FIT FOR 4.0

Before designing and creating the Training pathway for the development of teachers’ non-technological competences, we started collected information about the social, cultural, economic and technological situation related to Industry 4.0 in our countries, analysing reports and papers, to have an (almost) complete framework.

The advancement of new technologies in the fourth industrial revolution blurs the lines between the physical, digital, and biological worlds. These advancements are led by the emergence of artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of things, autonomous vehicles, bio and nanotechnology, 3-D printing, material science, quantum computing, and energy storage.

However, Industrial Revolution 4.0 is not only technology: it includes the digital transformation of the whole business as well. 

This implies that we have to rethink the digitization and integration of vertical and horizontal value chains and of the business model in general by optimizing the customer interaction and access.

The disruptive nature of Industry 4.0 brings about considerable changes in work processes, which consequently requires a different approach to the way work is performed. 

New skills are required to perform existing and new jobs that emerge owing to Industry 4.0 technological advances.

It is widely acknowledged that, although the skills required in different industries might differ, there are similarities in the competences required in different fields.

A significant number of authors state that strong social, and collaborative skills will be as important as technical skills in the future. More, the interaction with intelligent machines will require a firm base of soft skills, such as emotional intelligence, critical thinking, innovation, communication, collaboration, leadership, and teamwork, also considering that intelligent machines cannot (yet) apply common-sense reasoning; neither can they show empathy, which humans need to do to increase productivity when working in smart factories. 

In other words, the best talent is not the machines but a combination of both humans and machines.

Sources:

Schwab, K. (2015). The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means, how to respond. Retrieved from

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2015-12-12/fourth-industrial-revolution.

Siemens AG, Pictures of the future, Spring 2013.

Diwan, P. (2017). Is Education 4.0 an imperative for success of 4th Industrial Revolution? Accessed from

https://medium.com/@pdiwan/is-education-4-0-an-imperative-for-success-of-4th-industrial-revolution-

50c31451e8a4

Fitsilis, Tsoutsa, Gerogiannis (2018). Industry 4.0: required personnel competences. In International Scientific Journal

"Industry 4.0", year III, issue 3, p.p. 130-133 (2018). Accessed from:

https://stumejournals.com/journals/i4/2018/3/130.full.pdf

World Economic Forum (2016). The future of jobs: Employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial

revolution. Global Challenge Insight Report, World Economic Forum, Geneva.

Gudanowska, A.E., Alonso, J.P. and Törmänen, A. (2018). What competencies are needed in the production industry? The

case of the Podlaskie Region. Engineering Management in Production and Services, 10(1): pp. 65-74.

Wilson, J.H. and Daugherty, P.R. (2018). Collaborative Intelligence: Humans and AI are joining forces. Havard Business

review, Brighton, Issue Number: July-August, pp. 114-123.

Guszcza, J., Lewis, H. and Evans-Greenwood, P. (2017). Cognitive collaboration: Why humans and computers think better

together. Deloitte Review, 20: pp. 8-29.

Selamat, A., Taspir, S.H., Puteh, M. et al., R.A. (2017). Higher education 4.0: Current status and readiness in meeting the

Fourth Industrial Revolution Challenges. Redesigning Higher Education towards Industry, 4: pp. 23-24.

Venkatraman, S., de Souza-Daw, T. and Kaspi, S. (2018). Improving employment outcomes of career and technical

education students. Higher Education, Skills and Work-based Learning, 8(4), pp. 469-483.

Prifti, L., Knigge, M., Kienegger, H. and Krcmar, H. (2017). A competency Model for "Industrie 4.0" Employees. In 13th

International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI). St. Gallen, Switzerland, pp.46-60.

Cotet, G.B., Balgiu, B.A. and Zaleschi, V.C. (2017). Assessment procedure for the soft skills requested by Industry 4.0.

MATEC Web of Conferences, 121, pp. 07005