Ethical risks management in Industry 4.0 – ETHICS40

The use of advanced technologies in industrial systems is expanding in view of: 1) the technical specificities that they allow to achieve, 2) the traceability of data that they offer and, 3) the relief of human operators from tedious or repetitive tasks that they make possible. The industrial systems of the Future (4.0) are characterised by an increase in their autonomy and a profusion of data produced and handled that can lead to poorly controlled decisions, which can lead to ethical dilemmas. Such decisions may concern an inappropriate use of data for the management of industrial systems or reactions, triggered by Artificial Intelligence, based on a partial vision of the system and having poorly controlled consequences on the various stakeholders. The ETHICS40 project focuses on the management of ethical issues during the operation of industrial systems of the Future. In partnership with the bearing manufacturer NTN-SNR, which is in the process of migrating to the Factory of the Future, it aims to develop a tool, a software prototype, called ETHICS4IF (Ethical Risk Assessment and Management for Industry of the Future), which will enable the identification and integration of ethical risks into the management and performance imrovement of industrial systems of the Future. As ethics is a concept derived from moral philosophy that is difficult to grasp in engineering, the ETHICS4IF tool will be the result of works led by a multidisciplinary team involving specialists in applied ethics. A definition of this notion of ethics applied to the operation of industrial systems of the Future and an identification of the associated risks will be proposed in a first step. In a second step, the taking into account of these risks in the mechanism of evaluation and continuous improvement of the performance of industrial systems will be made operational by proposing a concrete methodology to integrate the risks and their potential consequences. ETHICS4IF will be aimed at actors interacting with these systems (operators, managers, etc.). It will combine the different points of view associated with ethical risks (human, industrial system, company, society, environment). The ethical management rules and practices deduced from the risk analysis will be defined in accordance with the rules of ethics in place in the company and in compliance with the laws associated with the use of digital technology. Performance indicators related to the ethics associated with the operation of the industrial systems of the Future will be proposed and monitored in order to improve the handling of this dimension. The main deliverable of the project will consist of a software prototype encompassing the aspects mentioned. It will be accompanied by a set of rules and practices deduced from its application by the NTN-SNR partner as well as a feedback on the use of the tool and the management rules and practices, beyond the NTN-SNR case study. The tool will be fed, tested and used by the Company. A strategic committee made up of the project members, industrialists who are not competitors of NTN-SNR and a law office specialising in digital law will oversee the progress of this project. The ETHICS40 project responds to an important need of industrialists in their migration towards the Factory of the Future. It will provide the scientific community with a tool to help operationalise ethics in engineering and industrial engineering research.