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2 episodes with ot it
3 episodes with ot it
2 episodes with ot it
2 episodes with ot it
With artificial intelligence stepping off the laptop and out onto job sites, factory floors, and flight decks, are we preparing students for the AI that sees, senses, and acts in the real world, not just the kind that chats back?Matt Kirchner sits down with Lieutenant General Brian Cavanaugh, USMC (Ret.), CEO of VigilanteX. After decades commanding Marines and integrating emerging tech into national defense, Cavanaugh now leads a company building applied AI platforms at the edge: solar- and Starlink-powered trailers with cameras and compute that monitor sites 24/7 and turn video into real-time safety, security and efficiency intelligence.Together, Matt and Brian unpack what “applied AI” really means across the edge-to-cloud continuum. They discuss AI agents running on the edge, natural language search over video, and systems that close the loop from sensor to decision in seconds. They also explore why simply teaching students to prompt chatbots isn't enough, and how K-12, CTE, and higher education can catch up to a world where AI is baked into every system, every site, and every mission.Listen to learn:How VigilanteX combines solar power, Starlink, cameras, and edge compute into their tech.The difference between AI at the edge and AI in the cloud, and why latency, bandwidth, and resilience matter for safety-critical environments.How AI agents work at the edge, and why they can work faster and more efficiently than humans (freeing up humans to do more interesting work).Why Cavanaugh believes every student should understand how data moves from sensors to the edge, to the cloud, and back into real-time control.What China's national push for AI education signals about global competition and how U.S. educators should respond with applied AI in the classroom.➡️ Watch the Full Episode on YouTube3 Big Takeaways from this Episode:1. AI at the edge is becoming a digital teammate. VigilanteX's platforms use cameras, connectivity, and on-site compute to watch for fall risks, PPE issues, intrusions, and abnormal conditions across construction, manufacturing, logistics, and energy sites. The system flags events in real time, routes the right video to supervisors, and builds a data trail leaders can use to change procedures before accidents happen.2. Edge-to-cloud literacy is a new baseline skill for technical careers. Cavanaugh and Kirchner break down how raw sensor and video data is processed locally, filtered, and then pushed to the cloud for storage, analytics, and dashboards. Understanding where computation lives, what data moves, and how AI agents plug into that pipeline prepares students for roles in automation, OT/IT, robotics, and cyber-physical systems in any industry.3. We need to teach applied AI, not just chatbots. While large language models are powerful, the episode shows how AI is part of the edge-to-cloud continuum. Giving students hands-on experience with autonomous systems, computer vision, and industrial data flows helps them see AI as something they can design, deploy, and govern rather than a black box that only lives in a browser.Find links & more resources on the episode page! We want to hear from you! Send us a text.Instagram - Facebook - YouTube - TikTok - Twitter - LinkedIn
Shawn Tierney meets up with Connor Mason of Software Toolbox to learn their company, products, as well as see a demo of their products in action in this episode of The Automation Podcast. For any links related to this episode, check out the “Show Notes” located below the video. Watch The Automation Podcast from The Automation Blog: Listen to The Automation Podcast from The Automation Blog: The Automation Podcast, Episode 248 Show Notes: Special thanks to Software Toolbox for sponsoring this episode so we could release it “ad free!” To learn about Software Toolbox please checkout the below links: TOP Server Cogent DataHub Industries Case studies Technical blogs Read the transcript on The Automation Blog: (automatically generated) Shawn Tierney (Host): Welcome back to the automation podcast. My name is Shawn Tierney with Insights and Automation, and I wanna thank you for tuning back in this week. Now this week on the show, I meet up with Connor Mason from Software Toolbox, who gives us an overview of their product suite, and then he gives us a demo at the end. And even if you’re listening, I think you’re gonna find the demo interesting because Connor does a great job of talking through what he’s doing on the screen. With that said, let’s go ahead and jump into this week’s episode with Connor Mason from Software Toolbox. I wanna welcome Connor from Software Toolbox to the show. Connor, it’s really exciting to have you. It’s just a lot of fun talking to your team as we prepared for this, and, I’m really looking forward to because I just know in your company over the years, you guys have so many great solutions that I really just wanna thank you for coming on the show. And before you jump into talking about products and technologies Yeah. Could you first tell us just a little bit about yourself? Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Thanks, Shawn, for having us on. Definitely a pleasure to be a part of this environment. So my name is Connor Mason. Again, I’m with Software Toolbox. We’ve been around for quite a while. So we’ll get into some of that history as well before we get into all the the fun technical things. But, you know, I’ve worked a lot with the variety of OT and IT projects that are ongoing at this point. I’ve come up through our support side. It’s definitely where we grow a lot of our technical skills. It’s a big portion of our company. We’ll get that into that a little more. Currently a technical application consultant lead. So like I said, I I help run our support team, help with these large solutions based projects and consultations, to find what’s what’s best for you guys out there. There’s a lot of different things that in our in our industry is new, exciting. It’s fast paced. Definitely keeps me busy. My background was actually in data analytics. I did not come through engineering, did not come through the automation, trainings at all. So this is a whole new world for me about five years ago, and I’ve learned a lot, and I really enjoyed it. So, I really appreciate your time having us on here, Shawn Tierney (Host): Shawn. Well, I appreciate you coming on. I’m looking forward to what you’re gonna show us today. I had a the audience should know I had a little preview of what they were gonna show, so I’m looking forward to it. Connor Mason (Guest): Awesome. Well, let’s jump right into it then. So like I said, we’re here at Software Toolbox, kinda have this ongoing logo and and just word map of connect everything, and that’s really where we lie. Some people have called us data plumbers in the past. It’s all these different connections where you have something, maybe legacy or something new, you need to get into another system. Well, how do you connect all those different points to it? And, you know, throughout all these projects we worked on, there’s always something unique in those different projects. And we try to work in between those unique areas and in between all these different integrations and be something that people can come to as an expert, have those high level discussions, find something that works for them at a cost effective solution. So outside of just, you know, products that we offer, we also have a lot of just knowledge in the industry, and we wanna share that. You’ll kinda see along here, there are some product names as well that you might recognize. Our top server and OmniServer, we’ll be talking about LOPA as well. It’s been around in the industry for, you know, decades at this point. And also our symbol factory might be something you you may have heard in other products, that they actually utilize themselves for HMI and and SCADA graphics. That is that is our product. So you may have interacted it with us without even knowing it, and I hope we get to kind of talk more about things that we do. So before we jump into all the fun technical things as well, I kind of want to talk about just the overall software toolbox experience as we call it. We’re we’re more than just someone that wants to sell you a product. We we really do work with, the idea of solutions. How do we provide you value and solve the problems that you are facing as the person that’s actually working out there on the field, on those operation lines, and making things as well. And that’s really our big priority is providing a high level of knowledge, variety of the things we can work with, and then also the support. It’s very dear to me coming through the the support team is still working, you know, day to day throughout that software toolbox, and it’s something that has been ingrained into our heritage. Next year will be thirty years of software toolbox in 2026. So we’re established in 1996. Through those thirty years, we have committed to supporting the people that we work with. And I I I can just tell you that that entire motto lives throughout everyone that’s here. So from that, over 97% of the customers that we interact with through support say they had an awesome or great experience. Having someone that you can call that understands the products you’re working with, understands the environment you’re working in, understands the priority of certain things. If you ever have a plant shut down, we know how stressful that is. Those are things that we work through and help people throughout. So this really is the core pillars of Software Toolbox and who we are, beyond just the products, and and I really think this is something unique that we have continued to grow and stand upon for those thirty years. So jumping right into some of the industry challenges we’ve been seeing over the past few years. This is also a fun one for me, talking about data analytics and tying these things together. In my prior life and education, I worked with just tons of data, and I never fully knew where it might have come from, why it was such a mess, who structured it that way, but it’s my job to get some insights out of that. And knowing what the data actually was and why it matters is a big part of actually getting value. So if you have dirty data, if you have data that’s just clustered, it’s in silos, it’s very often you’re not gonna get