Matteo Laffi (p), Ron Boschma

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Abstract
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is expected to have huge impacts in the near future on different aspects of our economies and societies (Schwab 2016). Like in the case of past industrial revolutions, the unfolding of the 4.0 technological paradigm (Dosi 1982; Dosi and Nelson 2013) is going to bring with itself new challenges and opportunities for differentiated territorial contexts. For this reason, it is likely that also the geography of innovation will change, with potentially significant consequences on future regional development. Although the literature on the geography of 4.0 innovation is growing, there is still little evidence on the local technological determinants of the creation of 4.0 technologies. The aim of the present paper, thus, is to shed some light on the role played by the local knowledge base in fostering regional 4.0 innovation, with a particular focus on the relationship between the local development of ICTs and the emerging of the new 4.0 technological paradigm. By exploiting the framework of regional technological diversification and the concept of relatedness (Boschma 2017; Hidalgo et al. 2018), the paper proposes an analysis based on patents data (Maraut et al. 2008) covering the European NUTS3 regions over the period 1991-2015. Some relevant results emerge: on the one hand, the probability of developing 4.0 technologies is higher in regions specialised either in technologies related to 4.0 technologies or in ICTs, with some heterogeneity across different kind of 4.0 technologies. In fact, being specialised in ICTs seems to be particularly determinant for the development of that kind of 4.0 technologies that are closer to the ICTs technological paradigm. On the other hand, performing 4.0 innovation appears to be easier in urbanized regions, probably thanks to the connectivity and the technological diversification typical of those territories.

Kinga Hat (p), Gernot Stoeglehner

Digitalisation describes the process of integrating digital technologies into business as well as everyday life. The technological disruption referred to as Industry 4.0 inspires new business models, restructures production processes and provides new revenue and value-producing opportunities. The revolution concerns also the labour market and can be at the same time beneficial and disadvantageous for the employment. Therefore, this study aims at providing a knowledge base to integrate digitalisation in sustainable regional planning by estimating the exposition of labour markets to digitalisation on a municipal scale in order to show which dynamics and transformation needs for society might arise and to indicate which spatial frameworks should be applied in order to enable this transformation to be sustainable. The assessment of the spatial dimension of the exposition of the labour market to 4.0 technology in Austria was done by projection of the occupation-based assessment of digitalisation probability on the industry standard classification and joint to the statistical employee data at the municipal level. The outcomes reveal to what extent the economic sections and divisions are exposed to digitalisation. Results representing spatial distribution reveal that digitalisation risks cannot be explicitly assigned to certain spatial structures or federal states. Still, it can be stated that urban areas and small towns are relatively less exposed to human work replaceability. Municipalities with the highest vulnerability against disappearing of existing jobs are located mainly in rural areas. The discussion focuses on regional resilience, social vulnerability and possible development paths for different frameworks and spatial context of consequences. The outcomes emphasize the significance of digitalisation processes for regional development and presents an approach of identifying their territorial dimensions.

Christine Liefooghe (p)

The digital transformation of companies has become a strategic political issue for States to maintain their position in the global economy. But this digital transition mainly affects the service functions of companies. In the field of manufacturing, Industry 4.0 is a political incentive to modernize the industrial tools, not only by multiplying the robots on the production chains but also by testing other digital technologies, such as Big Data, augmented reality, the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence or additive manufacturing. Industrialized and emerging countries have taken initiatives to deploy Industry 4.0 and the European Union has made it a political priority. These policies are part of the vision of a globalized world where each country builds its comparative advantage. In this paper, we will examine the case of additive manufacturing, through the topics of Industrie 4.0 and Fab Labs, in the framework of the political imperative of sustainable development. Considering the scales of the policies (national, regional, local), we will show that discourses and practices of the policy makers as well as other stakeholders differ considering the strategies and values : either innovation and growth or circular and collaborative economy in the framework of climate change and digital transition. As Germany is a model to follow for France, we will examine french policies that tend to build a comparative advantage at a national scale and how regions implement these policies, in particular in the Hauts-de-France where the metal industry could be disrupted by the 3D manufacturing. Then we will show how metropoles experiment alternative models, such as the Fab City model, to invent new digital and sustainable productive systems to manufacture at a local scale what the inhabitants really need. While the policies about Industrie 4.0 insist on the positive impacts of technological changes in a global value chain, the international diffusion of local Fab Labs and Fab Cities promotes the UNO objectives for a sustainable development where proximity is enhenced for local manufacturing while digital informations circulate at a global scale. The methodology of this research is based on two types of informations: 1) qualitative interviews in Fablabs and with policy makers in the North of France or in Paris, in the framework of a regional project called Fabliving; 2) the analysis of documents about public policies in the framework of an Interreg V-France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen project called FabricAr3v (3D printing).

Roberta Capello, Camilla Lenzi (p)

The creation and adoption of the new 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence, intelligent robotics, analytics, just to name a few, are expected to drive pervasive transformations and, potentially, radical socio-economic changes, especially in those sectors and markets that adopt (and under certain conditions co-invent) such technologies.
In particular, three main completely different structural transformations are at place: 1) the automation of industrial production processes (commonly known as Industry 4.0); 2) the creation of new digital services (commonly known as servitisation); 3) new service delivery and new traditional industry activities (digitalisation of traditional activities).
The territorial dimension of these phenomena has been so far neglected in the literature. This paper aims at filling this gap from both a conceptual and an empirical perspective. On conceptual grounds, the paper elaborates on the territorial dimension and impact of the three different 4.0 technological transformations. On empirical grounds, the paper documents these transformations in European NUTS-2 regions and assesses their impact on regional growth over the period 2008-2016.
Results suggest that technological transformations generate positive effects for regional economies, but are also heterogeneous in space and depend on the interplay between the adopted technology and the type of technological transformation prevailing in each region.