POLICYMAKERS are harping on the need for countries to embrace the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), or Industry 4.0, Malaysia included. A 4IR-centred economy is now shaping global business.
In Germany, the Fraunhofer Gesselschaft, a leading applied research network, recently celebrated 70 years of its establishment.
Its model of industry-centred research and development (R&D) has been hailed as the most effective in translating the findings of R&D into business.
No wonder Germany is recognised as a country that leads in technology. Its technological supremacy in the car industry, for example, is unchallenged.
Unlike Malaysia, the bulk of Germany’s R&D funding is by federal and state governments. We need to increase our industry investment in R&D.
We have taken the first step in embracing this technology with the 4IR national blueprint, which aims to motivate businesses to incorporate 4IR elements in their operations.
4IR is not just about automation and robotics, it is also about integrating all elements in business, allowing for a seamless flow of information and data.
It empowers the automation process and consequent deployment of robotics and artificial intelligence technologies to improve efficiency and boost productivity. Of the many elements that form the building blocks of 4IR, one common input is the rare earth metals.
Rare earth is critical in the production of supermagnets and sensors. This explains why China, the world’s leading producer of rare earth, is convinced that rare earth would replace oil as the industry resource that’s most in demand.
We are fortunate to have rare earth at our doorstep.
The misunderstanding about public safety associated with Lynas can be resolved if we are sincere.
For one, unlike the rare earth produced from tin waste we experienced earlier, the input material for Lynas is not waste. It is rare earth concentrate brought in from Australia.
Thorium and uranium, the main elements responsible for the radioactivity, have been removed in the concentrating process at mines in Australia.
This explains why the radiation level of the concentrates is low.
Such concentrate cannot be equated with tin tailings used in earlier rare earth extraction in Perak.
Lynas critics, please visit the plant in Gebeng.
None of the critics has accepted Lynas’ invite to the plant. This is unfortunate. Making judgments without looking at its operation is unrealistic.
Experts who have visited the plant, a few of whom were critics, have changed their stand after seeing the process firsthand.
A recent decision by the cabinet is more realistic, one which Lynas has complied with.
I believe Lynas can be a game-changer in our effort to build an industry around 4IR.
PROFESSOR DATUK DR AHMAD IBRAHIM
Fellow, Asean Academy of Engineering and Technology, UCSI University