UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT
comprises a package of 40 measures to foster innovative
public procurement, entrepreneurship and venture capital
availability.
In April 2015, the government announced its Industry of the
Future project. This project launches the second phase of the
government’s New Industrial France initiative, which aims to
modernize industrial infrastructure and embrace the digital
economy to tear down the barriers between services and
industry. The Industry of the Future project focuses on nine
priority markets: New Resources; Sustainable Cities; Ecological
Mobility; Transportation of Tomorrow; Medicine of the Future;
The Data Economy; Intelligent Objects; Digital Confidence;
and Intelligent Food.
A first call for project proposals in future-oriented fields
(3D printing, augmented reality, connected objects, etc.) is
due to be launched in September 2015. Companies which
modernize will be entitled to tax cuts and advantageous
loans. The Industry of the Future project has been designed
in partnership with Germany’s Industry 4.0 project (Box 9.3).
Germany will thus be a key partner, with both countries
planning to develop joint projects.
GERMANY
Digitalizing industry: a priority
Germany is the EU’s most populous member
state and biggest economy. Manufacturing is one of the
economy’s strengths, particularly in medium-to-high-tech
sectors such as automotive, machinery and chemicals,
but its dominance of high-tech manufacturing, such as in
pharmaceuticals and optical industries, has eroded over
time. The Federal Ministry for Education and Research has
developed a High-tech Strategy to improve co-operation
between science and industry, in order to maintain
Germany’s international competitiveness. Launched in 2006,
the strategy was updated in 2010, with a focus on public–
private partnerships in forward-looking projects, including
some oriented towards tackling the following societal
challenges: health, nutrition, climate and energy security,
communication and mobility. One key focus of the High-tech
Strategy since 2011 has been the digitalization of industry
(Box 9.3).
In 2005, the Pact for Research and Innovation was introduced.
Within this pact, the federal government and the regions
Box 9.3: Germany’s strategy for the fourth industrial revolution
The German government has taken a
distinctly forward-looking approach
to what Germans call Industry 4.0 or,
in other words, the fourth industrial
revolution; this entails bringing the
internet of things and the internet
of services to industry, estimated by
Accenture to add € 700 billion to the
German economy by 2030.
Germany’s high-tech strategy since
2011 has had a strong focus on
Industry 4.0. The German government
has a dual plan. If Germany can
manage to become a leading supplier
of smart manufacturing technologies,
such as cyber-physical systems, this
should give a huge boost to German
machinery and plant manufacturing, as
well as to the automation engineering
and software sectors. The hope is
that a successful Industry 4.0 strategy
will help Germany’s manufacturing
industry retain its dominant position in
global markets.
Based on a literature review, Hermann
et al. (2015) define six design principles
of Industry 4.0, namely, interoperability
(between cyber-physical systems
and humans), virtualization (through
which cyber-physical systems monitor
production), decentralization (with
cyber-physical systems making
independent decisions), real-time
capability (to analyse production data),
service orientation (internally but also
by offering individualized products)
and modularity (adapting to changing
requirements).
In addition to modernizing industry,
customizing production and generating
smart products, Industry 4.0 will address
issues such as resource and energy
efficiency and demographic change,
while promoting a better work–life
balance, according to Kagermann et al.
(2013). Some trade unions, however,
fear an increase in job insecurity, such
as via cloud workers, and job losses.
A new Industry 4.0 platform called Made
in Germany was launched in April 2015.
It is operated by the federal government
(economic affairs and research ministries),
firms, business associations, research
institutes (in particular, the Fraunhofer
institutes) and trade unions.
Although some Industry 4.0 technologies
are already becoming a reality, with
some smart factories like that of Siemens
already in existence, a lot of research
remains to be done.
According to the 2013 recommendations
from the Industry 4.0 working group, the
main research focus areas in the German
strategy are (Kagermann et al., 2013):
n Standardization and reference
architecture;
n Managing complex systems;
n A comprehensive broadband
infrastructure for industry;
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