internet of things enable rapid connections, how do we ensure that the things we make and the people that make them are safe?
Lloyd’s Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit unites manufacturers, governments and NGOs, technologists and investors, in a mission to transform manufacturing to enable the regeneration of the global economy.
The partnership reinforces the missions of both organisations, prioritising safety from conceptualisation, and highlighting the importance of tackling some of the challenges presented by the 4IR to unlock their transformational impact on society.
In addition, technologies as the blockchain and the IoT are still complex and applying them brings a number of risks; Privacy and cybercrime is amongst them.
Concluding, to be protected from cyber threats and truly be in line with 4IR technologies and reap significant rewards, manufacturers must better understand their vulnerabilities and be educated and equipped to manage the risks.
