Industry 4.0 digital technologies in agribusiness will enable traditional farming systems to migrate to Agriculture 4.0. Open innovation emerges as an enabler for implementing these technologies and increased sector competitiveness. However, there are still doubts and questions about how technologies and open innovation relate to and will drive Agriculture 4.0. This study identified which digital technologies of Industry 4.0 have more adherence to agribusiness, what the barriers and facilitators for using these technologies are, and how open innovation can increase the competitiveness of agribusiness. The results show that of the Industry 4.0 technologies related to agribusiness, the Internet of Things (IoT) is the most prominent. The main barriers are the users’ need for more knowledge and advanced skills, which evidences the need for investment in training operators. Among the facilitators stand the pre-existence of several technologies, which bring with them already defined basic structures, control of the technology, and communication between systems. To overcome the barriers and enhance the migration to Agriculture 4.0, developing devices, tools, systems, software, and machines is essential. More stakeholders, managers, and practitioners may share such opportunities for innovation in agribusiness through the concept of Open Innovation. To benefit from it, facilitators, managers, and practitioners of agribusiness should search for alternatives for their problems with engineering solutions providers.

Industry 4.0 and its technologies can potentially increase business competitiveness in the age of digital transformation through the implementation of its technologies. These digital technologies are increasingly present in the food industry, characterizing the concept of Agriculture 4.0. This digital transformation is a reality; however, it is unclear which digital technologies are most useful for each industry sector. Therefore, this paper seeks to explore the current state of implementation of digital technologies in different industrial sectors and which digital technologies should be leveraged to increase the performance of the agribusiness system. To do so, we used secondary data from a large-scale survey of 28 industrial sectors, representing 2225 companies in the Brazilian industry. Analyzing the different industrial sectors allowed us to present a framework of digital transformation to boost food industry competitiveness towards Agriculture 4.0. The results show that the food industry usually uses only one digital technology, showing the need for simultaneous and joint investments in the other technologies presented in this research. Public policies must be directed to encourage the expansion of digital technologies in the food industry.

Periódico eletrônico de acesso aberto, voltado a pós-graduação, pesquisadores e profissionais da área de Engenharia de Produção e correlatas.