Challenges and opportunities of industry 4.0, with special insight on advances in smart health

Abstract

We are entering the fourth industrial revolution at time when the third has not even finished, showing how rapidly technologies are evolving and barely giving time for people or companies to adapt. The german term for the fourth industrial revolution is industry 4.0, which is set to bring significant changes in not only production and manufacturing, but also offices and daily personal life. Industry 4.0 relies on a symbiosis of new technologies which enables machines to become 'smart', a term used to describe machines independently communicating and making decisions. Production under industry 4.0 requires less human interaction and allows a much more flexible and customizable approach, while simultaneously reducing costs, waste and time. Challenges of industry 4.0 include dealing with job losses on the one hand and lack of qualified employees, being able to cope with new technologies, on the other. By 2020 a new generation, the millennials, will be the major workforce, bring in a new approach to handling business and work and life balance. They will bring great change to structures in business, which have been existing for years. The medical sector will also undergo significant changes, allowing patients to receive treatments from their homes and accumulation of large data amounts which allow doctors to diagnose and prescribe treatments far more efficiently. Smart hospitals, the hospitals of the future, are built to provide the best possible care to patients. The goal of this thesis is to show which technologies enabled industry 4.0 and then highlighting the challenges and opportunities it presents, giving a closer look at changes and challenges in the medical sector throughout the thesis. Table of