K, Khelil Digital markets act and industry 4.0: Aligning competition policy with cybersecurity

Abstract

Industry 4.0’s convergence of Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and cybersecurity systems increases efficiency while expanding systemic cyber risk. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) alters platform dynamics through interoperability and data-sharing mandates, with important security implications. This study assesses how the DMA’s ex-ante regime interacts with Industry 4.0 technologies. Using qualitative analysis of policy texts, literature, and case studies, this study identifies risks and regulatory conflicts.

The findings indicate that the DMA promotes contestability but expands attack surfaces, exposes algorithmic opacity and creates tensions with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Reliance on gatekeeper self-disclosure and fragmented cross-border supervision weakens incident response and supply-chain resilience.