Keywords

1 Introduction

In recent years, seven drivers of change for the industrial technological transformation in Europe have been identified (Murri et al. 2021),Footnote 1 as follows: 1. Advanced manufacturing (Industry 4.0), 2. Advanced materials development, 3. Complex and global supply chains, 4. Market competition and over-capacity, 5. Life cycle design, pollution prevention and product recyclability, 6. Decarbonisation and Energy Efficiency and 7. Evolution of customer requirements. In this context, digital transformation is considered the key enabler directly impacting on advanced manufacturing and it transversally affects the pathway towards sustainability (Neligan 2018).

Production processes can become more effective and efficient through the implementation of digital solutions at operation/company level, such as business information systems in combination with measurement sensors, smart production services, tools from information, communication and automation technology (e.g. simulation and forecasting models, self-learning assistance systems and diagnostic tools, or lab-on-chip systems for real-time analysis). As a consequence, the flexibility of production processes will be enhanced through the application of networked machines and components communicating with each other via the Internet and form Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) (Iannino et al. 2019) and Cyber-Physical Systems of Systems (CPSoS) (Biedermann 2019). In addition, new additive manufacturing (AM) processes, such as 3D printing technologies, can improve resource efficiency by enabling customisation of components production; optimised component structures can lead to weight savings and waste reduction, resulting in lower life cycle costs.

As far as the steel sector is concerned, current technological transformations and developments are expected to have a very relevant impact (Branca et al. 2020). The application of digital technologies in the steel production processes is mainly focused on advanced tools for the optimisation of the whole production chain (Maddaloni et al. 2015) as well as on specific technologies for product quality monitoring and optimisation (Damacharla et al. 2021), energy and resource efficiency (Matino et al. 2019a, b) and CO2-lean production (Porzio et al. 2013).

In addition, the social innovation represents one of the key factors for the effective way of developing and implementing this technological transformation (Colla et al. 2017). This can be achieved by integrating workplace experience and demands, by upskilling the workforce and by improving working conditions and safety, creating qualified jobs and enhancing the workers’ competencies through the support of digital technologies. On the other hand, digital innovation can enable social innovation through knowledge sharing, cooperative work and networking. Nevertheless, one of the most relevant barriers to overcome to effectively implement these technologies is the lack of qualified personnel.

As Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs) are responsible for about 8% of the European Union (EU)’s emissions (European Commission 2020a), to become more competitive at global level, they have to manage energy transition, energy technologies for resilience and cost reductions. On this subject, the technological development represents a key aspect to reach their environmental sustainability through emission reductions and energy saving. In the context of the sustainable development, the EU has been committed to deliver on the 2030 Agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 2015 (United Nations 2015), as outlined in ‘Towards a Sustainable Europe by 2030’ (European Commission 2019a). In this context, digital technologies could positively affect the SDGs implementation through ‘green growth’ development patterns (Eteris 2020), by using digital solutions in sustainability.

After the Energy Union initiative (European Commission 2015), the European Commission (EC) launched the European Green Deal (EGD) for the EU and its citizens (European Commission 2019b). This ambitious objective reflects the EC’s commitment to transform Europe into the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 as well as into a sustainable, prosperous, modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy according to ‘A New Circular Economy Action Plan’ (European Commission 2020b), which is one of the main building blocks of the EGD for creating incentives to promote circular business models. The EGD will have an important impact on process industries, as EU aims at becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent, achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050, cutting GHG emissions, investing in cutting-edge research and innovation. Significant opportunities and challenges for EIIs can rise to reach a strong international competitiveness (Lechtenböhmer and Fischedick 2020) as they are responsible for around 20% of total GHG emissions. Therefore, an integrated climate and industry strategy is crucial in their activities, as key element to implement the EGD objectives.

Digitalisation, as a key factor affecting the technological transformation of EIIs, is fundamental to achieve the EU climate objectives, according to the European Green Deal (European Commission 2019b). In this context, green technologies, combined with EU initiatives, aimed at Digitising European Industry (European Commission 2016), including a better and growing use of technologies, such as Big Data (Brandenburger et al. 2016) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) (Duft and Durana 2020). To this purpose, companies are committed to enclose sustainability into their business models for improving their corporate image and to save energy and material costs, resulting in industrial resource efficiency (Matino et al. 2016, 2017a). On this purpose, research activities can help industries in renewing their business model and better account for environmental sustainability in their business ecosystems (Arens 2019). Furthermore, the Processes4Planet (P4Planet) partnership aims at transforming European EIIs in order to achieve overall climate neutrality at EU level by 2050 (SPIRE 2021). In particular, the Process4Planet 2050 roadmap aims at reaching the transition to a climate neutral and circular society by both technological innovation and a holistic systemic socio-economic approach.

