Local Productive Systems’ Transitions to Industry 4.0+

Abstract

The paper is positioned in the emerging debate on the technological change brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution, often referred to as Industry 4.0. Our analysis is at the local, sub-national level. The aim is to explore what drivers and barriers local productive systems might face when seeking to embark on transitions that reconcile smart, equitable, and sustainable priorities, under enhanced models called Industry 4.0+. The novelty of the paper is to develop such models by designing a conceptual framework that juxtaposes the drivers and the barriers of sustainability transitions with local productive systems. This novel framework suggests possible pathways that local productive systems can initiate to achieve more equitable and green outcomes for their economy and society by directing the development of digital-related solutions.

Sustainability and the Digital transition: a literature review

“…For example, digital tools used in data tracking and sharing can identify and reduce environmental problems before they magnify. Bellandi and De Propris [14] explain the interconnection between digital transitions and sustainability in Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR) by indicating that the real difference comes from the growing wave of combining multiple digital technologies with other transformations and innovations. For example, sustainability can be achieved and maximized by combining social and institutional innovations with nano-and bio-technologies (NBT), including renewable technologies, biogenetics, and neuro-technologies.…”

“…Despite these activities, the sustainability concept did not gain global attention until the 20th century when the Club of Rome's 'Limits to Growth' advocated for a sustainable world system and a sustainable society. In the 1960s, environmental movements began to critique practices and called for ecological conservation, leading to the 'sustainable development' concepts of the1980s [14]. The current definitions of sustainability have been built on these concepts and expanded to accommodate the current environmental, social, and economic problems.…”

“…However, the most globally accepted definition comes from the World Commission on Environment and Development, which defined sustainable development as growth that meets the needs and aspirations of the current populations without compromising those of future generations. Bellandi and De Propris [14] describe it as integrating economic vitality, environmental robustness, and social equity to develop resilient, healthy, diverse, and prosperous current and future communities. The operationalization of these definitions considers the economic, social, and environmental aspects of development.…”

Youth innovative entrepreneurship under digitalization of economics: analysis of foreign experience in assessing the effectiveness of support

“…Taking into account a number of existing problems, the regulation of the labor market remains among the priorities of the governments of the world. The globalization processes of the world economy, the spread of international migration, structural changes in the labor market, demographic problems -all this increases the scale of negative phenomena in the field of employment and well-being of the population (Bellandi, 2021). The priority of solving problematic issues of the development of the labor market in the context of globalization determines the purpose of the study, which is to determine the global trends of its functioning, in particular in the context of a comparative analysis of the state of the labor market of world countries.…”

“…The acquired experience and positive results of the development of youth entrepreneurship in countries that have passed the stage of reforming economic systems indicate that it is one of the means of creating additional jobs and reducing unemployment, activating innovative processes, developing competition, and quickly saturating the market with goods and services. That is why the introduction of foreign experience for the development of youth entrepreneurship in Russia is relevant (Bellandi, 2021).…”