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.
Industries in Depth
Brain-sensing tech, an ageing world, and other must-read stories of the week
A weekly round up of some of the top stories from the past seven days.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
This beautiful video gives us a 3D look inside cells
A new technique opens up the inside of cells, in a way never seen before.
Financial and Monetary Systems
A 3% boost to GDP from blockchain? It’s a real possibility
The Bank of England is seriously weighing the benefits of a digital currency.
Emerging Technologies
Marc Benioff: We're on the cusp of an AI revolution
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, explores the future of artificial intelligence.
Arts and Culture
This MIT camera can read books. Even when they're closed
Researchers at MIT are developing a camera that can read closed books.
Emerging Technologies
In the future your sales assistant could be a robot
A look at the evolution of robotics in the retail industry.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Which countries are the best – and least – prepared for tomorrow’s health threats?
The developing world is in many ways better equipped to deal with future healthcare challenges than some developed countries.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
In the machine age, only one type of organization will thrive: a human one
“As traditionally high-skill jobs are increasingly outsourced to machines, humans must develop their deeper human capacities and qualities,” says Dov Seidman.
Emerging Technologies
DeepMind says it's developed much more realistic computer speech
Google's DeepMind is working on much more realistic computer-generated speech, using neural networks.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Just one second in the microwave could be the key to high-quality graphene
Scientists have found a novel way to remove the oxygen from graphene oxide - put it in the microwave.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
The vaccine fridge that could save lives – with help from Einstein
An inventive new way to keep vaccines fresh while they travel to remote areas could save millions of lives.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Facebook's News Feed is 10 years old. This is how the site has changed
A look at the evolution of Facebook.