Industry 4.0—Sustainable Technology, Policy, and Management
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2022) | Viewed by 7647
Special Issue Editor
Interests: value sensitive design; design; ethics; AI; Industry 4.0
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is marked by rapid changes to technology, industries, and societal patterns and processes as a function of increasing interconnectivity and smart automation. Given how rapidly these manufacturing processes and industry practices are and will be impacted by these changes, so will the management practices and policies governing and controlling these novel production environments. At its core, Industry 4.0 is characterised by its systemic nature. Transformative and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, gene editing, and advanced robotics blur the boundaries between physical, digital, and biological systems. This crosscutting raises challenges for sustainable development and the use of these technologies. Policy concerns also emerge concerning if and what regulations, standards, and forms of certifications are needed to govern these new processes that blur the lines between more traditional modes of manufacturing. Likewise, novel organisational challenges also need to be confronted. Various IT security issues, as well as concerns surrounding the reliability and stability needed for critical machine-to-machine communication (M2M), exist, including very short and stable latency times, among many other problems.
This Special Issue is dedicated to addressing these concerns. In particular, papers within this issue will aim to bridge the gap between the challenges we face and the means by which we can confront and ameliorate these concerns. Researchers in this field are invited to contribute their original, unpublished works. Both research and review papers are welcome. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Ethical Concerns, such as how to design these systems for human values (i.e., value-sensitive design, human-centred AI, participatory design, etc.).
- Economic Concerns, such as issues surrounding high economic costs, business model adaptation, and unclear economic benefits/excessive investment.
- Social Concerns, such as privacy, surveillance, and distrust issues, as well as stakeholders’ general reluctance to change and technological unemployment.
- Political Concerns, such as lack of regulation, standards and forms of certifications, as well as unclear legal issues and data security.
- Organisational Concerns, IT security issues, the integrity of production processes, low top management commitment, the potential insufficient qualification of employees, employee wellbeing, and the need to protect industrial know-how.
Dr. Steven Umbrello
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- Industry 4.0
- Sustainable Development Goals
- design
- applied ethics
- systems theory
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