The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Major Countries and Its Implications of Korea: U.S., Germany and Japan Cases

Abstract

In the 1990s the world witnessed the Information Technology (IT) revolution, which entirely changed the paradigm of the global economy. IT has since continued to develop and mobile platforms have become one of the most important markets, represented by the rise in e-commerce and the sharing economy. At the 2016 World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab emphasized the rapid pace of technology advancement and used the phrase “Fourth Industrial Revolution” to illustrate how such advanced technologies are being applied to change the business paradigm once again. In the fourth industrial revolution, technological innovations are applied to manufacturing systems to enable the mass customization of various products. Governments, especially in advanced economies, are striving to adjust to this change in the paradigm and environment of business. This brief focuses on policies implemented in response to the fourth industrial revolution unfolding within major advanced economies such as the U.S., Germany and Japan, and their implications for the Korean government.