Industry 5.0 goes beyond automation and digitisation, it is about reinventing production in a way that keeps people at the centre of the process, said Head of the European Commission Representation in Romania Ramona Chiriac on Wednesday at the event 'Bucharest Leaders' Summit: The Path to 5.0. From Vision to Reality.'

'Romania celebrates 18 years in the EU this year, and you have been accompanying Romania through this transformative journey, from post-communism to the vibrant democracy it is today. I brought with me today many questions. I've been in a reflective mindset, perhaps also because this whole concept of 5.0 is still emerging, and we are in the stage where we ask questions and find answers together. We're not just talking about a new industrial revolution, we're talking about a paradigm shift. We're moving from efficiency to empathy, from automation to humanisation, from profit to shared prosperity. We live in an increasingly volatile world where technological advances are accelerating, but so are vulnerabilities, from fragile supply chains to the need for strategic autonomy. The European industry has always been and remains a cornerstone of our economy. Between 2009 and 2019, it generated around 20% of the EU's GDP, and the manufacturing sector alone over 14%. But how do we maintain this competitiveness without sacrificing human well-being? How do we integrate technology without losing the meaning of work? Industry 5.0 goes beyond automation and digitisation. It's about reinventing production so that people remain at the heart of the process, sustainability becomes a principle rather than an option, and social responsibility is embedded in every company's DNA,' said Ramona Chiriac.

She underscored that automation and artificial intelligence will profoundly change the structure of jobs, but the key questions are whether we will have a workforce prepared for these high-tech environments, how we ensure continuous and flexible training adapted to a professional lifecycle that is increasingly fragmented, and especially, how we preserve motivation and meaning in a digitised economy.

'Industry 5.0 is fully aligned with major European priorities: the Green Deal for a circular and sustainable economy, the Digital Agenda for a future-ready Europe, our industrial strategy, and the Pact for Skills, all aimed at addressing the skills gap and strengthening strategic autonomy. Recent crises, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, climate change, have made it clear that without a resilient industry, we cannot speak of a secure Europe in any meaningful sense. Industry 5.0 is part of a deeper societal transformation, one in which digital technologies, AI and robotics serve citizens, public health, education and the environment. But we must not only ask what technology can do, we must ask what we, as a society, want to do with it,' the EC representative said.

According to her, Romania is a valuable contributor to this transition and an active participant in this transformation. Companies like UiPath integrate automation with human responsibility, plants like Dacia and Bosch bring smart technologies to sustainable production, Romanian researchers contribute to the development of AI, biotechnology and robotics, and Romanian social entrepreneurship offers business models focused on value and impact.

'We are indeed at the beginning of this transition, but success will not come on its own. It depends on our shared courage to ask ourselves these difficult questions, what kind of industry we want, what kind of society we support, and what legacy we leave for future generations,' Ramona Chiriac pointed out.

The MediaUno Press Group, the MediaUno Association, the Department for Sustainable Development, and the National Institute of Statistics are organising the 'Bucharest Leaders' Summit: The Path to 5.0. From Vision to Reality' between May 21 and June 16, 2025, as part of the 29th edition of the national project 'Together We Protect Romania.' AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Nicoleta Gherasi; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)