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Futures of Robotics. Human Work in Digital Transformation


Article  in  International Journal of Technology Management · March 2017
DOI: 10.1504/IJTM.2017.10004003
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3 authors:
Jari Roy, Lee Kaivo-oja, Steffen Roth
University of Turku La Rochelle Business School
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Leo Westerlund

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Int. J. Technology Management, Vol. X, No. Y, xxxx
Futures of robotics. Human work in digital transformation
Jari Kaivo-oja*
Turku School of Economics,
Rehtorinpellonkatu 3, 20500 Turku, Finland
Email: [email protected]
*Corresponding author
Steffen Roth
ESC Rennes School of Business,
2 Rue Robert d’Abrissel, 35000 Rennes, France
Email: [email protected]
Leo Westerlund
Aie Ltd., Näätätie 3, 00800 Helsinki, Finland
Email: [email protected]


Abstract: In this article we discuss the futures of work and robotics. We evaluate key future trends in the field of robotics and analyse different scenarios regarding the futures of human beings and work life. Subsequently, we present a roadmap of robo-tics, which covers key aspects of industrial and service robotics, discuss technology foresight insights and inter-linkages to robotics, and identify three critical technology roadmaps: the technological future of robotics, digitalisation and ICT technologies. Finally, we analyse economic, social, and political key challenges of the digital trans-formation of work and labour policy in the European Union in general and against the backdrop of the European robotics strategy in particular.

Keywords: robotics; work; digital transformation; foresight; futures studies.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Kaivo-oja, J., Roth, S. and 2
J. Kaivo-oja et al.


Steffen Roth is a tenured Assistant Professor of Management and Organization at the ESC Rennes School of Business, an Affiliate Professor at the Yerevan State Uni-versity Department of Sociology, and a Visiting Professor at the International Univer-sity of Rabat School of Business. He was awarded a PhD in Management from the Chemnitz University of Technology, and received another PhD in Organizational Sociology at the University of Geneva. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Cagliari, the Copenhagen Business School, and the Yerevan State University. His research fields include organisation theory, functional differentiation, next societies, ideation and crowdsourcing, and culturomics.


Leo Westerlund is a writer, translator, interpreter, performing artist, and thinker. His main interests lie in the societal dimensions of (technological) development, langua-ges, language philosophy, sound environments, and music. He has actively partici-pated in research projects on service design such as in the INTERREG IV A project ServiceD and has been responsible for Finnish-English translations and the linguistic aspects in this context. In general, he is described as a man with an insatiable appetite for information and knowledge about the world and the people in it.

1 Introduction

In this article we shall discuss the futures of work and robotics. The key idea is to
evaluate current trends of European work life and present some diagnoses and pro-gnoses as well as a policy prescription for European robotics strategy with special attention to human welfare as well as health and safety issues. Focus of European economic and social policy has been on ‘jobs and growth’ and ‘social inclusiveness’. These two policy priorities remain relevant but many ongoing changes and transitions in the European economy and civil society require more attention. These include developments regarding robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).


European robotics strategy is explained in many ways in the Robotics 2020 report, its summary outlining current developments in the following way:


“Robotics Technology will become dominant in the coming decade. It will influence every aspect of work and home. Robotics has the potential to transform lives and work practices, raise efficiency and safety levels, provide enhanced levels of service and create jobs. Its impact will grow over time as will the interaction between robots and people.”

We want to underline that robotics is not only a matter of science, technology and
innovation policy but also a social and health issue. As US Robotics outlines, moving from internet to robotics will include many social and cultural challenges. Achieving open innovation and creating a strong component marketplace are important strate-gic objectives for European policy-makers.Many essential aspects of robotics and AI developments include great social challenges and health and safety risks, which re-quire political attention.European societies are currently facing important challenges.

Robotics can be an integral part of wider solutions to these challenges, but also en-tails important ethical, legal, and societal (ELS) impacts. Addressing these impacts needs to go hand in hand with the deployment of technology. In the EU Robotics strategy, a key issue is to underline that early awareness of the inevitable ELS issues will allow timely legislative action and societal interaction.

3
Of equal importance is the need to ensure industrial and service designers of robot systems are aware of these issues and provided with guidance to create compliant and ethical systems. Addressing the ELS issues will help support the development of new markets by building confidence.

This article includes the following sections, each elaborating different key aspects of robotics and future of work life.

Section 2 evaluates key future trends in the field of robotics. Especially futuristic insights to modern ubiquitous knowledge society are provided.

Section 3 includes various scenarios regarding the futures of human beings and work life. This section includes evidence-based insights concerning key changes in work life and human welfare.

Section 4 presents a roadmap of robotics, which covers key aspects of industrial and service robotics.

Section 5 provides some technology foresight insights and inter-linkages to robotics. There are three critical technology roadmaps


1 the technological future of robotics
2 digitalisation
3 ICT technologies.


Section 6 identifies the key challenges of future work life and labour policy in the
European Union: economic, social, and political. Section 7 informs readers about some
important strategic projects of the European Union, especially about the European robotics strategy. A summary is outlined in Section 8.

2 Key future trends in robotics: futuristic insights to modern ubiquitous
knowledge society


2.1 New phase of European knowledge society policy


In the European Union the robotics Public Private Partnership (PPP) is the agent for
implementing the robotics strategy. Its purpose is to connect the science base to the
marketplace, a connection that ultimately benefits the society as a whole. Its vision is to attain a global leading position in the robotics market across all domains.


The ongoing societal transformation takes multiple forms.Different aspects of this development have been given a multitude of names,depending on the viewpoint and
focus of attention; information society (see, e.g., Machlup, 1962; Porat, 1977), know-ledge society (see, e.g., Stehr, 2002), service society (see Malaska, 2003) super-in-dustrial society (Toffler,1970), post-industrial society (see Touraine,1971; Bell, 1974), network society (see Castells, 1996) participatory economy (see Hahnel, 2005), telematic society (see Nora and Minc, 1981), and ubiquitous society (see Greenfield, 2006; Stappers, 2006) have been used, alongside an array of other more or less descriptive key words, to highlight the ways in which our societies have changed and continue to change. Albeit each of these concepts describes a slightly different sphere of the society or a different point along a chronological line of development, the terms are definitely not mutually exclusive.


Discussing the technological and business aspects of this development,we are faced
with yet another array of concepts:everyware (Greenfield,2006), anywhere revolution
(Green, 2010), Web 1.0, Web 2.0 (see, e.g., O’Reilly,2009; Gehl,2011),Web 3.0 (see