India among four countries to host new WEF's Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution

The World Economic Forum on Thursday announced the signing of agreements for five new Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), including one in India.

Launched by the WEF in 2017, 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.

The new centres will be set up in France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and India, and will work with governments and industry to develop practical policy frameworks, pilot projects and region-specific solutions.

Their focus areas include artificial intelligence (AI), frontier technologies, the energy transition and cyber resilience.

Announcing the decision at its annual meeting in Davos, the Forum said the centres would strengthen international cooperation and help translate technological innovation into adaptable and responsible policy outcomes.

“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,” World Economic Forum President and CEO Børge Brende said.

"By contributing local and regional insights, partners strengthen a global effort to advance emerging technologies responsibly," he added.

Two such centres are already there in India -- one in Mumbai and the other in Telangana.

A new Centre for Energy and Cyber Resilience will be set up in partnership with the Andhra Pradesh government. The centre will promote innovation-led approaches to the energy transition and enhance cyber resilience across industries through pilots, consultations and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

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.

In France, the European Centre for AI Excellence will be based in Paris and will work to accelerate responsible AI innovation and adoption across Europe, in partnership with VivaTech.

The United Kingdom’s Centre for AI-Driven Innovation will be hosted by Imperial College London and will focus on the development and adoption of advanced AI, including its convergence with frontier technologies such as quantum computing and biotechnology.

The remaining two centres will be established in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates — the Centre for Frontier Technologies, hosted by the Technology Innovation Institute, and the Centre for Intelligent Future, hosted by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence. These centres will focus on areas such as quantum technologies, robotics, space and AI systems, while strengthening public-private collaboration.

The new centres will strengthen the global Fourth Industrial Revolution Network, bringing governments, industry and experts together around shared technology challenges, the WEF said.

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.