Rapid implementation of automation and robotics and the emergence of AI and IoT are radically changing the work environment.

• Smart homes, virtual secretaries, AI doctors, care robots, and flying warehouses and self-driving cars are among the technologies that will shape our future living and impact work.
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• Around 2.6 million industrial robots will be installed worldwide by 2019 (a 1.4 million increase compared to 2016), with highest sales in China (40% of total), Republic of Korea and Japan. By 2020, more than 3 million industrial robots  are being expected to be in use around the world — more than double the stock of 2014. 
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• Investment in industrial robots will grow 10% per year in
  the 25-biggest export nations through 2025,
  compared to 2–3% growth in recent years.
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• Robotics industry is growing more rapidly than initially forecasted. BCG (Boston Consulting Group) is projecting robots market to reach $87 billion by 2025, while Tractica — incorporating the robotic and AI elements of the emerging self-driving industry — is forecasting $237 billion by 2022.
• Use of advanced ICTs (Information and communications technology) in industry could boost productivity by 5% to 8% in Germany. | Related Megatrends:  Work; Inequalities
• China is the world's largest industrial robots market, expected to represent 40% of the worldwide robots purchases in 2019.
• Globally, in 2016, the average of industrial robotic density was 74 robots units per 10,000 employees. Out of the 21 countries with an above-average robotic density, 14 are in the EU; Germany (309 units) is 3rd worldwide, after South Korea (531 units) and Japan (395 units).
• Global assets managed by robo-adviser portfolio managers could reach $13 trillion by 2025 (up from $100 billion as of December 2016), according to a group of equity analysts at Morgan Stanley.
  | Related Megatrends: Inequalities; Technology;

The industrial revolutions in a snapshot

Source: OECD, The Next Production Revolution. Implications for Governments and Business

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