Driving the Sustainability of Production Systems with Fourth Industrial Revolution Innovation

Who’s behind it? – World Economic Forum

How can it help? –  This White Paper provides the foundational insight and tools for the second and third years of the Accelerating Sustainable Production project by exploring high-impact technologies, regional opportunities for diffusion and the value at stake for cross-sector stakeholders. At its core, this work is a strategic framework enabling government and business to harness innovation in production for sustainable development and competitiveness.

This project’s first white paper seeks to answer three questions:

• What changes will the Fourth Industrial Revolution bring to systems of production, and how will they affect sustainability?
• What geographical opportunities exist to scale and diffuse sustainable opportunities?
• What value can these Fourth Industrial Revolution developments create for business, society and the environment, and how can they help achieve the SDGs?

The output is a prioritized set of emerging technology developments in each of the focus industries, with potential sustainability impacts identified on a global level.