Dubai: A “tsunami” of changes in technology has started the fourth ‘Industrial Revolution’, mandating governments to absorb these changes, Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, told the World Government Summit 2016 in Dubai on Monday.
His address, delivered during a session titled The Dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, stressed the role of governments in shaping the future for next generations.
Schwab emphasised three absolute changes that governments must undertake, beginning with recognising their role in the rapidly changing technology landscape. Second, governments will need to reorganise themselves as platforms for innovation. The traditional hierarchical approach must be revaluated, he said. Third, governments must recognise that the availability of human talent adds a valuable competitive advantage to nations.
Schwab said: “Governments must put the whole emphasis on the development of human capital … Capitalism in some ways has been replaced by talent-ism.”
Schwab added: “The new technological transformation can serve as an entry card for humanity to step into a new civilisation. It is this concept that underlines our aspiration for mankind to shape planet earth into a real human place. This task is a united responsibility — to create a more sophisticated and enlightened humanity. This is directly in line with the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, who has emphasised that the UAE government’s focus will be to ensure the happiness of its people.”
