Abstract
The evolution of society can be related to industrial revolutions. Revolutions are disruptive and transformative phenomena that change and interact with several systems. Industrial revolutions depend on changes in scientific, and mostly technological, paradigms and require people's participation. They are not only created with individual political intentions, because they are collective and complex systems. The expression Industry 4.0, created in Germany in 2011, denotes the so-called fourth industrial revolution. The question considered in this paper is whether Industry 4.0, as the fourth industrial revolution, is effectively underway or is it still only a vision of the future? This article analyses, from the point of view of the science of complexity, the transformations and the relations of industrial systems with other selected systems. It was made through fractal analysis using indicators of four countries, namely, United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany and China. Considering the evolution of population growth, Gross Domestic Product per capita, communication technologies and intellectual property, the results of the analysis show that the factor that stands out is the protection of intellectual property. The analysis of the previous indicators showed that it is not possible to claim that the fourth industrial revolution is underway, implying that Industrial 4.0 may still be a vision of the future. The results obtained can not be considered conclusive and more research is needed.
Highlights
Industrial systems are mutually influenced by social, economic, technological and scientific systems
Industrial revolutions are defined by new paradigms, the destruction and transformation of old paradigms, and by cycles of innovation that create disruptive conditions, increase uncertainty, and are influenced in complex and non-linear ways by scientific evolution
Countries are interested in leading the new industrial revolution because considerable competitive advantages can be gained, in the manufacturing sector and in other sectors, such as services
Summary
Industrial systems are mutually influenced by social, economic, technological and scientific systems. The third chapter displays some indicative technological indicators in the UK, USA, Germany and China, and relates those indicators to the rationale of analysis that will be performed later in the paper. These countries were chosen because they played, or are playing, important roles in the development of industrial revolutions. In this chapter it is introduced the concept of “fractal dimension” (FD) an important analytic tool that will be used later on. The level of stability of the system is associated with the level of dissemination or implementation of the industry 4.0 concepts and technologies
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