Industry 4.0 in clusters: how openness boosts innovation in Industry 4.0 technologies

The aim of the chapter is to investigate the role of firms’ features on innovation performance in Industry 4.0 (I4.0), with particular reference to the concepts of breadth and depth of openness of the innovation process. The study first presents an analysis of the geography of the I4.0 innovation to map the I4.0 clusters in Italy. Then, using original data gathered through LinkedIn Sales Navigator on firms operating in I4.0 and located in clusters, a regression analysis is conducted to investigate the relationship between the openness of firms’ innovation process at the level of knowledge sources and their innovation performance in I4.0. The results highlight the relationship between the level of openness and innovative performance in I4.0. In particular, the breadth and depth of the openness of the firms’ innovation process are curvilinearly related to innovation in I4.0, taking an inverted U-shape.