Industry 4.0 = (Things + Industrial Internet) X (IT + OT)

Feb 13, 2014

Capgemini

In 1784, the mechanical loom marked the start of the First Industrial Revolution: mechanical production, powered by water and steam. The start of the 20th century saw the Second Industrial Revolution: mass production based on the division of labour and powered by electricity. At the beginning of the 1970s, electronics and informatics were the foundation for a, ever increasing automization of production. This was the Third Industrial Revolution. Today, we experience the dawn of a Fourth Industrial Revolution, based on cyber-physical production systems, aka Industry 4.0.

The technology behind Industry 4.0 often is being referred to as the Internet of Things & Services. This evolving hybrid entity functions, if you wish, as the linking pin between the Human Internet of Things and the Industrial Internet of Things aka Industrial Internet.

Essentially, the Internet of Things & Services is the fast-paced 21th century network evolution of traditional “white-collar” Information Technology (IT) and “blue-collar” Operational Technology (OT). Through this convergence of IT and production new business models and open business environments will arrive. These developments will reshape central notions like the ones in the center of the following picture by Stefan Ferber:

So indeed, in a nutshell the basic formula comes down to:
Industry 4.0 = (Things + Industrial Internet) * (IT + OT)

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Sogeti Labs

SogetiLabs gathers distinguished technology leaders from around the Sogeti world. It is an initiative explaining not how IT works, but what IT means for business.

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