As the EGD achievements depend on the horizontal, cross-sectoral integration of an industrial strategy implemented throughout the full value chain, the European steel industry needs a supportive regulatory framework to ensure its international competitiveness, during and beyond the transition towards CO2-lean production of steel (EUROFER 2020). On this subject, the agreement between EU steel industry and the EU institutions and governments can lead to set an action plan to a market for green steel in the period from 2021 to 2030. In this regard, the EU steel industry is committed to achieve the EU’s climate objectives by reducing CO2 emissions by 2030 by 30% compared to 2018 (which equates to 55% compared to 1990) and by 80 to 95% by 2050.

The present work aims at analysing current and upcoming developments related to the digital transformation and Industry 4.0 in the steel sector, according to the four levers of the digital transformation (i.e. Digital Data, Automation, Connectivity and Digital Customer Access). In addition, digital technologies were presented as enabler of green technologies to achieve the climate objectives, and in accordance to the ‘Green Steel for Europe’ project (Green Steel for Europe 2022) and the Clean Steel Partnership (CSP) roadmap (ESTEP 2020). In the ‘Green Steel for Europe’ an innovative approach has developed impacts to tackle the decarbonisation of the European steel industry. On the other hand, according to the CSP and its roadmap, digitalisation, as enabler, has been included among the six areas of intervention (CDA: Carbon Direct Avoidance, SCU-CCU: Smart Carbon Usage—Carbon Capture and Utilization, SCU-PI: Smart Carbon Usage Process Integration, CE: Circular Economy, their combination and Enablers) that aim at achieving the carbon–neutral steel production. In addition, the current and upcoming role of digital technologies as support of social innovation aims to improve safety and health of employees and to enable a new way of work within efficient plants to face the new challenges and to remain competitive and sustainable at the same time. In fact, the successful implementation of new technologies strongly depends on the human perspective in all steps of the applied technical solution, integrating and encompassing the context of social innovation.

The centrality of human beings inside the manufacturing chain or in the neighbouring community is highlighted in the context of Industry 5.0 (European Commission 2021a), concerning the transition towards a sustainable, human-centric and resilient European industry, where production respects the boundaries of planet and the centrality of workers wellbeing in the production process. In addition, Industry 5.0 is based on the integration of social and environmental European priorities into the technological innovation (Paschek et al. 2019).

However, technological achievements, from human labour centred production to fully automated way (Larsson and Lindfred 2019), have different impacts on the workforce: on one hand, relieving humans from monotonous and physically strenuous work to be replaced with creative work, and, on the other hand, increasing unemployment and widespread workforce de-skilling. However, the impact of the digital technologies application on the low skilled workers is an open issue, which needs to be faced in the near future, with different approaches, such as up-, reskilling, reduction of ‘middle qualification level’ workers (polarisation), use of external personnel, etc. Further analyses of future impacts of digital technologies on the workforce (BEYOND 4.0 2022) suggest the combination of professional skills and digital skills on sectoral level and provide indications both for Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems and stakeholders at regional level. Furthermore, a first VET systems analysis has been performed in the ESSA project through the identification possible contributions from different systems in the member states, mainly focused on five case study countries (Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom) (ESSA 2020).

Started in January 2019 (see chapters “Introduction: The Historic Importance and Continued Relevance of Steel-Making in Europe” and “The Technological and Social Transformation of the European Steel Industry: Towards Decarbonisation and Digitalisation” for more information on the project). Footnote 2

This chapter is organised as follows: Sect. 2 introduces digital technologies as enabler of green technologies. In Sect. 3, digital technologies as a support of the social innovation are analysed. Section 4 discusses the future scenario for the metal sector. Finally, Sect. 5 provides some concluding remarks.

2 Digital Technologies as Enablers of Green Technologies

As highlighted in the EGD (European Commission 2019b), digital technologies play a fundamental role as enablers of new green technologies to achieve a sustainable ecological transition. Therefore, the development of both green and digital technologies aims at a twin transition (digital and green) as the main driver for the European industry’s competitiveness. For instance, digital technologies represent new opportunities for monitoring air and water pollution as well as for monitoring and optimising energy and natural resource consumption.

