Born with no superpowers, and science as his God-father, Marvel’s Tony Stark went from being a genius, billionaire philanthropist to the most respected superhero of all time. By incorporating extensive technologies, Tony Stark has proven that humans can not only overcome their disabilities but rather surpass the definition of being humane. And he has chosen us to be the heir to his legacy and passed on the mantle of being "the next Iron Man" to us.

Human Augmentation is the road that science has undertaken to unleash the cyborg in us. The area of computing that aims at restoring and aiding cognitive and physical enhancements in the human experience is what we call Human Augmentation. Though being an idea that remains relatively obscure, the developments in this technology are meant to offer enhancements in significant areas like medical health, quality of life as well as performance. From Wearable Electrochemical Sensor Arrays in Health Hazard Monitoring, Lab-on-CMOS Microsystem to High Channel Count Neural Signal Processing, the possibilities are endless.

Human augmentation technology is broadly imagined into three pillars: Enable, Enhance, and Exceed. It aims to replicate, supplement and even surpass human expertise.

Human augmentation technology intends to restore or replicate general human expertise. It aims to facilitate equal opportunities for those who have undergone an unfortunate accident or suffer from infirmity or the ones who were born with inadequacies and face hindrances in their day-to-day life. Human Augmented devices are adopted to provide comprehensive psychological assistance to the users which can range from hearing aids for the deaf to prosthetic limbs and arms for the disabled. Here are some of the companies and their flagship devices that use this aspect of Human Augmentation:

: A company that produces custom hand prosthetics for individuals who have had their fingers amputated, with extremely high levels of dexterity.

: A wearable device similar to glasses that provide legally blind individuals with the ability to see their environment. The device has cameras installed on the front that captures their surrounding in near-eye quality and display it on a screen that is right in front of the user's eyes.

: A program that translates sign language into speech and speech into sign language, acting as a personal interpreter and translator for deaf people. While these products are currently geared towards businesses with deaf employees, they could eventually expand into apps on smartphones, making sign language communicable for anyone.

: Cochlear is one of the first companies to develop a product that restores hearing without requiring an external hearing device to be worn.

: The process of creating organic tissues (organs, bones, skin, etc.) using 3D printing techniques. While this technology is still in its earliest stages, it has the potential to completely redefine the medical industry and how we typically think of healthcare.

We often wonder if we could surpass the limitations imposed by the human body and trespass into the realm of inhuman abilities. It's only a matter of time before qualities like enhanced strength, super speed, or improved memory will be served to us humans on the platter by Human Augmentation. Here are some of the tech giants and their devices based on this pillar of Human Augmentation:

: Wearable, mechanical devices that can be worn on the outside of the body. They typically provide the wearer with artificial strength and endurance. The Sarcos Guardian is an example of an industrial exoskeleton that allows a human worker to lift weights to even 200 pounds, achieve precise operations involving heavy machinery, and manage repetitive motions without strain.

: A project by Elon Musk with the ultimate intention of creating a brain-computer interface (BCI). If successful, the project would allow individuals to interact with a computer on a neural level. While this project is still in its infancy, Musk has a track record of making impossible ideas a reality.

: This company has created a set of earbuds that can translate conversations in real-time, completely leaping over the need to learn foreign languages.

 is a mixed-reality headset from Microsoft that allows people to envision and manipulate objects in holographic form. The device has many commercial and industrial use ranging from 3D computer-aided design to employee training and virtual instruction.

And there's more to it, Human augmentation has raised the bar by promising that it will not only enhance human abilities but will exceed them. We all have dreamt of flying or breathing underwater but then realized we are neither a Kryptonian nor a child of Poseidon. Well, thanks to Human Augmentation your dreams are about to come true. However, fascinating it may sound, this kind of Human Augmentation technology is still the most far off and needs a bit longer time to evolve. Here are some of the latest developments in this field:

: A turbine-powered hoverboard. The driver stands on top of it like a skateboard or surfboard and can fly up to 500 feet high.

: Still being only theoretical, research by Robert Freitas Jr. has explored the feasibility of creating synthetic blood cells by recreating the blood cells of mammals such as dolphins and whales who can hold their breath underwater for long periods. The concept is based on the assumption that their blood cells might be better at storing oxygen.

: A nanobot is "a robot that allows precise interactions with nanoscale objects, or can manipulate with nanoscale resolution." These bots once deployed into the human body can accomplish specific tasks that the human immune system is incapable of doing on its own, such as targeting and annihilating certain diseases and carcinogenic cells.

: Theodore Berger, a neuroscientist intends to create artificial memory chips that can be installed in the human brain. Though the project is still a schematic draft and doesn't have a working prototype, it has the potential to grant humans what we call "perfect memory".

The output of the human brain is really slow

Elon Musk is quite pensive about 'the output' of the human brain. Indeed, our brain doesn't have the same bandwidth for every voluntary or involuntary action. For instance, the entire process of light entering your eye through the lens, hitting the rods and cone cells, and then the information traveling via the optic nerve to the brain and the brain effectively mapping the image happens so fast it's hard to even imagine, but it's not the same in case of talking or typing. Musk's idea is to apprehend thoughts and convert them into text or movement, so humanity could communicate more effectively. What Neuralink intends to achieve is:

· More nuanced and accurate human interaction

· Direct use of artificial intelligence.

