Swinburne and Plattform Industrie 4.0 Austria join forces to deepen Industry 4.0 collaboration

Swinburne University of Technology and Plattform Industrie 4.0 Austria have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to intensify cooperation on Industry 4.0 initiatives.

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution that is currently transforming manufacturing through digitalisation, enabling new efficiencies and business models not previously possible.

“We are delighted to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Plattform Industrie 4.0 Austria to advance the fourth industrial revolution,” Swinburne Vice-Chancellor Professor Pascale Quester says.

“The digitalisation and integration of production, with state-of-the-art information and communication technology along global value chains, opens up great economic potential for both Australia and Austria.”

Knowledge exchange

Plattform Industrie 4.0 Austria and Swinburne’s Industry 4.0 program have agreed to increase knowledge exchange to promote technology transfer, best practices and business model innovation between both countries.

Networking efforts and links to other European centres for digital innovation will be deepened, and successful policy settings and joint submissions for research project funding will also be explored.

“When it comes to Industry 4.0, Australia and Austria have similar challenges and need to be clever and innovative to ensure that we are both at the cutting edge of digitalisation to address the world’s biggest problems,” Professor Quester says.

Speaking of the agreement, CEO of Plattform Industrie 4.0, Dr Kurt Hofstädter says Australia and Austria are taking similar approaches to drive digital transformation.

“Our collaboration enables us to learn from each other in profound ways and creates the basis for successful joint projects,” Dr Hofstädter says.

“With this memorandum of understanding, we are expanding our existing international collaboration network across the borders of Europe in order to make even more world-wide know-how available to our members.”

These initiatives will bring together stakeholders from business, academia and politics from both countries and actively accompany the digital transformation process. 

The National Industry 4.0 Testlab for Composite Additive Manufacturing is under construction in Clayton, Victoria.