Thinking About Industrial Revolutions in Systems Theory - Moving Towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution

A sense of stagnation has been spreading over globally, causing political frictions, discrimination, poverty, gender issues, economic disparity, and so on. It is important for the government, politicians, policymakers, and researchers to show positive visions for our society. There are, however, some signs of the future, such as the advent of the fourth industrial revolution. This study addresses how our society co-evolves with the fourth industrial revolution by analyzing the transformation and adaptation mechanisms of the past industrial revolutions. The applied method is social systems theory, which consists of world system and innovation system. Results show that the self-organizing systems of past industrial revolutions were generated by a strong desire, ideologies, and a national interest in overtaking hegemony. Nowadays, however, no single country has sufficient power to direct global leadership. Thus, in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, the world system tends to be multipolar in its approach to dealing with globalization and collective security. Regional powers will likely lead the fourth industrial revolution under each system. Conversely, this study suggests that good financial and educational investments promote qualified innovation ecosystems. Open science and education for technology will accelerate information technologies because they will cultivate capacity development among people who were unable to receive enough education. They are undeveloped for human capital. These will generate dynamic forces to stimulate self-organizing functions within the social system.