WEF to set up 4th Industrial Revolution Centre in AP
It will focus on energy and cyber resilience
Amaravati: The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced that it would set up five new Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution worldwide, and one of them would be established in Andhra Pradesh.
The new centre in Andhra Pradesh will be established in partnership with the state government and will focus on energy and cyber resilience. It will promote innovation-led approaches to the energy transition while strengthening cybersecurity across industries through pilots, policy consultations and knowledge exchange. The centre is expected to develop scalable solutions in green energy systems, cybersecurity strategies and workforce development.
“The partnership with the World Economic Forum reflects our commitment to building capacity where the world is most fragile - energy security, cyber resilience, trusted digital systems and talent at scale,” said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
With this addition, India will now host three Centres for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the other two being located in Mumbai and Telangana. Besides Andhra Pradesh, the newly announced centres will be set up in France, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.
Launched by the WEF in 2017, the Fourth Industrial Revolution Network serves as a global platform for multi-stakeholder collaboration, bringing together governments, industry and experts to ensure that emerging technologies deliver societal benefits while minimising risks. The network connects independent national and thematic centres across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas to advance the responsible development and application of advanced technologies.
WEF president and CEO Borge Brende said the launch of the five new centres underlines the importance of collective action in addressing shared technology challenges. He noted that local and regional insights from partner governments strengthen global efforts to responsibly advance emerging technologies.
The focus areas of the new centres will include AI innovation, energy transition, cyber resilience and frontier technologies, addressing regional priorities while advancing international cooperation and policy frameworks. The WEF stated that the addition of these centres will further strengthen its global network, which already includes centres in countries such as the United States, Germany, Israel, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and others, reinforcing international collaboration on critical technological and societal challenges.
