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This work aims to explore the potentialities of an end-user personalisation platform in industrial settings. In such a context, stakeholders with different roles and competencies collaborate to manage and control an environment where legacy machines coexist and interact with newer ones. Our goal is to provide a rule-based tool that allows end-users to build personalised solutions to respond quickly to the dynamic needs of factories. We report on a case study in the paper factory domain, in which the industrial aspects identified with expert stakeholders through interviews have been simulated and addressed through an extension of a personalisation platform. A first user test of the resulting environment has been carried out with a representative set of users, and has provided useful and encouraging feedback in terms of the potentialities of the proposed approach in industrial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the opportunities and challenges associated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in academic library operations. In the quest to render fast, effective and efficient services, academic libraries have adopted different technologies in the past. Artificial intelligence technologies is the latest among the technologies currently being introduced in libraries. The technology which is considered an intelligent system, come in the form of robots and expert systems which have natural language processing, machine learning and pattern recognition capabilities. This paper examined the features of AI, the application of AI to library operations, examples of academic libraries with AI technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa, the need for AI in libraries and the challenges associated with the adoption of AI in libraries. The study concluded that AI holds a lot of prospects for the improvement of information services delivery in African academic libraries. Consequently, its adoption is a sinequanon to delivering robust library services in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fintech and Industry 4.0 paradigms, and the combination of the two, have gained increasing attention from the scientific community in recent years. This paper aims to explore the convergence of these two research themes by framing their interplay through a systematic literature review covering the period of 2017 to August 2021 and involving 78 papers. The bibliometric approach made it possible to extract a large amount of useful information which was previously scattered and to present it in a systematic way. The analysis of the co-occurrence network of keywords identified four distinct clusters, corresponding to the dominant research themes in the area, which suggested the design of a research agenda. The agenda-driven questions indicated which current aspects of Fintech and Industry 4.0 need additional insight. In that regard, the environmental and social responsibility aspects of the firms in the sectors were found of particular importance. Theoretical and practical implications of this study as well as answers provided to a set of initially posed research questions were also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The requirement from IMO regarding an environment-friendly approach has prompted ship owners and shipbuilders to make sure their vessels complying the regulations. Green shipyards, incorporating best practices and technology, can reduce th polution generated during vessel construction. This paper investigates the current trends of green shipbuilding and proposes potential practices of green shipyard. A systematic review was conducted using publication databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, and Taylor & Francis from 2010 to 2022. It can be concluded that most of the studies have been discussing the Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies to be implemented in the shipyard where 16 potential practices and technology-based in the green shipyard were figured out. This study also found that automation is the most discussed topic in I4.0 technologies followed by an alternative fuel (LNG/LPG fuelled engine) and 3D printing and design. Furthermore, the study on green shipbuilding attracted the attention of China and Spain as these countries have published most papers. This study will help Malaysian shipbuilders and stakeholders to have a better view regarding the green shipyard concept and related practices and technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within Industry 4.0, the integration of Industrial IoT (IIoT) marks a transformative phase for modern industries, fostering the development of smart factories and intelligent manufacturing systems. Despite the substantial growth of IIoT, a critical research gap persists in web security within IIoT environments. This paper addresses this gap by proposing an explainable and robust machine learning-based web attack detection system to ensure IIoT web application security using ToN-IoT and NF-ToN-IoTv2 datasets that accurately reflects IIoT traffic. Given eXplainable Artificial Intelligence’s (XAI) capability to instill trustworthiness and transparency in learning models, the authors opted for the SHAP technique for feature selection, leveraging its global insights to explain feature contributions to the system’s decision-making. Compared to the existing works, the system demonstrated strong performance across various metrics, including accuracy, recall, precision, specificity, F-value, FPR, FNR, AUC-ROC curve, MCE, training, and prediction times, in binary and multi-classification scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of Industry 4.0, rapid analysis and optimization of manufacturing processes are emerging as a vital demand of smart manufacturing factories. Ergonomics is an essential aspect of the ongoing screening of working conditions and a fundamental variable in Industry 4.0, as it calls for a flexible manufacturing system to strengthen the competitiveness of factories in the global market. This paper proposes a new augmented reality-based ergonomic evaluation platform: Augmented Reality-based Ergonomic Platform (ARE Platform). Introducing the Augmented Reality technology by superimposing virtual planning objects into the physically existing production environment. Utilizing the motion capture system collects data for a set of ergonomic indexes (RULA, OWAS, and NIOSH), accessibility and visibility verification. ARE platform could be used in the verification phase of smart manufacturing systems to evaluate the level of risk to workers' bodies during operations in real-time. The platform reduces the time and economic cost of verification and satisfies the rapid response of ergonomic evaluation and feedback in the context of smart manufacturing. Finally, the developed ARE platform is validated in two rigorous automotive assembly cases in the laboratory. Meanwhile, the ergonomic assessment results are analysed and reported for a people-oriented manufacturing system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Timely and accurate misalignment fault detection in rotor bearing systems is crucial for reliable and efficient operation, especially in Industry 4.0 based condition monitoring. The method described in this paper uses artificial neural networks (ANN) and empirical modelling to identify misalignment defects in rotor bearing systems. To capture the dynamic behaviour of the rotor bearing system under different