Next-generation innovation policies respond to complex contemporary challenges by adopting new features with deep transformative potential in the economy and society. Such policies go beyond research and innovation systems alone and promote system-wide changes in priority-setting and resource allocations, in institutional setups and regulatory frameworks, in industrial infrastructures, technological capacities and market mechanisms, to meet growing societal needs, such as a cleaner environment, mobility, food or housing.

The understanding of primary innovation determinants has broadened, from science and research to economic, technological and societal factors. Grand societal challenges such as climate change, demographic, health, poverty and inequality, or EU concepts such as responsible research and innovation (RRI), mission-oriented research and innovation, and Smart Specialization Strategies (S3) connect innovation more closely with well-defined societal goals and bring together the triple objectives of smart innovation-led growth, inclusion, and sustainability.

Next-generation innovation policies require not only new design and implementation mechanisms but also new mindsets and institutional cultures that can be both challenging and rewarding for the broader governance systems they are part of. This talk will look at how next-generation innovation policies take shape and evolve, their rationales and challenges. This may provide new insights and food for thought for academic researchers, business managers, policy-makers and public administrations, as well as other interested innovation stakeholders.

Application of modern maintenance approaches such as Maintenance 4.0 is highlighted as one of the prevailing smart & sustainable manufacturing topics. The goal of the presentation is to describe the latest trends within the area of maintenance management from the perspective of the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution and the economic, environmental and social challenges of sustainable development. Intelligent and sustainable maintenance is considered in three perspectives. The first perspective is the historical perspective, in relation to which evolution has been presented in the approach to maintenance in accordance with the development of production engineering. The next perspective is the development perspective, which presents perspectives on maintenance data and data-driven maintenance technology. The third perspective presents maintenance in the context of the dimensions of sustainable development and potential opportunities for including data-driven maintenance technology in the implementation of the economic, environmental and social challenges of sustainable production.

Flexibility and reconfigurability of factories are the key enablers of their market adaptability. As the production facilities are getting more and more IT intensive, and software-intensive, in particular, the speed and quality of reconfiguration largely depends on the efficiency of changing the underlying software and ability of factory equipment to inter-operate, exchange software components between each other and interchangeably use hardware platforms of different vendors.  In this talk, we will consider some solutions and experiences achieved at the Aalto Factory of the Future and LTU AIC-cube labs in the context of various European projects aligned with the Industry 4.0 effort. These include the use of wireless communication (including indoor 5G), AGVs, collaborative robotics, embedded microcontrollers, and novel software and IT technologies, such as OPC UA and IEC 61499.

Sebastian Scholz holds a diploma degree as Mechanical Engineer for Lightweight Structures from the Technical University of Dresden. In 2012 he completed his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Lothar Kroll at the Technical University of Chemnitz, with two research exchange periods at the Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware, US and the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. He later worked at RCS GmbH Rail Components and Systems in Königsbrück as Head of R&D department, working with lightweight components made of fiber reinforced plastics for railway vehicles.

Since August 2015 he is Professor in the field of Function-integrating Plastic Technologies at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görliz and coordenator of the Fraunhofer Center for Plastic Technologies in Zittau as a department of the Fraunhofer IWU. His particular interests are efficient lightweight technologies for fiber-reinforced plastics and hybrid structures with integrated functionality and for new additive manufacturing techniques. The scientific focus is on increasing productivity and competitiveness as well as on the use of sustainable materials (e.g. natural fibers). Many research activities are connected to innovative SME’s in Saxonia as well as in Czech Republic and Poland. As a board member of Polysax e.V. and the Lightweight Alliance Saxony, Scholz is committed to the regional plastics and lightweight design industry and research.