Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies have brought about unprecedented changes to labor markets, and the coronavirus disease further hastened digital transformations. While the application of 4IR technologies spell opportunities for productivity growth and income gains, they also create challenges, including job losses. Investing in skills for 4IR and incorporating 4IR technologies in the delivery of training can smoothen the transition to 4IR workplaces. To provide insights on the opportunities of 4IR, studies were undertaken in three countries—Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. This report synthesizes findings and analysis from the three studies, drawn from (i) surveys of employers and training institutions, (ii) data collected from selected job portals in the three countries, and (iii) review of policies and strategies relating to 4IR. It lays out policy directions and actions to harness the benefits of 4IR for growth, employment, and inclusive development.

This report explains how the rapid adoption of digital technology in Central and West Asia can help unlock growth and shows why economies need to invest in training to build the skilled labor force needed for the jobs of the future. Focusing on Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, the report outlines how the pandemic sped up use of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technology and draws on policy reviews and employment data. It explores how fresh policies can help offset the challenges posed by 4IR and recommends ways to harness technology to increase growth, employment, and inclusive development.

Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies have brought about unprecedented changes to labor markets, and the coronavirus disease further hastened digital transformations. While the application of 4IR technologies spell opportunities for productivity growth and income gains, they also create challenges, including job losses. Investing in skills for 4IR and incorporating 4IR technologies in the delivery of training can smoothen the transition to 4IR workplaces. To provide insights on the opportunities of 4IR, studies were undertaken in three countries—Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. This report, focusing on Pakistan, presents evidence from surveys of employers and training institutions, as well as an analysis of job portals for the agro-processing and transportation and storage sectors. It lays out policy directions and actions to harness the benefits of 4IR for growth, employment, and inclusive development.

Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies have brought about unprecedented changes to labor markets, and the coronavirus disease further hastened digital transformations. While the application of 4IR technologies spell opportunities for productivity growth and income gains, they also create challenges, including job losses. Investing in skills for 4IR and incorporating 4IR technologies in the delivery of training can smoothen the transition to 4IR workplaces. To provide insights on the opportunities of 4IR, studies were undertaken in three countries—Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. This report, focusing on Uzbekistan, presents evidence from surveys of employers and training institutions, as well as an analysis of job portals for the agro-processing and transportation and storage sectors. It lays out policy directions and actions to harness the benefits of 4IR for growth, employment, and inclusive development.

Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies have brought about unprecedented changes to labor markets, and the coronavirus disease further hastened digital transformations. While the application of 4IR technologies spell opportunities for productivity growth and income gains, they also create challenges, including job losses. Investing in skills for 4IR and incorporating 4IR technologies in the delivery of training can smoothen the transition to 4IR workplaces. To provide insights on the opportunities of 4IR, studies were undertaken in three countries—Azerbaijan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. This report, focusing on Azerbaijan, presents evidence from surveys of employers and training institutions, as well as an analysis of job portals for the agro-processing and transportation and storage sectors. It lays out policy directions and actions to harness the benefits of 4IR for growth, employment, and inclusive development.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

World-renowned economist Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, explains that we have an opportunity to shape the fourth industrial revolu­tion, which will fundamentally alter how we live and work. Schwab argues that this revolution is different in scale, scope and complexity from any that have come before. Characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the developments are affecting all disciplines, economies, industries and governments, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human. Artificial intelligence is already all around us, from supercomputers, drones and virtual assistants to 3D printing, DNA sequencing, smart thermostats, wear­able sensors and microchips smaller than a grain of sand. But this is just the beginning: nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than a strand of hair and the first transplant of a 3D printed liver are already in development. Imagine “smart factories” in which global systems of manu­facturing are coordinated virtually, or implantable mobile phones made of biosynthetic materials. The fourth industrial revolution, says Schwab, is more significant, and its ramifications more profound, than in any prior period of human history. He outlines the key technologies driving this revolution and discusses the major impacts expected on government, business, civil society and individu­als. Schwab also offers bold ideas on how to harness these changes and shape a better future—one in which technology empowers people rather than replaces them; progress serves society rather than disrupts it; and in which innovators respect moral and ethical boundaries rather than cross them. We all have the opportunity to contribute to developing new frame­works that advance progress.