According to the SPIRE’s (Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency) new Vision 2050 (SPIRE 2018), the future of Europe will be based on a strong cooperation across industries in order to achieve physical and digital interconnection, through the development of innovative ‘industrial ecology’ business models addressing climate change and enabling a circular society. On this subject, developments in the future process industry will be crucial (Glavič et al. 2021), such as climate change with GHGs emissions and ecosystems, energy with renewable sources and efficiency, (critical) raw materials and other resources, water resources and recycling, zero waste, Circular Economy (CE) and resource efficiency (Matino et al. 2019b; Rieger et al. 2021), supply chain integration, process design and optimisation (Colla et al. 2016), process integration (Porzio et al. 2014) and intensification, industrial ecology and life cycle thinking, industrial-urban symbiosis, product design for circularity, digitalisation, sustainable transport, green jobs, health and safety, hazardous materials and waste reduction, customer satisfaction, education and lifelong learning (Branca et al. 2021).

Consequently, several benefits can be obtained, such as preserving the EU technological leadership through the maintenance of its competitive position, enabling innovative solutions (including technical, organisational, financial, etc.) and developing new business models and social practices, which can contribute to the sustainability by reducing environmental impacts. Both Industry 4.0 and the CE aim at improving products and processes and optimising resource usage and costs. CE can drive the transition of manufacturing industries towards systemic sustainability (Bradford 2015) and Industry 4.0 can drive innovation and the digital transformation towards smart and resilient manufacturing industries.

Digital technologies as enabler of green technologies can help at reducing natural resource exploitation, enhancing material and energy efficiency. In particular, they have a strategic role in increasing technological performances with the aim of reducing and optimising energy and materials consumptions along the steel production routes. For instance, process optimisation and monitoring, as well as systems integration, are crucial for the optimal energy management along the steel production (Colla et al. 2019). In addition, real-time monitoring ensures the product quality (Vannocci et al. 2019), leading to reduced by-products and waste production. Furthermore, the combination of novel tools for a rapid characterisation of solid and liquid slags, advanced models and complex data analytics and AI models can increase valorisation and reuse of slags, resulting in boosting the slag reuse and recycling (Matino et al. 2017b). AI-based predictive models can also be used for the optimised maintenance and production scheduling. In this context, digital technologies effectively can support the transaction to the new green production. In this context, the International Energy Agency (IEA) technology Roadmap (International Energy Agency 2020) analysed key technologies and their integration in steel sector to achieve the ambitious goal of at least 50% of CO2 emissions reduction by 2050. On this subject, in a short term, the technology performance improvement in the current production routes will play a fundamental role, while, in the medium-long term, a new technological transformation based on carbon capture and storage/carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCS/CCUS) and the substitution of carbon with other energy sources (i.e. hydrogen), will become increasingly important.

To transform the EU into a prosperous, modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, major technological developments in the EU steel industry will be in line with the recent European initiatives following the Green Deal strategy and strongly oriented towards the climate objectives in Europe in terms of low-carbon steelmaking (‘zero-carbon steelmaking’). For this purpose, a recent project, ‘Green Steel for Europe’ (Green Steel) (Green Steel for Europe 2022) aims at supporting EU towards achieving the 2030 climate and energy targets and the 2050 long-term strategy for a climate neutral Europe, through effective solutions for clean steelmaking to meet the decarbonisation of the European steel industry. The most promising technologies, in terms of CO2 mitigation potential, were identified in Deliverable D1.2 (Green Steel for Europe 2021a). In particular, along with currently addressed CO2 mitigation pathways in the European steel industry (i.e. Carbon Direct Avoidance (CDA), Process Integration (PI) and Carbon Capture and Usage (CCU)), the identified technologies are: Hydrogen-based Direct Reduction (H2-DR), Hydrogen Plasma Smelting Reduction (HPSR), Alkaline Iron Electrolysis (AIE), Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE), Carbon Dioxide Conversion and Utilization (CCU), Iron Bath Reactor Smelting Reduction (IBRSR), gas injection into the BF, substitution of fossil energy carriers by biomass, high-quality steelmaking with increased scrap usage.

In addition, different barriers, such as technical, organisational, regulatory, or societal, and financial ones, (Collection of possible decarbonisation barriers, D1.5) (Green Steel for Europe 2021b) have been identified. On the other hand, significant investments and economic efforts will be needed up to 2050 for the decarbonisation technologies deployment (Green Steel for Europe 2021c). As a joint collaboration among the steel industry and other stakeholders for achieving the Green Deal decarbonisation targets is crucial, the Clean Steel Partnership (CSP) (ESTEP 2020) initiative under the framework of Horizon Europe is associated with the creation of focused Public Private Partnerships (PPP). The CSP Roadmap provides six areas of intervention corresponding to the identified technological pathways and including digitalisation and skills as enablers for the implementation of the technologies and combination of technologies for carbon–neutral steel production. In particular, the six areas of intervention (CDA, SCU-CCU, SCU-PI, CE, their combination and Enablers) are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1
An illustration of the connection among areas of intervention. At the bottom of the illustration are enablers. The illustrations begins with C E, which then leads to C D A, S C U C C U S, and S C U P I.

