# Revolution 4.0: Industry vs. Agriculture in a Future Development for SMEs
## 5 Discussion and Future Implications  
The fourth industrial revolution allows firms to combine productivity and speed to respond to the market, making their system more productive and competitive. However, those who do not take this path risk being excluded from a worldwide competition.  
Thanks to agriculture 4.0, many technologies make it possible to accomplish smart farms. However, their acceptance by individual farmers depends on several additional factors, such as usability and the identification of best practices. Both an agricultural and a farmer-centered approach are needed. Only in this way will the concept of smart farming prove sustainable for the future. The importance of a change in the mindset of farmers is crucial to activate an effective and sustainable production system that will last in the long term [24; 27]. Instead, these notions are the basis of a competitive industry.  
Considerable research effort has been spent on the development of models in the agricultural sector. However, the application of innovative models to individual farms is limited, despite the many advantages that smart agriculture could bring; the way in which these could be achieved within the dimensions of productivity, profitability and sustainability remains unclear [24]. An adequate structural and legislative operating environment through new technologies, training and qualifications is decisive for Agriculture 4.0 [19] and a possible Agriculture 5.0. Policy makers need to launch calls for proposals to further promote start-ups based on these technologies and even to support SMEs to invest in these technologies (i) to keep up with the coming technological revolution, and (ii) to be competitive and at the forefront of other economic realities [6]. Moreover, a training process must be planned to lead to effective solutions for farms, responding to the needs and interactions of the operating contexts of farmers. The ability to apply data along the agricultural supply chain can permit a productive growth of existing agricultural processes towards innovative farming.  
By highlighting strategies to Industry 4.0 or Agriculture 4.0, it is indispensable for SME managers to understand how approaching to innovation and which advantages can be derived [43]. Especially the positioning as user and/or provider strongly impact on SME business models. Several restrictions concern methodology and findings, especially considering Agriculture 4.0. Revolution 4.0 offers a new background for studying the diffusion of economic boundaries, allowing future researchers to deliver generalizable fallouts as to how firms transfer or extend their business models from manufacturing to ICT (Information and Communications Technology), and vice versa [91].  
The processes being pursued by industry are also influencing the food production process in agriculture. Recent industrialization of the agricultural production process has led to major environmental concerns, e.g., soil degradation, erosion, compaction, and pollution [115; 116]. This translates into a loss of soil quality and of the eco-systemic services that the soil has guaranteed us over time [117; 118; 119; 120]. Some evidence of this dramatic situation of soils can be found in different parts of the world, offering some potential solutions [116; 118; 119; 120; 121; 122]. Understanding how industrial techniques are managing agriculture has resulted in soil degradation that should be updated. In this sense, the 4.0 revolution should include not only technological innovation but also environmental issues [121; 122]. In this sense, United Nations objectives include economic sectors as both responsible and useful actors for sustainable development [123]. Therefore, natural resources, e.g., soil, in the primary sector must be treated in accordance with sustainability criteria in order to advance towards increasingly sophisticated technological development [124; 125; 126; 127].