Artificial Intelligence (AI) particular and digitalization more general are said to give rise to the 4th
industrial revolution; Industry 4.0. This ongoing change is characterized by the introduction of the
Internet of things (IoT) and Internet of Services concepts into manufacturing, which enables smart
factories with vertically and horizontally integrated production systems.
So far, process technology in the Netherlands has been committed to develop AI, Data Analytics and virtual reality (VR)/
augmented reality (AR) applications. Yet, until now this industry has had trouble to successfully scale up ongoing projects. While some plea to consider data-analysis as a company asset, it is also a given that for many data analysis is only one of many complementary tasks.
This whitepaper stated that if the process industry wants to become ‘smart’ its innovators should be keen to develop skills and to safeguard meaningful work. This is done by creating a work environment that fosters involvement and participation.