RAILWAY AGE, FEBRUARY 2021 ISSUE: Industry 4.0 (also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution) was formalized by the World Economic Forum in 2016. Industry 4.0 uses automation and data exchange in processes and technologies that include IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), cloud computing, and AI (artificial intelligence) for implementation.
Corporations worldwide, including railroads and their partners in the transportation supply chain, are at the beginning of their journey for establishing true end-to-end digital continuity. Railroading is embarking in IIoT (for example, Positive Train Control, Enhanced Train Control) and automation (for example, autonomous track inspection), through to AI-based automation (for example, expanding autonomous track inspection to include predictive analytics for track data). The convergence of OT (Operational Technology) and IT (Information Technology) is essential for Industry 4.0. This convergence is at the core of business model digitization,