Education supply chain in the era of Industry 4.0

Abstract To date, there is a very limited literature on the use of systems ideas and methodologies as a basis for developing curriculum or courses. To fill the gap, this study has made several contributions by employing systems theory and thinking in analysing issues related to higher education. Industry 4.0 is reshaping the future of education, which opens up our vision and makes us to consider what knowledge and skills students should possess after they have graduated from college, when to accelerate workforce reskilling and what is the building blocks and connections of education supply chain. In this study, it is the first time the concept of ‘education supply chain’ is proposed and coined. Furthermore, our research has led us to view educational systems and configurations, such as international mobility and transnationalization, as outcomes of enduring power related to industrial revolutions. Finally, a curriculum structure based on system thinking is proposed. We engage our inquiry with transformations that are happening around higher education and position our research on the benefits of sharing of global intellectual resource and top talents through transnational mobility and education joint ventures in the context of Industry 4.0.