The Future of Industrial Strategies: Five Grand Challenges for Resilient Manufacturing

Increases in global disruptions stemming from geopolitical unrest, climate change, and technological shifts, require companies and governments to come together and redesign industrial strategies to ensure productivity, innovation and economic growth.

As a core community member of the World Economic Forum’s Future of Industrial Strategies Initiative, Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy together with UNIDO have published: ‘The Future of Industrial Strategies: Five Grand Challenges for Resilient Manufacturing’ which identifies five grand challenges for companies and governments to work on and help inform the next generation of industrial strategies:

1. Decarbonizing manufacturing operations, products and supply chains.
2. Enhancing supply chain resilience.
3. Accelerating the scaling up and adoption of novel industrial technologies.
4. Securing the future of the manufacturing workforce.
5. Linking business values with social and environmental responsibility.

Addressing these five grand challenges will require collaborative action from leaders across the manufacturing industry, government, academia and civil society.

The paper provides some initial steps for public and private sector collaboration and actions that can be taken in response to these five grand challenges facing the manufacturing ecosystem. Its aim is to facilitate the discussion between the public and private sectors and structure the conversation on the future of industrial strategies, acting as a catalyst to convene key stakeholders and facilitate dialogue around best practices, priorities and new opportunities for change, so that manufacturing industries remain a source of inclusive growth.