Rapid advancements in biological, physical and digital technologies are having profound impacts on society and are driving the fourth industrial revolution. They offer new benefits and opportunities for businesses, governments and consumers, but they can also cause irreparable environmental and societal harm. It is our responsibility to harness these technologies to benefit humankind, to solve our greatest global challenges and at the same time to prevent these technologies from generating new catastrophic challenges to be addressed by future generations. The SDGs serve as an important guiding framework to help stakeholders align tech capability with the needs of society, economy and the environment, especially in the context of cities where a larger and larger proportion of humanity now resides in.

New technologies and automation are disrupting existing labor markets as today’s jobs are being redefined, reshaped and recreated. Young people must prepare for the changing nature of work through reskilling and lifelong learning. Employees must adapt to shifting needs as new technologies emerge and economies undergo structural changes and cross-disciplinary integration. With the data-driven transformation of work in the next few decades, human elements such as creativity, teamwork, design-thinking and empathy will be crucial in facilitating human-centered innovation. Technology may benefit economies overall, but those benefits will not naturally be equally distributed; it is likely that some will gain whilst others lose out, therefore it is important to find ways to compensate for the tendencies of an increasingly ‘winner takes all’ market.

Public policy and governments play a key role in aligning innovation with the SDGs and sustainable development. From investments in research and development to reforming infrastructure and incentive systems, governments can facilitate innovation by building up capacity and talent. Government leadership in policy, industrial, physical, digital and social infrastructure will allow all stakeholders to participate in building effective mechanisms to support innovation without harming society and the environment. Policy leaders must also stay ahead of new technologies and establish national and international policies to protect citizens and consumers – including on such issues as data privacy and responsible AI - and build trust with other nations to establish common regulatory frameworks.