Austria: Plattform Industrie 4.0

Austria’s national Plattform Industrie 4.0 (PI4.0) started in 2014 upon the initiative of the Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology. Established in June 2015, PI4.0 became operative in October 2015. The platform acts as an observatory, network and strategic advisory body creating working groups, strategies, focus areas as well as case studies on industry 4.0 topics. The work of Industry4.0alsoseekstocontributeto the creation of synergies between national, regional and international R&D activities.

The Platform facilitates the implementation of digital transformation in Austria and unifies the Industry 4.0 community. It aims to secure and create highly innovative industrial production and to boost quality employment, thus strengthening Austria’s future competitiveness.

The initiative is run by the association “Industry4.0 Austria–the platform for intelligent production”. The association was created to foster collaboration among all stakeholders and facilitate new technological developments and innovations in the context of digitisation (‘Industry 4.0’). Its main mission is to find sustainable solutions to challenges faced by companies, research institutions and society as a whole.

Unique in its ample involvement of employee associations, PI4.0 achieved to build an inclusive ecosystem intending to overcome employees’ concerns regarding digitisation. While the introduction of a membership fee is supporting the financing of the initiative increasingly, it also poses a challenge to handle greater expectations of the members in the context of a highly diverse platform.