An innovative higher education institution training toolbox to effectively address industry 4.0 skills gap and mismatches

Abstract

The development of the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) in the 2010s has paved the way to a digital transformation, fuelled by increased connectivity and intelligence in the manufacturing industry. This technological driven transformation has led to fast paced developments in a number of engineering fields in the past 10 years. Within higher education institutions, educators are finding difficulties to keep abreast of the latest technologies and developments in the field as complexity increases and the need for cross-disciplinary knowledge is required. This means that educators may not be in an effective position to pass on knowledge to their students who are the workers of future generations. This situation implies that there is a need for both educators and learners to be provided a tool which supports them in addressing their Industry 4.0 skills gaps and mismatches. This research therefore aims to contribute an open and digital training toolbox to educate both current and previous generations of higher education institution educators and learners in Industry 4.0 technologies and concepts