THE PROMISE OF DIGITILISATION AND AUTOMATION with Professor Hugh Bradlow

In the second instalment of the Australian Industrial Transformation Institute's (AITI) Future of Work in the Digital Age seminar series Professor Hugh Bradlow, President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, will argue that the advantage of automation is not productivity but the reduction, and possibly ultimately elimination, of human error.

This discussion is for anyone interested in automation and the future of work in Australia.

The rise of the so-called “Internet of Things” (or “IoT”) over the last decade promises digitilisation of the physical world through measurement, analysis and control. This, combined with Artificial Intelligence, creates the promise of automating many tasks currently done by humans.

But the nature of this automation is yet to be understood. Although there is widespread fear that automation will supplant human jobs Prof. Bradlow argues there is a greater likelihood that automation will complement human work, not replace it. In other words, automation will be no different from other technological advances that humans have applied since the beginning of time – it will just be another tool to make humans more effective.

In this presentation, he will argue that the advantage of automation is not productivity (even though it will inevitably lead to changes in productivity) but the reduction, and possibly ultimately elimination, of human error. He will focus on the progression of automated vehicles and smart buildings as examples.

Professor Hugh S. Bradlow is President of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. He is alsoChair of the Board of ASX-listed RocketBoots Ltd and an independent Non-Executive Director of Silicon Quantum Computing.

He was previously Chief Technology Officer and Head of Innovation at Telstra, responsible for the R&D of new technologies and their introduction into Telstra’s business. Subsequently he became Chief Scientist at Telstra, in which role he advised the Telstra Board and management on the longer term technology directions and technology disruption anticipated to impact Telstra and its customers.

Professor Bradlow is a graduate in electrical engineering from the University of Cape Town in 1973 and received the D.Phil. degree for research in experimental nuclear physics from the University of Oxford. He is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Wollongong, a Professorial Fellow of the University of Melbourne, and a recipient of a Centenary Medal from the Commonwealth of Australia.

He is globally recognised as a thought leader in telecommunications and was elected as the joint 2009 Australian Telecommunications Ambassador of the Year, named by Global Telecom Business as one of the most 100 most influential telecommunications executives in the world and Smart Company designated him as one of the 12 most influential people in Australian ICT.

Can we predict the skills we’ll need in 2051? What can ‘economic complexity’ tell us about the future of Australian manufacturing? What does a society focused on quality of life look like?

The Australian Industrial Transformation Institute is pleased to host some of Australia’s leading academics as we examine the future of work. This seminar is the first in a series featuring:

Prof. Toby Walsh FAA FACM, Laureate Fellow & Scientia Professor of AI, School of CSE, UNSW Sydney will be discussing the implications and impacts of future demands for workers’ skills on Australia's training system.

Dr Mark Dean Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow at the Carmichael Centre within the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute.

Professor John Quiggin Professor of Economics, University of Queensland will be reaching for utopia. How might the redistribution of work and leisure enable us to leisure to live a more just and dignified life?

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