Knowledge and Skills Development in the Context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies: Interviews of Experts from Pennsylvania State of the USA

Abstract

Fourth industrial revolution is the introduction of ICT (mostly IoT) in industry and elsewhere, which enables the creation of cyber-physical systems, i.e., digital twins of reality. The application of widespread digitization of processes brings changes in terms of increased efficiency of processes, increased flexibility of production, and the possibility of realizing prosocial and pro-ecological goals, such as sustainable development, sustainable production and consumption, and reducing the consumption of increasingly expensive energy. Nowadays, the high autonomy of cyber-physical systems and benefits to society are expected by including human factors within the Industry 5.0 concept. Implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and meeting the expectations of sustainable development also means new challenges for the knowledge and skills of industry employees, mainly engineers implementing modern solutions. Hence, the article’s aim is to identify the critical knowledge and skills of engineers responsible for implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies. The achievements and results presented in the article were obtained based on research conducted among experts from the University of Pennsylvania (USA). The study considers aspects connected to the problems of implementing the Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies and identifies the benefits and risks of their implementation for Society 5.0.