Machine Interface device, that once surgically implanted in the brain grants the user, the ability to communicate and control machines. The company said that the initial phase of the project will primarily focus on aiding the medical industry. The machine will be able to help paraplegics with simple tasks like operating a phone or interacting with a computer. It may also be used to treat epilepsy. It promises to fix the partial or complete loss of vision due to damaging the optical nerve. The device should, by principle, cure any brain-related infirmity. Musk also added that Neuralink can be beneficial in restoring the memory, speech, and movement of a paralyzed person. Post a complete symbiosis it's assumed that humans might be able to communicate without actually vocalizing.

A monkey is literally playing a video game telepathically using a brain chip!

Previously Neuralink had shown the real-time neural signals from a pig who had an N1 chip implanted in its brain and recently it presented the world with a sophisticated experiment where macaque money with two Neuralink devices implanted in its brain playing a game of pong with its mind!

Human Augmentation – A Gamble of your Conscience

"Aristo Momentum", hold on just don't get overwhelmed by it yet, every new invention brings with it some technical jeopardies as there is always a glitch in the Matrix. When you take your first step in transitioning from being human to a cyborg you gain immense technical and superficial prowess but at the same time, you get predisposed to the risks and threats of the digital world. Since you have shared your consciousness with something that is nothing but a technical manifestation of human cognition, you bear the risk of being exploited by hackers, or to be precise, bio-hackers. You don't want someone with a computer to be meddling with your mind and decisions, or worse, executing a heist inside your consciousness.

Automation is not the future, human augmentation is. Algorithms can't tell you how you can create value in your business, asking those sorts of questions is an innately human capability. Algorithms rely on humans having done that work first.

With that said Human Augmentation is a big leap forward. The inception of Human Augmentation has flooded the tech industry with innovative ideas and a new outlook to modern predicaments. It promises exponential growth in the industry and as said the possibilities are endless. But, however overwhelming it may appear on the surface there remains a question of moral obligation and ethics to this form of technology. There is more to being human than acing the food chain and being the most intelligent living beings on the planet. This tradeoff that science has offered to us, by sharing our consciousness with something so material puts entire humanity at risk. Everything should be backed by morality and human ethics and science are no exception to it. Remember the goal is to be the next Tony Stark, not the next Frankenstein!

The very first time it seems complicated but it is not. Bear with me and once you did it the first time by following the simple steps mentioned below it will become a piece of cake for you.

Human Augmentation: Turning Fiction into Reality!

Ever wondered how your smartphone takes charge of your home appliances from changing the color panel of the LED lights to adjusting the AC's temperature in accordance with the current weather outside? Doesn't it feel as if a certain consciousness or intelligence has been manifested in your dwelling? Well, there's a reason these types of residences are called 'Smart Homes' and not ' Haunted Houses'. This is exactly how the Internet of Things(IoT) is making something that seems impossible, plausible!

Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the billions of physical devices across the globe that are connected to the internet and are hence intertwined with each other and capable of collecting, transferring, and sharing data. If you are wondering about the scale of things that can be a part of the Internet of things, then to answer your question it can be as trivial as a child's toy to a driverless truck, it can be as simple as changing your room's indoor lighting to set a jet to advanced autopilot.

Hold your breath as we unravel the ingenious behind Tony Stark's Virtual assistant -J.A.R.V.I.S, and today’s modern industries.

The very idea of incorporating sensors and intelligence into basic objects came into the picture around the 1980s and 1990s. But at that time, it only remained limited to being only a theoretical abstract as there were no technological means for its practical application. Only a few projects were made into a working prototype one of them being an Internet-connected Vending Machine. The chips back then used to be big and bulky hence cutting down the efficiency of effective communication among devices.

Progress was slow, but the adoption of RFID tags- low-power chips capable of communicating wirelessly started solving some of the issues, and along came the availability of broadband internet and cellular wireless networks. The innovation of IPv6 which can provide enough IP addresses for every device across the globe was a necessary and massive development in the field of the Internet of Things.

The term " Internet of Things " was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999 and it took us almost a decade to come parallel to the vision which started the grand scheme of events in the tech industry.

A complete fully functioning Internet of Things system integrates four distinct components:

Let's dive a bit deeper and learn how these 4 components actually contribute to an IoT system.

 Initially, the data is collected by the sensors from the environment. This could range from something as minimal as a temperature reading to something like a full video feed. Sometimes a group of sensors likes - a camera, accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, etc. can be bundled together in a single device. However, if it is a standalone sensor or a group of sensors the tasks remain the same i.e., to collect data from the surrounding. 

 The collected is then sent to the cloud. But to establish this connectivity with the cloud we need to adopt different approaches like cellular, satellite, WIFI, Bluetooth, and Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). Each option comes with its own advantages and tradeoffs and it's advisable to choose the form of connectivity depending on the type of application it intends to achieve. 

 Once the data is uploaded to the cloud the software makes it undergo data processing. In this phase, the data is analyzed and the device takes necessary decisions to give the correct output corresponding to the input data. This could be as simple as monitoring one’s room temperature to as effective as identifying the presence of unauthorized human intervention as intruders in the house. 

 Next, the information is provided to the end user. This could be done via an alert message to the user like email, text, notification, etc. For example, a text alert when the temperature is too high in the company’s cold storage. 

Also, a user might possess an interface that allows them to proactively check in on the system. For example, a user might want to check the video feeds inside their house in their absence via a mobile application or a web browser.

