A Cross-Strait Comparison of Innovation Policy under Industry 4.0 and Sustainability Development Transition

Kun Ding,Kuan Lin,Joseph Shyu

doi:10.3390/su9050786

Abstract

While the advent of Industry 4.0 is emblematic of national strategy for industrial revitalization, the proliferation of technology has drastically changed the landscape of many major sectors of global industries. Industry 4.0 encompasses multi-dimensional concepts—including computerization, digitization, and intelligentization—of business operations based on cyber-physical-systems (CPS) and the Internet-of-Things (IoTs). The vision of Industry 4.0 will bring about improvements in industrial processes, ranging from engineering, material usage, supply chains, and product lifecycle management, to the horizontal value chain. This research project adopts a descriptive analysis with descriptive statistics under the innovation policy framework proposed by Rothwell and Zegveld. This report also informs a comparative policy analysis across China and Taiwan. From the perspectives of industry coalition and competition, this cross-strait comparison lends itself to being a policy-making reference. Results reveal that China, in terms of policy-making, concentrates on ‘political’ and ‘legal/regulatory’ aspects of environmental policy, as well as the theme of ‘public service’ of the demand-side policy. Taiwan also emphasizes the ‘environmental-side’ policy like China, whereas Taiwan focuses more on ‘education/training’ of the supply-side policy.

Highlights

Industry 4.0 has attracted enormous attention from firms and governments in recent years
Germany is the preemptor for Industry 4.0 policy; followed by the U.S, which proposed the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership; China, which drafted China Manufacturing 2025; and Taiwan, which drew up Taiwan Productivity 4.0
Since Industry 4.0 will trigger the wave of industrial competition, it is necessary for nations to arrange development strategies to confront incoming challenges

Summary

Introduction

Industry 4.0 has attracted enormous attention from firms and governments in recent years. This conceptual idea has since been widely adapted by industrial nations such, as the U.S, German, EU, China, India, and other Asian countries. The vision of Industry 4.0 is supposed to bring about improvements from the industrial processes—including engineering, material usage, supply chains, and product lifecycle management—to the horizontal value chain [1]. In line with the Industry 4.0 programs, many nations have proposed different kinds of regulations or policies for the objectives of energy conservation, sustainability development, and industry transition. Germany is the preemptor for Industry 4.0 policy; followed by the U.S, which proposed the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership; China, which drafted China Manufacturing 2025; and Taiwan, which drew up Taiwan Productivity 4.0. Since Industry 4.0 will trigger the wave of industrial competition, it is necessary for nations to arrange development strategies to confront incoming challenges

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