The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the District of Medellin, re-established the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), a space where work will be done on topics related to artificial intelligence (AI), smart cities, govtech and technology-based solutions for urban transformation of the city with impact in Colombia and Latin America.
The Center will be hosted by Corporación Ruta N and will serve to advance collaborations between the public and private sectors, improving local and regional capacity to take advantage of the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Through these types of alliances, best practices and strategic frameworks for using AI in the responsible digital transformation of cities will be implemented and amplified.
It also seeks that the inhabitants of Medellin take ownership of technologies and contribute to the positioning of the District as an epicenter of Science, Technology and Innovation worldwide. “Medellin returns to Ruta N and is to consolidate it as the capital of innovation, science and technology, not only in Colombia but in Latin America.
This center has an emphasis on artificial intelligence, solutions for governments and cities. I dream that this technology will be transferred to the communities and that it will be the opportunity for thousands of young people and people in our city to have the necessary talent training through new technologies and get quality jobs,” said the mayor of Medellín, Federico Gutiérrez Zuluaga.
Among the characteristics of the C4IR is to consolidate itself as a platform for ideas where social problems are solved with the participation of specialists and different technologies. It is also a space for the development of inputs for the construction of regulatory and public policy frameworks to promote the adoption of emerging technologies in different industries and countries.
“The centers are initiatives of the World Economic Forum, between government, business, entrepreneurship and academia. Creating a center is like a baby, it’s more or less nine months, because you have to develop on the mission and vision and the focus you want.
First we are going to work on the strategic focus, we have several initiatives such as artificial intelligence, bringing in the expertise of the World Economic Forum. We provide a collaborative platform for us to benefit both ourselves and the members of the network,” explained World Economic Forum executive member Sebastian Buckup.
C4IR Colombia joins the global network of centers located in San Francisco, Genoa, New York, Tokyo, Beijing and Mumbay to strengthen the programs of the Fourth Industrial Revolution through emerging technologies, artificial intelligence and technology-based companies.