The Connected Industry or Smart Industry is a competitive advantage; the companies that have digitized their processes evidence it with improvements in the production chain and in their invoicing.

These advances can be increased significantly by incorporating 5G technology, which is an excellent opportunity, especially given the situation we are experiencing worldwide.

According to the latest Smart Industry 4.0 study by the Industry Observatory 4.0, “In the last year, the number of companies with a digital transformation plan has increased by 28%, reaching 78%”. If these plans are implemented satisfactorily, the evolution of the industrial network would be tremendous and would be of great benefit to the Spanish economy.

Technologies such as robotics, position Spain as the third country in Europe with the greatest deployment in the automotive sector, or the Internet of Things, which is to have a high impact on production chains, will allow for the significant development of the smart industry.

The lack of experts

The transformation goes beyond the production chain; the logistics sector has also undergone major changes, which make it possible to take advantage of information to keep ahead of customers’ needs and to manage product traceability.

However, according to some experts, the biggest drawback is the lack of professionals capable of directing and coordinating activities and projects aimed at industry 4.0.

In this regard, at the BISITE Research Group of the University of Salamanca we have designed a training program that is adapted to the current stage of the industrial revolution. TheMaster in Industry 4.0, seeks to respond to the needs of the connected industry. Students will be able to learn about the technologies and computer models that are currently used in industry and robotics (Additive manufacturing, Robotics, Intelligent industry, Cyber-physical systems, IoT, data analytics and data science, etc.). 

You can find more information at this link https://industria4.usal.es/english

Posted by Juan M. Corchado

Juan Manuel Corchado (15 May 1971, Salamanca, Spain) is Professor at the University of Salamanca. He has been Vice-Rector for Research from 2013 to 2017 and Director of the Science Park of the University of Salamanca. Elected as Dean of the Faculty of Science twice, he holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Salamanca and a PhD in Artificial Intelligence from the University of the West of Scotland. He leads the renowned BISITE (Bioinformatics, Intelligent Systems and Educational Technology) Research Group, created in 2000. Director of the IoT Digital Innovation Hub and President of the AIR Institute, J. M. Corchado is also Visiting Professor at the Osaka Institute of Technology since January 2015, Visiting Professor at the Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and Member of the Advisory Group on Online Terrorist Propaganda of the European Counter Terrorism Centre (EUROPOL). J. M. Corchado has been president of the IEEE Systems, Man and Cybernetics Society, and academic coordinator of the University Institute for Research in Art and Animation Technology at the University of Salamanca, as well as researcher at the Universities of Paisley (UK), Vigo (Spain) and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory (UK). He currently combines all his activity with the direction of Master programmes in Security, Digital Animation, Mobile Telephony, Information Systems Management, Internet of Things, Social Media, 3D Design and Printing, Blockchain, Z System, Industry 4.0, Agile Project Management, and Smart Cities & Intelligent Buildings, at the University of Salamanca and his work as editor-in-chief of the journals ADCAIJ (Advances in Distributed Computing and Artificial Intelligence Journal), OJCST (Oriental Journal of Computer Science and Technology) or Electronics MDPI (Computer Science & Engineering section). J. M. Corchado mainly works on projects related to Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Blockchain, IoT, Fog Computing, Edge Computing, Smart Cities, Smart Grids and Sentiment Analysis. He has recently been included in the board of trustees of the AstraZeneca Foundation, along with other health professionals and researchers recognised for bringing scientific knowledge closer to society.