Lokesh Pushes for Early Rollout of World Economic Forum–AP C4IR

VIJAYAWADA: Education minister Nara Lokesh has urged the World Economic Forum to operationalise the WEF–Andhra Pradesh Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (AP C4IR) within a year.

The minister, on Thursday, underlined the state’s readiness to lead policy innovation in energy transition and cyber resilience.

Lokesh met WEF head of government affairs Maroun Khairouz on the sidelines of the forum in Davos. The discussions focused on the procedures and timelines required to make the C4IR AP fully functional within 12 months, including governance structure, host institution, staffing, funding mechanisms, defined policy priorities, pilot projects and a clear execution roadmap with measurable outcomes.

The minister also proposed the creation of a global advisory panel comprising leaders from energy companies, cyber security firms, insurance majors and multilateral institutions to provide strategic guidance for C4IR AP pilots and policy outputs.

He suggested that WEF facilitate high-level roundtable meetings in India or Davos with major investors, with a sharp focus on bankable energy transition and cyber security projects in Andhra Pradesh.

Seeking deeper collaboration, Lokesh sought WEF’s support in designing state-level policy frameworks for energy infrastructure, cyber security, data governance and system resilience. Such frameworks would help AP attract quality investments while ensuring robust governance of emerging technologies, he said.

Responding to the proposals, Khairouz recalled that in November last, during a CII partnership summit, the WEF and the AP government signed a memorandum of understanding to establish the WEF–AP Centre for Energy and Cyber Resilience (C4IR AP). The MoU, he said, formally launched long-term cooperation in areas such as energy transition, cyber security and frontier technology governance.

Khairouz noted that WEF already operates C4IRs in states like Maharashtra and Telangana, each focusing on different thematic areas. In line with the agreement signed with AP, he promised that steps would be taken to set up the WEF C4IR in this state at the earliest.

The interaction reaffirmed AP’s intent to align with global best practices in technology governance through structured partnerships with the World Economic Forum, an official release said.