Digital revolution equals digital competencies? what we expect for workers’ competencies in industry 4.0

The three industrial revolutions of the past were all triggered by technical innovations: the introduction of water- and steam-powered mechanical manufacturing at the end of the 18th century, the electrification that led to mass production at the beginning of the 20th century and introduction of automation in manufacturing in the 1970s. The upcoming industrial revolution will be triggered by the Internet, which allows communication between humans as well as machines throughout large networks. In factories, computerized systems allow communication between humans, machines and products alike. These systems (also referred to as cyberphysical systems) can interact with one another using standard Internetbased protocols and analyze data to predict failure, configure themselves, and adapt to changes. In smart factories, intelligent and customized products comprise the knowledge of their manufacturing process and consumer application and independently lead their way through the supply-chain. The rise of new digital industrial technology, also known as Industry 4.0, is likely to have breakthrough effects in a variety of areas including revenue growth, productivity, investments and employment. As far as employment is concerned, estimates indicate that a number of jobs will be substituted by technology because repetitive and standardized, while new jobs are more likely to be created in such fields as analytics, mechatronics and software development to name a few. The balance between the number of substituted jobs and the number of new jobs it is still an open debate, instead it is largely ascertained that the digital revolution will be competence destroying. In this chapter we are aimed at studying whether the Italian University system is adapting its offer to accommodate the requirements of Industry 4.0. The chapter proceeds as follows. In the next paragraph we present the main technologies that characterize the so called Industry 4.0. Then we discuss the implications for stakeholders and, in particular, how the Italian University system is responding to the challenges posed by such revolution. Next, we conclude the paper and derive some policy implications.