However, it’s not always a one-way passage. Depending on the IoT application, the user may also be able to perform an action and amend the system. For example, the user might remotely adjust the temperature in the cold storage via an app on their phone. And some actions are performed automatically. Rather than waiting for the user to adjust the temperature, the system could do it automatically via predefined rules. And rather than just calling the user to alert them of an intruder, the IoT system can also automatically notify the appropriate authorities.

The primary drive for automation and IoT is to significantly reduce operating expenditures once automation devices, sensors, and actuators become Internet-enabled devices. The next big leap in productivity is already here and its major advantages are to derive from the organization and acquisition of data in previously unimaginable scales. New Enterprise Marketing Intelligence (EMI) brings together manufacturing-related data together across many different sources for reporting, analysis, visual summaries, and passing data between enterprise-level and plant floor systems.

One cannot talk about the Internet of Things without including these companies and their IoT and Automation geniuses.

 Amper is a company based in Chicago, Illinois and it employs its factory OS system to make efficient use of web-connected sensors and data science to enhance its manufacturing process. The sensors register a variety of important facets, including energy usage and downtime so the factory owners and supervisors can come up with a better business plan to cut costs and enhance the areas of growth. 

 Axzon is a company based in Austin, Texas. It uses sensors that provide crucial real-time data during the automotive manufacturing process and its predictive Maintenance technology monitors the factory condition and equipment to foresee and prevent any unwanted breakdown or time-consuming repairs. 

 A company based in Boston, Massachusetts that makes wireless or cellular home security systems that are disaster-ready, protected against power outages, operate on extra secure networks and use deep encryption. SimpliSafe's Glassbreak sensors can even differentiate between different types of shattering ranging from breaking a glass bottle to breaking a glass window pane. 

 A company based in Moline, Illinois recently incorporated Silicon Valley based Blue River Technology to facilitate the company's goal of applying IoT, machine learning, and other technology to agriculture. Deere's equipment monitors important agriculture factors like moisture levels, air and soil temperature, and wind speed and conveys the collected data to farmers. The company's tractors and other types of equipment are outfitted with satellite-connected guidance and tracking systems that cull data to allow for what we call " precision farming", which generally increases the efficiency of fertilizers and pesticides. 

IoT and automation like every other technology has some challenges that must be overcome first for their proper implementation. Some of them are discussed below. 

Keeping the data gathered and transmitted by IoT devices safely and secured is challenging, as they develop and expand in their application. Although cybersecurity is a high priority, IoT devices aren't always included in maneuvering. Devices must be protected from physical tampering, internet-based software assaults, network-based interventions, and hardware-based relapses.

Data privacy is also a major concern, especially because IoT devices are being adopted in more sensitive industries such as healthcare and finance. Information privacy laws are coming into effect globally, which means that not only does it make good business sense to protect the data, but businesses are legally obligated to do so.

Integrating encryption and security protocols with IoT devices can be difficult with a large squadron of devices. The cost in time, effort, and money to do it on all devices might be restrictive, so some businesses might use inadequate platforms because they're cheap or forego it altogether. All it takes is one breach for a business to lose its socioeconomic stability

Though it might seem like IoT devices are performing manageable tasks such as counting entry swipes at a secure door, there's a lot of complex technology involved in devising them. In addition, if they're providing essential data to another workflow or system, they could negatively affect everything correlated with it. Miscounting the number of swipes at the door isn't a huge deal, but if a device confuses temperature data with entry swipe stats, it can be catastrophic. And the fault isn't always easy to fix.

There is a big learning curve in deploying and incorporating IoT devices. It makes sense to develop a strategy on how, when, and why to deploy them before acquiring them. That way, one can be assured that they're functioning as intended.

Many devices depend on a continuous power supply or internet connectivity to run properly. When either goes down, so does the device, the data associated with it, and anything connected to it. Given how intertwined IoT devices are in present-day businesses, everything can crumble to a halt when they're down.

Businesses must realize how outages will affect their devices to engineer proactively for outages because an outage will surely happen at some point in time. Troubleshooting and incident administration processes can help mitigate that.

There's presently no consensus regarding IoT protocols and standards, so devices produced by different manufacturers might or might not work with existing technology. Each one might require diverse configurations and hardware connections, making it hard to deploy efficiently.

The company must understand network requirements to prepare for any necessary customization. That also means planning for additional time with device deployments to handle any troubleshooting or associated tasks that might arise.

Time-consuming and expensive to implement

Deploying IoT devices often come with high time and capital investment requirements. There's the number of devices to be purchased and configured, technical staff to install them, and others to integrate them into the network and support calls to the manufacturer for maintenance.

IoT devices can be beneficial to businesses today, but only if the companies know what they're getting into. And these are just some of the challenges along the way. With a little planning, and business strategies the companies will have a better impression of what they need and how IoT devices can add to their cause and vision.

IoT SETTING NEW TIDES FOR THE ELECTRONICS MARKET

The demand generated by IoT is creating a massive upsurge in the electronic component market. Components are essential as they serve to collect, process, and transmit real-world signals and data for IoT products and their applications. This brings forth favorable opportunities to component companies and also indicates an exponential growth of component sales in the market over the next few years. IoT investments in India were close to US$ 5 billion in 2019 and are expected to triple or even quadruple by the end of 2021, according to the global management consultancy firm Zinnov. Narayan Kumar, group chief,

the industrial devices division of Panasonic India says, “

In the current environment, digitization has led to the rise of contactless technologies and connected/IoT-enabled appliances. This has fueled the demand for electronic components across industries. Use cases of IoT will bring in opportunities for the component market and also for new product development.

