Characterization, analysis, and recommendations for exploiting the opportunities of cyber-physical systems

Leveraging on a comprehensive analysis of cyber-physical systems (CPSs) in Europe, this chapter presents overall findings focusing on (1) a characterization of CPS, (2) opportunities and challenges in representative CPS application domains, and (3) recommendations for action resulting from a cross-domain analysis. The characterization enables a high-level description of a CPS, or classes of CPS, according to their technical emphasis, cross-cutting aspects, level of automation, and life-cycle integration. We illustrate how these characteristics can be used to relate to design issues, systems, and related terms. The recommendations are to: (1) strengthen cross-disciplinary research collaboration, (2) foster CPS education and training, (3) stimulate public-private partnerships for CPS technology experimentation and to ensure dependable information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure, (4) promote interoperability of CPS technology, (5) anticipate new business models and support open innovation, (6) ensure trustworthiness including safety and security, and (7) favor human-centered approaches to CPS.