Why in News?

• The World Economic Forum (WEF) announced its new Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in India, which would aim to bring together the government and business leaders to pilot emerging technology policies.

Industry 4.0:

• The WEF has also entered into partnerships with the Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments for the launch of Industry 4.0. The centre would be based in Maharashtra and it has selected drones, artificial intelligence and blockchain as the first three project areas.
• NITI Aayog will coordinate the partnership on behalf of the government and the work of the centre among multiple ministries. The new centre will work in collaboration with the government on a national level to co-design new policy frameworks and protocols for emerging technology.
• The launch of this Centre is the fourth in the world after San Francisco, Tokyo and Beijing.

Focus of the Initiative:

• The first project will focus on expanding access to data to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence in socio-economic areas like education, healthcare and agriculture.
• The second will focus on the application of smart contracts to boost productivity and transparency while reducing inefficiency.
• At state level, the Government of Maharashtra in collaboration with the Centre is planning to undertake a drone mapping operation in the agriculture sector.