Alan Tovey for The Telegraph:  A business buzzword of the moment, Industry 4.0, is widely used but little understood. It’s an elegant way of describing the concept of combining automation and data in manufacturing to create “smart factories” by bringing together computing, the internet of things, artificial intelligence and “cobotics” – humans and machines working together.

Successfully embracing Industry 4.0 has the potential to revolutionise manufacturing, with factories operating almost autonomously and generating huge efficiencies. No wonder it’s often referred to as the fourth Industrial Revolution, with the first three being mechanisation powered by steam and water, mass production on assembly lines and automation respectively.

But for this latest revolution to take place, it needs the people with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills to develop the advanced systems required for this highly digitised economy – and that is where the problem lies.  Full Article: