The Fourth Industrial Revolution represents a fundamental change in the way we live, work and relate to one another. It is a new chapter in human development, enabled by extraordinary technology advances commensurate with those of the first, second and third industrial revolutions. These advances are merging the physical, digital and biological worlds in ways that create both huge promise and potential peril. The speed, breadth and depth of this revolution is forcing us to rethink how countries develop, how organisations create value and even what it means to be human. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is about more than just technology-driven change; it is an opportunity to help everyone, including leaders, policy-makers and people from all income groups and nations, to harness converging technologies in order to create an inclusive, human-centred future. The real opportunity is to look beyond technology, and find ways to give the greatest number of people the ability to positively impact their families, organisations and communities.
Emerging Technologies
5 surprising ways plants have helped us create new technology
Exploring ways that plants have created new technologies.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Need to control city traffic? Use giant robocops
Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is using giant robots to control traffic.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
How to use mobile phones to prevent the spread of disease
Sveta Milusheva looks at the use of mobile data in preventing travellers spreading disease.
Emerging Technologies
As technology advances, how do we avoid losing touch with our values?
Could we grow corn without using pesticides, or wipe out disease with terminator mosquitos? The technology already exists, but what are the ethical consequences of deploying it?
Fourth Industrial Revolution
After five years, Juno is showing us Jupiter as we've never seen it before
Leigh Fletcher looks at the insights Juno is offering scientists, and the world, about Jupiter.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The machine that's learning to mimic your brain
MIT reseachers have developed a new computational model of facial recognition.
Financial and Monetary Systems
Going cashless: is India ready for digital?
Bhaskar Chakravorti looks at the recent demonetisation in India, and whether they can embrace digital.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Stephen Hawking: This will be the impact of automation and AI on jobs
Stephen Hawking has warned that artificial intelligence and increasing automation is going to destroy middle class jobs.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The future of technology is looking bleak. Or is it?
Joel Mokyr evaluates the future of economic and technological growth.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
By 2030, this is what computers will be able to do
Medical nanobots, autonomous vehicles and other incredible breakthroughs. But will they bring people together?
Jobs and the Future of Work
Technology is making us feel more alone. Is a return to volunteerism the answer?
Technology has made us more connected and globalized than ever before, yet it is also shaping an age of civic disengagement. What's the answer to this modern malaise?
Emerging Technologies
In a digital world, there's no excuse for more than a billion people to lack an official identity
A one-woman public-private partnership is trying to provide digital ID to more than a billion people worldwide, writes Dakota Gruener.