Technologies and applications of Industry 4.0: insights from network analytics

This paper examines the interactions between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technology, to include artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, and industry sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, delivery of consumer goods, and finance. The landscape of I4.0 technologies is reviewed. Interactions are studied through complex network analysis. Industry data from CrunchBase is used to study the application of I4.0 technology in different industries. The network of 543 industry categories as nodes had 1141 relationships. There were 26 key I4.0 nodes that emerged as network hubs. The relative use of I4.0 technology of companies was identified and interconnections between them were measured by network nodes and edges. Temporal analysis was obtained by dividing companies by date of formation. Some of the I4.0 technologies began to appear around 2000. Younger firms were found to have integrated significantly more I4.0 technologies, as expected. The research provides a review of I4.0 technologies by industry that can be used by management to see what competition is doing, and to generate ideas for maintaining or gaining competitive advantage.