We are on the cusp of major change, a revolution of significant proportions, and one that will impact our daily lives.  It is clear that individually, we either participate in this change, or get left behind.

This change has its origins in the 17th century with the British agricultural revolution.  Significant increases in agricultural productivity and output has set the scene for today's focus on economic growth and productivity as the only way forward.   

That improved productivity meant that many people were released from having to farm the land at a subsistence level which in turn provided the manpower for the industrial revolution of the early 1700s.

The industrial revolution covered the period through to the 19th century and the resulting major changes in manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural values of the time.   Machine-based manufacturing, particularly in the textiles industry, marked a major tipping point in human history with almost every aspect of daily life being impacted. Average incomes grew, population growth began to put pressure on natural resources and the world was split between first and third world nations.

The Second Industrial Revolution saw rapid industrial development across Europe,  the United States and Japan.

Then came the computer age.

Launched 40 years ago last week, the world’s first commercially available microprocessor led to the computer age.  Computer technology and the World Wide Web have totally transformed the world we live in.  Our sources of entertainment, games, social networking and so much more have gone on-line.  At work or at home, most of us regularly go on-line for shopping, banking, keeping up with what is happening in the world and for our social networking.

So what will the next 'revolution' look like?  The beginnings of it are here now!

It will be based around our Internet connections, in particular our fixed broadband services at home and at work, and also around our mobile broadband connection when traveling.  The next age may come to be called the broadband age.

In education, technology is revolutionising the way we learn.  Broadband enables collaborative learning across international boundaries, so broadening our perspectives on the world we live in and providing for specialist studies without the need to re-locate.

Personal health care will move from being based at our GP's surgery to being a technology platform where patients are empowered to become active participants and where doctors and other health professionals are transformed into real-time coaches.   Scientists have proposed a data-driven, individualised medicine of the future, based on data recorded from individual patients

On-line shopping will expand to on-line manufacturing where working designs are downloaded for printing on the home printer, similar to how videos are downloaded to the home TV. This new technology enables custom-manufacturing of parts and lifestyle goods.  

Payments using smart phone-based technologies will hit a staggering $670 billion by the year 2015.  As an executive at on-line payments processor Paypal says, "We believe that by 2015 digital currency will be accepted everywhere in the U.S. – from your local corner store to Walmart. We will no longer need to carry a wallet."

We will see a greatly increased use of data from sensors in the home, on the farm and at work to keep a background watch on us and our activities.

Some will choose to not participate in this new world order but for most, being left behind is not an option.  Both local and central government must have inclusive policies to ensure that all can participate.