Abstract

What contribution can Industry 4.0 make to a Green Economy? This was the central question addressed at a future workshop held in Berlin on 22 June 2017 as part of the Evolution2green project. The future workshop served to sound out and evaluate approaches and potentials for a "green" Industry 4.0. The outcome of the Future Workshop is an innovation agenda with questions, challenges and topics, which is directed at relevant actors and political programmes and is intended to provide impetus for aligning digitalisation in industrial processes with the goals of a Green Economy, i.e. a Green Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 has so far been a largely technology-centred industrial policy vision. There are only occasional points of contact with the debate on a Green Economy; both developments are largely unconnected and run side by side. One of the main tasks is therefore to bring together the previously separate discussions. This requires the interaction of different actors from politics, business, associations, science and civil society groups. For a diffusion of Industrie 4.0, it is important to focus Industrie 4.0 more on concrete and tangible needs and problems of companies, especially SMEs, and at the same time to take into account the sustainability goals of the United Nations' "Agenda 2030". To reduce this diffusion problem, Industry 4.0 should not only focus on production and manufacturing, but also highlight new business models, value creation processes and the associated resource efficiency potentials and qualification requirements as well as design approaches. Potential rebound effects must also be taken into account. To do this, it is necessary to place them in a dynamic of supply, demand, work and consumption. Solutions that actually contribute to reducing rebound effects can only be developed from a system perspective. Environmental relief effects can be expected above all where, on the one hand, potentials for resource conservation and climate protection are particularly large and, on the other hand, possible rebound effects are relatively small. Against this background, approaches in these areas in particular should be identified and promoted.

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