Data, AI, Robotics Transformative Power in Industry 5.0

Abstract Industry 5.0 (I5.0) is an evolution of the fourth Industrial Revolution (Industrie 4.0) aiming at a more human-centric, resilient, and sustainable manufacturing. This proposed chapter aims at illustrating the decisive contribution of ADR (AI Data Robotics) technologies in the development, implementation, and demonstration of Industry 5.0 principles and in particular of its sustainable and circular manufacturing pillar. In the domain of EC-funded projects (Horizon and Digital Europe programs, HEP and DEP), several initiatives have been recently addressing the I5.0 sustainability/circularity challenge from different viewpoints: the technology perspective in HEP ADRA partnership; the application perspective in HEP, Made in Europe (MiE) partnership; and the deployment perspective in DEP initiatives such as data spaces, AI TEFs (Testing Experimentation Facilities), and EDIH (European Digital Innovation Hubs). The analysis has been conducted along three main dimensions: a Technology dimension, where data, AI, and robotics convergence is enabling unprecedented innovations regarding sustainability and circularity for EU manufacturing industries; a Project dimension, to demonstrate the fundamental role of EU-funded research-innovation-deployment actions to create, nurture, and diffuse an Industry 5.0 mindset among researchers; a Pilot dimension, where significant industrial players are showing the improvement of their global competitiveness, thanks to Industry 5.0. Main conclusions regard (1) the fundamental role in Industry 5.0 of the robotics and automation physical world and the need for edge-to-cloud data and AI continuum; (2) the confidentiality and high strategic value of the data exchanged in Industry 5.0 value networks and the need for open, secure, and interoperable data infrastructures (data spaces); and (3) the competitiveness and resilience of manufacturing supply chains as a top priority for Europe and the need for integrated ADR technologies with methods and tools for environmental impact assessment and materials-components-products circularity promotion. The BDVA (Big Data Value Association) Smart Manufacturing Industry (SMI) group is a business-technology community that studies, analyzes, and promotes the impact of data spaces, AI, and digital twins to the manufacturing industry. It encompasses more than 130 experts representing more than 60 organizations involved in dozens of EC-funded projects. The content of this chapter originates from the last years of workshops, discussions, and webinars inside the SMI group, where experts, projects, and industrial pilots actively participated in the definition of the role of ADR technologies in the several different manufacturing business processes according to Industry 5.0 principles.