More than 200 German and Chinese experts attended the first Plenary of the Sino-German Company Working Group Industrie 4.0 and Intelligent Manufacturing (AGU) 2019 in Changsha, Hunan Province.
The forum was declared open by Markus Heß, Deputy Director General of the Department for Industrial Policy at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), Lu Jianwen, Deputy Director General of the International Cooperation Department at the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), as well as Zhu Jian, Deputy Secretary of the Changsha Municipal Committee.
The four bilateral Expert Groups on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Business Models, Training 4.0 and Industrial Internet formulated the respective roadmaps and initial results for 2019/2020 in the morning session and presented their results at the plenary.
The Expert Group on “Artificial Intelligence” will work out a guideline for the application of AI in Intelligent Manufacturing and provide mapping of existing AI platforms and Test beds. In close co-operation with the Expert Group on Training 4.0, the impacts of AI on the future of work will be analysed.
The Expert Group on “Digital Business Models” will work on the topic of value networks as the foundation for digital business models in the second half of 2019. A publication including an analysis on existing Use Cases from Germany and China is planned to be released in November 2019.
Other focal points for 2019-2020 include an analysis of preconditions and tools for the successful scaling-up of digital business models as well as a concept paper about relevant learning workshop outlines for companies in order to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of the digital transformation of traditional business models.
The Expert Group on “Training 4.0” will focus on analysing the skill requirements of the workforce in the age of Intelligent Manufacturing and a maturity check on skill level of existing workforce. In addition, an overview of training units in China and Germany will be developed as well as a training curriculum guideline. In the long-term, the group will also assess the mutual recognition potentials of qualifications and certificates.
The Expert Group on “Industrial Internet” places interoperability as the key focal point and put emphasis on the utilization of international data spaces. Its works begin with a White Paper that provides an overview of terminologies, concepts, Use Cases, Test beds and beneficial framework conditions. In addition, the group also focuses on the application of industrial internet platforms and will develop an overview of existing platforms.
Regarding the topic of cybersecurity, which is essential for Industrie 4.0, regular workshops and exchanges with the Chinese ministries and authorities, including MIIT and CAICT, will be held in order to provide German companies with a continuously working communication platform with the relevant regulators. Emphasis will be placed on cross-border data transfer, Industry Cloud regulations as well as certainty of compliance for German enterprises in China.
Furthermore, the published Cybersecurity Handbook will be continuously updated and circulated by the industry associations and the AHKs to inform German companies, especially SMEs, on the development of the cybersecurity landscapes in China. This all serves the purpose of formulating and providing policy-makers with specific policy recommendations.
The co-operation will certainly further deepen the Sino-German MoU-Co-operation this year and will benefit the industry’s business operations in the interconnected system of Industrie 4.0 in the long-term. The policy recommendations of the Expert Groups will be officially presented to the State-secretaries and Vice-ministers on November 12th, 2019, at the 3rd Annual State-secretary / Vice-minister Level Meeting in Berlin.
During the #TechTalks4.0, leading Industrie 4.0 experts gave insights into questions such as what kind of potential digital business models brings to companies and how Artificial Intelligence will affect development of Intelligent Manufacturing.
Sino-German Industrie 4.0 project (I4.0 project)
Based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between BMWi and MIIT, signed in 2015, the Sino-German Industrie 4.0 Co-operation aims to improve the business environment and foster bilateral co-operation between German and Chinese companies.