Studying the role of proximity in advancing innovation partnerships at the dawn of industry 4.0 era

Abstract

The fourth Industrial revolution (a.k.a Industry 4.0 wave), presupposes the completion of digital business transformation. Industry 4.0 wave is based on cyber-physical production systems (CPS), aiming to connect the physical and digital production spaces. Under this framework, Industry 4.0 digital operations require the re-establishment of IT systems, in a way that human and machines are interconnected and interact in real-time, thus creating a more flexible, resourceefficient and optimal way of manufacturing. To this end, Industry 4.0 encompasses concepts that include Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in manufacturing, which promotes better smart production phases. Under the new digital framework of Industry 4.0, the role of proximity in advancing innovation partnerships and promoting efficient technology and knowledge transfer among the engaged partners, should be carefully examined. It becomes clear that stakeholders' coordination activities, which will ensure their efficient cooperation, continue to reflect issues of major importance and illustrate the value of proximity - in both physical and relative terms - in the newly defined innovation plane. One of the open theoretical challenges we attempt to tackle in the initial debate provided in our paper, concerns the possible functional transformation of proximity's spatial and non-spatial dimensions within this new digital Industry 4.0 framework, as well as the critical trade-offs that have to be made between the traditional (namely proximity) and the new technologybased approach (namely Industry 4.0) for the actors' effective coordination and cooperation. Towards this direction, we study the way proximity dimensions horizontally affect the new realm posed by Industry 4.0. Finally, given that the Industry 4.0 era of innovation cooperation gives rise to new issues, that is among others, cybersecurity and enhanced cognitive capabilities, we discuss the specific weight of each proximity dimension, and identify the need for certain dimensions to be developed amongst players compared to others that seem to rather diminish their significance. © 2020 Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All rights reserved.