Designing and Governing the New Industrial Transformation

New digital approaches to manufacturing, including additive and cloud manufacturing, are combining with advanced materials, robotics, big data, advanced logistics, user-driven innovation, and personalization to drive a fundamental transformation of industry. In the U.S. and other developed economies, this transformation may restore the competitive advantage of older industrial locations with new digitally connected factories linked into local circular economies. Developing economies, which have traditionally relied on lower wages to attract routinized mass production, are also adopting new manufacturing strategies. Several countries, including Germany and China, have roadmaps for next generation manufacturing, while the U.S. is pursuing a series of new advanced manufacturing initiatives. Yet the transformation of industry also raises many concerns, including issues related to the reshaping of job markets, the participation of smaller firms, environmental sustainability, and other societal goals. This panel explores how evidence-based analysis and anticipatory approaches can be used to design and guide this transformation in industry. The session considers roles for science and technology policy in the next production revolution, the importance of new institutional intermediaries, and the development of policy frameworks and governance systems to ensure benefits are broadly and sustainably distributed.