Worldwide expenditure on the IoT was forecast to reach $745 billion in 2019, an increase of

15.4% over the $646 billion spent in 2018, according to IDC, and surpasses the $1 trillion mark in 2022. Top industries for the IoT were predicted to be discrete manufacturing - $119 billion in spending, $78 billion in process manufacturing, $71 billion in transportation, and $61 in utilities billion. For producers, projects to support asset management will be fundamental; in transportation, it will be freight monitoring, and fleet management attaining top priority. IoT spending in the utility industry will be dominated by smart-grid projects for electricity, gas, and water.

Consumer IoT spending was foretold to hit the $108 billion mark, making it the second-largest industry segment: smart home, personal wellness, and connected vehicle infotainment will see much of the expenditure.

Let's take a tour of the advances India has made in the field of IoT and Automation and see what the market leaders have to say in this regard.

In Kohima, a city in north India, the data collected from sensors and other Internet of things (IoT) devices is being utilized to control street lighting, and ensure public safety.

Between New Delhi and Varanasi, the Vande Bharat Express – India’s first semi-high-speed train – uses a collision-avoidance system comprising IoT devices and applications to prevent accidents due to human transgression or equipment failure.

In the agricultural field, Tea Tantrum, a supplier of wellness and premium teas in India, is using IoT technology to monitor moisture content and maintain the proportions of the ingredients of some of its products.

Industry spectators have singled out India as a hotspot for IoT deployments, with the market expected to reach $17billion by the end of 2021, according to Ray Wang, founder, and principal analyst at Constellation Research.

In the industrial segment, sectors like health sciences, power, and core manufacturing will leverage IoT use cases in supply chain monitoring and asset maintenance to drive IoT adoption

,” says P N Sudarshan, an associate in Deloitte India.

In the consumer segment, the need for personalized customer experience and enhanced aftermarket support will drive retail organizations to implement IoT. Similarly, in the public sector, the Indian government’s focus on establishing smart cities will create the substantial potential for IoT spending in public safety, traffic management, and energy management,

Following the introduction of the goods and services tax (GST), which marked a big turning point for businesses in the Indian subcontinent, more investments have been made in warehouses to elevate supply chain efficiency and effectiveness.

Large, modern warehouses are fully equipped to track containers and are completely automated. This may not be easy for smaller warehouses, again because of legacy issues, but adoption of IoT is being driven by supply chain needs

,” said Arun Jethmalani, founder and managing director of market intelligence firm ValueNotes.

Indian companies have also started to leverage IoT capabilities in product development. Staqo, an IT service provider developed a bicycle-tracking application that uses IoT to improve user safety and deliver real-time alerts. This is being done by weaving artificial intelligence into features such as dismount detection, geofencing, and speed checks.

Finally, the onset of the pandemic, which has fueled demand for contactless technologies, is likely to reinforce IoT adoption in the property and security sectors.

Mathew Chandy, managing director of Duroflex, notes that the main bugbear in IoT adoption in India lies in the industries, some of which are mostly unorganized with loosely formed processes.

That is what’s stopping Industry 4.0 from going into full swing,

The highly unpredictable manner of demand movement and non-standardized processes are serious hurdles right now when we consider large-scale IoT implementations. We are trying to break away from the barrier.

While pharmaceuticals and consumer goods companies are building new factories and embracing IoT to automate their plants, smaller companies have not joined the adoption curve

,” says Jethmalani, manager at ValueNotes.Then there are challenges around integration and connectivity. “

The lack of common standards is a worldwide issue with IoT, but in India, it stops businesses from getting the full power out of this technology,

Cybersecurity has been a perennial concern with IoT and will remain so until a global IoT security framework can be adopted by enterprises

", says Prashant Bhat, managing director for cybersecurity and privacy at consulting firm Protiviti India.

Besides technical difficulties related to standards and security, IoT adoption is also hampered by the lack of capital investment and skilled labor– though the situation is progressing with India’s IoT landscape already attracting players of all divisions, including research labs, suppliers, and promising IoT startups such as ThingsCloud and SeeHow.

Prashant Bhat notes that IoT professionals and adopters in India are increasingly forming industry and technological forums to ensure that product designs, protocol standards, supporting solutions, and implementation models are properly aligned. “

This enables earlier, easier adoption and faster progress on the road to IoT infrastructure maturity

On the supply side, Deloitte’s Sudarshan is hopeful that promising market trends, such as the low cost of storing and computing data in the cloud, the receding cost of connectivity and sensors, as well as expanding smartphone penetration, will provide strong tailwinds for IoT adoption in India.

Very first time it seems complicated but it is not. Bear with me and once you did it the first time by following the simple steps mentioned below it will become a piece of cake for you.

IoT: The Plausible Impossible!

If you are looking forward to buying a graphics card or gaming consoles like the latest PS5 or the brand-new Xbox or a new laptop, you might be out of luck as there is hardly any stock left in the market and whatever is available, is priced pretty high and might not be very budget-friendly to you. Well, the reason is the ongoing Global chip shortage!

Semiconductors, known as "chips," are at the heart of economic growth and an indispensable component of technological innovation. These Nano-sized silicon wafers, thinner than a strand of human hair and consisting of up to 40 billion components, have a gigantic impact on the global economy., because these semiconductor silicon chips are the brains and building blocks of most electronic devices and without these, the smart device won't remain that much "smart" as you expect them to be, yes even the laptop or smartphone on which you are reading the article is no exception.

