Application of Digital Technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in Water, Energy, and Food (WEF) Nexus

This chapter explores the application of digital technologiesDigital technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) with the water, energy, and food (WEF) nexus. The chapter provided an overview of the digital technologiesDigital technologies within the WEF nexus, elaborating on the effect of the technologies on the nexus. The effects include the development of clean technologies and industrial applicationsIndustrial applications, catalysts for the security of resources, enabling digital technology transfer, and enhancing economic growthEconomic growth. The chapter explored the application of ten (10) 4IR technologies within the WEF nexus, which includes the Internet of Things (IoT)Internet of Things (IoT), big data analyticsBig data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI)Artificial Intelligence (AI), 3D printing technology3D printing technology, blockchain technologyBlockchain technology, augmented realityAugmented reality, virtual realityVirtual reality, Digital Twin technologyDigital twin technology, robotic technologyRobotic technology, and drone technologyDrone technology. The chapter provided twenty-six (26) application strategiesStrategies for digitalizing the WEF nexus. The chapter ended with a need for collaborative efforts in generating datasetsDatasets of different categorizations of the water, energy, and food resources to ensure the success of digitalizing WEF nexus in developing economies.