operating conditions and fault scenarios, an empirical model based on Dimensional Analysis (DA) is developed. This model is trained using vibration data obtained from a well-aligned system. By comparing the predicted response with the actual vibration response, an accuracy of 8% to 10% is achieved. However, accurately quantifying the severity of misalignment poses challenges due to system nonlinearities. To address this issue, an ANN is employed to learn the mapping between vibration features and misalignment levels. To train the ANN, a comprehensive dataset is created through experiments conducted on a test rig. Artificial misalignment is introduced to the rotor, and vibration signals are analysed under various conditions of misalignment, rotor speed, and static load. The trained ANN is validated using experimental data, demonstrating an impressive accuracy of 99.46%. This integrated approach holds significant potential for predictive maintenance, leading to improved operational efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Metaverse is gaining prominence within the field of radiology due to its potential to revolutionize image visualization. Radiologists can harness its capabilities to access dynamic, highly detailed results, thereby enhancing diagnostic precision. Digital twins, at the core of the Metaverse, are digital replicas of real-world objects and entities. They serve as the foundational building blocks, enabling the creation of virtual counterparts for everything within the Metaverse. To ensure the reliability of these digital twins, blockchain technology offers a multi-dimensional data storage solution, reinforcing data integrity and trustworthiness. It is used to ensure a transparent and 3D visualization of each communication and interaction for further looking up any criticality if present in the network. With the rapid increase in value and volume of data, the evolution of the metaverse faces a number of privacy and security concerns. Furthermore, the metaverse in Industry 4.0 is a trending topic that further needs to focus on its security challenges at its initial stage. Fortunately, blockchain is considered as one of the significant solutions. The aim of this paper is to propose a secure and efficient fuzzy evaluation matrix by computing the trust values along with integrating with blockchain mechanism in industry 4.0 enabling metaverse environment. The proposed mechanism is validated against various security concerns such as broken authentication, eavesdropping, personal information leakage, data injection, and unauthorized access. The proposed mechanism showed the validation rate against existing schemes with an improvement of 94% in comparison of several security metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SCADA systems are used in industries to perform control and monitoring of industrial processes in real-time. The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT), and the Industrial IoT (IIoT) in particular, has brought new disruptive technology that has the potential to drive the industrial digitization agenda well beyond the capabilities demonstrated by conventional SCADA systems. Industries, particularly manufacturing industries and utilities keep thriving to be competitive and the adoption of new technologies in the form of IIoT is set to improve efficiency and productivity through enhanced real-time data analytics and production availability. This paper examines the opportunities and challenges presented by integrating IIoT into existing SCADA systems. Potential solutions to the challenges are presented together with future research outlooks that have a bearing on the SCADA/IIoT integration efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industries are currently struggling with ageing workforce in modern production systems associated with Industry 4.0. The industrial socio-demographic problem is more and more present as the increasing of the ageing population results in the prolongation of the working life and the consecutively in the ageing of the workforce in industries. This paper aims to conduct a systematic literature review on the challenges and concerns of ageing operators, including the physical, cognitive, ergonomic, and well-being conditions of the ageing workforce in the Industry 4.0 environment. The ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science and PubMed scientific databases were used to survey the studies and selected using PRISMA guidelines. This paper was structured and analysed by clusters: Ageing, Industry 4.0, Human Factors, and Ergonomics. These clusters were developed as research lines: Ageing as the socio-demographic challenge, Industry 4.0 as the technological development, Human Factors as the individual characteristics of the operator, and Ergonomics as the work environment. Thus, human--centric approaches and ideas are discussed with the insights and issues of Industry 4.0 technologies, Human Factors, and Ergonomics to achieve a sustainable system at the engineering and social level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to model temperature distribution in friction stir welding (FSW) using various backing plates and polygonal pin profiles since temperature significantly modifies the microstructure and texture of the weld zone affecting the weld quality such as weld strength, hardness, etc. The experimental results depict the importance of temperature on the grain size and tensile strength of the materials. However, determining the temperature at each point of the weld is difficult and expensive in the case of experiments. Therefore, in order to accomplish the objective, it is necessary to perform simulations. This paper presents a 3-D transient multiphysics model developed for FSW combining multiple physical phenomena such as heat transfer and structural mechanics in a unified framework, COMSOL. A viscoplasticity model is chosen as behavior for the AA1100 aluminum material using Anand viscoplasticity. It is computationally efficient and accurate. The model fidelity to the twin FSW process is achieved by considering temperature-dependent yield strength. Modeling results show the polygonal pin profile edges to be influencing the temperature. Increasing the number of faces on the pin sides leads to a higher temperature. Specifically, transitioning from an octagonal to a decagonal profile results in a minimal increase in total heat generation. As the pin shape approaches cylindrical, there is a gradual convergence in heat generation with that of a cylindrical pin. Experiments are also carried out that validate simulation results. Overall, the model is sufficient to twin the process for predicting weld quality and is Industry 4.0-compliant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the third industrial revolution (IR), mechatronics engineering has emerged, which is the merger of mechanical and electronics engineering along with information technology to an extent. In the current industrial revolution (fourth), the amalgamation of mechanical with Artificial intelligence (AI) has been used to simulate human behaviour in machines. In the earlier decades, the application of AI in mechanical engineering has expedited and the increased volume of related research papers is a proof of this fact. The broad domain of mechanical engineering has a lot of potential for machine learning applications in order to detect errors, minimise rejection, improve product quality, optimise a system, and so on, as it has not been