Industry 4.0 adoption could create 80,000 new Australian jobs, says new report

A new report commissioned by two of the Industry Growth Centres has calculated the economic impact – 80,000 new jobs and $74 billion in economic value created – of adopting Industry 4.0 within the mining and oil and gas sectors.

The Staying Ahead of the Game report was commissioned by METS Ignited and NERA, carried out over 12 months by research firm AlphaBeta, and announced on Monday by industry minister Karen Andrews.

“The use of analytics and robotics not only provides significant safety and environmental benefits, it is also rapidly increasing job opportunities, said Andrews in a statement.

“This kind of technology opens up new, unexplored opportunities for the resources sector and what this report shows is the huge economic opportunity if new technology is embraced.”

METS Ignited – which focusses on the country’s well-regarded mining equipment, technology and services sector – said Australia was well-placed to lead adoption of Industry 4.0, and to grow its technology ecosystem within the sector.

“As an industry, we must focus on having the right framework in place to realise this vision: actively upskilling our workforce for their future roles; strengthening collaboration among industry, government and education providers; investing more in commercially-orientated research and development,” said METS Ignited CEO Adrian Beer.

The report can be read here.

Picture: ABB/Youtube

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