much value out of it. This was a study that we found in 2024, from Garner Research, And it said that, based on the question that business were asked, were there any top strategic priorities for your data analytics functions in 2024? And almost 50%, it’s right at ’49, said that they wanted to improve data quality, and that was a strategic priority. This is about half the industry is just talking about data quality, and it’s exactly because of those reasons I said in my prior life gave me a headache, to look at all these different things that I don’t even know where they became from or or why they were so different. And the person that made that may have been gone may not have the contacts, and making that from the person that implemented things to the people that are making decisions, is a very big task sometimes. So if we can create a better pipeline of data quality at the beginning, makes those people’s lives a lot easier up front and allows them to get value out of that data a lot quicker. And that’s what businesses need. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I wanna just data quality. Right? Mhmm. I think a lot of us, when we think of that, we think of, you know, error error detection. We think of lost connections. We think of, you know, just garbage data coming through. But I I think from an analytical side, there’s a different view on that, you know, in line with what you were just saying. So how do you when you’re talking to somebody about data quality, how do you get them to shift gears and focus in on what you’re talking about and not like a quality connection to the device itself? Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Yeah. We I kinda live in both those worlds now. You know, I I get to see that that connection state. And when you’re operating in real time, that quality is also very important to you. Mhmm. And I kind of use that at the same realm. Think of that when you’re thinking in real time, if you know what’s going on in the operation and where things are running, that’s important to you. That’s the quality that you’re looking for. You have to think beyond just real time. We’re talking about historical data. We’re talking about data that’s been stored for months and years. Think about the quality of that data once it’s made up to that level. Are they gonna understand what was happening around those periods? Are they gonna understand what those tags even are? Are they gonna understand what those conventions that you’ve implemented, to give them insights into this operation. Is that a clear picture? So, yeah, you’re absolutely right. There are two levels to this, and and that is a big part of it. The the real time data and historical, and we’re gonna get some of that into into our demo as well. It it’s a it’s a big area for the business, and the people working in the operations. Shawn Tierney (Host): Yeah. I think quality too. Think, you know, you may have data. It’s good data. It was collected correctly. You had a good connection to the device. You got it. You got it as often as you want. But that data could really be useless. It could tell you nothing. Connor Mason (Guest): Right. Exactly. Shawn Tierney (Host): Right? It could be a flow rate on part of the process that irrelevant to monitoring the actual production of the product or or whatever you’re making. And, you know, I’ve known a lot of people who filled up their databases, their historians, with they just they just logged everything. And it’s like a lot of that data was what I would call low quality because it’s low information value. Right? Absolutely. I’m sure you run into that too. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. We we run into a lot of people that, you know, I’ve got x amount of data points in my historian and, you know, then we start digging into, well, I wanna do something with it or wanna migrate. Okay. Like, well, what do you wanna achieve at the end of this? Right? And and asking those questions, you know, it’s great that you have all these things historized. Are you using it? Do you have the right things historized? Are they even set up to be, you know, worked upon once they are historized by someone outside of this this landscape? And I think OT plays such a big role in this, and that’s why we start to see the convergence of the IT and OT teams just because that communication needs to occur sooner. So we’re not just passing along, you know, low quality data, bad quality data as well. And we’ll get into some of that later on. So to jump into some of our products and solutions, I kinda wanna give this overview of the automation pyramid. This is where we work from things like the field device communications. And you you have certain sensors, meters, actuators along the actual lines, wherever you’re working. We work across all the industries, so this can vary between those. Through there, you work up kind of your control area. A lot of control engineers are working. This is where I think a lot of the audience is very familiar with PLCs. Your your typical name, Siemens, Rockwell, your Schneiders that are creating, these hardware products. They’re interacting with things on the operation level, and they’re generating data. That that was kind of our bread