Let's dive into this global phenomenon and unravel why these chips are so important, how all this started, get a better understanding of the current scenario, and when we can expect the productions to go back to normalcy.

Incredibly complex and capitally intense, these integrated circuits (IC) power everything from computers, smartphones, cars, data center servers to gaming consoles. All the modern technological electronics devices that are an integral part of this "scientifically advanced" lives of ours are run by billions and trillions of minuscule electronic switches called transistors. These transistors determine whether the electric signal is high or low, and these highs and lows are interpreted as 1s and 0s by the computing device. Yeah, so that's how these binary signals are fed into your system. These transistors are made on by printed electronic circuits onto semiconductor discs called wafers. Since the advent of microprocessors with the introduction of the Intel 8085 microprocessor, the demand for computer chips has only grown exponentially and so has their designing complexity.

Owing to its designing complexity and minute intricacies the process of chip manufacturing is extremely complicated. Due to this most of the companies such as Intel, TSMC and Samsung run specialized factories called 'fabs' for the process of chip fabrication.

That's not all, if the intricate complexities of chips were not enough there lies an additional hazard owing to the small size of the chips. The chips are so tiny that even a fine speck of dust can tamper the entire wafer, leading to the wastage of potentially hundreds of chips, that's why the fabs are built in some of the cleanest places across the world and follow extremely strict sanitation protocols. The construction and maintenance of fabs is another financial nightmare for companies. Construction and proper equipping of only one fab can cost the company billions of dollars and it takes years to build an industrial fab from scratch.

All major companies like AMD, Nvidia, Apple, and Intel run their own fabs or license other fabs to build their designs for them. AMD and Apple generally contract TSMC, while Intel has its own fabs. Whereas Nvidia has opted for a mixture of TSMAC and Samsung for its graphics card.

Typically, these fabs combined hold the prowess of fabricating millions of chips every year, but the impact of Covid 19 derailed the entire production process.

As the countries went into complete lockdown and the work from home came into play, the demand for laptops and PCs went off the charts. This resulted in immense pressure on the fab companies, which conventionally allocate their output to the designated companies, and these companies, in turn, sub-allocate them into their product portfolios.

Let's analyze the pretext under the case for AMD and Nvidia. AMD is a company that makes CPUs and GPUs for PCs, laptops, and a vast variety of semi-custom designs like console chips, and this thins out the number of wafers that they can allocate for each product line. Nvidia also suffers from the same issue but to a slightly less degree since its production lines are meant for CPUs and GPUs for PCs, laptops, and enterprises purpose. All these have put tighter bounds on fab's output production lines and company product stocks. Although all the chips, manufactured are being sold due to the high demand but all the chips are not being directed to the customers.

CHINA-USA WAR AND THE GEOPOLITTICAL TENSION

The geopolitical dimensions of semiconductor-at the heart of the US and China's battle for technological supremacy continue to rise and risk the further splintering of the global supply chains and disordering the international commerce. The geopolitical futurist Abhisur Prakash claims that the chip industry is in limbo he adds that " 

geopolitics of technology can threaten any sector

Since the US-China decoupling began to make the headlines in 2017, much of the attention centered on trade and the 5G campaign against Huawei, China's market-leading tech company.

But recent disciplinary actions taken by Washington involving semiconductors pose a much more fundamental problem for Beijing. Efforts to cut off the supply of chips to Huawei and to encourage the construction of advanced semiconductor factories or fabs in the US have dragged the industry into the new tech cold war.

TAIWAN DRAUGHT DRYING UP THE SEMICONDUCTOR MARKET

Taiwan is home to some of the world's largest and most advanced high-tech foundries, a linchpin of a global $450 billion industry that accounts for the computing power for essential devices, but is extremely water-intensive.

In 2021, Taiwan had to experience its worst drought than it has done in more than half a century.

This led to jeopardizes among chip manufactures who need tons of ultra-pure water because Making semiconductors is a hugely water-intensive process throughout the manufacturing protocol, from cleaning the chips themselves to keeping the state-of-the-art foundries hypersterile and washing away waste chemicals. For the record, the TSMC's fabs use more than 63,000 tons of water a day that amounts to more than 10 percent of the supply of two local reservoirs.

THE CURRENT SCENARIO AND SHORTCOMINGS THAT WENT UNNOTICED

The global automotive industry expected that demand for cars would depreciate during the pandemic. After many countries have lifted the lockdowns, the demand for passenger vehicles

(PVs) has considerably increased due to people's general reluctance to travel by public transport.

After the auto industry had restarted production, it faced a shortage of semiconductor chips.

Global carmakers like Ford, Toyota, Nissan, VW, and Fiat Chrysler have scaled back output. The Indian car manufactures have also fallen prey to this global chip shortage.

The big concern for the auto industry and Mahindra, and in fact for the world, is the semiconductor shortage. It is something that we're very perplexed with, and something where the end is not clearly known as to when this fall will go away,

" said Pawan Goenka, MD, and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra, during a press conference while declaring the company's Q3 results, on February 5.

Samsung Electronics Company says that there is a "

" for chips. The semiconductor industry is dependent on the foundry model, which consists of semiconductor fabrication plants foundries and integrated circuit design operations - each belonging to separate and distinct companies. The foundry model has resulted in the concentration of the fabrication operations.

As of 2021, only three leading firms can manufacture the most advanced semiconductors - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) of Taiwan, Samsung of South Korea, and Intel of the United States. Advances in semiconductor fabrication are determined by the number of transistors, per square millimeter.

