S5 Ep38: Director’s Cut: How to make Industry 4.0 work for Europe

Bruegel director Guntram Wolff talks to Padmashree Gehl
Sampath, a Berkman Klein fellow at Harvard University, on the
consequences of ‘new manufacturing’ for European industrial
policymaking.


In this Director’s Cut of ‘The Sound of Economics’, Bruegel’s
Guntram Wolff discusses Industry 4.0 with Harvard University
Berkman Klein fellow Padmashree Gehl Sampath.


Europe is yet to truly explore what interventions can and should
be made with regard to the digitisation of industrial policy. But
the ongoing development of technologies obliges the EU to examine
how best to create a level playing-field for companies, and how
to ensure that newly compiled sets of data can contribute
positively to the welfare of its citizens.


The deployment of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation
brought into focus the potential negative consequences of
people’s data being amassed. Yet, as the discussants consider
here, there are many potential works to which these data can be
put that would serve a greater public good. But this will only
follow once policymakers formulate fresh approaches tailored to
the challenge, and propose how they will follow through on their
aforementioned obligations.


If you would like to read more on this topic, we recommend our
blog post by Silvia Merler on machine learning and economics.