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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]

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]

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]

This paper explains the spread of Industry 4.0 technologies in two globalized, manufacturing industries. It then goes on to suggest ways in which the widespread adoption and integration of these technologies may impact upon their geographical distribution – not least engaging new regions and perhaps altering the significance of established ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New technologies make competitiveness very important issue for all social strata. Newly found autonomy, individual mobility and other freedoms generated by technologies may pose new challenges for interaction between the state and an individual. IT, including artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning may make the human value less important. These changes make governments search to improve nations' prospects. However, recipes useful before Third Industrial revolution may be counterproductive nowadays. In this paper, we explore in more detail some of the current tendencies and implications for national competitiveness and economic growth as well as offer possible venues for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digitization and its impact on regions and clusters remains overlooked in the literature, and constitute this present paper's goal. How does an industrial district transit collectively to the adoption of new radical changes brought about by Industry 4.0? This study explores the role of collective actors and innovation platforms during the early stages of a pilot policy to stimulate a collective transition of an entire MID (Marshallian Industrial District) into Industry 4.0. We posit that institutional isomorphism and the existent social capital in MIDs is a double-sword phenomenon that can also positively constitute an enabler for fostering change on a collective-basis. Technology transitions, such as Industry 4.0, can be supported and led by collective actors that are central in facilitating the adoption of Industry 4.0 in MIDs, enticing innovative firms to engage in that transition, establishing, legitimizing, and embedding a new set of processes, practices and inter-firm arrangements for digitizing and then promoting imitation: the positive leverage of isomorphism. Thus, MID transition is facilitated through capitalizing on the MID logic of cooperation-competition and isomorphism, by developing and promoting a collective understanding of the new paradigm, building a supportive infrastructure, educating in the new technology and avoiding cognitive inertia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]