What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and what technologies exist within this new era that will help solve the world’s greatest challenges? originally appeared on Quora, the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) is an unprecedented era with numerous tech solutions that will help us solve the world’s greatest challenges. There are eight broad groups of 4IR advanced technologies: Artificial Intelligence and Data, 3D Printing, Robotics, Advanced Materials, Extended Realities, Autonomous Vehicles and Drones, Blockchain, and Space Technologies. These techs are hugely important for business in the present and even more so in the future. The Internet of Things (IoT) is also relevant, as it forms the foundation for these eight technologies.

The potential of the 4IR to address major global challenges, including poverty, climate change, nature loss, and inequality, is immense. Currently, we only tap into a fraction of this potential. The enormous promise of Tech for Good, both for the world as well as for business, is clear. While moving over the threshold into the 4IR, a wide variety of technologies emerges. These new tech applications make it possible to leverage sustainable impact at scale, and at the same time seize exciting market opportunities. With a purpose-driven approach to the way technologies are deployed, businesses will undoubtedly play a crucial role in perpetuating worldwide progress. While fostering a shared value business model and building trust in technological breakthroughs, businesses gain a competitive advantage.

Entering the 4IR means entering a global era characterized by rapid advancements in new technologies and global connectivity. Artificial intelligence now forms part of our everyday activities – optimizing and customizing what we see, choose, and learn. Ubiquitous sensors are collecting more data than ever before, with connected devices simplifying our lives. Autonomous vehicles, drone delivery, and drone transport are set to transform global mobility. Even immersive reality-guided surgeries, 3D printing of body parts, and affordable biohacking are either here or on their way. These signify today’s digital age as an age of unprecedented discovery and innovation.

We possess the human capacity to make progress and solve our universal problems. But with the rising global population, developing economies, and growing middle class, in addition to the setbacks suffered from the pandemic and other humanitarian crises, we need to create solutions at a much larger scale and at a more rapid pace than we have up to this point. There is growing recognition that if we are to achieve these targets and build a better world for all by 2030, business-as-usual and continued incremental reforms will not be enough. To achieve this monumental progress, we need accelerating power that propels solutions at scale. This is where the power of the next industrial revolution comes in. Beneficial technological advancement - Tech for Good - enables the 4IR to help solve our most pressing global challenges.

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