The global semiconductor industry is heavily dominated by companies from the Asia-Pacific region including China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The U.S. share of global semiconductor fabrication sums up to only 12%. The increasing reliance by U.S. companies on international partners to fabricate the chips that they design clearly exhibits the United States' diminished fabrication aptitude.

A season of bad weather is also hindering the chip production process in North America. Recently, eight state governors of the U.S. have asked President Biden to redouble efforts "

to urge wafer and semiconductor companies to expand production capacity

". TSMC recently announced that it plans to invest $100 billion over the next three years to increase capacity at its chipmaking plants, days after which Intel Corporation announced a $20 billion plan to expand its advanced chip manufacturing potential. It may take at least two years for the new dimensions to come into production.

India has also entered the race for semiconductor fabrication supremacy. India is contributing more than $1 billion in cash to each semiconductor company that sets up manufacturing units in the country as it seeks to build on its smartphone assembly industry and extend its electronics supply chain. "

The government will give cash incentives of more than $1 billion to each company which will set up chip fabrication units

," a senior government official told Reuters a few days back, declining to be named as he was unauthorized to speak with media.

In October, a fire at a Japanese plant belonging to Asahi Kasei Microdevices located in Nobeoka, Miyazaki took away with it advanced sensing devices used in automotive and other industries out of circulation. As of late February, the plant was still down due to damages caused by the fire.

There have also been limitations in the global transportation system. According to Clear Metal, which controls over 90% of ocean freight, nearly 7% of ocean freight is not making it out of China ports this quarter.

The patrol times for chip supplies have stretched up from 10 weeks to about 17 weeks on an average for certain types of microprocessors over the last year, according to data from Bain & Company.

The Texas winter storms forcibly pushed the U.S. power utility, Austin Energy to shut off power to the Austin area's largest electricity users - among them included the chip factories operated by Samsung, NXP Semiconductors, and Infineon Semiconductors.

"The global chip shortage is like a long winter that won't go away so soon," says V Venkateswara Rao, an alumnus of IIM, Ahmedabad, and a retired corporate professional.

Current chip shortages are not confined to critical components and specialized core processors. Shortages are also inclusive of less critical but still crucial components, such as power regulation, which is used across a wide range of end devices. There has been comprehensive coverage of these shortages impacting the automotive industry, but all industries competing with consumer electronics giants for the same components used in both an electric car and your iPhone are bound to feel the impact.

You ask why? Because these seemingly less critical but crucial components are largely manufactured using legacy equipment no longer in production and at fabrication centers whose capacities are already nearly maxed out. As smart devices proliferate, demand for these components will only intensify across all end markets.

Gartner analysts recommend that OEMs dependent directly or indirectly on semiconductors take four key actions immediately to moderate risk and revenue losses during the global chip shortage:

 – The chip shortage makes it necessary for supply chain leaders to extend the supply chain visibility beyond the supplier to the silicon level, which will be crucial in anticipating supply constraints and bottlenecks and eventually, projecting when the crisis will improve. 

Guarantee supply with companion model and/or pre-investments

 – OEMs with smaller and critical component requirements must look to partner up with similar companies and approach chip foundries and OSAT professionals as a combined entity to obtain some leverage. Additionally, if scale allows, pre-investing in a commoditized part of the chip supply chain and foundries could guarantee the company a long-term supply. 

 – While no relevant parameter by itself will forecast how the shortage situation will evolve, an aggregate of relevant parameters can help guide industrial organizations in the right direction. "

Since the current chip shortage is a dynamic situation, it is essential to understand how it changes on a continuous basis. Tracking leading indicators, such as capital investments, inventory index, and semiconductor industry revenue growth projections as an early indicator of inventory situations, can help organizations stay updated on the issue and see how the overall industry is growin

g," said Gaurav Gupta, research vice president at Gartner.

 – Qualifying a different source of chips or OSAT partner will demand additional work and investment, but it would go a long way in reducing risk. 

Additionally, establishing strategic and secure relationships with distributors, resellers and traders can help with collecting the small volume for urgent components.

The global chip shortage is here to say and we may need to face its outrage for a couple of years or more but that doesn't discourage the industry leaders and the hunt for alternatives is on and parallelly the constant effort to kickstart the fabs and the fabrication foundries at their usual intimidating workforce.

The secondary market for capital equipment is crucial to expanding the capacity of mature nodes. As an industry, they can help add transparency and legitimacy to this supply chain strategy by formally measuring and monitoring the global secondary market for semiconductor manufacturing equipment

The Drought of Semiconductors!

What Industry 4.0 promised us was a future replete with innovation and automation, a future where Humans are accustomed to Driverless cars with artificial intelligence (AI) and automated supermarkets run by collaborative robots or cobots working alongside humans. This core ideology of Industry 4.0 gave rise to the one big question - What will be the impact of this extreme automation, turbocharged by the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, and Big Data?

Industry 4.0 mainly focuses on shifting the laborious task of mass production to what we can call an automated factory. The IoT thrives on - broadband wireless internet connectivity, miniaturized sensors embedded in animate and inanimate objects, and AI and robots making understanding of Big Data amassed by sensors. Industry 4.0 is a high-end program for automating the manufacturing industry and establishing the so-called "Smart Factories ". As quoted by Mr. Anand Prakash (CEO and Founder at Farm for Full Potential LLP) - 

everything is connected to everything else

" poses vulnerabilities and uncertainties. Remotely, highly integrated systems are vulnerable to systemic risks such as total network breakdown in the event of insolvency or failure of one of its components, for instance, by hacking or Internet viruses, or malware that can fully penetrate integrated systems. Secondly, extreme connectivity accounts for new social and political power structures. If left unchecked, they might lead to autocratic governance by one person in total control of network power, directly or through her/his connected delegates.

