Can FIR-led Technologies be Game-Changers in the Fight against Corruption?

Abstract

The world has been witnessing a rapidly-evolving technological disruption for over more than half a century. As scientific advancements, social cohesion dynamics and globalization trends have been shaping behavioral patterns within societies during recent decades, the emergence of new technologies has been representing a catalytic role for systemic change.Scholars and practitioners from various disciplines have been approaching the prospective effects of technologies arising in the twenty-first century. They have conceptualized the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) and Globalization 4.0 (G4.0) as forthcoming technological revolutions implying potential multidimensional disruptions in economic, social and political relations between and within countries and world regions.Costs and benefits have come along with every industrial revolution developed throughout history. Policy-makers, business leaders, civil society advocates, academics and citizens alike have commonly acknowledged that ‘corruption’ is the most pressing challenge facing the vast majority of nations across the globe.