Connection among the 6 areas of intervention for carbon–neutral steel production

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The ‘Enablers & support actions’ aim at integrating the most recent digital technologies, such as AI and digital solutions in industrial production as well as new measurement systems and digital tools for monitoring and control, by using Internet of Things (IoT) (Xia et al. 2012; Zhang et al. 2016) in the new steel production. In addition, further examples are represented by new predictive and dynamic models and scheduling tools, tailored to process planning, assessment and optimisation. Beside digitalisation also skills and competences are seen as a relevant enabler to unfold the full potential of new solutions at the workplace.

Based on a technology ‘building blocks’ (BB) approach (see Table 1), each block represents basic actions for providing decarbonisation technologies, such as digital technologies for developing green technologies in different intervention areas, to reach the effective decarburisation of steel production.

Table 1 Building blocks contributions to the six areas (ESTEP 2020)
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For instance, under CE frame (BB9), a major contribution is expected through the definition of a common Life Cycle Inventory for residues, and design and development of a tool for continuous monitoring of effects of circular approach/solutions on CO2 emissions. On the other hand, in the dedicated building block on ‘Enablers (skills, digitalisation) for clean steel development’, enablers are necessary for implementing technical and organisational conditions to plan and manage a sustainable steel production. In this context, new technologies will be crucial for the integration of new digital tools for monitoring and control as well as the extensive use of Industrial IoT (IIoT) approach. Such approach allows, for instance, fast integration of new measurement techniques into the set of data streams to be monitored and used for controlling process. For this purpose, Machine Learning (ML), AI techniques and Cybersecurity will play an ever-increasing role. In the standardised description of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and automation systems (see Fig. 2), the automation levels of Plant Control, Scheduling and Production Planning and Control are involved.

Fig. 2
An illustration of vertical integration and horizontal integration. It is divided into weeks, days, min, and seconds. The business planning, production planning control, scheduling, plant control, and field are also arranged from top to bottom.

Standardised description of the ICT and automation systems (ESTEP 2020)

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Additionally, it has been underlined in Colla et al. (2020) that a full exploitation of the potential of the data collected through all the steps of the manufacturing processes, in the light of the transformation of traditional plants and machineries into CPSoS, is only possible through a gradual transition from the classical pyramidal structure depicted in Fig. 2 to a flat and flexible architecture, such as the exemplar RAMI4.0 (Schweichhart 2019).

Process optimisation and monitoring, as well as systems integration, are important for the energy management along the steel production. In particular, AI-based predictive models are used for optimised maintenance and production scheduling. This shows, as digital technologies effectively support the new green technologies, that they are also contributing to their development at early stages. On this subject, two current EU-funded projects, such as Retrofeed (Implementation of a smart RETROfitting framework in the process industry towards its operation with variable, biobased and circular FEEDstock) (Retrofeed 2022) and REVaMP (Retrofitting equipment for efficient use of variable feedstock in metal making processes) (REVaMP 2022) are focused on how digital technologies can support to implementation of process improvements to achieve materials and energy efficiency in the steel production. The use of renewable feedstock and industrial residues as a complement of the furnace feedstock supply (Retrofeed) and the management of feedstock variability and selection (REVaMP) in steelmaking are two different approaches on resource efficiency and low-carbon technologies in existing steel plants. In particular, in the Retrofeed project advanced monitoring and control systems and a Decision Support System for supervising retrofitting activities and evaluating the best retrofitting capabilities along the production chain have been developed. On the other hand, in the REVaMP project retrofitting technologies, based on sensors for the chemical characterisation of metal scrap, advanced monitoring and control of the melting process for the adaptation and the integration in existing processes have been applied.

