The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab: Impact

The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Klaus Schwab

3. Impact

The scale and breadth of the unfolding technological revolution will usher in economic, social and cultural changes of such phenomenal proportions that they are almost impossible to envisage. Nevertheless, this chapter describes and analyses the potential impact of the fourth industrial revolution on the economy, business, governments and countries, society and individuals. In all these areas, one of the biggest impacts will likely result from a single force: empowerment – how governments relate to their citizens; how enterprises relate to their employees, shareholders and customers; or how superpowers relate to smaller countries. The disruption that the fourth industrial revolution will have on existing political, economic and social models will therefore require that empowered actors recognize that they are part of a distributed power system that requires more collaborative forms of interaction to succeed.