Digital transformation in enterprises: Industry 4.0

1 Introduction By studying the history of economic evolution and development, it is possible to observe that the periods of great growth have always been linked to great productive revolutions. So far, we have experienced three industrial revolutions: • in the 19 th century the steam machine led to the mechanization of labor; • in the mid 20 th century the introduction of electricity allows the spread of mass production with the only “one best way” to produce and thus the standardization of production and products; • in the 1970s technological progress and information technology are the basis of the first wave of automation. The ability to foster significant improvements in productivity aimed at generating an important economic growth and therefore greater social well- being is what connects these revolutions one with the other. Today, companies’ success is not due only to skills such as availability of capital, low labor costs and high quality of products and services, but also to the ability to innovate, capture and trigger “digital opportunities”. In the last years we have been facing another industrial revolution, led by continuous and swift technological and scientific development: Industry 4.0. New technologies such as the ones related to the Internet of Things, Big Data Analytics, Augmented Reality, Additive Manufacturing, 5G, will revolutionize production methods and will allow enterprises to gain competitiveness on the world market; such new technologies will change, and already are, the ways of producing, the business models and the organizations as a whole. Now the real challenge for the future of the enterprises is to be able to catch the opportunities offered by Industry 4.0. The digitalization path started by society, Public Administration and enterprises is not yet complete, due to a series of infrastructural, economic and cultural obstacles. The idea of this project is to try to give a response to the growing need to understand the Fourth Industrial Revolution, known as the “Industry 4.0”, not only as a technological evolution, but also as a tool for management to innovate with a look towards the future.