Digital Transformation Strategy: The Bicentennial of Costa Rica 2018-2022 3. Industry 4.0 and knowledge societies This Strategy intends that Costa Rica build and benefit from two major developments shaping productive processes and the quality of life of persons: the fourth industrial revolution and knowledge societies. 3.1 Fourth Industrial Revolution The fourth industrial revolution refers to profound changes driven by advances in technology, such as robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and biotechnology, among other changes that industries and society will experience by 2020. These are disruptive changes in the creation, production and distribution of products, especially in the way companies create, distribute and appropriate value. It focuses on the growing smart digitalization and cooperative coordination across all productive units of the economy, which are leading to new economic and production models. Industry 4.0 is based on customized production, tailored to the client's preferences and on horizontal and digital integration of systems, processes and stakeholders involved in supply chains. Industry 4.0 is a new approach for organizing production processes. It involves transforming these processes to be performed by cyberphysical systems in a set of smart factories. These systems are based on integrated activities coordinating the production of products that are thought of, designed and built in line with each customer’s needs and preferences. This new approach to production is based on a massive and efficient digitalization of production activities, interinstitutional coordination of business processes, and the co-existence and collaborative work between people and robots. The collaborative work between people and robots is known as “co-botization” and is one of the core elements of smart factories. Consequently, the finished product is more than just a tangible object, as it is also linked to data, sensors, and intelligence that allows it to connect to other products through the internet of things, which provides better functions and changes the users’ everyday lives significantly. Reflecting on the monumental changes generated throughout the history of production processes shows that the world is currently at the dawn of a new era. It is thus necessary to equip society and Costa Rican companies to be lead actors in these new stages. Industry 4.0 Based on cyber-physical systems for customized production Industry 2.0 Based on mass production Industry 1.0 Based on the incorporation of mechanical production equipment Drivers: Steam machine Drivers: Electric power and division of labor Origin: United States, 19th century Origin: England, 18th century 08 Industry 3.0 Based on the use of information technology and electronics for automated production Drivers: Nanotechnology, robotics, artificial intelligence and other disruptive technologies Drivers: computers used for industrial automation Origin: Germany, 21st century Origin: Several countries, 20th century