Further digital technologies as enabler of green technologies in the steel sector concern green recycling in the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) steelmaking route. In particular, the introduction of the concept of ABSC (Activity-Based Standard Costing) integrated into Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Manufacturing Execution System (MES) aimed at achieving an efficient production management in a digital environment (Tsai 2019), supporting smart manufacturing, such as work forecasting, status monitoring, Work In Process (WIP) tracking, throughput tracking and capacity feedback. Furthermore, ABSC as costing tool can enhance the business operating abilities of quality, cost, delivery, service, resources and productivity. Additionally, an ongoing project co-funded by the EU Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS), entitled ‘Optimising slag reuse and recycling in electric steelmaking at optimum metallurgical performance through on-line characterization devices and intelligent decision support systems (iSlag)’ (iSlag 2022), is focused on the improvement of EAF slag valorisation, supporting good practices and exploring new recycling paths by integrating innovative measurement devices with modelling and simulation systems. By developing decision support concepts and systems, which help the implementation of smart slag conditioning practices and optimal slag handling for its internal and external reuse and recycling, iSlag will provide operators with easy-to-use tools to support Industrial Symbiosis and CE practices as well as to reduce slag disposal costs. A further ongoing RFCS project, entitled ‘Energy Management in the Era of Industry 4.0’ (EnerMIND) (EnerMIND 2022) aims at optimising energy management in steelworks by applying a pioneering software, based on a new IoT/IIoT architecture, able to connect the energy market with the internal energy management. Through innovative AI/ML models for anomaly recognition in energy management this project aims at demonstrating the strong contribution of AI techniques in improving energy efficiency in the electric steelmaking route.

3 Digital Technologies as a Support of the Social Innovation

In order to design a ‘Green New Deal’ it is also fundamental to consider the transition as a key issue, and, over the last few years, progresses have been achieved in this direction. In particular, guidelines for a just ecological transition (International Labour Organization 2015) and for the Future of Work (International Labour Organization 2019) have been developed.

On the other hand, social transitions will have a deep impact on industry. In addition, current European political priorities can affect industry. In particular, the EGD (European Commission 2019b) will need a transition to a more circular economy and a reliance on sustainable resources including energy and ‘Europe Fit for the Digital Age’ (European Commission 2020c) aims at increasing technological innovation in Europe, making digital a priority for Europe; the European Research Area (ERA) (European Commission 2020d) will promote research and innovation in Europe, while the new European Industrial Strategy (European Commission 2021b) and Skills Agenda (European Commission 2020e) will address skills shortages. Finally, the White Paper on a regulation of AI (European Commission 2020f), and the European Data Strategy (European Commission 2020g) highlighted the importance that EC ascribes to the social impact of digital technologies.

In addition, up to now decarbonisation and climate adaptation efforts with climate and social justice have been mainly focused on (Bergamaschi 2020):

  • creating new quality jobs and inclusive transition processes;

  • building resilience activities for protecting groups most exposed to climate impacts;

  • achieving the Paris Agreement objectives (Paris Agreement 2015) to ensure climate justice for people and future generations;

  • recognising and addressing specific challenges faced by specific sectors, regions, cities and communities most vulnerable to change.

In the next few decades, significant occupation changes will occur, as shown in the draft of National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP) (European Commission 2019c). In particular, new jobs will be required in the renewable sector and in the fossil fuels sector. In addition, in Energy Intensive Industries (EIIs), such as steel, cement and aluminium sectors as well as the car manufacturing industry, the employment landscape will change, due to the technological changes, and, consequently, new plans should be designed and implemented. In particular, the need for skills to achieve a carbon–neutral economy by 2050 and the zero-pollution goal (European Commission 2019b) represents a boost for EU governments to include workforce upskilling and reskilling for the energy transition into their National Recovery and Resilience Plans. These plans will outline all projects to be implemented up to 2026, and will have to devote at least 37% of the foreseen expenditure to green investments and reforms to contrast climate change and to achieve environmental objectives (Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform 2021). In this context, the following aspects are crucial for the EU policy and support:

  • stronger climate action under the European Green Deal to implement the Paris Agreement will need a review of EU targets on energy efficiency and renewable for 2030;

  • actions to ensure adequate skillset of workers;

  • the connection between skills and the new transformations is tackled in the Renovation Wave (European Commission 2020h), the Pact for Skills (European Commission 2020i) and the European Climate Pact (European Commission 2020j), adopted by the European Commission (EC).

Furthermore, fundamental aspects from a regional perspective are:

  • setting up a dedicated structure in order to promote skills supporting the energy transition;

  • establishing regional energy agencies to improve energy efficiency skills and to define the mission/focus of the dedicated structures;

  • pushing for the fiscal measures adoption in order to carry out renovation works by project proposals on energy efficiency in specific sectors;

  • introducing incentives in order to engage SMEs in energy efficiency activities and to support employment at regional level.

