Industry 4.0 for Energy Productivity: Insights and Future Perspective for Australia

This study aims to explore various domains within Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and energy productivity in Australian context. In doing this, the study analyses I4.0 technologies & services, barriers to I4.0 for energy productivity, regulatory framework, multiple benefits of I4.0 technologies, relevant business models, and roadmap to I4.0. The findings show that inadequate IT infrastructure, cyber security, complex supply chain and contracting, uncertainty about return on investment (RoI) are significant barriers. When it comes to productivity benefits, this study has highlighted macroeconomic impact, industrial sector impact, public budget impact, health and well-being impact, and energy delivery impact stemming from I4.0 technologies. In terms of regulatory framework, this study finds that given the near-ubiquitous data generation and use across the digital economy, it is quite difficult to exhaustively address all legal and regulatory issues relating to I4.0 technologies in the energy sector. However, there are several business models (e.g. X-as-a-service or pay per X) which can be applied to adopt I4.0 technologies. The study concludes with a roadmap to I4.0 with future research directions.