intensely explored although. This article’s goal is to give a structured evaluation of works that employ vision systems and to attract researchers to analyse its potential integration with machine learning (ML) techniques from the industry 4.0 viewpoint. Current trends and research gaps in the area of manufacturing in collaboration with ML are also discussed at appropriate places. A general procedure to carry out research in the field of mechanical engineering is also presented. The results of various studies highlighted in this paper confirm that the implementation of AI in ME has provided an optimum solution to many mechanical problems that improved product quality and minimised the associated cost. Finally, the authors have led a direction to empower researchers in order to explore various areas in mechanical engineering from Industry 4.0 and AI perspective and enable possible topics for future research. The article concludes by providing challenges that may be faced in the coming future about the use of machine learning in mechanical engineering problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw on the outcomes of a place-based scenario planning project in Melbourne's (AUSTRALIA) inner northern suburbs that was titled COVID-19 Recovery Scenarios for Young People in Melbourne's Inner North. As part of that project, we conducted video interviews with 53 young people during what became an extended second lockdown period in Melbourne as the city dealt with a resurgence in COVID infections. In this paper, we present the stories of three young people – Rosie, Ash and Astrid – that are illustrative and inclusive of the uncertainties and hopes that young people in Melbourne's inner north gave voice to. We situate these young people's stories in what Rosi Braidotti (2019) has identified as the convergence of the fourth industrial revolution and the sixth mass extinction. Our aim is to situate the pandemic, the social, cultural, economic and political responses to the pandemic, and the challenges and opportunities that this public health crisis produces for young people's health and well-being, their education, training and employment pathways, and their sense of belonging, connectedness, even community, in the broader, unfolding crises of global capitalism, of earth systems, and of biodiversity that is heralded by the Anthropocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper makes the case for analysing the role of Industry 4.0 in mitigating the intertemporal tensions of balancing the short-term and long-term sustainability objectives rife in sustainable manufacturing. It is argued here that Industry 4.0 has the unique potential to unlock juxtaposition of the short and long-term dimensions of sustainable manufacturing without restricting manufacturing organisations growth potential. In this context, successful mitigation of intertemporal tensions relies on understanding the role played by five different mechanisms that manufacturing organisations need to well practice and manage when adopting Industry 4.0-associated technologies. Since this is the first study of its kind, this paper presents a novel conceptual model enhancing the application of mechanisms that may mitigate intertemporal tensions in manufacturing organisations using Industry 4.0. The model also suggests five different research propositions that call for future research agenda to further investigate this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reveals the trajectories of Korean companies that employ technologies related to 4IR. The data were based on the 2017 and 2018 corporate surveys conducted by Korea Statistics' Microdata Integrated Service. The network analysis methodology was applied, with a focus on visualizing the relationships between nine technologies. The results are as follows; First, there were differences between the corporate technology absorption trajectories from the integrated perspective and from the perspective of the detailed application fields. Second, the Internet of Things occupied a greater proportion, compared to other technologies, in several technology absorption trajectories. This seems to reflect the hyper-connectivity of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Third, hyper-intelligence appears to be at a nascent stage, in terms of utilization with other technologies. This paper primarily contributes empirical evidence to existing research on technological trajectories with unique data and results, which is generally depending on patents data, creating a foundation for further theoretical and practical applications by scholars and managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the trends in income inequality over the last 40 years, and proposes a new explanation for their evolution – that it is hoped will be tested empirically by many studies in the years ahead – to see whether the observed increases in inequality of the last four decades have been caused by an aggravation of its traditional causes (such as land an human capital concentration), or by a widespread increase in instability in five key areas affecting inequality, the Human Development Index and human capabilities. The five areas where a sharp increase in instability has been observed concern: (a) the financial sector; (b) industry 4.0, especially the development of robotics and artificial intelligence; (c) diseases such as ebola, aids and covid; (d) number of conflicts and (e) a growing environmental crisis. A key unanswered question in the above proposed overall explanation is whether these five crises are interconnected and whether there is a primum movens that explains this series of problematic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to determine the impact of Industry 4.0 innovations, namely infographics and product modelling, on students’ academic performance and visual thinking skills. The experiment involved 164 students. Teaching tools promote the student’s academic performance and visual thinking. The average grade of academic performance was higher in the experimental group (15.70) than in the control group (13.73) after testing. The statistical analysis (t = 2.620) provided evidence supporting the research hypothesis that students who utilised infographics and modelling exhibited significantly enhanced visual thinking skills compared to the students in the control group. These studies allow the development of a paradigm of infographics for further understanding of its capabilities in the process of education. Subsequent scientific papers may study the influence of infographics and modelling on students of other professional fields. It is also necessary to study their influence on other mental parameters, such as cognitive load, motivation, involvement, and others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the digital maturity of companies is essential to prepare for digital transformation in the context of Industry 4.0. Several digital maturity assessment models have emerged in the past few years to support this evaluation. One obstacle for companies is the impossibility of easily comparing themselves to one another quantitatively or qualitatively. This paper introduces a new way to compare digital maturity models through a quantitative framework that is compatible with a wide variety of models. Comparisons are performed in the space of the keywords used to characterize key performance indicators (KPIs) that are reverse engineered from the models. The matches are encoded in a keyword matrix that is used to automatically compute the match level of KPI pairs. The framework has been validated on 13 state-of-the-art maturity models whose analysis resulted in the identification of 451 KPIs characterized using 263 keywords structured according to 12 dimensions and 58 subdimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

