The Impact of Digitalization on the Quality of Life

Dear Colleagues,

The main trend of the modern scientific and technical society is the integration of the technosphere, biosphere, and the virtual (digital) world. Currently, the "best-in-class" term is used, which is always associated with a specific period of time and technology, which shows the high product quality dynamics. The obsolescence of a product occurs much faster than its physical aging. Product reliability numbers and the theory of reliability itself are changing, due to both new technologies and consumption velocity. Digital twins and end-to-end technologies are becoming the drivers of sustainable development. Today, thanks to digitalization, manufacturing systems have not only one but several solutions to meet requirements. In fact, techniques have been modeled and found to guarantee the sustainable development of products, companies, and industries, taking into account a huge number of factors that reduce the impact of uncertainty on business. On the one hand, there is an increased need for professionalism and highly intelligent personnel, which helps to support global competition among employees, and, on the other hand, there is a redistribution of specialties and areas of training and staff reduction. People can communicate online at any time, but, there has been a dramatic reduction in interpersonal contacts; personal contact with teachers, doctors, and specialists is becoming a luxury that not everyone can afford. Digitalization allows us to take into account a large number of risks, solve crimes, analyze the characteristics of each person, but, at the same, time there is a technical possibility of total control. The issue of human freedom, independence, and personal space has become pertinent. On the other hand, these technologies make dreams come true: the first kick at the 2014 World Cup was kicked by a disabled with paralyzed legs. Pinto operated a mechanical leg mentally, with the help of an exoskeleton created at Duke University (USA). The exoskeleton is operated by a helmet that reads brain signals. For this Special Issue, authors are encouraged to consider how digitalization affects quality of life, what kind of new opportunities, risks, and problems may arise for people, the way the economy will change, the trends of education that will arise, and what kind of specialists will be in demand.

Dr. Yury Klochkov
Collection Editor

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