What is it about?

This article reviews how industrial information should be collected, processed and integrated to support the emerging vision of Industry 5.0, which emphasises human‑centric, sustainable and resilient value creation instead of pure efficiency. We analyse recent work on Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), edge–cloud computing and 6G/Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) to understand how data, models and services can be orchestrated across devices, edge nodes and cloud platforms. To structure this fragmented landscape, we introduce a three‑dimensional taxonomy of Industry 5.0 information integration architectures, based on IIoT–edge–cloud integration patterns, AI and analytics placement, and the maturity of testbeds and pilots. Using this taxonomy, we map a wide range of frameworks, architectures, communication stacks and lab‑scale implementations, and show how they jointly define a coherent design space for Industry 5.0 information integration.

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Why is it important?

Industry 5.0 asks companies to go beyond smart, efficient factories and build industrial ecosystems that are also human‑centric, sustainable and resilient. Yet current literature on IIoT, edge–cloud computing, 6G/ISAC and digital twins is highly fragmented, making it difficult for engineers, managers and policymakers to translate this vision into concrete architectures and governance choices. By reframing Industry 5.0 as an information‑integration problem, our study links value dimensions such as human‑centricity, sustainability and resilience to specific IIoT–edge–cloud patterns, AI deployment options and communication requirements. The taxonomy and synthesis we propose can help researchers position new contributions within a clear design space, and support practitioners in designing information‑rich industrial systems and testbeds that align technical decisions with long‑term social and environmental goals.

Perspectives

At the intersection of telecommunications and industrial information systems, discussions of Industry 4.0 and Industry 5.0 often remain fragmented, and IIoT, edge–cloud and 6G/ISAC technologies are frequently treated as purely technical topics. This article responds to the need to connect these strands into a single, integration‑oriented view that can be used both by engineers building testbeds and by managers planning human‑centric, sustainable industrial transformations. Practical experience with IIoT–edge–cloud testbeds for digital twins, predictive maintenance and AI‑enabled automation highlights how difficult it is to align architectural and deployment decisions with organisational capabilities and sustainability goals in real settings. The taxonomy and synthesis proposed in this review are intended not only to structure the academic literature, but also to support practitioners and policymakers in framing Industry 5.0 as a concrete design space for information‑rich, trustworthy and resilient industrial ecosystems, rather than as a vague slogan.

PhD Cornelia Ionela Badoi
Universitatea Politehnica din Bucuresti

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This page is a summary of: Information integration for Industry 5.0: A review of IIoT–edge–cloud architectures with 6G/ISAC capabilities, Journal of Industrial Information Integration, July 2026, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.jii.2026.101117.
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