The World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge’s Industrial Innovation Policy Group, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization-UNIDO, has identified five grand challenges for companies and governments to work on to address current global disruptions and inform the next generation of industrial strategies.
Three global megatrends are creating increasingly frequent disruptions: emerging technologies, climate change, and geopolitical tensions and they require concurrently an approach of short-term adaptation and longer-term transformation from manufacturers and governments. Five grand challenges for companies and governments identified are Decarbonizing manufacturing operations, products and supply chains, Enhancing supply chain resilience, Accelerating the scaling up and adoption of novel industrial technologies; Securing the future of the manufacturing workforce; Linking business values with social and environmental responsibility.
For each grand challenge, the white paper defines the essence, and outlines some key action areas for the public and private sectors, providing references for further reading and in-depth analyses.