Following the success of the association platform, a cooperation between the VDMA, ZVEI and Bitkom, Plattform Industrie 4.0 will now be placed on a broader political and societal basis and realigned both thematically and structurally. New issues such as the security of networked systems, the legal framework, work, education and training require a closing of ranks between industry and science, politics and society.

Federal Minister Sigmar Gabriel said: “The launch of Plattform Industrie 4.0 shows that all the relevant stakeholders from industry, science, trade unions and politics are pulling in the same direction when it comes to Industrie 4.0, which is such an important topic for Germany as an economic location. With the realignment of the platform, we want to achieve initial results quickly so that they can be tested by companies in practical applications and converted subsequently into business models. Our goal is to make Industrie 4.0 a success story for Germany and to establish our country as the leading supplier for cyber-physical production systems. As the world’s factory equipment supplier, our economy is in a strong position to achieve this.”

Federal Minister Johanna Wanka said: “I think it’s good and important that the actors crucial for the success of Industrie 4.0 are working together on the future of the German economy. As an advanced industrial nation we must have the ambition of shaping the digital revolution. I am certain that our initiative is being recognised internationally: Germany is moving. The “Made in Germany” label means even more.” For the introduction of Industrie 4.0 in Germany, Wanka considers it important that SMEs in particular be put in a position to grasp the opportunities presented by Industrie 4.0. “For that to happen, we need to improve the reliability and security of information technology and we have just strengthened research in this area,” the minister added.

In addition to the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Gabriel and Federal Minister of Education and Research Wanka, the platform’s governing body will consist of representatives from business, science, and trade unions. A strategy group composed of representatives from federal ministries, companies, associations, trade unions, science and the federal states will take on the political manage-ment and will act as multipliers. With the participation of the Federal Ministry for Economics Affairs and Energy and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, a steering committee consisting of companies and the heads of the working groups will be responsible as a decision-making body for strategy development, technical coordination and implementation.

To begin with, Plattform Industrie 4.0 has divided its key topics among five working groups: Reference architectures, standardisation and norms; research and innovation; security of networked systems; legal framework; work, education and training.

The initial results from the previous association platform as well as perspectives, targets and the agenda for the new platform will be presented and discussed at the Plattform Industrie 4.0 launch event at the Hannover Messe trade fair on 14 April 2015. The first tangible results from the working groups are expected before the end of the year and will be presented at the National IT Summit.

The structure of Plattform Industrie 4.0 can be downloaded here.

Press release published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi)