EDITORIAL

Building up a Global Brand

Dear Members & Readers,

Massive popularity reached by ‘Manike mage hithee” video cover in many parts of the world is amazing. Without any faint sense on the lyrics and its meaning, tens of millions of music lovers belong to different continents, different cultures, different languages have been so passionate on this song cover sung by Yohani. Her strong but sentimental voice and the melody of the song are so touching.

I’m sure most of the Sri Lankans including me are compelled to enjoy this song only after seeing its massive popularity in India and other parts of the world. It has been among the top ten songs of Global Top Songs on Youtube for the last few weeks. A twenty-eight-year small built Sri Lankan lady has touched the USD 33 billion global streaming music market as the first Sri Lankan musician to do so.  Like everything, music too has become a commodity in today’s marketplace, that is pushed on customers not to listen nor sing but to consume.

The music streaming arena has been rocketed within the last decade by the wide scale penetration of smartphones across all corners of the world. Do you believe that the smart phone in your hand is several times more powerful than the Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC), the onboard computer that made the first moon landing a reality? Knowingly or unknowingly, we are already equipped with day-to-day devices which are far superior to the enablers of such all-time giant leaps of mankind.

In addition, the integration of advance technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G for streaming, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) into the music stream platforms have made the market upside down. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) is a way of describing the blurring of boundaries between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. The impact of the IR 4.0 has been spreading faster than any of its predecessors.

The modern marketplace is quite different. We, Sri Lanka engineers soon need to realize that our market is not only limited to the boundaries of this island. I’m inviting you to listen to our podcast interview in this publication which is done with a young innovative engineer whose focus is on the development of solutions both locally and globally on the outcomes of the 4th industrial revolution (IR 4.0). This podcast will assist you to realize this technical and human transformation. It’s all about building a global brand. That isn’t impossible now, especially for engineers.

The touching aspect in this is that the resultant transformation that took place due to the IR 4.0 will not be as mechanical as we think, but there is a significant human component too.  4th Industrial Revolution is a creative revolution than its predecessors. Nothing is more human than creativity. The good news is that the tendency is to use the technology as assistance to human creativity but not as a replacement technology.  IR 4.0 is a new chapter in human development. Obviously, there is a huge opportunity for creative engineers.

On the other hand, there is a need to connect humans more than ever and a need to understand humans across countries, cultures, religions. Human connectivity is most important, and people wanted to live with whom they loved. Deep connection with others is important for our wellbeing and happiness and key to solve challenges we are facing. However, the paradox is, though we need connectivity, we are distracted more than ever due to the outcomes of the same revolution. Engineers need to manage this paradox effectively. Thus, the environmental concerns, climate change are the topics that we need to address seriously with the growing tendency towards technology. The importance of sustainable development should be understood by the engineers of this era more than anyone else.

Building a market and a brand while safeguarding the true values of humankind is the newer challenge for the entire engineering fraternity today.

Stay safe!

Eng. Suran Fernando
Editor, SLEN
suran.fernando@gmail.com
editor.slen@iesl.lk