deological struggles over the policy and practice of literacy education continue to characterise the field. This paper explores how 'new policy actors', market-orientated and profit-driven players, construct the crisis of literacy and schooling in Australia to reclaim the doxa of literacy education. The concept of doxa is employed to show how recent discursive practices are contributing to orthodox and heterodox positions. A mixed-methods content analysis was performed on reports produced by business groups and their proxies, analysing how these reports construct new narratives. The findings reveal how these stakeholders adopt a stance best characterised as the old doxa revisited and (re)orientated for new economic imperatives. A defence of literacy as 'common-sense' basic skills, in crisis, and predominantly developed through schooling for the purpose of work, is supplemented with a discourse which updates literacy doxa to include technological (media) dimensions where digital literacy skills are the 'new basics' of literacy education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change, the growth in world population, high levels of food waste and food loss, and the risk of new disease or pandemic outbreaks are examples of the many challenges that threaten future food sustainability and the security of the planet and urgently need to be addressed. The fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, has been gaining momentum since 2015, being a significant driver for sustainable development and a successful catalyst to tackle critical global challenges. This review paper summarizes the most relevant food Industry 4.0 technologies including, among others, digital technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence, big data analytics, Internet of Things, and blockchain) and other technological advances (e.g., smart sensors, robotics, digital twins, and cyber-physical systems). Moreover, insights into the new food trends (such as 3D printed foods) that have emerged as a result of the Industry 4.0 technological revolution will also be discussed in Part II of this work. The Industry 4.0 technologies have significantly modified the food industry and led to substantial consequences for the environment, economics, and human health. Despite the importance of each of the technologies mentioned above, ground-breaking sustainable solutions could only emerge by combining many technologies simultaneously. The Food Industry 4.0 era has been characterized by new challenges, opportunities, and trends that have reshaped current strategies and prospects for food production and consumption patterns, paving the way for the move toward Industry 5.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike past industrial eras, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (industry 4.0) is accelerated and continues to gain momentum. While developed economies are making remarkable progress and contributing geometrically to the global value chain, African emerging economies have continued to grapple with multiple uncertainties regarding industry 4.0 implementation at all levels. The main objective of this study is to develop a macro-level framework for developing industry 4.0 initiatives in emerging economies of Africa. Using a systematic literature review protocol, industrial transformation initiatives from 22 of 25 leading economies were analyzed based on 12 thematic indicators. The result shows that industry 4.0 in leading economies is built on named strategic initiatives with clearly defined objectives, policy thrusts, funding models, and multi-stakeholder involvement and implementation plans. This implies that the industry 4.0 agenda in emerging economies requires bespoke industrial transformation initiatives driven by robust policy, industry, and research integration. This paper makes theoretical and practical contributions by putting forward a macro-level innovation adoption model – the 'coopetitive triple helix model' and a national framework for developing industrial transformation initiatives for African emerging economies, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 has been emerged and widely implemented in manufacturing sectors; however, the adaptation of this recent paradigm remains indefinite in the seaport system and makes the performance of each seaport around the globe non-parallel, limiting the trade effectiveness and decelerating the competitiveness, which eventually affects the price of the cargo. Consequently, this paper aims to determine the current status of IR 4.0 implementation in the seaport sector and to categorise the most critical sustainable factors (CSFs). To meet the aim of this paper, a bibliometric analysis from two major databases, Scopus and Web of Sciences, has been utilised. The result indicates that there are four stages that need to be considered for the implementation of IR 4.0 in the seaport industry: adoption, implementation, operational and evaluation. Currently, IR 4.0 in the expanding phase was applied at the stage of adoption. The outcome of this paper can be used as a benchmark to explore, analyse and vindicate the significant variables for the implementation of the fourth industrial revolution in the seaport sector especially from the Malaysian outlook. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the Solow paradox, the impact of the computer age can be seen everywhere but in the productivity statistics. Despite much debate about productivity gains promised by technologies associated with the 'fourth industrial revolution,' these are largely yet to materialise. Paradoxically, not only has there been a global productivity growth slowdown but also a decline in research and development (R&D) productivity: a 'burden of knowledge' effect. Given the potentially catastrophic costs of research failure and the inability of the scientific discovery system to anticipate fully and find a solution to the coronavirus pandemic, the purpose of this paper is to apply a detailed conceptual review methodology to understand better the fundamental causes of the global productivity growth slowdown. Challenging prevailing assumptions in the literature, the original contribution of the paper is a theoretical analysis that suggests a root cause of the global production growth slowdown may be a burden of knowledge effect associated with innovation failure. A causal ordering of relevant causes is discussed, and hypotheses are derived. Implications are derived for research management, and for policy regarding how a decline in global productivity growth might be arrested by remedying the burden of knowledge effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This collection on 'Artificial intelligence, big data, algorithms and Industry 4.0 in firms and clusters' is introduced exploring the themes discussed by the nine papers and grouped into three categories to uncover new dynamics and identify future research opportunities for clusters and organizations in these transformative times. The first group explores theoretical aspects of AI and its evolution in social sciences, focusing on industry 4.0, smart cities, big data, and other related topics. The