Includes index

The fourth industrial revolution is having a major impact on industry and societies primarily because of what has been called its raw material: data. New technologies are allowing hyper-connection on a global scale, not only between people, but also between people and machines and, in the case of the Internet of Things, even amongst machines themselves. This book offers a critical reflection on the meaning and expected consequences of the fourth industrial revolution, with a particular focus on the advent of digital globalisation and its implications for industrial policy. Industrial revolutions are considered not only in terms of technological progress, but also in the context of the changing relationship between market and production dynamics, and the social and political conditions enabling the development of new technologies.