Can AI ethics frameworks be embedded in Industry 4.0? Industry 4.0 (I4) refers to the digitization of manufacturing. Smart and autonomous systems that connect multiple machines make use of data to enhance manufacturing processes across the entire lifecycle of products-from concept and design through to use, maintenance and end-of-life. AI is critical to this. It enables computer systems to act autonomously to, for example, diagnose problems and to solve them. The role of humans in shifting. On the one hand, AI displaces the need for human input in decision-making. On the other hand, humans will work in ever closer connection with the AI-led data collecting tools, such as wristbands, data glasses, or other sensor related devices. Given widespread ethical concern regarding AI and human machine interactions, the numbers of ethical frameworks in existence have proliferated in recent years. However, these tend to focus on abstract principles with little detail on how to practically apply them when designing AI or when implementing AI systems at different stages of the innovation lifecycle. Ethical frameworks targeted specifically at I4 tend to focus on employee health and safety, with little consideration of employee voice. The project involves scoping work that will lay the foundation for future in-depth investigations into the impact of AI ethics frameworks on workplace cultures in I4. Our guiding questions for the scoping study are: How do different stakeholders and drivers within I4 networks perceive ethical issues related to AI? To what extent do these perceptions reflect dominant cultures within the I4 innovation lifecycle which impact the implementation of responsible AI? How are stakeholders' perceptions of AI ethics shaped by their own workplace culture and to what extent do they reflect underlying professional, occupational, or broader societal values and norms? Our stakeholders are variously positioned in relation to the innovation lifecycle in I4. This includes teams tasked with taking such innovations through the lifecycle, such as those involved in design, testing and use. It also includes the teams developing the 'stack' of technologies, from hardware, compilers, libraries, services and application development, needed for AI innovations in I4. Aligning our focus with the full range of actors and actions taken in I4 will enable us to better capture the broad-spectrum workplace culture issues involved, including those arising from the interconnection between these actors. The project will identify and form a Community of Interest (CoI) that brings together the range of stakeholders involved in I4. The CoI will center around our project partners, the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, a government-funded hub that acts as a nexus of these stakeholders, and a data science company, providing the world's most widely used Python distribution, cloud services for industrial AI and data science and professional services for the development of AI/data science applications. In our scoping study report, we will present a set of topics and themes to inform a future programme of research relating to workplace cultures and the challenges for embedding AI ethics in I4 innovation throughout the lifecycle. This report will emerge as part of a dialogue between our project partners, members of the Community of Interest, and the research team.

The Made Smarter Network+ (MSN+) has two primary roles. To: 1. Develop and support the creation of an effective digital innovation ecosystem to accelerate the innovation and diffusion of Industrial Digital Technologies. 2. Ensure that the full range and depth of social and economic science insights are accessed across the Made Smarter challenge and wider UK manufacturing sector This is an exciting £3.83m, 38 month programme of work that will commence on 1st November 2021 and end on 31st December 2024. The programme is led by the MSN+ co-directors Prof. Jan Godsell (Loughborough University) and Prof. Jill MacBryde (Strathclyde Business School) with support from a dedicated Network Management Team (network, communications and impact managers) and a core research team (from Loughborough, Strathclyde and Sheffield Universities). There are 5 key elements to the programme: - Commissioned research programme - will provide the opportunity to curate, augment and amplify insights from the ESS to support the diffusion and adoption of IDTs. 5 different funding mechanisms have been adopted to broaden the appeal of the programme and increase participation. These include systematic reviews, small projects, a sandpit, Early Career Researcher (ECR) Fellowship programme, and an impact acceleration fund resulting in18 interdisciplinary projects. - Knowledge exchange programme - is critical to the diffusion of ideas from the ESS to the policy makers, manufacturers and IDT providers who could benefit from the adoption of IDTs. The comprehensive programme includes a range of activities that amplify the core research programme (international webinars, discovery days, annual conference), provide education and insights (impact workshops, insight days, summer school), support academic publication (special tracks, journal special issue) and enable and amplify the diffusion of ideas (website and curation platform, mentoring programme, access to Emerald impact services). - Core research programme - compliments the commissioned research programme base by addressing more systemic problems that require a longer term and more in-depth research. It has the additional benefit of providing a common purpose to galvanise the team. Future focused it considers the future of manufacturing ecosystems (Prof. Jan Godsell and Dr Alok Choudray, Lougborough), future of work (Prof. Jill MacBryde and Prof. Colin Lindsay, Strathclyde) and the future of the economy (Prof. Vania Sena and Prof. Philip McCann, Sheffield). - Impact acceleration programme - there are lots of ESS insights currently in existence, that are not in a form that is easily accessible to policy makers, manufacturers and IDT providers. Researchers often lack the time and skills to turn their work into more accessible outputs. An impact acceleration programme has the dual benefit of building impact capacity within the ESS community whilst making the insights more accessible to end users. - Storytelling fellowship programme - the ability to use storytelling as a methodology and form of dissemination is a key research skill for economic and social scientists. The storytelling fellowship programme has the dual benefits of building storytelling capacity within the ESS whilst using stories to make insights more accessible to the end users, the network and society at large. Outputs from the programme are aligned to the Made Smarter business case. Conservatively through the core and commissioned research programmes alone, we deliver 19 new inter-disciplinary collaborations, 30 journal papers and 11 case studies.

