Navigating contemporary challenges and future prospects in digital industry evolution

Abstract

The advent of the digital industry, also known as Industry 4.0 is a transformation period in manufacturing, where the integration of digital technologies with physical systems is underlined. This transformation is crucial for the pillars of cyber-physical systems (CPS), cyber resilience protection, and workers’ safety, which collectively from the cornerstone of Industry 4.0. Ensuring the secure exploitation of Industry 4.0’s advantages necessitates a dedicated focus on workers’ safety, cyber resilience protection, and the security and privacy of human-centric CPS systems. However, the full realization of Industry 4.0’s potential hinges upon effectively addressing these challenges and aligning the benefits of digitalization with the exigencies of worker well-being and safeguarding critical infrastructure. This study is a comprehensive literature review on this digital era, focusing on CPS, resilience, and workers’ safety. The review aims to summarise current research and advancements, offering insights for researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers. By identifying gaps in knowledge, the study lays the foundations for additional research and supports ongoing progress in the digital industry. Industry 4.0 embodies a new era of manufacturing integrating digital technologies with a focus on sustainability and human-centric design, supported by CPS, resilience, and worker’s safety. This necessitate addressing challenges to ensure benefits align with worker needs and infrastructure protection.