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.

Highlights:

•  The Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution India will work in collaboration with the government on a national level to co-design new policy frameworks and protocols for emerging technology alongside leaders from business, academia, start-ups and international organizations.
• The National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog will coordinate the partnership on behalf of the government and the work of the centre among multiple ministries.

Projects:

•  Initial efforts at the national level are focused on two emerging technology areas: Artificial intelligence and machine learning, and blockchain and distributed ledger technology.
• The first project will focus on expanding access to data to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence to tackle some of the country’s most pressing socio-economic needs, such as 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, Maharashtra Government in collaboration with Centre is planning to undertake a drone mapping operation in the agriculture sector. These projects will be scaled across India and globally.

World Economic Forum (WEF):

•  It is an international institution founded by Klaus Schwab that works to improve the state of the world through public-private cooperation.
•  It was established in 1971 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It serves as independent not-for-profit organization that that works closely with other international organizations.
•  It also works with leaders in the field of politics, business, academia to set global, regional and industrial agenda.