The Evolution of Cyber-Physical Systems as a Driving Force Behind Digital Transformation

The aim of this paper is the scientific analysis of the evolution of Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) within the metacontext of digitalization. The implementation of such “smart” systems promises a broad variety of application areas, potential benefits and problem solutions, within diverse economic sectors. Since the emergence of this terminology approximately a decade ago, scientific interest was initially limited; more recently, however, there has been a considerable increase in scientific publications, not least in connection with such concepts as the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 or the Industrial Internet. In order to take these developments into account, a bibliographic literature review following earlier studies was performed. Within that context, the evolution of CPS terminology, based on the available scientific literature, was examined, resulting in the identification of not only actual and potential application areas but also an overview of scientific journals and institutions, which distinguish themselves within corresponding research and publication efforts. Finally, these investigations were merged together to provide a general overview in the sense of an actual research map of relevant CPS research.