N. Tschanz
Due to current developments in the economy, technology, environment, and society, industrial companies are undergoing a comprehensive transformation process. Swissmem spoke with Professor Nathaly Tschanz from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Matthias Kühne, Head of Digital at Next Industries. Excerpts from the interview follow.
From your perspective, what are currently the main drivers of transformation in industry?
Nathaly Tschanz: Digitalization in general certainly plays a central role, but there are other crucial influencing factors such as demographics, the need to diversify supply chains, for example, or decarbonization. And I would also like to specifically mention disruptive innovations here, which, while they go hand in hand with digitalization, play an important independent role for the "future business".
Matthias Kühne: The strongest trend in industry right now is artificial intelligence. This was also very clear at the recent Hannover Messe. In my view, two further drivers are regulation and cybersecurity. Companies are increasingly confronted with various legal requirements (e.g., the Data Act, the Cyber Act, NetZero, etc.), and cybersecurity cannot be taken lightly by companies. And, of course, sustainability issues are also gaining in relevance.
M. Kühne
Companies are therefore operating in an extremely challenging and complex environment. (...) What currently has the greatest impact on industry?
Kühne: Generative artificial intelligence, in particular, is a technology that can generate benefits relatively quickly. Companies absolutely must explore its potential, if only to avoid falling behind the competition. But there are other promising applications for AI, from vision applications and assistance systems to automation solutions and much more.
Tschanz: I agree. Besides generative AI, machine learning and the ability of IT systems to solve problems independently are important. This also enables interesting advancements in robotics. Other technological building blocks include high-performance network technologies, augmented and virtual reality, blockchain, and 3D modeling.
The full interview is available here.
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