Elon Musk (Tesla CEO) tweeted that- "Yes, excessive automation at Tesla was a mistake. To be precise, my mistake. Humans are underrated."

Industry 5.0 aims at mass personalization – the human element in addition to foundations of automation and efficiency laid by its predecessor. Industry 5.0 utilizes IoT but differs from Industry 4.0 automation systems by having three-dimensional symmetry in innovation and ecosystem design - firstly, a built-in safe exit strategy in case of the demise of hyperconnected established digital knowledge networks. Precisely, such safe exists are orthogonal—and they allow "digital detox" by employing pathways unrelated or unaffected by automated networks, for instance, electronic patient records versus material and article trails on vital medical information ; secondly, equal stress on both acceleration and deceleration of innovation if depreciating returns become ostensible; and finally the next-gen social science and humanities (SSH) research for global governance of emerging technologies: "Post-ELSI Technology Evaluation Research"

(PETER). Primarily, PETER contemplates the technological opportunity costs, ethics, ethics-of-ethics, epistemology, independence, and reflexivity of SSH research in technology policymaking. Industry 5.0 is supposed to harness extreme automation and Big Data with sanctuary. What we need to understand is that though robots have higher consistency than humans and are better at work which needs a high degree of precision, they lack the critical thinking and adaptability that define us as humans.

Marc Beaulieu, vice president of Global Operations at Rogers said “

machine must be interconnected to meet the manufacturing complexity of the future in dealing with

Here are 3 main virtues that Industry 5.0 is embedded with owing to its principles and applications.

 - Industry 5.0 aims in achieving the highest level of perfection by optimizing cost-effectiveness by developing business models that use the least resources and obtain the highest profit. Since we will have humans and machines working together, the industries will enjoy the best of both worlds - the precision of automated machine work and the innovative yet adaptive bent of the human mind. Many products including engine blocks that can be made by humans in a low-lighted factory will save huge costs not only to the manufacturer but also to the customers since they wouldn't need to bear the additional cost of high-maintenance machine production.

 - None other Industrial Revolution prior to Industry 5.0 had environment protection and retention a its primary or core principle. Industry 5.0 is well determined on changing this trend, which has led to the emergence of sustainable corporate technologies and sensitivities like minimal generation of waste and its management, cross-cutting processes have also proved to be of high efficiency. This shift is in line with what international standards, government regulations, and consumers have been increasingly demanding.

 - Industry 5.0 will leverage the potential of technology, but will also find room for humans to implement their own ideas that lead to a product that is developed with personalization in mind. The use of high-end machinery should be limited to the process of manufacturing, but not the designs. Human designers tend to be more unique and creative by putting their imagination and efforts, which is true personalization and often a symbol of luxury for modern buyers, who want to buy and invest in the products that are exclusive to them in terms of customization. Furthermore, the automation accomplished during Industry 4.0 permits workers to free themselves from certain repetitive and monotonous tasks, hence focusing on crafting and coming up with more powerful strategies or apply their creativity.

Michael Rada put forth another vision for Industry 5.0. Rada states that the priority of Industry

to utilize efficiently workforce of machines and people, in synergy with the environment. It goes

back from a virtual environment to a real one.

" The theme of this vision is Industrial Upcycling. This vision focuses on waste prevention. Furthermore, Rada emphasizes that we needto turn back to the human element in the manufacturing process. He criticizes the current digitization trend that is the effort to embed 1s and 0s into any living organism.

According to Rada, Industry 5.0 incorporates the 6R methodology.

 Recognizing the opportunities offered by Industrial Upcycling. Awareness is the first essential step.

 Evaluation and reconsideration of the business and the manufacturing process. A redesigning of processes to realize the benefits of Industrial Upcycling is an essential step.

 After recognition of the opportunities and reconsideration of business processes, we need to realize the business process improvement or innovation.

 Reduction in the use of resources to achieve efficient outcomes is the essence of the methodology.

 Reusing the materials considered as useable before process improvement is also atthe center of the methodology.

 Recycling as much as possible is one of the main expected outcomes of theIndustrial Upcycling effort. Naturally, the ideal is zero waste.

6R methodology represents a business improvement model. Depending on the distinct case, it can be considered as a business process improvement or a business process innovation.

Therefore, the 6R methodology is subject to the rules, assumptions, and dynamics of process improvement efforts. L.E.D. (Logistics Efficiency Design). It's designed for increasing the efficiency of the global supply chain, with the intent to diminish the waste created by the currentmodern standard buyer-supplier business relations. L.E.D is the concurrent application of transparency, profit sharing, and efficiency in the supply chain.

 " report the global industry 4.0 market is supposed to hit a spike of US$214 billion by the end of 2023. Both developed and developing economies are adopting Industry 4.0 in their work culture to enhance their manufacturing competitiveness. Countries like Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia are implementing and embracing Industry 4.0 to truncate their industries to a higher center for economic benefits and economic giants are shifting to an even higher level of innovation and competitiveness. For instance, Japan – a technological powerhouse, had launched the “

” to stimulate growth in advanced production sectors. The policy aims to develop on Japan's innate strengths in manufacturing and technology while aiming for the development of US$ 1.3 trillion of new industries and 4.7 million jobs by 2020. Similarly, Singapore, a high-end manufacturing and production hub, recently launched the “

” to provide a common framework to prompt companies to start, scale, and sustain Industry 4.0 efforts.

