Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment in the Era of the 4th Industrial Revolution

The notion of the 4th industrial revolution has captured increasing attention from many parts of the world since it was discussed by Schwab (2016) in the 2016 World Economic Forum. The 4th industrial revolution is driven by the latest and disruptive advances in technology, particularly in the fields of the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, 3D printing, and connected wearable devices. With such technological innovations and convergence of sophisticated technologies, some claim that the 4th industrial revolution is bringing out “cyber-physical systems” involving entirely new capabilities for people and machines. It is a controversial issue whether the 4th industrial revolution has already started or it is just an extension of the 3rd industrial revolution, which is characterized by the computerization and the internet revolution. Nonetheless, there is a consensus that, due to the technological innovations and convergence, the current world is experiencing fundamental changes in the way human beings live, work, and interact with others. The current paper explores what activities APEC has implemented for women’s economic empowerment and how the 4th industrial revolution impacts upon women as labor forces. In particular, focus will be on opportunities and challenges the 4th industrial revolutions offer for women who participate or consider participating in the economy as labor force, and also on the enabling conditions for promoting their economic participation.