Inclusive Industry 4.0 in Europe—Japanese Lessons on Socially Responsible Industry 4.0

Abstract

This contribution addresses the puzzle of whether the anti-inclusive character of Industry 4.0 development can be tailored toward a socially more responsible path (smart automation). In doing so, the paper first underlines the crucial importance of a governance being capable of fostering inclusive growth by deciphering the nexus between flaring populism and non-inclusive growth. It then turns to the case of Japanese digitalization and Industry 4.0 development to show that adding a social innovation-dimension (smart automation) to Industry 4.0 is not impossible in supporting inclusive growth in Europe.