The digital revolution has changed human interaction significantly since the launching of the first personal computer end of the 1970s and the first smartphone in 1996. Today, even in African LDCs, most people have access to a mobile phone, 80% of the world population are using the internet. Around 25 billion devices globally are connected in the “Internet of Things”.

What are the promises and perils of “Industry 4.0” and artificial intelligence, globally and in different world regions? Possible impacts are not mainly related to the environmental dimension of sustainability but to the decent work agenda (quantity and quality of jobs), the global division of labor and to issues of data security and privacy.

The first panel after the summer break discussed these issues, focusing on the issue of what scientific methods and instruments we have at hand to predict developments in a fast moving technology field with all-embracing effects.

Panel:

• Balaji Parthasarathy (International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore, India)
• Stephan Lingner (European Academy of Technology and Innovation Assessment, Bad Neuenahr)