second group examines the role of industrial robots in employment, productivity, and knowledge absorption in industrial districts. The third group discusses innovation in the context of local production systems, AI ecosystems, and the growth and potential of the Metaverse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 4.0 (I.4.0) has a significant impact on firms, supply chains and in contexts where firms have built tight relations with high levels of interactions in a delimited geographical area. An industrial district (ID) represents an extraordinary field for empirical investigation to understand how the knowledge linked to the I.4.0 technological paradigm can be absorbed and disseminated. However, the current literature has focused its attention on the effect of I.4.0 on the IDs at an aggregate level, while little is known about the role of the firms within the IDs. This research aims to fill this gap by looking at two dimensions: absorption and dissemination. We focused our attention on 101 firms belonging to four Tuscan IDs: the Santa Croce tanning district, the Florentine leather district, the Prato textile district and the Arezzo jewellery district. This research broadens the literature about absorption and dissemination within IDs enlightening the behaviour of firms in IDs, where they can play different roles: 'traditionalist', 'bridge', 'isolated' and 'opportunist'. From a practical perspective, this paper shows firms their role played within IDs. From this research it comes out that competencies 4.0, culture 4.0 and collaboration are the key aspects for turning IDs into IDs 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industry 4.0 requires that manufacturing firms not only innovate but also generate more radical and different varieties of innovation, often incorporating new types of knowledge. To advance such types of innovation, several studies in Innovation and Economic Geography foreground that firms need to combine knowledge in novel ways. The contribution of this paper is to investigate in-depth how manufacturing firms with traditional roots combine new generative knowledge in and beyond a local productive system (LPS), what enables them to access and integrate such knowledge from external sources, and how this relates to the firms' innovation performance, with a focus on radical and varied forms of innovation. Findings show that firms standing out in terms of innovation performances combine complementary types of knowledge through internal and external sources, particularly at national and international levels. Moreover, firms that have complementary knowledge internally are able to access new knowledge beyond the borders of the LPS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the implications for higher education of the emergence of new industries, driven by technological changes. The pace of technology-driven changes creates significant challenges for the alignment between the skill needs of industry and provision by higher education. Drawing on concepts from neo-correspondence theory, we examine the emergence of the FinTech sector. We present data from two structured interviews with 28 employers based in Ireland. What emerges from this study, is that the type and level of skills required by industry is changing faster than ever before. The level of competence required in hard skills is decreasing, as in-house training and continuous professional development requirements increase. However, there is a greater expectation that graduates will have advanced soft skills. Skill shortages exist, not because of poor industry-higher education relationships but because of a lack of understanding of employers' perceptions, preferences, and expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a key enabler and technological pillar of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) as it increases productivity and improves resource efficiency. However, current AM systems present some limitations in terms of fabrication time, versatility, and efficiency. The concept of teams of robots represents a novel approach for AM aiming to address these limitations. This review paper discusses the current state-of-the-art of the use of cooperative AM systems based on gantry systems, robotic arms, and mobile robots. The information flow, path planning and slicing strategies are discussed in detail, and several examples of the use of cooperative AM systems are provided. Finally, major research challenges and future perspectives are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, stems from the rapid advancement of digital technologies such as the Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Production Systems. It has the potential to weave positive changes to firms and impact organizational structure layers. Therefore, it provides an impetus for the collaboration of factories, suppliers, and customers. Nevertheless, due to the difference of Industry 4.0 vision among companies, there is a lack of unified perception and approach of its implementation roadmap. Therefore, many firms in both developed and developing countries that step in the way of digital transformation encounter not only organizational, technological, and operational challenges but are also compelled to cope with a large deal of confusion. Hence, this paper aims to identify the main concepts, characteristics, and technology enablers related to Industry 4.0 to provide stakeholders with a clear understanding of this paradigm. It then clusters and matches the derived concepts and characteristics associated with Industry 4.0. Further, the paper provides an analysis of how these clusters are supported by technology enablers of Industry 4.0, as well as managerial implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the key aspects of digitalization brought by Industry 4.0 is driven by the Internet of Things. Perhaps, the most interesting component of digital transformation is Augmented Reality. Augmented reality is merging the digital and physical worlds in the same experience. This new technology is accepted and applications are initiated in various areas including manufacturing. The main usage area in manufacturing is planning, execution, and verification of the assembly and maintenance operations. Likewise, augmented reality is used in the training of inexperienced people and to guide them by remote expert support. However, the augmented reality application selection, especially for non-technology savvy manufacturing organizations is challenging. Detailed and time-consuming analyses are required to understand the key features to compare and select the most suitable augmented reality application. In this paper, the most critical nine augmented reality software selection criteria are identified. To help organizations to apply such criteria and make a selection that is most suitable for the enterprise, a multi criteria decision-making approach is suggested. The suggested method is based on a fuzzy spherical number. The complex proportional assessment method is used to calculate the rankings. Therefore, the suggested method is called SF-COPRAS. Moreover, the detailed definition of augmented reality features and terminologies is explained. Several augmented reality use-case scenarios are discussed for manufacturing organizations on their Industry 4.0 initiatives. This paper aims to guide decision makers on their augmented reality software selection journey. The offered framework aims to save time for investigating augmented reality