Riassunto analitico
This dissertation aims to provide an outline of the fourth industrial revolution, with the related digital transformation and the industrial policies connected to Industry 4.0. The first chapter presents an excursus on the definitions of Industry 4.0 and analyses its main characteristics. In order to highlight the broadness of the fourth industrial revolution concept, the idea of “naked technology” is presented, according to which introducing a technology inside a company, without simultaneously changing the processes and the organization, only creates chaos. The fourth industrial revolution must be considered as a digital transformation intended as the cultural, organizational, and operational change of an organization, industry or ecosystem through a smart integration of digital technologies, processes and competencies. During the current global pandemic, it becomes much more evident how necessary and unavoidable the transformation related to Industry 4.0 are. The second chapter deals with the attempt to measure the digitalization level of various countries and their readiness to address the fourth industrial revolution, through the use of various indicators like the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and the Digital Adoption Index. From the analysis of these data, it appears that Italy lags behind other countries, requiring greater investments and targeted policies to balance digital performance in each industry of our economy, tackle the newest health challenge and reach our full potential as industrial country. Finally, the last chapter is entirely dedicated to the industrial policies put into practice both at the European and national level to address the challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. The paper focuses on the Italian National Plan “Industria 4.0” launched by the Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda in 2016, which is then compared with the policies of other European countries. We can conclude that neither a winner nor a looser emerges among the countries considered because every initiative has its own advantages and disadvantages. In any case, given the enormous potential of I40 policies, it is essential that Europe leverages its combined knowhow to fully exploit the benefits of advanced technologies.
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Abstract
This dissertation aims to provide an outline of the fourth industrial revolution, with the related digital transformation and the industrial policies connected to Industry 4.0. The first chapter presents an excursus on the definitions of Industry 4.0 and analyses its main characteristics. In order to highlight the broadness of the fourth industrial revolution concept, the idea of “naked technology” is presented, according to which introducing a technology inside a company, without simultaneously changing the processes and the organization, only creates chaos. The fourth industrial revolution must be considered as a digital transformation intended as the cultural, organizational, and operational change of an organization, industry or ecosystem through a smart integration of digital technologies, processes and competencies. During the current global pandemic, it becomes much more evident how necessary and unavoidable the transformation related to Industry 4.0 are. The second chapter deals with the attempt to measure the digitalization level of various countries and their readiness to address the fourth industrial revolution, through the use of various indicators like the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and the Digital Adoption Index. From the analysis of these data, it appears that Italy lags behind other countries, requiring greater investments and targeted policies to balance digital performance in each industry of our economy, tackle the newest health challenge and reach our full potential as industrial country. Finally, the last chapter is entirely dedicated to the industrial policies put into practice both at the European and national level to address the challenges and opportunities of the fourth industrial revolution. The paper focuses on the Italian National Plan “Industria 4.0” launched by the Minister of Economic Development Carlo Calenda in 2016, which is then compared with the policies of other European countries. We can conclude that neither a winner nor a looser emerges among the countries considered because every initiative has its own advantages and disadvantages. In any case, given the enormous potential of I40 policies, it is essential that Europe leverages its combined knowhow to fully exploit the benefits of advanced technologies.
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