UNIDO GC tackles 4IR implications for developing countries

As part of the 19th session of the UNIDO General Conference (GC), a thematic side event entitled “The Post-Pandemic World will be Digital: Implications of the 4IR for Developing Countries” was broadcast on Wednesday 1 December. The panel discussion complements a number of UNIDO outputs related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), most notably the 4IR Strategic Framework, currently under consideration by the General Conference.

Several distinguished panelists from the policymaking, private and research sectors featured in the side event, namely Inma Martinez, Member of the Advisory Council, Secretary for Artificial Intelligence, Ministry of Economy and Digital Transformation, Spain; Santiago Pinzon Galan, Vice President of Digital Transformation, National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI); and Jernej Salecl, Director General of Internationalization, Entrepreneurship and Technology, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Slovenia.

The side event featured remarks from Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, Managing Director of UNIDO’s Directorate of Digitalization, Technology and Agri-Business, and fireside chats and interactive polls on the topic, as well as video presentations from UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Japan and Siemens A.G. highlighting recent 4IR projects for inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

Panelists stressed inter alia the necessity of enabling innovation ecosystems; of leveraging the full potential of women; support for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to fully access digital transformation; and of engaging multilateral organizations such as UNIDO to act as a bridge between developed and developing countries and the public and private sectors worldwide.

To watch the full discussion, follow this link (the session begins at 5:40:00 and there is also interpretation in French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese).

For more information contact Alejandro Rivera Rojas (A.Rivera-Rojas [at] unido.org (A[dot]Rivera-Rojas[at]unido[dot]org))