solution features systematically and objectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing countries are becoming the factory of the world where sustainable production is still far from developed countries. However, the acceleration of the 4.0 revolution with a close connection with the Internet of Things (IoT) achievements has forced developing countries to integrate with the trend of a circular and sustainable economy. In this paper, the emerging digital technologies of Industry 4.0 which concentration on the contribution of IoT, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Big Data in remanufacturing are reviewed. Based on IoT, remanufacturing, circular economy, and smart manufacturing, this paper has made the assessment and discussed the challenges and barriers of the 4th industrial revolution to remanufacturing, as well as the amazing opportunities that IoT technologies can contribute to the growth of the remanufacturing industry in developing countries. A value-creation perspective consists of the product which is remanufactured, the equipment and processes of remanufacturing which are adopted and associated with troubles of organization, are used to identify trends and gaps. Suggestions from findings show that it is necessary to detect the combination between cyber-physical systems and the IoT architecture to assistant smart remanufacture, parallel with developing data and infrastructures of communication and circular economy management models. It is clear that, in order to successfully develop the remanufacturing industry, emerging economies need to fully utilize the achievements of IoT technology through economic development strategies and policies in line with Industry 4.0 to create breakthroughs in sustainable circular economy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the concepts, methodologies, and applications of In-Process Quality Improvement (IPQI) in complex manufacturing systems. As opposed to traditional quality control concepts that emphasize process change detection, acceptance sampling, and offline designed experiments, IPQI focuses on integrating data science and system theory, taking full advantage of in-process sensing data to achieve process monitoring, diagnosis, and control. The implementation of IPQI leads to root cause diagnosis (in addition to change detection), automatic compensation (in addition to off-line adjustment), and defect prevention (in addition to defect inspection). The methodologies of IPQI have been developed and implemented in various manufacturing processes. This paper provides a brief historical review of the IPQI, summarizes the developments and applications of IPQI methodologies, and discusses some challenges and opportunities in the current data-rich manufacturing systems. Future research directions are discussed at the end of the article with a special focus on leveraging emerging machine learning tools to address quality improvements in data-rich advanced manufacturing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is significant interest in emerging technologies. Universities, companies and other adopters are researching how and when these technologies should be implemented. However, this research area still lacks ways to evaluate the maturity level of the technologies and rapid experimentation concepts for testing the new technologies. This paper addresses the research gap by providing a new evaluation method and a rapid experimentation concept. This method and concept were successfully used in twenty-five Flash-projects, where five emerging digital Industry 4.0 themes evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand how women's work tends to be particularly affected by the new wave of Industry 4.0 technologies in Brazil and how public policies could actuate to reduce work gender inequalities throughout this process. We examine the 20 largest occupations for women and cross-check with estimates of automation for the Brazilian labour market from previous studies. We also analyse the women's insertion in professional fields that have great growth potential. Among the main occupations, we identify a dual trend with high automation chance for jobs that require low or no qualifications and are low paid, and low displacement probability for caring-related professions. Furthermore, even though in Brazil women have higher education levels than men, they are under-represented in STEM (Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) areas. We point out that the main challenges for Brazil include the lack of investment in innovation and that gender-aware policies should be designed to overcome structural barriers and guarantee an equal insertion of women and men. Paid parental leave, equal pay for equal work, and public health and education services are essential to overcome inequalities based on traditional gender roles. Unemployment insurance, financial support, and incentives for qualification and requalification, as well as gender parity in educational and research institutions, are key for women to have full involvement in this new digital economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an automated model for improving job shop scheduling by incorporating Industry 4.0 and project management. The proposed model develops dynamic and adaptive schedules to incorporate real-time information about processing times (including random unexpected events) and due dates, reflecting the impact of industry 4.0 on rescheduling decisions. The model minimizes the earliness and tardiness costs while considering the rescheduling costs and is motivated by the real-life case study from a local company. This study applied Earned Value (EV) and Forecasted Total Cost at Completion ( E A C f ) concepts and integrated it with mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model to design an adaptive automated scheduling system. The paper presents a new application of project management concept in MILP job shop scheduling. Also, this research proposes new rescheduling concept to minimize unnecessary schedule changes while providing the best possible schedule to process all the jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies obscure the traditional boundaries associated with the military realm. As the first examination of the conditions underlying the assimilation of 4IR technologies in Israel's armed forces, this paper makes several contributions. It expands the knowledge on the military assimilation of 4IR technologies and describes the interaction between military doctrine and technology using current evidence. It also enriches the evolving discussion on the strategic effect of emerging technologies. Finally, it demonstrates how emerging technologies involve neither straightforward spinoff or spin-on processes but a reciprocal transfer of know-how between the military and civilian sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to validate adequate content for Industry 4.0 training recommended to managers unfamiliar with this theme and intends to get a holistic view. A Delphi Method was conducted with experts in Industry 4.0 and training. These experts evaluated an initial training content structure segmented into seven modules based on academic literature. The consensus was reached in two rounds with the participation of twenty-seven (27) experts in the first round and twenty (20) experts in the second round. The results were discussed considering literature statements. The initial training content structure was reordered