Commercial and military operations at sea and ashore across the globe are in the throes of technological and organisational transformation led by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies. These are impacting every aspect of the maritime industry necessitating `up-skilling, reskilling and retooling`.  Industry leaders recognize the importance of 4IR and are adopting innovative models for their operations.

Likewise, techno-naval transformation led by 4IR technology is underway and several navies are developing new strengths to fight future wars. Great powers are investing in 4IR technologies and pursuing competitive national strategies with the goal of technological dominance, thus maintaining a favourable balance of power at the regional and global levels.

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is former Director, National Maritime Foundation, New Delhi, India. He is a consultant with Vivekananda International Foundation, New Delhi, and is associated with Kalinga International Foundation, New Delhi and The Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA), New Delhi. He is a Co-founder and Trustee of The Peninsula Foundation, Chennai, India; Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Public Policy Research, Kochi, India, and Visiting Senior Fellow, Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP), Phnom Penh.

A former Indian Navy officer, Sakhuja specializes in Indo-Pacific affairs, naval developments, maritime security, climate change, Arctic issues, Blue Economy and 4th Industrial Revolution technologies. He has published over 40 books, edited volumes and monographs.

He is the author of Asian Maritime Power in the 21st Century: Strategic Transactions - China, India, Southeast Asia; Confidence Building from the Sea: An Indian Initiative; co-author of `Climate Change and the Bay of Bengal: Evolving Geographies of Fear and Hope.

His recent academic works are Asia and the Arctic: Narratives, Perspectives and Policies (2016), Perspectives on Blue Economy (2017), The Blue Economy: Concept, Constituents and Development (2017), South Asia Defence & Strategic Perspective(2018, 2019 and 2020); Indian Navy Yearbook 2019: Perspectives and Technologies (2019); and Sea of Collective Destiny: Bay of Bengal and BIMSTEC(2019); Indo-Pacific:Re-imagining the Indian Ocean through an Expanded Geography (2021).

Dr. Vijay Sakhuja is member of the international editorial board of the Journal of Indian Ocean Region (Taylor & Francis), Journal of Indian Ocean Rim Studies (JIORS) and Journal of Greater Mekong Studies.