The strategic value of the smart work environment

The world is continuously subject to change. After the first, the second, and the third industrial revolution, the fourth industrial revolution is about to happen. In industry 4.0, machines and other things are connected to the internet, called the Internet of Things, which enables them to communicate with each other. This innovation, which contributes to industry 4.0 amongst others, enables machines to perform repeating tasks even better than before and allows people to divert their focus, such as management or creative tasks. Because of the communication between machines and other things through the internet, knowledge, service, and information will become more and more important. More than that, ‘data is the new oil’ is a slogan which is increasingly being used in the media (Quora, 2016). It means that data, e.g. information about persons, has become a very valuable asset, however just like oil, it is useless if unrefined. Data must be analyzed before it can provide value (Ana Marketing Maestros, 2006). Data is continuously being collected by the Internet of Things, and this evolves into smart products, smart grids, smart logistics, and smart buildings which should all provide more service for people than the ‘normal variant’.