As far as the steel industry is concerned, the application of digital technologies in all production areas is an ongoing process, although in some steel companies digital transformation is still marginal. Digital technologies, such as AI and AM, help to optimise resource efficiency and minimising by-products and waste. In addition, resilience refers to the development of high robustness in industrial production, to support against disruptions and to provide critical infrastructure in times of crisis. Significant improvements can be achieved in terms of process efficiency, product quality but also in socio‐economic and environmental sustainability (Colla et al. 2020). Furthermore, the European steel industry aims at achieving challenges to address workforce and skill demands to exploit the potential of new technologies (Branca et al. 2020). In this context, the implementation of digital technologies and business models aims to the adaptation to a changing market and to the improvement of performances, involving also employees. On one hand, designing a process, its equipment, and products can enable safety and health protection of employees. In particular, using process monitoring and control, automation, even robots can prevent contact with dangerous substances, fires and explosions, accidents at work, release heavy burdens, etc. On the other hand, digital technologies aim at releasing workers from process malfunctions, unexpected events, or accidents, by also considering a social innovation paradigm, combining technological with social innovation (Colla et al. 2017). An innovative system as a human–robot (Bauer and Vocke 2020) cooperative environment implementation in a harsh and complex workplace was recently studied, with important results from field testing of a robotic workstation to support steelworks operators in the maintenance of the ladle sliding gate (Colla et al. 2021). This can contribute to improve workers’ health and safety conditions as well as to promote upskilling of the technical personnel, particularly on digital skills. Further applications of the proposed solutions can be related to other types of sliding gate in the steelworks, aiming at reducing the number of operations that need human interventions.

Digital innovation holds a strong potential for enabling and supporting the social innovation, through the facilitation of knowledge sharing, cooperative work, developments and networking. In the integration of digital technological innovations within a social innovation process, digital technologies play a key role in supporting the collaboration, the knowledge sharing and the networking among various stakeholders, resulting in emerging skills and in the promotion of the upskilling process.

Skills mismatch can be overcome by training activities ensuring that the available skillset better matches the skills requirements in industry. This is one of the approaches developed in the ESSA project (The ESSA Project 2022) as well as in two Horizon 2020 projects, such as SAM (Sector Skills Strategy in Additive Manufacturing) (The SAM Project 2019) and SPIRE-SAIS (Skills Alliance for Industrial Symbiosis—a cross-sectoral Blueprint for a sustainable Process Industry) (The SPIRE-SAIS Project 2022).

A top-10 of skills has been identified by the World Manufacturing Forum for the future manufacturing, including four digital skills, such as ‘digital literacy, AI and data analytics’, ‘working with new technologies’, ‘cybersecurity’ and ‘data-mindfulness’, while the other six skills are more transversal and linked to creative, entrepreneurial, flexible and open-minded thinking (World Manufacturing Forum 2019). Training and education activities should include:

  • upskilling and reskilling regional schemes, based on identification of missed skills or skills that require upgrading;

  • integration of energy efficiency skills into vocational education and training (VET) programmes;

  • including such concepts into the offer of academic programmes.

In addition, the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) should be encouraged, as fundamental knowledge for developing sustainable technologies and processes in the context of CE. A recent analysis on the situation of the European steelmaking workforce (SpA CSM et al. 2020), in terms of most needed skills deals with current and future skills gaps also due to the increased use of digital technologies in steelworks and the lack of suitable educational programmes. The transition to CE and a sustainable society can be supported not only through the condition of new financial investments, but also through political agreements and regulations imposing restrictions on countries and companies.

4 Future Scenario

The future scenario for the metal sector will mainly concern digital technologies as drivers of a new way of work within efficient plants to tackle some crucial challenges in the next future. These main challenges are represented by the supply of raw materials and energy, plants adaptation for CO2 abatement, lack of skills due to the implementation of digital technologies and changes in steel consumption (ABB 2019).

In the future the steel industry will be ever more digitalised, making available vast amount of data from the whole production chain and even from the areas where steel plants are located. To improve the plants’ efficiency, the acquired data need to be properly managed and integrated along the production chain, including the resources optimisation and the equipment maintenance. In addition, the improved process automation will result in requiring plants’ operator intervention mainly for maintenance and the management of unforeseen situations. Furthermore, operators can be real time supported by augmented reality tools during maintenance activities, while wireless technologies can support the remote control and the real-time supervision of processes. Finally, advanced material tracking systems, based on digital technologies communicating the material’s properties, can support in identifying products along their life cycle up to their recycling.

