Abstract

At the third plenary session of the 12th National People’s Congress in March 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang coined the term “Internet Plus.” In July 2015, the State Council passed a corresponding plan of action with the aim of integrating the Internet into traditional industries, along with issues such as big data, e-commerce, and cloud computing, thereby stimulating the country’s economic growth. Under the banner of Internet Plus, China develops by 2025 a new economic model providing a major driver of economic and social development in the process.

The term Industry 4.0 was coined in 2011 to refer to a forward-looking project of the German Federal Government’s 2020 High-Tech Strategy. Underlying this project is the goal of keeping industry competitive over the long term. In the eyes of the German government, Industry 4.0 refers to the entire life cycle of a product from concept to development, including production, consumption, maintenance, and, ultimately, recycling. As a consequence, advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, e-commerce, cloud computing, etc. all have an important role to play within the framework of Industry 4.0.

In addition to its Internet Plus plan of action, China also adopted its “Made in China 2025” strategy as a way of providing support for any development projects associated with Industry 4.0 and digitalization. The aim of the strategy is to upgrade China’s production capacities in a way that allows the country to remain competitive and continue assuming its role of global leadership. This also includes making production processes greener and improving their quality by integrating and linking conventional production with digital technologies.

On December 1, 2016, Germany assumed the presidency of the G20; the theme of its presidency is “Shaping an Interconnected World.” This represents another area in which increasing digitalization and solutions to the resulting challenges play a major role. The world is growing faster, and technological advances are making distances shorter in every aspect of life, from politics and economics to the sciences and society. To avoid missing the boat and to keep pace with the fourth industrial revolution, even classic industries need to be open to the Internet and utilize the potential of new technologies. The result will be new value-added chains and new business models.

As such, we need economic conditions offering the support we need to leverage this potential. Governments must seize the opportunity to play an active role in shaping this process and must define and adopt a suitable framework for support. Strengthening the interfaces between activities that create a “digital-friendly” environment could accelerate this process still further.

Industry 4.0 has long been a part of our daily lives—not a day goes by without news of it in the media, making it a top item on companies’ agendas, rather than some obscure trend. Digitalization is increasingly becoming the driver of innovation, giving rise equally to new data-based business models and to new products for digital service components. More and more attention is being paid to what is known as the digital customer, as digital technologies are playing an increasingly large role in customers’ daily routines. Classic industries must not miss the boat here—they must instead find ways of adapting their established business models and production processes so that these can be used more intelligently and efficiently, keeping pace with developments. And data availability by itself is frequently not the problem for classic industry: the challenge lies in using these data intelligently. When companies manage to use existing data correctly, they can offer their customers tailor-made products and solutions and optimize collaboration with suppliers and customers.