The Commission recently published the report Industry 5.0: Towards more sustainable, resilient and human-centric industry, paving the way to the future of the industry sector in the European Union.
The report recognises the power of industry to achieve societal goals beyond jobs and growth and its ability to become a resilient provider of prosperity, by making production respect the boundaries of the planet and placing the wellbeing of industrial workers at the centre of the production process.
Industry 5.0 is defined around 3 key approaches
- Human centric approach, putting core human needs and interests at the heart of the production process
- Resilience approach, developing a higher degree of robustness in industrial production against disruptions
- Sustainable approach, producing within planetary boundaries and developing circular processes
Industry 5.0 complements and extends Industry 4.0. It emphasises other aspects than just economic or technological which will be deciding factors for the place of industry in the future European society. These factors have also environmental, social, and fundamental rights’ dimensions.
Industry 5.0 should not be understood as a chronological continuation of, nor an alternative to, the existing Industry 4.0 paradigm. It is the result of a forward-looking exercise to help framing how European industry and emerging societal trends and needs can co-exist. The report feeds into the wider debate on industrial transformation.