The World Economic Forum (WEF) has decided to establish five new Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including one in India’s Andhra Pradesh.
Two such centres are already there in India—one in Mumbai and the other in Telangana. The Fourth Industrial Revolution Network is a platform for multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together public and private sectors to help ensure emerging technologies deliver benefits for society while minimising risks.
Launched by the WEF in 2017, the network brings together independent national and thematic centres across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas to advance the responsible development and application of exponential technologies.
Besides Andhra Pradesh, the other new centres will be in France, the U.K., and the UAE. Each centre will work with governments and industry to deliver practical policy frameworks and pilots, address regional priorities, and advance international cooperation, the WEF said.
The focus areas of these centres would include AI innovation, the energy transition, cyber resilience, and frontier technologies. They will address regional needs while advancing international dialogue and cooperation.
“The launch of five new Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution reflects the value of bringing governments, industry and experts together around shared technology challenges,” WEF President and CEO Borge Brende said.
“By contributing local and regional insights, partners strengthen a global effort to advance emerging technologies responsibly,” he added. Established in partnership with the Andhra Pradesh government, the Centre for Energy and Cyber Resilience will promote innovation-led approaches to the energy transition while strengthening cyber resilience across industries.
Through pilots, consultations, and knowledge exchange, the centre will develop scalable solutions spanning green energy systems, cybersecurity strategies and workforce development, the WEF said.
“This partnership with the WEF echoes our commitment to building capacity where the world is most fragile: energy security, cyber resilience, trusted digital systems and talent at scale,” Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said.
Together, the new centres will strengthen the global Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, bringing governments, industry and experts together around shared technology challenges, the WEF said. As the Network continues to grow, it will continue to support the responsible development and deployment of emerging technologies to address global priorities.
The network currently includes centres in Azerbaijan, Colombia, Germany, Korea, Israel, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, the US, Ukraine and Vietnam.