and an additional module was appended. The validated training content structure considers a total of eight modules ordered as follows: Business Management Models Impact; Product Personalisation and Smart Products; Smart Factory and Integration; Modularity and Service Orientation; Decentralisation and Interoperability; Virtualisation and Real-Time Capability; Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Impact; and Industry 4.0 Implementation. The results presented here are helpful for academics, consultants, and professionals who need to design courses and training about Industry 4.0 theme. It is essential to mention that no similar papers were found in scientific databases, reinforcing the originality and the contribution of this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in average wage are usually attributed to technological change in the past industrial revolutions. With the emergence and gradual explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) in the 4th industrial revolution, this paper applies panel vector autoregressive technique, with annual data from the World Bank and global economy from 2004 to 2017, to examine the effect of artificial intelligence on average wages in Southern Africa. Findings from the study show that artificial intelligence has a significant negative relationship with average wages but is positively associated with gross domestic product per capita (GDPC), unemployment and inflation. The study also finds inflation and GDPC to be positively associated with average wage. Based on the finding, policy direction focusing on wage stabilisation, redistribution of income, advance learning and skill development training that promote competitiveness to computerisation is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Johor Port and Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) are two adjacent seaports act as backbone of the Malaysian international trade and economy. The probability of these seaports catering the same client is very high and may cause overlapping in the hinterland area. This will further result in the waste of resources, congestion in traffic and reducing the competitiveness of seaports. The situation worsened during Covid-19 outbreak as these two seaports faced issues related to capacity and efficiency. This paper employs geoeconomics concept to assist these seaports to design a post Covid-19 recovery plan for these seaports via temporal, spatial and policy taxonomies. An explanatory sequential mixed method design has been employed to meet aims of the paper. The results show that hinterlands in the Southern region are important as production centres, providing logistics efficiency and improving the connectivity. Given the importance of service recovery to continue patronage of these seaports among customers, revitalising 4th industrial revolution and materialising inland capacity are additional post Covid-19 recovery strategies for improved seaport performance from a policy and spatial taxonomies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the recent discussion concerning the interactions between China and Germany in the context of Industry 4.0, highlighting the most relevant innovation and trade trends and the policy implications of this collaboration. The qualitative analysis examines the features of the innovation systems in Germany and China and the strategies implemented to boost the innovation process. The quantitative analysis exploits trade, patent and publications data to identify trends related to China-Germany cooperation. The paper provides insights into the policy implications for both countries of Sino-German cooperation in relation to Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of Things is one of the most bustling terminologies throughout the world presently. This paper aims at exploring, perceiving, learning, and sensitizing readers, especially those who are directly or indirectly connected to the field of food and agriculture, about various current applications and future opportunities associated with Internet of Things. The concept of Internet of Things is gaining popularity due to its close association with one of the most revolutionary human discoveries, the Internet, and also due to the opportunities in ease of living provided by various applications of the concept. In this paper, all the current developments and future prospects of this concept in food and agriculture sector have been discussed, which will bring more clarity on the practicality of the concept. This paper aims at providing more conformity on the concept of Internet of Things and its applications in food and agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of a Treasury department in a commercial bank has increased in recent decades. After the 2008 financial crisis the remit of a bank Treasury has expanded in terms of scope and strategic significance, evolving from a transactional cash manager to a balance sheet custodian. In order to meet this broader strategic mandate Treasurers must consider ways to become more efficient and streamlined. Adoption of digital technologies and related innovation that underpins the Fourth Industrial Revolution can address many of the traditional Treasury challenges and deliver a wide range of benefits. The adoption of digital technology in bank Treasuries tend to be lower than in other business areas within a bank. There are a number of reasons, but it often includes the lack of a well-articulated digital transformation roadmap. There is thus a need for researching a Treasury specific approach that can provide guidance on developing a digital implementation strategy and enable the transition towards a next generation 'smart' digital Treasury department. This paper focusses on a key component of digital transformation, namely performing a Digital Maturity Assessment. It is essential to determine the digital maturity level of a Treasury function, in order to ensure the appropriate Treasury activities and digital technologies are identified and prioritized for digitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the socio-economic landscape of South Africa by exploring the different determinants of inequality and poverty. The paper seeks to bring to the fore how the above mentioned landscape feeds the continual plight for social security in South Africa even in the advent of new systematic revolutions such as the 4th Industrial revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the theoretical lens of diffraction to conceptualize a new approach to transrational peace education theory and praxis in the post-2016 posttruth political era and Industry 4.0 economic period. The paper reviews foundational concepts and approaches from key founders of the field – Paulo Freire and Betty Reardon – before turning to two contemporary peace education scholars – Wolfgang Dietrich and Hilary Cremin – to investigate the contributions of recent scholarship toward diverse diffractive possibilities for transrational peace education. In this sense, diffraction offers pluralistic views and transformative possibilities for transrational peace education in varied contexts. Transrational peace education builds upon peace education to integrate affective and aesthetic perspectives into peace education theory and praxis. Before concluding, we offer some theoretical implications and pedagogic responses for scholars seeking to work at diffractive transrational intersections. The contribution of the paper is toward theorizing