Impact of COVID-19 on Industry 4.0 Implementation: Kazakhstan Industry Case

Abstract

COVID-19, which shook the world and still brings losses worldwide changes people's perception of life in every aspect. Experts predict severe post-pandemic effect with an economic crisis afterward. Despite this, the pandemic has the potential to boost the digital transformations of companies. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the role that Industry 4.0 plays in countries with transitional economies such as Kazakhstan, how it is changed with the pandemic, as well as identifies how the perception of the people has changed about that. Interviews with the representatives of different enterprises in Kazakhstan were conducted to analyze and clarify the real effect of COVID-19, their future forecasts, and estimations about the development of Industry 4.0 and digital transformation in the country in general1.