FOREWORD.

• Author: Schwab, Klaus

Since the concept of the Fourth Industrial Revolution became common parlance in 2016, it has caught the attention of political leaders around the world and become an essential point of discussion in the fields of economic development and international relations.

In October 2018, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed to the importance of ensuring that India grasped the benefits flowing from emerging technologies, stating that "when the first and second industrial revolutions took place, India was under colonial rule. When the third industrial revolution took place, India was struggling to deal with the challenges present after Independence. But India will not remain untouched by the fourth industrial revolution." (1)

Former Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop emphasized the strategic nature of these changes in a speech in June 2017, observing that technologies such as artificial intelligence, distributed ledgers, and additive manufacturing are in the process of fundamentally altering the strategic landscape for states. She said "disruptive change will impact almost every sector and every economy over time. During every identified industrial revolution, the national strengths and capabilities of countries shifted dramatically in relative terms depending on the ability of their government and their economies to respond--or not." (2)

These statements underline the fact that Fourth Industrial Revolution is not merely a series of incremental technological advancements. It is an upheaval--a dramatic and wide-ranging shift in the way that value is created, exchanged, and distributed across individuals, organizations, and entire economies. (3) And history shows that such upheavals create significant opportunities and challenges for nation states, altering the distribution of political, military, and economic power.

Entire systems that populations largely take for granted--how we transport goods, services, and individuals; how we manufacture; how we collaborate, communicate, and experience the world around us--are being upended and, in some cases, rapidly replaced as combinations of technologies make what was previously impossible the norm. And the policies adopted by the public and private sector during these transformations will have a dramatic impact on who benefits, when, and how.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is rapidly emerging on a global scale, but, as with all previous industrial revolutions, the rate and extent of how...