**1. Introduction**

Europe is currently at digital crossroads, with a unique chance to either capture an immense opportunity or see the region fall behind other nations. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (FIR)

© 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

or Industry 4.0 is called to pull applications and push technologies enabling a high degree of sustainability needed in the factories of the future [1, 2]. As explained by [3], Industry 4.0 solves today challenges related with resources and energy efficiency, urban production, and demographic change, enabling continuous resource productivity and efficiency. The critical parameters in the introduction of Industry 4.0 are the design of the process landscape and the identification of the employee qualification profiles that will be required in the future. This is preceded by the development of a comprehensive Industry 4.0 strategy and an investment plan [4], both at a national and European level.

and Czech strategic digital transformation documents to systematize a research agenda of

A Research Agenda of Industry 4.0 from the Czech Perspective

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.71798

23

There is a considerable concern to the European digital single market (DSM) which encompass more than 500 million consumers and is expected to add €415 billion in annual GDP to the EU. The more digitized frontrunner nations (the group consisting of Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Norway, and Luxembourg) would see the most significant benefits from a more digitized European economy, with their average GDP growth rate potentially increasing by 40% until 2020, double the

In this chapter, we summarize planned measures that will help the development of the digital economy in the Czech Republic, both regarding national factors in the Czech Republic and in

The Czech Republic displays a moderate level of digital transformation with a high position in the area of ICT start-ups. The Czech Republic's performance is slightly under the average's line of the EU member states in most of the dimensions. The fields of entrepreneurial culture, e-leadership, and supply and demand of digital skills provide scope for improvement. The Czech government launched several programs seeking to support digital transformation further. The measures aim to promote entrepreneurship, support new business ideas, provide assistance in

The Czech Republic has one of the highest shares of industrial production per GDP among EU countries (approximately 32% GDP) [8]. Furthermore, the country has high industrial ties with Germany, which is its strategic business partner, thus integrating into the German industrial supply chain. The Czech economy duplicates its development in Germany according to its dependence, so it is necessary to respond quickly to the changes. Therefore, the national initiative "*Průmysl 4.0*"—P40—(Industry 4.0) has arisen as a national approach aiming to maintain and enhance the competitiveness of the Czech Republic in the wake of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The concept was first presented during the 57th *International Engineering Fair in* 

increase in the growth rate of EU Big 5 countries for the same period [8].

• The current state of the digital "emerging" economy in the Czech Republic

obtaining new technology, and enhance cooperation and knowledge transfer.

terms of initiatives at the level of the European Union.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Digital transformation performance

• A national digital agenda framework

**2. The Czech Republic in a nutshell**

• Policy practices and case studies

• How digitalization drives value

Industry 4.0.

Due to the focus of the Czech "industrial" economy, the impact of Industry 4.0 is significant. Therefore, at a national level, the Czech government should develop digital agendas, to reach national competitiveness in leveraging digitalization and new technology to drive economic growth and job creation. A shift in response to materiality and development can be observed in the main pushed Internet-based technologies and Internet of Services, favored by new developments in computational power, leading to cloud computing and services. These technologies have the potential to give rise to a new generation of service-based industrial systems whose functionalities reside on-device and in-cloud [5]. In order to succeed developing these technologies and applications, talented personnel, comprehensive IT infrastructure, economic strength, and enlightened manufacturers will be needed [6]. Therefore, creating new agendas must cover areas such as the rapid digitization of business and government services, pushing national SME's to become European regarding market ambitions, and improving digital skills, and they should be nurtured in a smart policy environment in which innovative technologies and business models can be developed and grown.

Being digital is a shift in mind-set [7]; therefore, we grabbed the issues of technological changes, because we have to prepare not only the industry but also the whole society for the economic and societal changes related to the FIR and to enhance the competitiveness of the Czech Republic. Digitization constitutes a transformative shift in technology across industry and society in general. While the positive impact of digitization is expected to benefit the entire continent, some EU nations stand to gain more than others and therefore should help pull Europe toward a more digitized economy for the benefit of all. These same nations also have more to lose from a lack of progress in European digitization. The Czech Republic is not represented among frontrunner countries nor Big 5 countries but plays a significant role when the Czech Republic has one of the highest shares of industrial production per GDP among EU countries (approximately 32% GDP) [8].