As the steel industry is one of the biggest GHG emitters, significant actions should be implemented to become a low-emitting and carbon–neutral industry. Modernising production facilities and energy systems and adopting new pioneering technologies, the steel sector could achieve the goal of 0.4–0.5 t CO2/t steel, reducing two-thirds of its current annual emissions (Holappa 2020). In particular, in the short term, improving energy efficiency by applying best available technologies in all process could decrease the emissions by 15–20%, while further reductions towards 1.0 t CO2/t steel level are achievable via top gas recycling and replacement of coke by biomass. In addition, replacing hydrogen for carbon in reductants and fuels like natural gas and coke gas can decrease CO2 emissions remarkably, while more radical cut could be achieved by CO2 capture and storage (CCS). Furthermore, potential application of hydrogen as a fuel and reductant in ironmaking has been launched in several research programs. Finally, supporting the steel industry in its endeavour to increase the use of recycled steel (from 30 to 50%) in steel production will lead to higher share of EAF production, and strongly increasing demand for carbon–neutral electricity.

The innovation process will enclose not only technological and economic features, but also environmental and social dimensions. This vision is aligned to the transition towards Industry 5.0 based on digital technologies supporting the social innovation, such as working conditions improvement and worker’s competences valorisation. On this subject, AI or robotics can contribute to optimising human–machine interactions, also avoiding strenuous jobs. Such transition has already started by harmonising Industry 5.0 with the paradigm of Industry 4.0 through research and innovation to the transition to a sustainable, human-centric and resilient European industry (European Commission 2021a). In this context, actions foreseen as next steps to Industry 5.0 are, as follows:

  • increasing awareness in industry;

  • implementing a technological landscape to enable the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0;

  • identifying existing actions and opportunities for the development of Industry 5.0 across Europe;

  • checking regulation barriers to innovation relevant for Industry 5.0;

  • exploring open innovation and testing new forms of sharing research and innovation results (in line with the directives on competitiveness);

  • promoting the hallmark features of Industry 5.0 as guiding principles for the development of common technology roadmaps under the Strategic Innovation Agendas;

  • outreaching to other policy areas, as transition into Industry 5.0 will require a number of policy actions different areas.

In the context of Industry 5.0, the integration of social and environmental European priorities into technological innovation and the shifting to a systemic approach are fundamental. In this regard, six categories to be combined with other ones, as a part of technological frameworks, have been identified:

  1. 1.

    Individualised human–machine-interaction;

  2. 2.

    Bio-inspired technologies and smart materials;

  3. 3.

    Digital twins and simulation;

  4. 4.

    Data transmission, storage and analysis technologies;

  5. 5.

    Artificial Intelligence;

  6. 6.

    Technologies for energy efficiency, renewables, storage and autonomy.

In future scenario, further benefits of Industry 5.0 include attraction and retention of talents, energy savings and increased general resilience of industry. In particular, in the long-term, industrial competitiveness will be achieved, while in the shorter term coordinated investments in Industry 5.0 are required. The impact of digital technologies on the workforce of the future (BEYOND 4.0 2022) has been analysed (Kohlgrüber 2021). The project BEYOND 4.0 (Inclusive Futures for Europe BEYOND the impacts of Industrie 4.0 and Digital Disruption) analyses the impact of the new technologies on the future of jobs, business models and welfare. Its current achieved results are:

  • expectable skill gaps: basic digital skills are needed in 90% of all jobs, as only 58% of individuals in the EU possess them;

  • the impact on skill shortages for the digital future depends on the responsiveness of different national VET systems;

  • the roles of education and training providers, but also of employers is fundamental to fill vacancies.

These results from BEYOND 4.0 project can be useful to:

  • combine professional skills and digital skills at sectoral level;

  • train digital and transversal skills by employers, if not provided by VET systems;

  • achieve a strong collaboration among relevant actors at a regional level;

  • providing job opportunities for female and older workers, migrants for mitigating skill shortages.

Improving working conditions in the steel sector is a crucial topic. On this subject, in a current project (WISEST 2021) advanced tools, based on enabling technologies application both to steelmaking processes and people, were developed, by considering interactions for assessing the whole system and for improving working conditions and safety. In addition, ergonomics problems due to human–computer interaction, especially for the ageing workforce, were recently addressed (Optimasteel 2021) by analysing advanced technological solutions with holistic systems. In particular, the ageing workforce and their difficulties in using the new technologies reverse mentoring, from young to old, particularly for the training on digital skills, is recommended (SpA CSM et al. 2020). This is an exchange in knowledge between workers being the mentorship usually more focused on the training of the young workers by the older ones (e.g. elder people share their experience, young people their digital skills).

Future research from the social innovation perspective should be mainly focused on the following topics (Howaldt et al. 2021):

  • regional, cultural and social context of social innovation;

  • possible and favourable outcomes and impacts of new practices, from improving living and working conditions of disadvantaged social groups to enhancing favourable social change;

  • relationship to technological and business innovation in processes (e.g. the ‘socio-digital transformation’, the socio-ecological transition, etc.);

  • As impacts in the long-term on existing practices and institutions have hardly been examined so far, a specific focus should be set on the ambivalence of social innovations.

In the next few years, the steel industry will face a deep transformation including a transition phase, which can increase employment by 2050, but, in a second phase might be characterised by a reduction of workforce, mainly due to the resizing of the plants and leaner processes (Antonazzo et al. 2021). Therefore, it is fundamental to anticipate changes, in particular on skills development. Planning ahead and strengthening social dialogue are crucial to ensure a good industrial transition. For this reason, some actions need to be taken:

  • Securing talents by investing more resources in training, and including workers in the decision-making process;

  • Training needs to address transversal skills (e.g. advanced digital skills, entrepreneurship, sustainable development and analytical thinking) for the green transition;

  • Support of governments to a green and just transition;

  • More engagement and collaboration with universities and research networks;

  • Investing more resources in training on environmental awareness;

  • Enhancing social dialogue, both at the company and at sectoral level;

  • Establishing channels for workers to report their training needs and concerns concerning possible lack of skills;

  • Anticipating changes both at the government and at company level, also involving regional authorities.

5 Conclusions

This chapter presents the analysis of the impact of digital technologies on the workforce as well as the technological transformation and the EU climate objectives in the context of the European steel sector. The main developments funded by EU Research Programs achieved in the above fields as well as of the current literature were analysed. In particular, the chapter concerns the digital transformation as key enabler impacting on advanced manufacturing by increasing production efficiency and reducing the environmental impacts of the European steel sector. On the other hand, it is focused on how application of the digital technologies on the steel production processes can provide advanced tools for the optimisation of the whole production chain as well as specific technologies for low-carbon production. In addition, in the context of the technological transformation, the social innovation supported by digital technologies is analysed as key aspect not only improving working conditions and competencies, and creating qualified jobs, but also facilitating knowledge sharing, cooperative work and networking.

New digital technologies aim at optimising the entire production chain of the steel sector to improve the flexibility and the reliability of its production processes, to maximise the yield and to improve the product quality and the maintenance activities. In addition, they aim at improving energy efficiency and at monitoring and controlling environmental impacts of processes. This can be achieved through the application of new IT, automation and optimisation technologies, Predictive Maintenance, ML, Data Mining techniques and Knowledge Management and by the integration of all systems and productions units, through different processes including vertical, horizontal, life-cycle and transversal integrations.

Based on an interdisciplinary approach, development and implementation of sustainable technologies include key enabling technologies and sustainable processes, supply chains and networks that promote higher efficiency, waste reduction, closed loops and eco-design. Consequently, the transformation of society from a linear to a circular economy will require changes in many areas of society, such as business, education, finance, politics, legislation, etc.

In order to achieve the industry resilience, future research will be focused on innovative techniques, such as more modular production lines, remotely operated factories, use of new materials and real-time risk monitoring and management. In this context, digital technologies will enable resilient technologies, such as data gathering, automated risk analysis and automated mitigation measures, although this could produce industrial technical disruptions.

Furthermore, digital transformation and climate objectives represent the main drivers for increasing energy and resource efficiency and contribute to keeping materials in use for a longer time. A further support for the industrial digital transformation and CE can be provided by exploiting synergies between the different EU initiatives. In last few decades, new relationships between environment and industrial competitiveness have been mainly based on innovation-based solutions to achieve both environmental protection and industrial competitiveness. To this aim, policies and legislation represent drivers for companies to adopt measures and solutions for facilitating innovation. However, some specific regulations and policies, although encouraging the implementation of innovative measures in process industries, can also limit them. Therefore, it is important to have legislation and policies clear, consistent, and less bureaucratic, as well as economic incentives to overcome disadvantages for EU companies. On the other hand, the increasingly stringent environmental legislation represents a driving factor for the steel sector to implement digital technologies for coping energy demand, improving energy efficiency and adopting low-carbon energy systems. The transformation of processes through digital technologies (e.g., through the adoption of high-performance components, machines and robots to optimise the materials and energy consumptions) can help to significantly reduce emissions and improve resources efficiency, by optimising materials and energy consumptions.

However, the workforce has to be integrated in such processes. The EU Industry 5.0 approach is therefore not only highlighting a sustainable and resilient industry but the human-centric orientation, developing technology for the people and solution to societal challenges. New skills requirements, due to the possible impact of AI, are an example as well as advantages for both workers and companies, by attracting and retaining talented people, with consequent benefits for companies’ competitiveness.