Intelligent Assets: Unlocking the Circular Economy Potential

The impending digital transformation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution holds the potential to redefine the very basis of our materials-reliant industrial economy. Enabled by the internet of things, a new model of growth gradually gaining independence from finite resource extraction is emerging. This report illustrates opportunities for innovation and creativity across a spectrum of industries and sectors: it looks at how we manufacture and use electronics and advanced equipment, how we create our energy infrastructure, how we build and transform our buildings, and how we produce food. It assesses how smart cities might evolve to become a focal point for the transitions to follow. There are profit opportunities for companies to play for but perhaps more importantly, there’s an opportunity for society to redefine its relationship with resources.