Geneva, Switzerland, 13 September 2024 – The World Economic Forum and the City of Medellín will establish a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Colombia in October 2024. The new centre will serve as a leading AI innovation hub, bringing together stakeholders from business, government and civil society to develop AI strategies and solutions for more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous cities. The announcement was made by Sebastian Buckup, Member of the Executive Committee of the World Economic Forum, and Federico Gutiérrez, Mayor of Medellín.
The Colombia Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR Colombia) will be hosted by Ruta-N Corporation and will serve as a hub for public-private collaboration, enhancing local and regional capacity to harness the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through this collaboration, the centre will implement and amplify best practices and strategic frameworks for leveraging AI in the responsible digital transformation of cities.
“We are delighted to welcome back the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Colombia in the World Economic Forum’s global C4IR network. The centre will build on previous achievements and play a crucial role in fostering technology-based solutions for Medellín, in line with its vision as a Special District for Science, Technology and Innovation, and it will also have the potential to contribute to technological progress in Colombia and the broader region,” said Sebastian Buckup. “The centre will harness Medellín’s capacities and reputation as a regional innovation and technology powerhouse and Ruta-N’s prominent position as one of the country's leading innovation agencies.”
“With the opening of this centre, Medellín consolidates its mission as a Science, Technology and Innovation District, with a focus on emerging technologies, such as AI, betting on the training of young people in digital skills, and the development of technology, entrepreneurship and technology-based companies,” said Federico Gutiérrez. “In Medellín we will have the first special treatment zone, a sector in the North of the city that will attract investment, promote the testing of technology and innovation to improve the competitiveness of Medellín, and foster collaboration between the actors of the ecosystem: companies, universities, governments, citizens and international allies.”
About the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is a platform for multistakeholder collaboration, bringing together public and private sectors to maximize technological benefits to society while minimizing the risks. It explores exponential technologies and drives their responsible adoption and application, leveraging a global network of independent national and thematic centres.
The World Economic Forum launched the first Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco in 2017, shortly followed by centres in Japan and India. The network now includes centres in Austin (Centre for Trustworthy Technology), Azerbaijan, Colombia, Detroit (US Centre for Advanced Manufacturing), Germany (Global Government Technology Centre), Gyeonggi (Republic of Korea), Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia Centre for Space Futures, Serbia, Telangana (India), United Arab Emirates, Ukraine (Global Government Technology Centre) and Viet Nam.
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