China, already accounting for approximately 25 percent of the world’s manufacturing activity, is attempting to seal the gap in manufacturing prowess with Japan and Germany by encompassing new technologies. Initiatives such as “

” are further enabling manufacturers to prioritize Industry 4.0.

The Indian government estimates India’s manufacturing sector would cut through US$ 1 trillion by 2025. However, manufacturers require to advance beyond the current state in order to move to the next stage and permeate the critical technological gaps., and overcome factors like manual inputs, lack of ICT integration in manufacturing, and critical gaps in capability.

’ initiative is providing the groundwork for both small and large companies to develop advanced manufacturing capabilities and invest in technology upgradation. Moreover, programs such as Green Corridors and Smart Cities have been launched to support critical technology interventions across various industries. Besides creating jobs, these initiatives appeal to a new generation of operators with different values and skills that boost synergies.

Companies like SIEMENS are Driving the Industrial IoT by vertically integrating Operating Technology and Information Technology. Vertical integration adds data analytic capabilities on a ground-level i.e., the shop floor. Operation Technology (OT) has synced and merged with information technology (IT) hence providing new optimization potential ranging from predictive maintenance and condition monitoring to improvised validation and quality management process and bring forth new business models, such as pay per use. The approach also facilitates the use of artificial intelligence with industrial applications. A prerequisite for vertical integration is ensuring seamless data throughout across all interfaces, from different field devices and systems to higher-level control systems and platforms, and even the cloud.

Given India’s aspiration to move up the share manufacturing contributes to GDP from 16% now to 25% by 2022, creating 100 million additional jobs in the process, companies must pull up medium and long-term strategic programs to comprise the advantages of Industry 4.0.

The compliance to invest in new manufacturing technologies will settle which EMS providers will win new clients. But, there’s more to this than just new technology. Increasingly Industry 4.0 and even Industry 5.0 will offer competitive advantages to those companies who add strides in communication and connectivity to their technology.

Digitization allows EMS providers to respond more effectively and efficiently to customer needs because it

In this decade, EMS partners will comprehensively adopt automated equipment and make robust use of smart technologies to provide higher productivity, more efficient use of resources, faster time to ramp, and improved quality control. The stimulation of product allocation and product obsolescence is still going to be major factors that push OEMs to rely on the supply chain knowledge and expertise of EMS partners.

The consumer market has already embraced personalized items– and the industrial electronics sector will follow soon. OEMs will increasingly necessitate different material finishes, branding options, software configurations, add-ons, plug-ins, ancillary items, and language options. And they will expect them made to order and delivered the following day. Connected, the data-driven tech will be crucial to meet the demand, but so too will a flexible supply chain. Orders initiated by client demand will be automatically sent to suppliers and delivered within the hour. In addition, the EMS provider will no longer process, re-pack, and re-locate large orders of stock. Instead, the supply chain partners will take responsibility for this service and deliver smaller batches more frequently. We can expect a just-in-time supply. Additive manufacturing will also assist such personalization. It will be deployed throughout the assembly lines and test processes to produce hops on-demand, along with any bespoke tools required.

Industry 5.0 may seem overwhelming on the surface but it also comes with some major drawbacks due to its difficult adaptability.

· Humans will need to develop a completely new set of skills in order to adapt and survive in Industry

5.0. Working along robots may sound all exciting but the truth is working along something which is only a technical manifestation of human consciousness and is unable to understand any dialect other than 1s and 0s will be a tough challenge for the industry workers.

· The adoption of new technology has always been a tedious task and has taken time and effort. How will the manufacturing industry implement it all? What are the industry 5.0 technologies? Customized software connecting factories, real-time data, collaborative robotics, 3D printing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of things (IoT), Cloud are only a few to name. Hence people might have to learn new technologies and technical skills even when they are in their beta state or rather not fully developed into a prototype, hence reducing the gap between the launch date and mastered date of the upcoming technologies.

· Furthermore, these technologies need a good deal of investment. A UR Cobot doesn't come cheap at all. Training people for the new jobs also adds to the companies’ cost. Certain companies may find it difficult to upgrade their production lines for Industry 5.0. Even if financing is not a problem, the rhythm of change might be and those who cannot afford it or are too slow in adopting Industry 5.0 may be left behind.

ARE INDIANS READY TO WELCOME THE FIFTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION?

The primary fear that strives among the Indian masses that with the advent of the 5th industrial revolution they might have to face an issue of mass-scale unemployment. A large section of society is subjected to the loss of their jobs to their fellow mechanical and automated counterparts. On the brighter side, Industry 5.0 might lead to job transformation rather than job substitution. The robots are restricted to performing tasks only that they are programmed to do. Any form of automation needs human supervision, the human operator is responsible for programming the robot and installing it based on the needs of the production company, which will cause an upsurge in the technical and backend job opportunities and may give way to new diverse fields which didn't exist in the first place.

We have come a long way from steam engines to self-driving electric cars and it's only a matter of time that we step into the era where humans will have Autobots as their work colleagues. According to, S. Sriram's, GM, Industry Sales, Factory Automation & Industrial Division, Mitsubishi Electric India Pvt Ltd, words - " 

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