An essential consideration for government, business and civil society is how technologies are harnessed and regulated to accelerate growth, encourage innovation and build resiliency in the wake of COVID-19. How governments and other stakeholders approach the governance of technologies will play an important role in how we reset society, the economy and the business environment.

This report examines some of the most important applications of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies if we are to thrive in a post-pandemic world and the governance challenges that should be addressed for these technologies to reach their potential.

The technology areas it focuses on are artificial intelligence, blockchain, internet of things, mobility and drones and unmanned air systems.

Using tech to recover from the pandemic

Efforts to recover from the pandemic have triggered a tsunami of innovations in work, collaboration, distribution and service delivery – and shifted many customer behaviours. AI and data analytics have helped Taiwan, China predict the risk of infection. China has used drones and robots to minimize human contact. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is using blockchain to provide seamless digital services to its citizens, and the United States is using autonomous vehicles to deliver test samples to processing labs.

Report by the World Economic Forum