and butter for a very long time and still is that communication level of getting data from there, but now getting it up the stack further into the pyramid of your supervisory, MES connections, and it’ll also now open to these ERP. We have a lot of large corporations that have data across variety of different solutions and also want to integrate directly down into their operation levels. There’s a lot of value to doing that, but there’s also a lot of watch outs, and a lot of security concerns. So that’ll be a topic that we’ll be getting into. We also all know that the cloud is here. It’s been here, and it’s it’s gonna continue to push its way into, these cloud providers into OT as well. There there’s a lot of benefit to it, but there there’s also some watch outs as this kind of realm, changes in the landscape that we’ve been used to. So there’s a lot of times that we wanna get data out there. There’s value into AI agents. It’s a hot it’s a hot commodity right now. Analytics as well. How do we get those things directly from shop floor, up into the cloud directly, and how do we do that securely? It’s things that we’ve been working on. We’ve had successful projects, continues to be an interest area and I don’t see it slowing down at all. Now, when we kind of begin this level at the bottom of connectivity, people mostly know us for our top server. This is our platform for industrial device connectivity. It’s a thing that’s talking to all those different PLCs in your plant, whether that’s brownfield or greenfield. We pretty much know that there’s never gonna be a plant that’s a single PLC manufacturer, that exists in one plant. There’s always gonna be something that’s slightly different. Definitely from Brownfield, things different engineers made different choices, things have been eminent, and you gotta keep running them. TopServe provides this single platform to connect to a long laundry list of different PLCs. And if this sounds very familiar to Kepserver, well, you’re not wrong. Kepserver is the same exact technology that TopServer is. What’s the difference then is probably the biggest question we usually get. The difference technology wise is nothing. The difference in the back end is that actually it’s all the same product, same product releases, same price, but we have been the biggest single source of Kepserver or Topsyra implementation into the market, for almost two plus decades at this point. So the single biggest purchase that we own this own labeled version of Kepserver to provide to our customers. They interact with our support team, our solutions teams as well, and we sell it along the stack of other things because it it fits so well. And we’ve been doing this since the early two thousands when, Kepware was a a much smaller company than it is now, and we’ve had a really great relationship with them. So if you’ve enjoyed the technology of of Kepserver, maybe there’s some users out there. If you ever heard of TopServer and that has been unclear, I hope this clear clarifies it. But it it is a great technology stack that that we build upon and we’ll get into some of that in our demo. Now the other question is, what if you don’t have a standard communication protocol, like a modbus, like an Allen Bradley PLC as well? We see this a lot with, you know, testing areas, pharmaceuticals, maybe also in packaging, barcode scanners, weigh scales, printers online as well. They they may have some form of basic communications that talks over just TCP or or serial. And how do you get that information that’s really valuable still, but it’s not going through a PLC. It’s not going into your typical agent mind SCADA. It might be very manual process for a lot of these test systems as well, how they’re collecting and analyzing the data. Well, you may have heard of our Arm server as well. It’s been around, like I said, for a couple decades and just a proven solution that without coding, you can go in and build a custom protocol that expects a format from that device, translates it, puts it into standard tags, and now that those tags can be accessible through the open standards of OPC, or to it was a a Veeva user suite link as well. And that really provides a nice combination of your standard communications and also these more custom communications may have been done through scripting in the past. Well, you know, put this onto, an actual server that can communicate through those protocols natively, and just get that data into those SCADA systems, HMIs, where you need it. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I used that. Many years ago, I had an integrator who came to me. He’s like, Shawn, I wanna this is back in the RSVUE days. He’s like, Shawn, I I got, like, 20 Euotherm devices on a four eighty five, and they speak ASCII, and I gotta I gotta get into RSVUE 32. And, you know, OmniSIR, I love that you could you could basically developing and we did Omega and some other devices too. You’re developing your own protocol, but it’s beautiful. And and the fact that when you’re testing it, it color codes everything. So you know, hey. That part worked. The header worked. The data worked. Oh, the trailing didn’t work, or the terminated didn’t work, or the data’s not in the right format. Or I just it was a joy to work with back then, and I can imagine it’s only gotten better since. