Scientific Workshop on the 4th industrial revolution

Business model innovation, local ecosystems and global competition
23 March 2018
24 March 2018
March 23rd - 24th, 2018
Department of Economics and Management - University of Trento
via Inama 5 - 30122 Trento

 

1. Theme and topics

The 4th Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is expected to represent a paradigm change for business bearing strong effects in manufacturing processes and competitive advantage of firms, industries and regional/national systems. Such impact reveals in the disruption of traditional incumbents and in enabling the re-organization of production processes where applications of Information and Communication Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and Operational Technologies enable smart, self-organizing distributed system of factories. As a consequence, firms as well as regional/national manufacturing systems face increasing pressure to change. This pressure coalesces around adopting novel creation, production and distribution methodologies and by adapting internal practices and process to those changes. 

This workshop aims to contribute to the debate on the impact of the Industry 4.0 by bringing together the academic and the industry points of view. As such, the workshop intends to facilitate the discussion on the micro-level of manufacturing firms and the macro-level of regional competitive advantage of industries and nations. By doing that, the workshop provides scholars, practitioners, and policy makers to investigate the implications of the Industry 4.0. 

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following ones:

  • From product to service: servitization in the 4th Industrial Revolution
  • How various I-4.0 technologies (e.g., additive manufacturing, smart factories, cyber-physical systems, IoT, etc.) are reshaping organizations, industries, markets and society
  • The importance of innovative ecosystems for Industry 4.0
  • Business model and business model innovation
  • Challenges and opportunities for international competition (e.g., outsourcing, reshoring, increased global competition, sustainable manufacturing, etc.)
  • Training and skills update of the workforce, potential changes in the job market, unemployment, inequality
  • Evolution of the workplace, human capital, and industrial relations
  • Productivity, wages, growth and competitiveness
  • The role of open, collaborative, user-driven innovation as a driver for the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and solutions
  • New technological platforms, compatibility, standards and standardization in 4.0 technologies
  • Vertical and horizontal networks integration and governance, supply chain management and optimization
  • Product and process design

2. Consolidation of submissions

The workshop is a way to augment the awareness of scholars on the main implications of the transition to an Industry 4.0 paradigm. For this very reason, papers embedding an international perspective are very welcome. Moreover, to promote a more inclusive discussion, policymakers and regulators are warmly invited to submit their works. 

The workshop will run over two and a half days. It will host around fifteen (15) paper presentations plus two invited speeches. In case of an exceeding number of high quality submissions we will include a poster session in the program.   

3. Review of the papers

Papers will be blindly peer reviewed.

4. Programme Committee

  • Silvio M. Brondoni (Università di Milano-Bicocca)
  • Vladi Finotto (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)
  • Giovanni Migliarotta (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Alessandro Rossi (Università degli Studi di Trento)
  • Francesco Rullani (LUISS Guido Carli) 
  • Maurizio Sobrero (Università di Bologna)
  • Marco Taisch (Politecnico di Milano)
  • Enrico Zaninotto (Università degli Studi di Trento)
  • Francesco Zirpoli (Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia)

5. Important Dates

Call for paper circulation July 13th, 2017
Extended abstract submission Dec 3rd, 2017
Acceptance notification Dec 20th, 2017
Full paper submission March 18th, 2018
Workshop March 23rd-24th, 2018

6. Instruction for submission

Extended abstract of around 1000 words can be sent at this eco-workshop4ir [at] economia.unitn.it (email)

7. Proceedings

A selection of papers will be published in a special issue of Symphonya. Emerging Issues in Management. Papers will be subject to a fast-track review process while maintaining the otherwise regular editorial, refereeing, and revision standards of the journal, which will also accept external contributions. 

Sponsor

Download 
application/pdfCall For Paper-4th Ind-Rev workshop(PDF | 85 KB)
application/pdfHow to reach Trento(PDF | 55 KB)
application/pdfHotels agreement(PDF | 375 KB)