Industrie 4.0 Österreich

The association ‚Industry 4.0 Austria' was founded in 2015. Together, important social, political, economic and scientific actors are actively involved in shaping the future world of production and work. The aim is to contribute to securing and increasing future prosperity for all people in Austria.

The aim is to make the best use of the new technological developments and innovations of digitalisation for companies and employees and to make change socially acceptable for society.

The platform sees Industry 4.0 as a societal challenge that ...

• can only be addressed in the best possible way through the cooperation of industry, academia, regional and national policy makers, associations, trade unions, NGOs and other stakeholders
• driven by technological innovations, new business models, knowledge transfer and their socially accepted implementation.

The founding members of the association are:

• Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)
• Federal Chamber of Labour (BAK)
• Association of electrical and electronics industry (FEEI)
• Association of Metal industry (FMTI)
• Industrialists' Association (IV)
• Production Union (PRO-GE)

Promoting cooperation between all stakeholders, making the best possible use of new technological developments and innovations in the context of the digitisation of the production world (Industry 4.0) and thus developing sustainable solutions for the development of challenges of companies, research institutions and society as a whole.

Goals and tasks

• Industry, academia, policy makers, employers' and employees' associations in order to successfully implement Industry 4.0.
• Accompanying the processes of change driven by digitalization.
• Providing knowledge and services on Industry 4.0 to businesses, universities, research institutions and the public.
• Definition of fields of action and advice to policy makers.
• Develop common strategies to make the best use of Industry 4.0 for companies and employees.
• Initiatives to manage national, regional and international activities.
• Enable the exchange of experiences, best practices, data and studies.

The association implements activities to

• to ensure a dynamic development of the Austrian production sector
• to accelerate research, innovation and skills
• to a decent world of work, as well as
• contribute to a high level of employment.

The thematic work of the platform is done in eight expert groups covering relevant and topical topics related to Industry 4.0.

These working groups consist of interested members of the platform and high-level experts, e.g.

• Research institutions
• Ministries
• Educational institutions
• regional clusters,
• Financing agencies,
• Standardisation bodies
• etc.

The results of the expert groups include:

• Roadmaps
• Policies
• Strategies
• analytical documents,
• Workshops and
• Events

Other activities include policy advice, targeted activities and services for members, matchmaking and networking, as well as the dissemination of research results, case studies and best practices.

The eight expert groups are:

• Qualifications and competences
• Standards and standards
• People in the digital factory
• Security and Safety
• New business models
• Research, development and innovation
• Intelligent Logistics
• Regional strategies

• Cooperation agreement with the German "Platform Industry 4.0" and the Swiss initiative "Industry 2025".
• The annual event will present activities of one of the main countries, previously france and South Korea.
• The Industry 4.0 platform was involved in the preparation of the OECD Digital Innovation Report and is cited as a best practice example.
• The Industry 4.0 platform is a member of the European Platform of the European Commission's National Platforms.
• The platform cooperates with similar initiatives in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia

Paper "Research, Development & Innovation in Industry 4.0"

The Industry 4.0 platform has dealt with the question of which research fields represent a particularly high potential for Austria and how the technological and financial needs of companies can be addressed even more accurately.

In a broad, transparent process, the results paper was prepared and includes priority research fields and measures to support the Austrian research landscape. It would like to provide answers and inputs so that appropriate measures can be taken in good time to best meet research and development requirements in Austria.

For this purpose, technology competences as well as research and development needs were identified and eight priority research fields were formulated for this purpose:

• Virtualization
• Sensor systems,
• Software Engineering,
• Physical systems,
• Cyber-physical systems,
• Working systems,
• Business models and
• Domain knowledge.

In addition to proposals for improved use of funding programmes, these fields of action cover the most important starting points in the research field around Industry 4.0 from the point of view of the Industry 4.0 platform.

Digital Check - Companies and their Digital Fitness

The model for measuring the digital maturity level developed by the Institute for Intelligent Production of the FH OÖ and the mechatronics cluster of the business agency Business Upper Austria helps companies to identify their digitization potentials in the shortest possible time and to and can serve as a guide for (pre-)selection of Industry 4.0 solutions.

The Industry 4.0 platform supports the promotion and application of the model in Austria as well as its marketing outside national borders. How does the model work?

In a specially developed software, the status quo of a company in relation to Industry 4.0 is collected based on the dimensions of data, intelligence and digital transformation. A structured process supports companies in finding potential for improvement and implementing them in an individual roadmap for business optimization.

The results of the evaluations flow into a benchmark database, which allows to identify current market situations in the industry. An anonymous comparison contrasts the company's progress with that of the industry.

Business model innovation with the Industry 4.0 platform

The platform supports companies in the implementation of their digitalization strategies and the development of new business models into the digital age comprehensively and with the competence of the entire platform network.

Five modules cover all relevant topics and areas: In the Executive Lounge, an expert exchange on specific, business model-relevant topics takes place at the management level. With the digital check, a company can evaluate its digital maturity and work out its digitalization strategy.

The Tool Box combines all the competences of the platform network and gives an overview of the topics on which expertise is offered. In the expert group "New Business Models" content on relevant topics is developed together with the members and experts and the network character is further strengthened.

The Business Model Lab enables companies to test and test their business models securely with members, while respecting intellectual property rights (IPR).