Scaling up digital transformation and 4IR solutions in post-pandemic world

Prior to the pandemic, competitiveness was largely driven by economic imperatives such as productivity and comparative advantage. As the “new normal” continues to further assert itself, the world will increasingly be driven by advanced digital technologies that are associated with both post-pandemic recovery and newly emerging growth pathways. This has led to the concept of harnessing resilience and higher competitiveness through continuous digital innovation driven by strategic vision, learning and efficient partnerships among government, business, and civil society.

UNIDO’s interventions respond to this call, adopting the perspective of developing countries in identifying tailored digital transformation approaches underpinned by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). This vision hinges upon upgrading efforts in several areas, notably in supporting country-, industry- and firm-level transformation; fostering innovation ecosystems and smart production; upgrading human and technological capacities of small and medium enterprises (SMEs); encouraging the use of newly emerging financing instruments and reinforcing quality infrastructure.

As part of the "Industry 4.0 in the Developing World: Challenges, Gaps and Opportunities" international conference held on 16-17 March 2022 by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in Sri Lanka, UNIDO joined the discussions on the transition to 4IR in the post-pandemic world, which complements a number of its in-depth strategic narratives related to 4IR, most notably, the UNIDO’s Industrial Development Report 2022 on “The future of industrialization in the post-pandemic world” and the 4IR Strategic Framework.

For further information contact Marco Kamiya (m.kamiya [at] unido.org (m[dot]kamiya[at]unido[dot]org)), Aleksei Savrasov (a.savrasov [at] unido.org (a[dot]savrasov[at]unido[dot]org))