El Periódico hosted a round table discussion on Industry 4.0 at the DFactory in Barcelona with experts from various fields.
The event, originally planned as a round table on Industry 4.0, was renamed Industry 4.5 due to the rapid technological evolution. Participants included José María Cabrera, General Manager of the CIM UPC center; Pere Navarro, Special Delegate of the State at the Consorci de la Zona Franca; Paulina Juárez, Senior Vice President for Spain and Portugal at Kion Group; Ronen Zioni, Executive Director at Excelencia Tech; Colin Poutiers, Sales Support at OnRobot; and Blanca Sorigué, General Manager at the Consorci de la Zona Franca.
Navarro emphasized the need to help society adapt to the industrial revolution, while Juárez stressed the importance of automating repetitive tasks and the role of companies in workforce restructuring. Sorigué noted that data is the capital of companies nowadays.
The transformation of education will be a challenge in the coming years. Poitiers highlighted the implementation of additional training throughout life. Juárez advocated for a basic curriculum with modular specialization and distance education.
Artificial intelligence was discussed, with concerns about job loss and information bias. The importance of teaching its use in an ethical and responsible manner was emphasized.
Industrial opportunities were mentioned, such as automated palletizing and additive manufacturing. The potential of AI to tackle challenges like resource management and early disease detection was highlighted.
Navarro and Cabrera highlighted the risk of widening the social and economic divide, both nationally and internationally, raising questions about the role of Industry 4.0 in addressing these issues.
You can read the full text at El Periódico.