Industry 4.0 in the European union: Policies and national strategies

All across the European Union (EU), Member States are implementing policies in order to stimulate the adoption of technologies associated to Industry 4.0. This paper provides the most comprehensive comparative analysis so far done of such EU Government programs. At the supranational level, the EU has adopted policies geared to the EU-wide digitalization of industry, aiming also to motivate countries to establish digitalization strategies at the national level. National strategies and plans have been the result of multiple actions involving the interaction of different stakeholders. We identified 25 national Industry 4.0-focused plans between 2011 and 2020. There was considerable asymmetry in the conditions for implementation of policies, and in the assimilation by the market in different EU countries.

Automated summary

Across the EU, countries are implementing policies to promote the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies. This study found significant asymmetry in the conditions for policy implementation and market assimilation among different countries in the EU.