Key features and implications of industrial revolution 4.0

The paper deals with key features and socio-economic implications of the 4th industrial revolution. In the first part, we observe key technological trends leading to new development prospects in the sphere of industrial production. Specifically, we highlight the transformative role of new digital technologies. In the second part, we examine a number of structural changes in the organization of economic activity resulting from the 4th industrial revolution. In particular, we emphasize digitalization of economic routines; transition towards customized manufacturing; emergence of advanced industries; formation of the globally dispersed model of production; transformation of traditional corporations into dispersed network-based companies; the increasing role of digital platforms; and finally, the shrinkage of traditional labor markets. In the third, concluding part, we analyze the phenomenon of new industrialization in terms of the increased knowledge intensity of production, the growing complexity of business strategies, and the new agenda of national development strategies (putting priority on improvement of economic context over improvement of production technologies per se)

Keywords: digitalization, industrial revolution 4.0, R&D offshoring, new industrialization, fragmentation of production, dispersed networked firms, digital platforms

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