The World Economic Forum will establish five new Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including one in Andhra Pradesh, strengthening India’s role in shaping global frameworks for emerging technologies.The decision was announced as the WEF’s annual meeting concluded, with the new centres also coming up in France, the UK and the UAE. India already hosts two such centres — in Mumbai and Telangana, PTI reported.The Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, launched by the WEF in 2017, serves as a platform for collaboration between governments, industry and experts to ensure emerging technologies deliver societal benefits while mitigating risks. It brings together independent national and thematic centres across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.Each new centre will work closely with governments and industry to develop practical policy frameworks, run pilot projects, address regional priorities and advance international cooperation, the WEF said. Key focus areas will include artificial intelligence innovation, the energy transition, cyber resilience and frontier technologies.“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 chief executive Borge Brende said.“By contributing local and regional insights, partners strengthen a global effort to advance emerging technologies responsibly,” he added.The Andhra Pradesh centre, to be established in partnership with the state government, will focus on energy and cyber resilience. It aims to promote innovation-led approaches to the energy transition while strengthening cyber resilience across industries.Through pilots, consultations and knowledge exchange, the centre will work on scalable solutions covering 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 further strengthen the global Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, which currently includes centres in Azerbaijan, Colombia, Germany, Korea, Israel, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, South Africa, the US, Ukraine and Vietnam.As the network expands, the WEF said it will continue to support the responsible development and deployment of emerging technologies to address global priorities.
About the Author