To ensure UK industry's global leadership in advanced manufacturing and the need to access to the multi-billion pounds nanoscale products market, building on Strathclyde's world-leading research in hybrid machine design and rolling nanoelectrode lithography (RNEL) technology, this proposal attempts to establish a new flexible and reconfigurable hybrid precision manufacturing platform (HPMP) for low-cost and high-throughput production of nanoscale products possessing various structures from ground-breaking sub-nanometre to micrometre scales, with nanoscale precision over large areas (cm^2 in this project, but scalable to m^2) of various materials. This low-cost nanoscale precision 'lab-to-fab' low-to-medium volume production platform will significantly enhance the producibility and productivity of nanoscale products for information communication technology (ICT), photonic, semiconductor, microelectronic and emerging quantum technology industry sectors to address the grand challenges of an AI & data-driven economy (Internet of Things (IoTs), data storage, quantum computing & communication devices), clean growth (plasmonic solar cells), future mobility (light detection and ranging) and an aging society (medical detection & diagnostic devices) in accordance with the UK Industrial Strategy. The project will transform the research outcome to industry and our society through knowledge exchange, training, industrial demonstration and deployment.

The aim of the ISCF Manufacturing Made Smarter (MMS) Challenge is to help UK manufacturing become more productive and competitive through the innovation and diffusion of industrial digital technology (IDT). Whilst technology is an important element, there are other contributing factors. We seek to identify and address these important aspects, particularly those from the economic and social sciences (ESS) through the creation of MMS Network+. This network will be led by Co-Directors (Co-D) Prof. Jan Godsell, University of Warwick and Prof. Jill MacBryde, University of Strathclyde. They will be champions for the ESS in the MMS Challenge. Our long-term vision for the MMSN+ is to build a strong, vibrant, interdisciplinary community to support the MMS Challenge. Collaborative working, new challenges and contexts will open up avenues for world leading research. Looking forward, our aspirations for the MMSN+ is a community, with clear added-value for all, where stakeholder groups want to engage and be part of the MMSN+. We will encourage diversity and inclusivity. Diversity of thought will bring benefits of multiple perspectives. Inclusivity (at our core), will help us to embrace and collaborate with existing research groupings, rather than compete with them. Participation will be based on expertise, not status, and we will seek to develop people at all stages of their careers. Our vision of success would be that the MMSN+ is seen as a partner of choice - easy to work with, welcoming, and professional. Ultimately, we would like to be seen as a one-stop shop that curates existing & emerging knowledge and capabilities (research and education) and showcases leading practice. An example of successful interdisciplinary working, to which other nations aspire. The Co-D will start building the foundations on March 1st 2021. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is at the core of the MMSN+. During this period, the Co-Ds will use a stakeholder mapping exercise, to help identify the full range of diverse voices that could inform the MMS Challenge. Based with this knowledge they will then use a series of workshops, on-line 'story gathering' and expert interviews to help to inform how the ESS can most effectively inform the MMS Challenge. This will also include an international comparators study. They will also seek advice on the most effective way to structure the MMSN+, by learning from the experiences of other research networks both in the UK and beyond. The Co-Ds to consider how the network can be structured to encourage inclusivity and maximise impact. This first phase draws to a close at the end of July 2021. There will be webinars to share the results of the 'story mapping' and international comparator studies. There will be a report and website launch too. The final drafting and submission of the MMSN+ proposal, draws together all the insights from the previous 5 months marks the end of this phase. The MMSN+ proposal will be reviewed and launched in October 2021. Creating impact is at the core of the MMSN+. Resources will be available to the network to support more creative and impactful opportunities for dissemination and engagement. Beneficiaries from the first 5 months include the MMS Challenge owners, who will benefit from an evidence based view of the role that the ESS can play in supporting the Challenge. Manufacturers who will benefit from insights, into the way that the ESS can support the successful adoption of IDTs within their businesses. Policy makers wo will benefit from a more holistic view of the policy levers that may be able to support UK manufacturers to more successfully adopt IDT. Economic and social scientists who will benefit from the creation of an inclusive community, that embraces diversity, and finds innovative ways to inspire cross-disciplinary investigation. Finally, technology providers who will benefit from the connection and improved access to manufacturers

Composites are truly the materials of the future, due to their excellent properties such as high strength to weight ratio, and their use is rising exponentially, continuing to replace or augment traditional materials in different sectors such as aerospace, automotive, wind turbine blades, civil engineering infrastructure and sporting goods. A good example is the construction of large aircraft such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 which are 53% and 50% composite by weight, respectively. However, while the fibre dominant properties guarantee excellent in-plane load-bearing characteristics, traditional composite materials exhibit weak resistance to out-of-plane loads, making them susceptible to barely visible impact damage (BVID) under impact loads that can happen during manufacturing or in service. BVID can drastically reduce the strength, without any visible warning. Structures that look fine can fail suddenly at loads much lower than expected. This weak impact resistance together with the complexity of the failure mechanisms typical of composite systems led in the past decade to complex and expensive maintenance/inspection procedures. Therefore, a significantly greater safety margin than other materials leads to conservative design in composite structures. Based on these premises, the need is clear for a comprehensive solution that matches the requirements of lightweight structures with the need for high impact resistance and ease of inspection. This project is aimed at the design and development of next generation of high-performance impact resistant composites with visibility of damage and improved compression after impact strength. These exceptional properties are caused with ability to visualise and control failure modes to happen in an optimised way. Energy would be absorbed by gradual and sacrificial damage, strength would be maintained, and there would be visible evidence of damage. This would eliminate the need for very low design strains to cater for BVID, providing a step change in composite performance, leading to greater reliability and safety, together with reduced design and maintenance requirements, and longer service life. This is an exciting opportunity to develop this novel proposed technology with my extensive industrial partners, a potentially transformative prospect for the UK composites research and industry.