Ai Group is convening a collaborative Forum of industry leaders and organisations to support Australian industry transformation. The Industry 4.0 Advanced Manufacturing Forum is the successor of the Prime Minister’s Industry 4.0 Taskforce and builds on the work of the Taskforce in promoting collaboration between government and industry in both countries on Industry 4.0, including initiating a collaborative approach to the development of global Industry 4.0 standards.

The Forum is aligned with the German Plattform Industrie 4.0 through the agreement German-Australian Cooperation on Industrie 4.0. It will continue to facilitate discussion and collaboration on priorities for Industry 4.0 in Australia and provide policy recommendations to governments.

Details of the Executive Council and Work Stream are as follows:

Forum Executive Council:

• Innes Willox – Chief Executive of Australian Industry Group Convenor 
• Jeff Connolly – Chairman and CEO of Siemens Australia and New Zealand 
• Hon Trish White – Board Director, Engineers Australia
• Dr Jens Goennemann – Managing Director of Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre 

Work streams and leaders:

• Reference architectures, standards and norms: Daniel Chidgey Head of Stakeholder Engagement Standards Australia 
• Security of networked systems: Ms Michelle Price, CEO of AustCyber 
• Research and innovation: Mr David Chuter, CEO and Managing Director of Innovative Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC)
• Test laboratories and future of work, education and training: Professor Aleksandar Subic, Deputy Vice Chancellor (STEM) & Vice President Digital Innovation; and 
  Mr Andrew Dettmer, National President, Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union 

The Industry 4.0 Advanced Manufacturing Forum is progressing an online hub to keep stakeholders informed of current and planned initiatives.