How do the new ICT information technologies and Industry 4.0 contribute to improving the efficiency of the functioning of business entities?

The functioning of which areas of economic activity of companies and enterprises is improved by the implementation of ICT information technologies and/or Industry 4.0?

The pandemic has accelerated the implementation of ICT information technology into business operations and the use of the Internet to promote and sell product and service offerings. The SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) coronavirus pandemic indirectly accelerated the development of ICT information technology applications in various aspects of business. During the pandemic, lockdowns were introduced on selected, mainly service sectors of the economy. As part of anti-pandemic security instruments, citizens infected with the coronavirus had to stay at home in quarantine for several to several days. As a result, quarantined consumers started ordering and buying products and services more via the Internet. On the other hand, companies under lockdown were able to conduct their business via the Internet. Consequently, many companies and businesses during the pandemic increased their use of the Internet for their business operations. Many businesses have increased the scale of sales of products and services offered to customers via the Internet. Many companies during the pandemic built or developed their online sales platforms. The scale of turnover carried out through the Internet in many companies and enterprises has even increased several times. As a result, the scale of e-commerce increased. The turnover of courier companies increased. E-logistics has developed. The use of ICT information technology and Industry 4.0 in various aspects of business has increased. When placing orders via the Internet and making purchases of products and services, citizens, including consumers and entrepreneurs, increasingly made payments for ordered products, services, semi-finished products, components, raw materials, etc. via the Internet. The development of online payments and settlements has resulted in the acceleration of the development of e-banking, especially online and mobile banking. In enterprises, computerized systems are being developed to support management processes, decision-making processes. The improvement of computerized enterprise management systems is currently being carried out by increasing the scale of use of Internet technologies and Industry 4.0. Examples are investments in computerized management and decision-making process support systems, in which so-called digital twins of economic, business processes and/or specific spheres of conducted production, service, trade, etc. are built. During the pandemic of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus (Covid-19), the scale of investment by companies and enterprises in the development of computerized decision-making systems, in which the aforementioned digital twins and other innovations of Industry 4.0 technology are used, increased significantly. The development of information processing technologies in the era of the current technological revolution termed Industry 4.0 is determined by the development and growth of applications of ICT information technologies, Internet technologies and advanced data processing. The technological revolution currently taking place, referred to as Industry 4. 0 is determined by the development and implementation into economic processes of the following technologies: analytical and database technologies Big Data Analytics, Data Science, cloud computing, machine learning, personal and industrial Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, Business Intelligence, autonomous robots, horizontal and vertical data system integration, multi-criteria simulation models, digital twins, additive manufacturing, Blockchain, smart technologies, cyber security instruments, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and other advanced data processing technologies Data Mining. Thanks to the application of new Industry 4.0 technologies, computerized multi-criteria simulation models known as digital twins are now being created in many companies, enterprises and financial institutions. Building digital twins of entire processes of production, service provision, procurement logistics, manufacturing and distribution in information systems, the company obtains an excellent tool to support the process of managing the organization. Also, business analytics combined with Big Data Analytics technology supports the management process of an enterprise, company, financial institution or other type of business entity. With these solutions, it is also possible to create simulation models of the future development of complex, multi-faceted economic, social, financial, pandemic, natural, climatic, etc. processes. With the help of Big Data Analytics, many companies are already carrying out market research based on the analysis of Internet users' sentiment regarding changes in trends in the evaluation of the quality of product and service offerings, company reputation, logos, corporate branding, etc. The applications of Big Data technology in this area, including computerized market research, analysis of Internet user sentiment, in supporting business management processes, I have described in my publications posted on my profile of this Research Gate portal.

In view of the above, I address the following questions to the esteemed community of scientists and researchers:

How do new ICT information technologies and Industry 4.0 contribute to improving the efficiency of business entities?

The functioning of which areas of economic activity of companies and enterprises is improved through the implementation of ICT information technologies and/or Industry 4.0?

What do you think about this topic?

What is your opinion on this issue?

Please answer,

I invite everyone to join the discussion,

Thank you very much,

Best wishes,

Dariusz Prokopowicz