## 2 Literature Review
### Universities Response to Industry 4.0 Challenges
In this direction, in [PERSON] and [PERSON] surveyed 733 college students from Brazil and Germany about their awareness of the current industrial context and their perception of preparedness. The study highlights a higher awareness about the topic Industry 4.0 and its related technologies in German students and a discrepancy between the perceived preparation in Industry 4.0 (I4.0) between first semester and last semester students (while in Brazil, there were no differences). In [PERSON] et al. (2018), [PERSON] et al. surveyed 563 students mainly from European countries about their knowledge and skills in the area of IoT, AI, and EC. The authors concluded that students are familiar with AI technologies while they have a lack of education in the field of EC. Moreover, students have better theoretical knowledge compared to the skills of practical application of technologies in industry. In [10], the authors present the results of a questionnaire-based survey developed to analyze the situation of three Italian universities regarding the readiness of its students to work in a 4.0 context. The analysis of the 433 questionnaires collected in the study emphasized the need for a broader knowledge of the foundations of Industry 4.0 and a possible revision of the courses that teach technical topics with the possibility of integrating the new teaching methodologies prompted by Education 4.0. The investigation of the state of I4.0 readiness and awareness is also addressed in [39] where [PERSON] and [PERSON] study this topic in the context of South Korean ICT students. Although the authors observe that the students interviewed in this study showed at least a limited knowledge about I4.0 and its implications, the results underline that a deeper understanding of this topics is needed, especially in finding the involvement and integration with the training activities in their curricula. On the other hand, it may be necessary to understand the perceptions of the academics in implementing I4.0 in teaching and what students think about Industry 4.0 in the learning process. In [40] the authors performed qualitative research on 33 stakeholders involved in education to explore the perceptions of the teaching staff about the I4.0 readiness of the education sector (meaning not only universities) in South Africa. [PERSON] and [PERSON] found a general lack of exploitation of 4.0 technologies in teaching and learning processes and that the current curricula do not provide the skills required for I4.0. The fourth industrial revolution demands transformation in engineering curricula structure to provide the future workforce with the skills required to operate in this new environment. Within this topic, Ref. [41] examines what the possible implications of I4.0 are in the development of university programs in South Africa. Through a literature review, the analysis of industrial engineering curricula and a questionnaire-based survey conducted among 10 universities, the authors observed that: universities need a better alignment with I4.0 and increase the interdisciplinarity of their courses; the principles of I4.0 should be included more in teaching modules and the material in order to meet companies' needs in terms of required skill set. The need for change invests in the topics covered in university courses and the teaching approach itself. In [42], the authors employ the systematic literature review method to investigate the current state of engineering education in the I4.0 context, particularly concerning additive manufacturing. [PERSON] and [PERSON] note that more active teaching involving direct participation (such as in project-based learning) is necessary; nonetheless, not always well welcomed by the teaching staff. As observed in the literature, there is a high interest in Industry 4.0 challenges in the academic world. However, many studies on Industry 4.0 readiness from a higher education perspective come from non-EU countries [34; 35; 39; 40; 41].