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. I think it’s like a little engineer playground where you get in there. It started really decoding and seeing how these devices communicate. And then once you’ve got it running, it it’s one of those things that it it just performs and, is saved by many people from developing custom code, having to manage that custom code and integrations, you know, for for many years. So it it’s one of those things that’s kinda tried, tested, and, it it’s kind of a staple still our our base level communications. Alright. So moving along kind of our automation pyramid as well. Another part of our large offering is the Cogent data hub. Some people may have heard from this as well. It’s been around for a good while. It’s been part of our portfolio for for a while as well. This starts building upon where we had the communication now up to those higher echelons of the pyramid. This is gonna bring in a lot of different connectivities. You if you’re not if you’re listening, it it’s kind of this cog and spoke type of concept for real time data. We also have historical implementations. You can connect through a variety of different things. OPC, both the profiles for alarms and events, and even OPC UA’s alarming conditions, which is still getting adoption across the, across the industry, but it is growing. As part of the OPC UA standard, we have integrations to MQTT. It can be its own MQTT broker, and it can also be an MQTT client. That has grown a lot. It’s one of those things that lives be besides OPC UA, not exactly a replacement. If you ever have any questions about that, it’s definitely a topic I love to talk about. There’s space for for this to combine the benefits of both of these, and it’s so versatile and flexible for these different type of implementations. On top of that, it it’s it’s a really strong tool for conversion and aggregation. You kind of add this, like, its name says, it’s a it’s a data hub. You send all the different information to this. It stores it into, a hierarchy with a variety of different modeling that you can do within it. That’s gonna store these values across a standard data format. Once I had data into this, any of those different connections, I can then send data back out. So if I have anything that I know is coming in through a certain plug in like OPC, bring that in, send it out to on these other ones, OPC, DA over to MQTT. It could even do DDA if I’m still using that, which I probably wouldn’t suggest. But overall, there’s a lot of good benefits from having something that can also be a standardization, between all your different connections. I have a lot of different things, maybe variety of OPC servers, legacy or newer. Bring that into a data hub, and then all your other connections, your historians, your MAS, your SCADAs, it can connect to that single point. So it’s all getting the same data model and values from a single source rather than going out and making many to many connections. A a large thing that it was originally, used for was getting around DCOM. That word is, you know, it might send some shivers down people’s spines still, to this day, but it’s it’s not a fun thing to deal with DCOM and also with the security hardening. It’s just not something that you really want to do. I’m sure there’s a lot of security professionals would advise against EPRA doing it. This tunneling will allow you to have a data hub that locally talks to any of the DA server client, communicate between two data hubs over a tunnel that pushes the data just over TCP, takes away all the comm wrappers, and now you just have values that get streamed in between. Now you don’t have to configure any DCOM at all, and it’s all local. So a lot of people went transitioning, between products where maybe the server only supports OPC DA, and then the client is now supporting OPC UA. They can’t change it yet. This has allowed them to implement a solution quickly and cost and at a cost effective price, without ripping everything out. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I wanna ask you too. I can see because this thing is it’s a data hub. So if you’re watching and you’re if you’re listening and not watching, you you’re not gonna see, you know, server, client, UAD, a broker, server, client. You know, just all these different things up here on the site. Do you what how does somebody find out if it does what they need? I mean, do you guys have a line they can call to say, I wanna do this to this. Is that something Data Hub can do, or is there a demo? What would you recommend to somebody? Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Reach out to us. We we have a a lot of content outline, and it’s not behind any paywall or sign in links even. You you can always go to our website. It’s just softwaretoolbox.com. Mhmm. And that’s gonna get you to our product pages. You can download any product directly from there. They have demo timers. So typically with, with coaching data hub, after an hour, it will stop. You can just rerun it. And then call our team. Yeah. We have a solutions team that can work with you on, hey. What do I need as well? Then our support team, if you run into any issues, can help you troubleshoot that as well. So, I’ll have some contact information at the end, that’ll get some people to, you know, where they need to go. But you’re absolutely right, Shawn. Because this is so versatile, everyone’s use case of it is usually something a little bit different. And the best people to come talk to that is us because we’ve we’ve seen all those differences. So Shawn Tierney (Host): I think a lot of people run into the fact, like, they have a problem. Maybe it’s the one you said where they have the OPC UA and it needs to connect to an OPC DA client. And, you know, and a lot of times, they’re they’re a little gunshot to buy a license because they wanna make sure it’s gonna do exactly what they need first. And I think that’s where having your people can, you know, answer their questions saying, yes. We can do that or, no. We can’t do that. Or, you know, a a demo that they could download and run for an hour at a time to actually do a proof of concept for the boss who’s gonna sign off on purchasing this. And then the other thing is too, a lot of products like this have options. And you wanna make sure you’re buying the ticking the right boxes when you buy your license because you don’t wanna buy something you’re not gonna use. You wanna buy the exact pieces you need. So I highly recommend I mean, this product just does like, I have, in my mind, like, five things I wanna ask right now, but not gonna. But, yeah, def definitely, when it when it comes to a product like this, great to touch base with these folks. They’re super friendly and helpful, and, they’ll they’ll put you in the right direction. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. I I can tell you that’s working someone to support. Selling someone a solution that doesn’t work is not something I’ve been doing. Bad day. Right. Exactly. Yeah. And we work very closely, between anyone that’s looking at products. You know, me being as technical product managers, well, I I’m engaged in those conversations. And Mhmm. Yeah. If you need a demo license, reach out to us to extend that. We wanna make sure that you are buying something that provides you value. Now kind of moving on into a similar realm. This is one of our still somewhat newer offerings, I say, but we’ve been around five five plus years, and it’s really grown. And I kinda said here, it’s called OPC router, and and it’s not it’s not a networking tool. A lot of people may may kinda get that. It’s more of a, kind of a term about, again, all these different type of connections. How do you route them to different ways? It it kind of it it separates itself from the Cogent data hub, and and acting at this base level of being like a visual workflow that you can assign various tasks to. So if I have certain events that occur, I may wanna do some processing on that before I just send data along, where the data hub is really working in between converting, streaming data, real time connections. This gives you a a kind of a playground to work around of if I have certain tasks that are occurring, maybe through a database that I wanna trigger off of a certain value, based on my SCADA system, well, you can build that in in these different workflows to execute exactly what you need. Very, very flexible. Again, it has all these different type of connections. The very unique ones that have also grown into kind of that OT IT convergence, is it can be a REST API server and client as well. So I can be sending out requests to, RESTful servers where we’re seeing that hosted in a lot of new applications. I wanna get data out of them. Or once I have consumed a variety of data, I can become the REST server in OPC router and offer that to other applications to request data from itself. So, again, it can kind of be that centralized area of information. The other thing as we talked about in the automation pyramid is it has connections directly into SAP and ERP systems. So if you have work orders, if you have materials, that you wanna continue to track and maybe trigger things based off information from your your operation floors via PLCs tracking, how they’re using things along the line, and that needs to match up with what the SAP system has for, the amount of materials you have. This can be that bridge. It’s really is built off the mindset of the OT world as well. So we kinda say this helps empower the OT level because we’re now giving them the tools to that they understand what what’s occurring in their operations. And what could you do by having a tool like this to allow you to kind of create automated workflows based off certain values and certain events and automate some of these things that you may be doing manually or doing very convoluted through a variety of solutions. So this is one of those prod, products as well that’s very advanced in the things that supports. Linux and Docker containers is, is definitely could be a hot topic, rightly fleet rightfully so. And this can run on a on a Docker container deployed as well. So we we’ve seen that with the I IT folks that really enjoy being able to control and to higher deployment, allows you to update easily, allows you to control and spin up new containers as well. This gives you a lot of flexibility to to deploy and manage these systems. