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Can shifting pathways from manufacturing to ‘smart’ manufacturing become a successful leapfrogging strategy? Can low-income countries use the new features of smart manufacturing activities to reboot their industrialization processes with smaller, but more targeted investments in high-technology manufacturing niches that have potential for expansion? If so, what is the role of industrial hubs in this context? These are the main questions that this chapter seeks to address, with a particular focus on Africa. The chapter argues that the changed nature of innovation—both the incrementality and modularity—lends itself to a leapfrogging paradigm, and a holistic framework can help countries embark on this important transition. The chapter considers the example of Germany, where the Industry 4.0 framework has focused on empowering small and medium-sized enterprises, and proposes a new, more calibrated vision of industrial hubs to support smart manufacturing, with policy recommendations. |
