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.
Arts and Culture
A new poem on the 'tyrannical perfection' of modern life
Brian Bilston, the "unofficial poet laureate of twitter," imagines the quiet horror of a perfectly optimized life.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Apps know where you live, where you work, where you shop. So what does trust mean today?
Four ethical principles for companies to follow in the age of the algorithm.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
8 things you need to know about China’s economy
The Chinese economy receives a lot of interest in the media but it can be difficult to keep track of the basic facts. Here is an overview of China’s economy in the context of its global e...
Emerging Technologies
Blockchain: what it is, how it really can change the world
The most encouraging benefit of blockchain technology is the incentive it creates for participants to work honestly where rules apply equally to all.
Emerging Technologies
The computer chip that thinks it's a tiny human liver
So far, various groups have reported success making miniature models of the lung, liver, kidney, heart, bone marrow, and cornea.
Emerging Technologies
A brain breakthrough that offers new hope for Parkinson's and depression
With mental disorders affecting one in four people globally and psychiatric diseases a leading source of disability, the better understanding of the brain that advanced optogenetics will ...
Emerging Technologies
Instead of digging up raw materials, we will make them from microbes
A new technique could change our entire approach to finding the materials we need for modern life.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
These are the top 10 emerging technologies of 2016
Breakthrough technologies, including “socially aware” artificial intelligence and new generation solar panels, could soon tackle the world’s most pressing challenges.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Solar power has big limitations, but Perovskites could change that
Perovskites solar cells can help overcome the fundamental limitations of the conventional silicon solar cells that currently dominate the world market
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Your robot personal assistant will know when you’re stressed, tired or hungry
The secret ingredient in PA technology that has been largely lacking to date is context. Up to now, machines have been largely oblivious to the details of our work, our bodies, our lives.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
Face it: you're a worse driver than an autonomous car
In the United States, crashes and collisions claim more than 30,000 lives and cause some 2.3 million injuries annually.
Fourth Industrial Revolution
You might not have heard of them, but these new materials will change the world
There is a reason we talk about the Bronze Age and the Iron Age: because materials can change the world. These new ones will do just that.