Industrial development report 2020: industrializing in the digital age

The emergence and diffusion of advanced digital production (ADP) technologies clustered around the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is radically altering the nature of manufacturing production, increasingly blurring the boundaries between physical and digital production systems. The significant requirements of ADP technologies are opening questions on whether industrialization is still a feasible or even a desirable strategy to achieve economic development. IDR 2020 contributes to this debate by presenting fresh analytical and empirical evidence on the future of industrialization in the context of a technological paradigm shift. It argues that industrialization continues to be the main avenue for successful development and analyses how developing counties can leverage the salient features of the emerging technologies to their advantage. According to the report, it is precisely by engaging with industrialization that countries can build and strengthen the skills and capabilities needed to compete and succeed within the new technological paradigm.