From Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0: The Triple Transition Digital, Green and Social

Abstract

The paradigm Industry 5.0, to which the European Commission recently dedicated a conceptual report, focuses on both a sustainable and a human-centric and resilient industry: human-centric by using technology primarily for the benefit of people, sustainable by not harming the environment, and resilient by contributing to the security of supply and autonomous supply chains (Breque et al. in Industry 5.0: towards a sustainable, human-centric and resilient European industry. European Commission, Brussels: 14–16). This concept is no turn away from Industry 4.0 but is looking at the mainly technology-dominated approach of Industry 4.0 with a new lens and new priorities. Based on the approach of combining technological and social innovation within a common development process we will give some practical insights on how to coordinate change processes. The aim is to achieve solutions that are beneficial from several perspectives: e.g. social, economic and ecological. Grounded in our experience from industry-related multi-stakeholder projects this chapter discusses various concepts that can be applied within the Industry 5.0 approach. Particular attention is paid to the significance and importance of skills and human resources in the digital and green transformation. Additionally, the relevance of the social innovation approach is shown, leading to new practices to address societal challenges via the human-centred, sustainable and resilient Industry 5.0 perspective. The empirical background is given by the concepts and first results of our European projects for enhancing the digital and green transformation by a social transition.