The aim of the current chapter is to provide the Czech Republic Industry 4.0 approach with the latest issues to the Fourth Industrial Revolution not only to point out possible directions of development, to define proposals for measures that can support the economy and industrial base, but also to help prepare the stakeholders from public and private sector for technological change. This chapter is based on information gathered through extensive documents using print media and research databases of European Commission focused on digital economy and society, and we also employed the available Digital Transformation Scoreboard, Digital Transformation Monitor, Europe's digital Progress Report, Digital Index of Roland Berger, and Czech strategic digital transformation documents to systematize a research agenda of Industry 4.0.

There is a considerable concern to the European digital single market (DSM) which encompass more than 500 million consumers and is expected to add €415 billion in annual GDP to the EU. The more digitized frontrunner nations (the group consisting of Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia, Ireland, Finland, Norway, and Luxembourg) would see the most significant benefits from a more digitized European economy, with their average GDP growth rate potentially increasing by 40% until 2020, double the increase in the growth rate of EU Big 5 countries for the same period [8].

In this chapter, we summarize planned measures that will help the development of the digital economy in the Czech Republic, both regarding national factors in the Czech Republic and in terms of initiatives at the level of the European Union.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• How digitalization drives value

or Industry 4.0 is called to pull applications and push technologies enabling a high degree of sustainability needed in the factories of the future [1, 2]. As explained by [3], Industry 4.0 solves today challenges related with resources and energy efficiency, urban production, and demographic change, enabling continuous resource productivity and efficiency. The critical parameters in the introduction of Industry 4.0 are the design of the process landscape and the identification of the employee qualification profiles that will be required in the future. This is preceded by the development of a comprehensive Industry 4.0 strategy and an investment

Due to the focus of the Czech "industrial" economy, the impact of Industry 4.0 is significant. Therefore, at a national level, the Czech government should develop digital agendas, to reach national competitiveness in leveraging digitalization and new technology to drive economic growth and job creation. A shift in response to materiality and development can be observed in the main pushed Internet-based technologies and Internet of Services, favored by new developments in computational power, leading to cloud computing and services. These technologies have the potential to give rise to a new generation of service-based industrial systems whose functionalities reside on-device and in-cloud [5]. In order to succeed developing these technologies and applications, talented personnel, comprehensive IT infrastructure, economic strength, and enlightened manufacturers will be needed [6]. Therefore, creating new agendas must cover areas such as the rapid digitization of business and government services, pushing national SME's to become European regarding market ambitions, and improving digital skills, and they should be nurtured in a smart policy environment in which innovative technologies

Being digital is a shift in mind-set [7]; therefore, we grabbed the issues of technological changes, because we have to prepare not only the industry but also the whole society for the economic and societal changes related to the FIR and to enhance the competitiveness of the Czech Republic. Digitization constitutes a transformative shift in technology across industry and society in general. While the positive impact of digitization is expected to benefit the entire continent, some EU nations stand to gain more than others and therefore should help pull Europe toward a more digitized economy for the benefit of all. These same nations also have more to lose from a lack of progress in European digitization. The Czech Republic is not represented among frontrunner countries nor Big 5 countries but plays a significant role when the Czech Republic has one of the highest shares of industrial production per GDP among EU

The aim of the current chapter is to provide the Czech Republic Industry 4.0 approach with the latest issues to the Fourth Industrial Revolution not only to point out possible directions of development, to define proposals for measures that can support the economy and industrial base, but also to help prepare the stakeholders from public and private sector for technological change. This chapter is based on information gathered through extensive documents using print media and research databases of European Commission focused on digital economy and society, and we also employed the available Digital Transformation Scoreboard, Digital Transformation Monitor, Europe's digital Progress Report, Digital Index of Roland Berger,

plan [4], both at a national and European level.

22 Digital Transformation in Smart Manufacturing

and business models can be developed and grown.

countries (approximately 32% GDP) [8].

