UAE is future-ready
By joining the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the UAE has shown its commitment to developing future-ready data-focused policies. This will help maximise benefits from new technologies.
dubai — The UAE, Brazil and Denmark are the latest to join the bandwagon of the World Economic Forum Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which seeks to close the growing gap between emerging technologies and policy development.
The UAE will partner with the Centre to develop a “future-flexible” national data policy and strategy. This approach is designed to complement the fast-moving nature of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. The UAE is the first nation to take this approach, the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, said.
“The UAE is demonstrating leadership in developing a truly future-flexible methodology of data and technology governance that will serve as a model across the region and beyond,” said Anne Toth, Head of Data Policy, World Economic Forum.
“We are proud to deepen our engagement with the UAE, one of the most forward-looking nations in the Mena region, through their partnership with the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where we will work together to pioneer a future-focused data policy model,” said Mirek Dusek, Deputy Head of the Centre for Geopolitical and Regional Affairs, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum. The three new entrants join Bahrain, India, Japan, Rwanda and the UK, as well as 61 businesses, at the WEF Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in San Francisco.
Each country will partner with leading businesses, start-ups, civil society, academia and international organizations to co-design and pilot new approaches to policy. The new policies will help shape the trajectory of emerging technology and will be piloted by governments and businesses around the worlds, said the statement.
“Emerging technologies are advancing at unprecedented speed, putting enormous pressure on regulatory frameworks,” said Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman and Founder of the World Economic Forum. “The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network is a global hub for publicprivate cooperation to help governments and businesses adopt agile governance policies to maximise the benefits of science and technology for society.”
Sixty-one businesses and startups have joined the Centre over the past year as partners or members. While previous industrial revolutions liberated humankind from animal power, made mass production possible and brought digital capabilities to billions of people, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is fundamentally different. It is characterised by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human, according to Schwab.
—issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com