Track 7.1 - (Open) Innovation paths towards Society 5.0

Michela PICCAROZZI, Univerty of Tuscia' of Viterbo
Anna CODINI, University of Brescia
Tindara ABBATE, University of Messina
Barbara AQUILANI, University of 'Tuscia' of Viterbo

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Track's Contacts : 

piccarozzi[AT]unitus.it
anna.codini[AT]unibs.it
Abbatet[AT]unime.it

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Society 5.0 can be defined as “a human-centered society that balances economic advancement with the resolution of social problems by a system that highly integrates cyberspace and physical space", as proposed in the 5th Science and Technology Basic Plan for Japan (http://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/english/society5_0/index.html).

Society 5.0 aims to put the individuals at its very core to built “a society whose members have mutual respect for each other, transcending the generations, and a society in which each and every person can lead an active and enjoyable life” (http://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/english/society5_0/index.html).
Therefore, in “Society 5.0 people, things and systems [will be] all connected in cyberspace and optimal results obtained by [artificial intelligence] exceeding the capabilities of humans are fed back to physical space” (http://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/english/society5_0/index.html).
Consequently, how value will be created or co-created in Society 5.0 is still unknown.
New technologies (eg. Internet of Things, robotics, artificial intelligence, etc.) will be encompassed in all human activities, achieving a balance between economic development with social problems and/or issues solutions.

Given the above, in the transition to Society 5.0 innovation and /or open innovation will play an essential role, because the locus of innovation of societies is in firms.
Indeed, innovation is now even more affected, especially in the manufacturing context, by the challenge of Industry 4.0 which encompasses production processes, efficiency, data management, relationship with consumers, competitiveness, etc.

Even if management literature on both industry 4.0 and society 5.0 are still at an early stage, recently a new definition of Industry 4.0 has been proposed in the management domain, able to combine the manufacturing side of the Fourth Industrial Revolution with its expected outcomes and the role of a purposely formulated strategy. This puts in the spot light the role of management in the transition to Industry 4.0 and hopefully to Society 5.0.

Indeed, “industry 4.0 refers to the integration of Internet of Things technologies into industrial value creation enabling manufacturers to harness entirely digitized, connected, smart, and decentralized value chains” (Prause, 2017, p. 423) able to “deliver greater flexibility and robustness to firm competitiveness and enable them to build flexible and adaptable business structures, [acquiring] the permanent ability for internal evolutionary developments in order to cope with a changing business environment” (Koether, 2006, p. 583), “as the result of a purposely formulated strategy implemented over time” (Piccarozzi, Aquilani, Gatti, 2018).

In this context, the link between Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 represents a gap in literature as well as the role played by sustainability in this scenario and, last but not least, the role of innovation and especially open innovation. Finally, how value will be created or co-created in this complex scenario represents a great challenge for both firms and academics.
Both conceptual and empirical papers will be considered as well as all research methodologies following the paper aim.

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References

Koether, R. Taschenbuch der Logistik, 2nd ed.; Hanser Verlag GmbH Co KG: Leipzig, Germany, 2006.
Prause, G.; Atari, S. On sustainable production networks for Industry 4.0. Entrep. Sustain. Issues 2017, 4, 421–431.
Piccarozzi M., Aquilani B., Gatti C. Industry 4.0 in Management Studies: A Systematic Literature Review. Sustainability 2018, 10, (paper n. 3821); doi:10.3390/su10103821
http://www8.cao.go.jp/cstp/english/society5_0/index.html

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