2024/04 Incremental Adaptation or Generational Shift?

3rd Apr 2023

Authors

David Ing

Abstract

As Industry 4.0 matures, what’s next? A generational shift to 5.0? Or an incremental adaptation to 4.x? Systems changes may involve both Socio-Technical Systems (STS) changes and Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) changes. Distinctions are explored historically circa 1492 with The Age of Discovery and Industry 0.0, evolving through centuries before a 1.0 Industrial Revolution. From the late twentieth century, The Age of Information was led by STS changes bringing a service economy and a knowledge society. Into 2024, polycrisis appears to be building with SES changes of natural disruptions due to climate change and the pandemic. Prospects for 2030 see eras of a maturing 4.x and emerging 5.0 alongside each other, with uncertainty as to which system characterizes the period

Citation

David Ing, “Incremental Adaptation or Generational Shift?.” In Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0: Explorations in the Transition from a Techno-Economic to a Socio-Technical Future 20 (7): 11–73. edited by Susu Nousala, Gary S. Metcalf, and David Ing, eBook, 151–84. Translational Systems Sciences 41. Singapore: Springer Nature. .https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9730-5_7.