Talk to Me: Connectivity for Transformation and Resilience

Summary

The transformation of industrial businesses is a global phenomenon being pushed by the desire for greater output and efficiency, pulled by technological advances, and challenged by connectivity issues from the mundane (two-wire Ethernet cables) to the potentially catastrophic (OT cyber attacks).    

“Industrie 4.0” is one framework helping automation pros transform industrial operations. Launched in Germany and quickly taken up by many companies, Industry 4.0 has become a useful organizing principle. “Industry 4.0 and related initiatives recognize that efficiently building self-managing production processes requires open software and communications standards that allow sensors, controllers, people, machines, equipment, logistics systems, and products to communicate and cooperate with each other directly,” said InTech Editor Emeritus Bill Lydon in 2016.

Another framework released by China's Alliance of Industrial Internet (AII) in April 2020—Industrial Internet Architecture 2.0—puts connectivity and communications in the forefront.

Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications giant, describes the industrial Internet (II) this way:  “The industrial Internet is a new infrastructure, application mode, and industrial ecosystem that deeply integrates next-generation information communication technologies with the industrial economy. By fully connecting all elements, including people, machines, materials and systems, the industrial Internet builds a brand-new manufacturing and service system covering the entire industry chain and value chain.”

According to Huawei, “With the development of technological and industrial transformation, the Internet has spread from the consumption field to the production field. Industries are also evolving from digitalization to networked and intelligent development, driving the birth of the Industrial Internet.”

In this April 2024 issue of InTech, ISA Fellow Deji Chen describes the functional architecture of the Industrial Internet and its importance. Other authors in this issue dive into physical layer issues addressed by Ethernet-APL for process automation, smart field devices enabled by the HART communications protocol, and wireless communications for far-flung process controllers.

The issue’s cover story introduces a related new concept worthy of attention: cyber security resiliency. “A core meaning behind cyber­security is keeping systems up and running and secure against any kind of attack. But when an organization does suffer a hit, the next step in the ladder of protection needs to be resiliency…. OT cybersecurity is evolving into the holistic practice of cyber resilience.”

Look to ISA, InTech and Automation.com to bring you more in the months ahead on all these important concepts.
 
_{This news item originally appeared in the April 2024 isue of InTech digital magazine.}