An industry 4.0 digital training toolbox

Abstract

It is a known fact that the world of work is increasingly becoming digitized, this is evident from what has been termed the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0). As part of its Digital Single Market Strategy (2018), the European Commission wants to help all industrial sectors exploit new technologies and manage a transition to a smart, Industry 4.0 industrial system. This revolution is driving technology development within industry at such a fast pace that even HEI educators are finding difficulties to catch up and keep abreast of the latest developments. These skills mismatches imply that they also encountering difficulties in transferring knowledge effectively to a new generation of learners. Furthermore, previous generations of learners who are currently working in industry did not receive training in technologies such as AI, big data analytics and cloud technology which are the drivers of change. As mentioned in the World Economic Forum “The Future of Jobs Report” (2018) upskilling of the manufacturing sector is required for it to remain competitive: 52% of the current European workforce needs retraining before 2022. In fact, the EU via “DIGITALEUROPE – Our Call to Action towards 2025”, (2018) calls on education leaders to ensure a greater presence of the digital sector in tertiary and adult education to fuel the digital labor sector faster with the skills required by digital employers.