You will remember Scottish engineer James Watt from your high school books. He developed the modern steam engine and played a major role in the Industrial Revolution in the 1780’s. The first step of industrialization, in other words “Industry 1.0”, is considered as steam power and mechanization. After this, steel became cheaper, the mechanization process got easier, the production industry changed through electricity and automation. The third era, known as Industry 2.0...3.0, began with the conjunction of the technological developments in the industry and the computers which have started to affect our lives as of 1970’s. Thanks to information technologies, people can speak to each other all over the world. Now it’s time for machines to communicate with each other. A digital revolution in production: Industry 4.0. ٭ ٭ ٭ ٭ Do you wonder “when” this revolution will start? That is our main point. According to the experts, in global companies this new era has already begun. Soon, production companies will start competing to implement the Industry 4.0 approaches. Design, production, operating and service processes for products and production systems will change radically. Do not think that this will happen in the distant future. It will take 5-10 years at the most. ٭ ٭ ٭ ٭ In this writing I will not detail this development; but I can say that Machines communicating and trading with each other form the basis of the last stage of global economy. Apparently, the 4th Industrial Revolution is being triggered by the technological developments such as big data, simulation, robotics and cloud system integration. Connection between parts, machines and people is crucial. According to the reports, this connection and interaction will accelerate the production systems up to 30 percent. It will also increase the efficiency by approximately 25 percent. Both employment and level of income will rise in the countries where this will be applied successfully. These improvements will apply to investments as well... ٭ ٭ ٭ ٭ The concept of Industry 4.0 or Production 4.0 emerged through a program that was recently introduced by Germany. With the worry of falling behind, Germany wants to get ready for the “digital age” as soon as possible. In fact, this is the right move. The US leads the field with its universities and international giant companies speeding up R&D activities by huge numbers through hubs where technology meets industry in the Silicon Valley and now in San Francisco docks. South Korea, which increased the production capacity of microprocessors forming the basis of the new age, also made a significant progress in this regard. It forged ahead in household appliances recently. Also in telecommunication... Germany getting ready for Industry 4.0 wants to grow and increase efficiency and employment. It also plans to increase the investments as I mentioned above. According to the reports, it is predicted that the Industry 4.0 program will trigger new investments of at least 250 billion Euros within a 10-year period. ٭ ٭ ٭ ٭ To be brief, we are at a critical juncture. The world is entering into a technological transformation process that we cannot ignore. A brand new “challenge” and arena appears against our competitive capacity which has made no recent progress. It is not easy to dare. What needs to be done for Turkey? There is a lot to do. At first, a new growth strategy should be developed. Moreover, as we can see in the example regarding Germany, the industry is essential for growth, even for the most developed countries. Thus, we have to adopt a new industrial policy as per our growth strategy. In my opinion, it is important for Turkey to now achieve a new success level. ٭ ٭ ٭ ٭ I would say let’s take action instead of talking but... Apart from some important establishments such as the 50- year producer of machinery, Bursa Ermaksan, which not so long ago established the first mass-production chip factory of Turkey, it is hard to say that we comprehend the technological transformation process ongoing across the world as a country. One tree growing in the desert is not enough to make the whole country glow green. We should create an environment suitable for growing forests. Let’s leave the final say to our famous botanist Hikmet Birand. So, what does Prof. Birand, the founder of phytosociology science in Turkey, say about growing a forest? “A forest cannot be created by planting single trees on the mountains in a desert. The planted trees cannot survive, or even if they can, a forest cannot be built. A forest is a unity that does not need to be planted but grows itself. Where a suitable environment arises, it becomes forested automatically. The environment is prepared by the leaders. The leaders of the unity develop from the top of a mountain to the foothills; and they prepare the soil, the teams working in the soil and the development environment. They support and pioneer each other.”