UNIDO AND ITM 2019 IMPLICATIONS AND THE WAY FORWARD The rising capabilities and affordability of 4IR technologies are bringing the opportunities discussed throughout this publication closer. However, while these technologies have the potential to deliver numerous economic, environmental and social benefits and to contribute to addressing some of the most pressing global challenges, it is important to ensure that those benefits are evenly distributed. If not adequately managed, the 4IR could contribute to preserve or even aggravate the existing inequalities, especially among vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, indigenous people, and ethnic minorities. They may even exacerbate existent imbalances, mainly if one considers that all previous industrial revolutions were characterized by an uneven distribution of benefits. The above requires the adoption of a systemic approach and a continuously changing strategy which prioritizes four cross-cutting areas identified by UNIDO: 1) promoting knowledge creation, commercialization and skill -building; 2) ensuring the inclusion of vulnerable sections of the population; 3) building institutions (norms, standards and conventions); and 4) leveraging multi-stakeholder partnerships. As suggested in this report, it is essential to build a new set of skills in the workforce; to develop the required infrastructure, and to implement a combination of adaptation and mitigation strategies that enhance and address countries’ strengths and weaknesses. However, it is important to ensure those set of actions are an integral part of a far-reaching strategy not only oriented to strengthen the national and regional capacities to adopt technologies but also to adapt, reinvent and produce new technologies. In the case of Mexico, this could progressively reduce its current dependence on imports of Advanced Digital Production (ADP) technologies and to improve its position in the generation of related patents.
Building closer collaboration between industry, academia, and government lead not only to the creation of new knowledge, but it also facilitates its commercialization. Although this might seem a straightforward process, this report has shown that aligning industry requirements with the capabilities of research institutions and government priorities usually entails meaningful changes. Nevertheless, irrespectively of the strategy followed, the latter must be suitably informed by the country-specific conditions under which it will be implemented. Moving towards the 4IR requires highly skilled and creative workers with substantial technological know-how. Nonetheless, in increasing their 4IR readiness, countries should carefully analyze and reform national educational systems and training programs. While skills upgrading schemes are a crucial component in ensuring a smooth transition to the 4IR, the development of a highly competent workforce is insufficient to overcome the pitfalls of low competitiveness and productivity, particularly in the long run. A timely and targeted intervention to enhance creative disciplines and to foster inventiveness and ingenuity among and across economic sectors is more likely to have a sustainable economic and social impact. In setting forward a truly inclusive approach in which all stakeholders have their interests represented, QI systems and the CE approaches play an essential role. On the one hand, the CE can strengthen the manufacturing industry, increase its competitiveness and at the same time addressing the growing inequalities between and within countries. Furthermore, 4IR technologies can accelerate the process of moving away from the dominant linear consumption and production system. On the other hand, the promotion of QI plays a key role in both supporting the integration of SMEs into global innovation schemes and GVCs and strengthening local capacities for facilitating technological appropriation.
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UNIDO AND GMIS REPORT ON ITM 2019