new perspectives for transrational peace education theory and praxis in the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging industrial platforms such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet (II) in the US and Industrie 4.0 in Europe have tremendously accelerated the development of new generations of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) that integrate humans and human organizations (H-CPS) with physical and computation processes and extend to societal-scale systems such as traffic networks, electric grids, or networks of autonomous systems where control is dynamically shifted between humans and machines. Although such societal-scale CPS can potentially affect many aspect of our lives, significant societal strains have emerged about the new technology trends and their impact on how we live. Emerging tensions extend to regulations, certification, insurance, and other societal constructs that are necessary for the widespread adoption of new technologies. If these systems evolve independently in different parts of the world, they will 'hard-wire' the social context in which they are created, making interoperation hard or impossible, decreasing reusability, and narrowing markets for products and services. While impacts of new technology trends on social policies have received attention, the other side of the coin – to make systems adaptable to social policies – is nearly absent from engineering and computer science design practice. This paper focuses on technologies that can be adapted to varying public policies and presents (1) hard problems and technical challenges and (2) some recent research approaches and opportunities. The central goal of this paper is to discuss the challenges and opportunities for constructing H-CPS that can be parameterized by social context. The focus in on three major application domains: connected vehicles, transactive energy systems, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Abbreviations: CPS: Cyber-physical systems; H-CPS: Human-cyber-physical systems; CV: Connected vehicle; II: Industrial Internet; IoT: Internet of Things [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is widely acknowledged as a digital technological revolution building on the convergence of Robotics, the Internet of Things, and the Internet of Services. What is less often acknowledged is that it is also a revolution in the social practice of work. Literacy is a core social technology of work and it is changing as rapidly and radically as the digital technologies that are reshaping work, workers and working. This article is concerned with this new generation of workplace literacy practices as they shape, and are shaped by, the Fourth Industrial Revolution – what we call Literacy 4.0. We explore two related fields of inquiry. The first is research related to the impact of technology on work practice, work organization, and employment in a period sometimes called the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The second is research about literacy, specifically workplace literacy. In this paper we argue that it is necessary to take account of each of these fields of inquiry if we are to better understand how the next generation of workplace literacy practices is emerging and helping to constitute the Fourth Industrial Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the following paper titled " I Evaluating Industry 4.0 Implementation Challenges Using Interpretive Structural Modelling and Fuzzy-Analytic Hierarchy Process i " the authors contribute to the Industry 4.0 related works by identifying, modeling, analyzing and prioritizing the challenges in implementing Industry 4.0 in manufacturing industries. The paper introduces a smart support system for selecting a group of reviewers to evaluate a particular problem, such as a research proposal or a research paper. The aim of this Guest Edition of I Cybernetics and Systems i is to present a wide-ranging scale of concepts and processes being currently researched, developed, and evaluated in real life settings in anticipation of incoming Industry 4.0 era. [Extracted from the article]

The history and the future of water resource management as well as the endeavours that it influences are inextricably woven into the fabric of the past, current and future states of all life on our watery planet. From the first Earth Day in 1970 and the founding of the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) in 1971 to the development of modern biotechnology applications and alternative energy sources across subsequent decades, this paper reflects on these and other historical underpinnings of how we manage the use of our essential water resources now and might hope to in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advancement of industrial, innovation-related economic policies such as Industry 4.0 and the advanced digitalization of production play an increasingly important role in fulfilling economic objectives in both Canada and the United States. There are a variety of ways in which such industrial-related policy approaches can be developed and implemented. Varying aspects of industrial and economic innovation often occur within a regional context, which can change policy is developed and implemented, dramatically and with little warning. This paper applies a case-based approach to examine enabling and constraining factors of regional innovation policy in two cases - Ontario, Canada and Massachusetts, US. Moving beyond a linear conception of regional innovation, this research explores how policies and modalities for collaboration can facilitate Industry 4.0 and related innovation ecosystems. Our analysis suggests that regional innovation impact is influenced through four principal factors: industrial clusters; context; collaborative synergies; and network intermediaries. Additional research could focus on an expanded case examination of the relationship between top-down policy approaches and the operation of regional innovation ecosystems coupled with bottom-up market- and stakeholderdriven analytic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since digitalization and Industry 4.0 have been recognized as a key issue for future economic development, prosperity and wealth distribution, several studies have emerged on the potential threats of new technology on workforce development. The consensus is that jobs may fall away, while some new jobs will be created, with a different skills profile and a new set of qualifications that are required. This paper examines the effects of three main indicators: the impact of skills, industrial sector dominance and product complexity on workforce reduction. Based on metropolitan data from the US (Census) and Europe (Eurostat), the author develops a metropolitan typology based on industrial sectors in each metro and analyses the systematic relationship between regional variations of automation, local skills and economic sector variations, finding that automation exposure in Europe is significantly lower than in the US and that medium-skilled manufacturing jobs in the US are increasingly threatened and low-skill service jobs remain relatively safe from automation – leading to a decreasing middle class. This also shows how metropolitan areas are at risk of developing polarized effects: some facing economic upturn and continuous prosperity, and a majority of others either stagnant or with extreme downturn and high unemployment rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]