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, I may wanna have you back on to talk about this. I used to there’s an old product called Rascal that I used to use. It was a transaction manager, and it would based on data changing or on a time that as a trigger, it could take data either from the PLC to the database or from the database to the PLC, and it would work with stored procedures. And and this seems like it hits all those points, And it sounds like it’s a visual like you said, right there on the slide, visual workflow builder. Connor Mason (Guest): Yep. Shawn Tierney (Host): So you really piqued my interest with this one, and and it may be something we wanna come back to and and revisit in the future, because, it just it’s just I know that that older product was very useful and, you know, it really solved a lot of old applications back in the day. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. Absolutely. And this this just takes that on and builds even more. If you if anyone was, kind of listening at the beginning of this year or two, a conference called Prove It that was very big in the industry, we were there to and we presented on stage a solution that we had. Highly recommend going searching for that. It’s on our web pages. It’s also on their YouTube links, and it’s it’s called Prove It. And OPC router was a big part of that in the back end. I would love to dive in and show you the really unique things. Kind of as a quick overview, we’re able to use Google AI vision to take camera data and detect if someone was wearing a hard hat. All that logic and behind of getting that information to Google AI vision, was through REST with OPC router. Then we were parsing that information back through that, connection and then providing it back to the PLCs. So we go all the way from a camera to a PLC controlling a light stack, up to Google AI vision through OPC router, all on hotel Wi Fi. It’s very imp it’s very, very fun presentation, and, our I think our team did a really great job. So a a a pretty new offering I have I wanna highlight, is our is our data caster. This is a an actual piece of hardware. You know, our software toolbox is we we do have some hardware as well. It’s just, part of the nature of this environment of how we mesh in between things. But the the idea is that, there’s a lot of different use cases for HMI and SCADA. They have grown so much from what they used to be, and they’re very core part of the automation stack. Now a lot of times, these are doing so many things beyond that as well. What we found is that in different areas of operations, you may not need all that different control. You may not even have the space to make up a whole workstation for that as well. What this does, the data caster, is, just simply plug it plugs it into any network and into an HDMI compatible display, and it gives you a very easy configure workplace to put a few key metrics onto a screen. So if I have different things from you can connect directly to PLCs like Allen Bradley. You can connect to SQL databases. You can also connect to rest APIs to gather the data from these different sources and build a a a kind of easy to to view, KPI dashboard in a way. So if you’re on a operation line and you wanna look at your current run rate, maybe you have certain things in the POC tags, you know, flow and pressure that’s very important for those operators to see. They may not be, even the capacity to be interacting with anything. They just need visualizations of what’s going on. This product can just be installed, you know, industrial areas with, with any type of display that you can easily access and and give them something that they can easily look at. It’s configured all through a web browser to display what you want. You can put on different colors based on levels of values as well. And it’s just I feel like a very simple thing that sometimes it seems so simple, but those might be the things that provide value on the actual operation floor. This is, for anyone that’s watching, kind of a quick view of a very simple screen. What we’re showing here is what it would look like from all the different data sources. So talking directly to ControlLogs PLC, talking to SQL databases, micro eight eight hundreds, an arrest client, and and what’s coming very soon, definitely by the end of this year, is OPC UA support. So any OPC UA server that’s out there that’s already having your PLC data or etcetera, this could also connect to that and get values from there. Shawn Tierney (Host): Can I can you make it I’m I’m here I go? Can you make it so it, like, changes, like, pages every few seconds? Connor Mason (Guest): Right now, it is a single page, but this is, like I said, very new product, so we’re taking any feedback. If, yeah, if there’s this type of slideshow cycle that would be, you know, valuable to anyone out there, let us know. We’re definitely always interested to see the people that are actually working out at these operation sites, what what’s valuable to them. Yeah. Shawn Tierney (Host): A lot of kiosks you see when when you’re traveling, it’ll say, like, line one well, I’ll just throw out