Webinar Series on Industry 4.0 and Developing Countries
YSI Webinar Series @CEED-UNSAM
May 2021 - September 2021
Developing countries facing new technologies: opportunities, threats and challenges in the Industry 4.0 era
Webinar Series
Description
Developing countries facing new technologies: opportunities, threats and challenges in the Industry 4.0 era
ICTs have been transforming the whole economy since the 1970s. However, in the last two decades, what is known as advanced digital production (ADP) technologies have been gaining ground in manufacturing. Among the technological systems involved are: internet of things, cyber-physical systems, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, digital manufacturing, additive or 3D printing, digital twin, blockchain, cloud computing, big data, autonomous robots, broadband communication, nanotechnology and genetic sequencing. The confluence of the technologies involved in the paradigm initiated in the 70s plus the ADPs gave rise to what is commonly referred as Industry 4.0. The latter has the potential to radically reorganize production processes worldwide. These transformations are rapidly occurring imposing formidable challenges for industrial and technology policy, especially for developing countries with weaker manufacturing capabilities.
Does Industry 4.0 imply a break in the way of conceiving production on a global scale? Is it a new techno-organizational paradigm or a new stage within the ICT paradigm? How will it affect global hierarchies, competition processes and the international division of labor? Will the existing asymmetries among countries be reproduced or profoundly modified? What opportunities and challenges will developing countries face in this context?
This webinar series aims to provide some answers to these questions, and to stimulate debate among young and senior academics about what is at stake with the “Fourth Industrial Revolution” for the global economy and developing countries in particular.
This series is organized through a partnership with the Centre for Studies on Economics and Development (CEED, for its initials in Spanish), a research centre conceived to critically address the problems of Argentine and Latin American development with a plurality of perspectives and approaches. CEED is part of the Institute for High Social Studies (IDAES) of the National University of San Martín (UNSAM), which favors dialogue and interdisciplinary research between different social sciences.
The lines of research of CEED include the following:
- Comparative economic development.
- New technological paradigms, sectoral patterns of technology adoption and development paths.
- Problems of economic development in the perspective of the classical theory of surplus.
- External constraint, international financial integration and growth.
UPCOMING EVENTS
There are no upcoming events in this project.
PAST EVENTS
Webinar
Online5 Aug 2021
What to do in face of the new paradigm?
What to do in face of the new paradigm? Industrial policies for developing countries in times of Industry 4.0 The two previous meetings of this webinar aim to provide an overview of what is understood by Industry 4.0 and its implications for developing countries. This meeting will focus on which the available policy options are for developing countries to face these new challenges. What are the tools that policy makers can use in order to benefit from I4.0? Is there an open window of opportunity for developing countries to industrialize? Does I4.0 mean that lower wages will become less prominent as a relative advantage to attract manufacturing activities? Could developing countries adopt or develop the new technologies involved in this phase? Which would be the implications of I4.0 on employment in developing countries? Is the promotion of I4.0 consistent with other development objectives?
Learn moreWebinar
Online24 Jun 2021
Patterns of adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies in developing countries
As it is widely recognized, developing countries are still struggling to close the gap with developed countries and have also suffered the consequences of premature deindustrialization. Therefore, an open question that needs to be tackled is whether Industry 4.0 provides any opportunities for leapfrogging; or, by contrast, it will keep expanding the gap. Besides, will I4.0 affect equally developing countries or will it have differentiated effects? Which are the capabilities needed to adopt and develop the new technologies embedded in the I4.0? What are the main barriers, if any, to adopt them? Is there any room for developing countries to locally develop these technologies or will they be fully imported from developed countries?We expect to have some answers to these questions through analyzing different cases of developing countries (e.g. México, Argentina).
Learn moreWebinar
Online27 May 2021
What is Industry 4.0? Mapping its actual relevance and potential growth
This first meeting aims to provide an overview of what is understood by Industry 4.0 and which technologies are included in it. Also, the next aspect to be considered is how countries are positioned concerning these technologies; more specifically, what is the degree of diffusion (and/or concentration) of these technologies at the international level. In turn, the discussion raises the following questions: Is this a new techno-organizational paradigm or a continuation of the ICT paradigm? What transformations does it generate within manufacturing? How does it change the link between manufacturing and other sectors: agriculture and services? How does it affect the organization of global value chains? Who are the main world players (companies) in these technologies? Is it an oligopolistic market or one in which new players can easily enter?
Learn moreWorking groups
- Latin America
- Complexity Economics
- States and Markets
- Economics of Innovation
Project Organizers
Florencia Jaccoud
Lorenzo Cassini
Dario Vazquez
Nicolás Aguila
Maria de las Mercedes Menéndez
ignacio cretini
For questions, the Project Organizers.