Catalan companies dedicated to Industry 4.0 are added to an aggregate € 7.197 million, 29.3% more than in 2021, according to an action study -the agency for the competitiveness of the company's company and work department. According to this report, industry 4.0 business volume would already be 2.6% of Catalan GDP.

For this report, the term "industry 4.0" refers to the convergence and application of technologies, especially digital, to transform the design, manufacture, operation and service of production systems.

The Secretary of Business and Competitiveness and CEO of Action, Jaume Baró i Torres, explained during the presentation of this study that "industry 4.0 is one of the levers that must allow the Catalan economy to digitize and do it in a sustainable way, to gain efficiency, but also guaranteeing a positive impact". For Baró i Torres, `` Catalonia has an economy of strong industrial base, and the fact that we already have a robust ecosystem of companies that work with 4.0 technologies is very positive, but the figures also indicate that we have potential because they continue to grow and, therefore, from the Government we will accompany them to achieve it. '' In this regard, the Secretary of Business and Competitiveness and CEO of Action also recalled that the celebration of the Advanced factories next week "helps to promote so significantly the technological transformation and the digitalization of the industry, especially among SMEs".

According to the findings of the study, in Catalonia there are 1,447 specialized companies in Industry 4.0, a figure that has increased by 30.2% since 2021, the last time this area was radiographing. In total, they employ more than 37,200 people (+41%).

The main technologies identified by the report include cybersecurity (to which 35%of the total number of companies are engaged), artificial intelligence (34.8%), the Internet of Things (23.5%), the cloud (23.2%) and the semiconductors (12.9%). Other technologies in industry 4.0 that can be found in Catalonia include robotics, photonics, additive manufacturing, immersive technologies, quantum, blockchain or supercomputing.

More than a quarter (27.5%) of these companies are under 10 years old, while 14% are startups. In fact, 62% of the 2,285 startups currently in Catalonia, in accordance with ACCIÓ data, work with technologies linked to industry 4.0. Of particular note is 29% of emerging companies that uses artificial intelligence and big data as the main technology, as well as 14% working with sensory and cloud.

It is a sector open to the world: 36.8% are exporting companies and 16.9%, subsidiaries of foreign companies. In this sense, it is also noteworthy that 106 of the 160 technological hubs in Catalonia are engaged in Technologies of Industry 4.0, according to the study 'Tech Hubs Overview' that are elaborated by Mobile World Capital Barcelona, Action and the Barcelona City Council. These hubs are engaged in technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data (56%), the cloud (49%) or cybersecurity (31%).

The document also points out that ACCIÓ makes available to Catalan companies Instruments and financial support for projects with the incorporation of 4.0 technologies. Thus, the Agency has accompanied almost 1,400 projects linked to this area in the last five years (2020-2024), which have mobilized a volume of funding of 64.9 million euros. These are 68% of the projects supported by the agency during this period. Specifically, the Agency has the Proaction 4.0 program, which includes services, grants and activities to promote digital transformation and the adoption of advanced digital technologies in the company.

The document also emphasizes that Catalonia also offers companies a wide support ecosystem, which includes technology and research centers, universities, business associations, professional colleges and clusters, among other agents. In this sense, the Digital Innovation Hub (DIH4CAT), which leads the Generalitat through Action and which is an innovation ecosystem formed by the main agents of digitalization support of Catalonia, stand out in order to promote the technological transformation of the Catalan business fabric; As well as the Digital Catalonia Alliance (DCA), an initiative of the Generalitat de Catalunya and I2CAT that groups the main emerging technological sectors of the country.

He also recalls that Catalonia houses various fairs and events focused on industry 4.0, as is the case with the Advanced Factore Congress, which is being held this April, as well as the MWC, the ISE, the Smart City Expo World Congress or the Yot Solutions World Congress, among others.

The report also radiographs the main trends and opportunities offered by industry 4.0 for the Catalan business fabric and worldwide. Thus, among the advantages of introducing these technologies, the document indicates that automation and optimization of processes promoted by industry 4.0 technologies can allow companies to increase their efficiency and productivity. For this reason, these technologies are promoting companies to innovate and develop research processes that allow them to create new business models, products and services, as well as optimize their processes and make them more efficient.

In this sense, the document highlights as an opportunity offered by industry 4.0 the increase in efficiency, productivity, flexibility and agility, as well as the improvement of safety in the world of work, or the ability to customize products and services. Also noteworthy is the increase in communication and collaboration in these industrial processes, which can also become more sustainable and circular. It also warns of some challenges such as the high investment that still involves the deployment of these new technologies, the need to integrate these processes and standardize them, guaranteeing security and privacy; while a cultural change will also need to be adopted that will be in hand with the capture and formation of talent that embraces these capabilities.

The document also highlights initiatives and policies that are being carried out in different countries to promote digital transformation in manufacturing processes. The plans developed in Germany, France, the United States, China and Japan, which have specific strategies in this area, stand out. From a European point of view, special emphasis is placed on programs such as Horizon Europe -the R&D framework program on a community scale -, the Next Generation grants and the European digital program, which aims to accelerate the digitization of industries and SMEs. Also on the continent are various policies focused on the promotion of industry 4.0 such as the EU digital strategy, the Net-Zero Industry Act initiative aimed at the manufacture of clean technologies, the AI law or the cluster policy, which in the case of Catalonia is articulated through action.

With regard to the specific case of Catalonia, the study emphasizes the industrial nature of the economy of our country, as one of the pillars of generation of quality and technological and innovative development, an ecosystem that has attracted investment projects of foreign multinationals in this area such as Astrazeneca, Lotte Energy Materials or Chery. The interest of the Catalan industry is also highlighted in adopting advanced technologies, as well as that different productive plants implemented in Catalonia are already very advanced digitally and can become a reference for the environment. From the point of view of policies, the National Pact for the Industry is emphasized, which incorporates specific actions to promote in industry 4.0 and digitization.