| Summary: |
We live in an age of unprecedent challenges, uncertainty and change , or as sociologist and
philosopher Zygmunt Bauman once said, "...times are liquid, because, as water, everything
changes...". So the challenge is how to move forward in such an dynamic economy and society: On
one hand there are studies showing that industry will lose workplaces by automation, on the other
hand this seems to contradict a new paradigm where:
a) products will be more and more customized to the end customer which, to some extent, is the
opposite of mass automated production.
b) work intensive industries, especially in low cost countries as Portugal, strive to keep their
investment levels low improving their processes in such way that still assures their competitiveness
Additionally, in developed countries we are assisting to aging population, meaning younger people
will be harder to hire and retain and, as such, factories will have to assure that older employees are
able to keep mentally and physically ?fit? for the future, by adapting new work support/wearables
and functionally, by adapting to new technologies.
The project Augmanity intends to address many of these challenges, by developing relevant
technologies, having energy efficiency in mind enabling smart/green factories
The project is expected to leverage its results in multiple sectors, through a coordinated strategy
between industrial partners and research centers, with the generated knowledge being exploited by means of technology creation, dissemination, transfer utilization and incorporation activities based
on three pillars: science and technological development; internalization of knowledge and technology
by technology-takers; and utilization of knowledge and technology by potential end users. |