The enabling technologies of industry 4.0: examining the seeds of the fourth industrial revolution

Abstract Technological revolutions mark profound transformations in socio-economic systems. They are associated with the development and diffusion of general-purpose technologies (GPTs) that display very high degrees of pervasiveness, dynamism and complementarity. This article provides an in-depth examination of the technologies underpinning the “factory of the future” as profiled by the Industry 4.0 paradigm. It contains an exploratory comparative analysis of the technological bases and the emergent patterns of development of Internet of Things, big data, cloud, robotics, artificial intelligence, and additive manufacturing. We qualify the “enabling” nature of these technologies. We then test whether, taken together and individually, they display the characteristics of generality, originality, and longevity associated with GPTs. Finally, we discuss key themes for future research on this topic from an industrial structural change perspective.