‘Smart Industry’ and the confluence of standards

This chapter presents a specific case of industrial development around the concept of “Smart Industry” being championed by several national and regional authorities in Europe. Smart Industry is basically a strategy to link automation and new manufacturing technologies to the exchange of data. It presents an interesting context for consideration of the effects of standards on industrial growth and development. Owing to the fluid nature of the initiative, the authors speculate that both formal and informal standardization will likely play an important role in the success of these initiatives. The case illustrates many of the key issues that pertain to the need to ensure the interoperability of many components through standards, while at the same time allowing for product differentiation within this complex of technologies.