Does the fourth industrial revolution offer hope for workers in the developing world?

The 4th Industrial revolution also known as the 4th IR, is a transformational era for human kind characterized by a range of new technologies that have demonstrated digital capabilities breaking barriers between the physical, digital and biological worlds.

The technological disruption in the 4th IR has both great promise and peril for the workers and the labour market based on automation of work, a major component of the 4th IR, the levels at which it is being adopted, and what it entails for the future of jobs.

The future of work for workers in the developing world as per the 4th IR heavily depends on the technological readiness of specific countries and communities, the willingness and capability for organizations and stakeholders to adopt the disruptive changes, as well as regulatory frameworks and authorities that can ensure the new technologies are adopted in a way that they capture majority benefits.

These emerging technologies are yet to be adopted all over the world, but are leading in Europe, the U.S and some parts of South East Asia. (Eurofound,2017). For example, the European commission report (2016) named the countries with the highest number of industrial robots (also associated to their strong automotive industry) per 10,000 employees in manufacturing in 2012 to be Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain and France.

With every emerging technology comes a lot of scepticism and critique on whether or not it will work for the greater good. There…