Abstract
Industrial production plays an important role for achieving a green economy and the sustainable development goals. Therefore, the nascent transformation of industrial production due to digitalization into a so-called Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is of great interest from a sustainable development point of view. This paper discusses how the environmental dimension of a sustainable development can potentially benefit from the IIoT—focusing especially on three topics: resource efficiency, sustainable energy and transparency. It presents a state of the art literature analysis of IIoT-enabled approaches addressing the three environmental topics. This analysis is compared with the findings of a survey among Chinese industrial companies, investigating the sustainability-related expectations of participants coming along with the implementation of IIoT solutions. China has been chosen as a case study because it brings together a strong industrial sector, ambitious plans regarding industrial digitalization and a high relevance and need for more sustainability. The survey was conducted with the means of a questionnaire which was distributed via email and used for direct on-site interviews. It focused on large and medium sized companies mainly from Liaoning Province and had a sample size of 109 participants.
Highlights
The global sustainable development policies for the coming decade have been influenced by two major negotiation outcomes: the “Green Economy Concept” and the “Sustainable DevelopmentGoals”
To better understand the status quo of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in China, participants were questioned about their familiarity with the concept of digitalization and interconnectedness, and their vision regarding the pace of development as well as measures of their companies to support digitalization
Almost all participants expect this strategy to be influenced by digitalization. This result suggests a willingness to improve transparency for environmental matters, while, on the other hand, participants seem to perceive digitalization and sustainability not as isolated but interconnected developments. This is noteworthy, since the results of a similar case study conducted in Germany showed a comparable share of participants whose companies have implemented a sustainability strategy (57%, N = 70) but a much smaller share of participants believes that industrial digitalization will have an impact on the sustainability strategy of their respective company (53%, N = 39) [11]
Summary
The global sustainable development policies for the coming decade have been influenced by two major negotiation outcomes: the “Green Economy Concept” and the “Sustainable DevelopmentGoals”. Industry is one of the key sectors in implementing a green economy and the SDGs, for the latter especially SDG 9, aiming at “Building a resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation” as well as SDG 12 claiming to “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” [2]. Against this background, the nascent transformation of industrial production due to digitalization is of great interest from a sustainable development point of view. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is characterized by the fusion of the physical world of industrial production with the digital world of information technology—creating a digitalized and interconnected industrial production
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