there. Line one, and that’ll be on there for five seconds, and then it’ll go line two. That’ll be on there for five seconds, and then line you know, I and that’s why I just mentioned that because I can see that being a question that, that that I would get from somebody who is asking me about it. Connor Mason (Guest): Oh, great question. Appreciate it. Alright. So now we’re gonna set time for a little hands on demo. For anyone that’s just listening, we’re gonna I’m gonna talk about this at at a high level and walk through everything. But the idea is that, we have a few different POCs, very common in Allen Bradley and just a a Siemens seven, s seven fifteen hundred that’s in our office, pretty close to me on the other side of the wall wall, actually. We’re gonna first start by connecting that to our top server like we talked about. This is our industrial communication server, that offers both OCDA, OC UA, SweetLink connectivity as well. And then we’re gonna bring this into our Cogent data hub. This we talked about is getting those values up to these higher levels. What we’ll be doing is also tunneling the data. We talked about being able to share data through the data hubs themselves. Kinda explain why we’re doing that here and the value you can add. And then we’re also gonna showcase adding on MQTT to this level. Taking beta now just from these two PLCs that are sitting on a rack, and I can automatically make all that information available in the MQTT broker. So any MQTT client that’s out there that wants to subscribe to that data, now has that accessible. And I’ve created this all through a a really simple workflow. We also have some databases connected. Influx, we install with Code and DataHub, has a free visualization tool that kinda just helps you see what’s going on in your processes. I wanna showcase a little bit of that as well. Alright. So now jumping into our demo, when we first start off here is the our top server. Like I mentioned before, if anyone has worked with KEP server in the past, this is gonna look very similar. Like it because it is. The same technology and all the things here. The the first things that I wanted to establish in our demo, was our connection to our POCs. I have a few here. We’re only gonna use the Allen Bradley and the Siemens, for the the time that we have on our demo here. But how this builds out as a platform is you create these different channels and the devices connections between them. This is gonna be your your physical connections to them. It’s either, IP TCPIP connection or maybe your serial connection as well. We have support for all of them. It really is a long list. Anyone watching out there, you can kind of see all the different drivers that that we offer. So allowing this into a single platform, you can have all your connectivity based here. All those different connections that you now have that up the stack, your SCADA, your historians, MAS even as well, they can all go to a single source. Makes that management, troubleshooting, all those a bit easier as well. So one of the first things I did here, I have this built out, but I’ll kinda walk through what you would typically do. You have your Allen Bradley ControlLogix Ethernet driver here first. You know, I have some IPs in here I won’t show, but, regardless, we have our our our drivers here, and then we have a set of tags. These are all the global tags in the programming of the PLC. How I got these to to kind of map automatically is in our in our driver, we’re able to create tags automatically. So you’re able to send a command to that device and ask for its entire tag database. They can come back, provide all that, map it out for you, create those tags as well. This saves a lot of time from, you know, an engineer have to go in and, addressing all the individual items themselves. So once it’s defined in the program project, you’re able to bring this all in automatically. I’ll show now how easy that makes it connecting to something like the Cogent data hub. In a very similar fashion, we have a connection over here to the Siemens, PLC that I also have. You can see beneath it all these different tag structures, and this was created the exact same way. While those those PLC support it, you can do an automatic tag generation, bring in all the structure that you’ve already built out your PLC programming, and and make this available on this OPC server now as well. So that’s really the basis. We first need to establish communications to these PLCs, get that tag data, and now what do we wanna do with it? So in this demo, what I wanted to bring up was, the code in DataHub next. So here, I see a very similar kind of layout. We have a different set set of plugins on the left side. So for anyone listening, the Cogent Data Hub again is kind of our aggregation and conversion tool. All these different type of protocols like OPC UA, OPC DA, and OPC A and E for alarms and events. We also support OPC alarms and conditions, which is the newer profile for alarms in OPC UA. We have all a variety of different ways that you can get data out of things and data’s into the data hub. We can also do bridging. This concept is, how you share data in between different points. So let’s say I had a connection to one OPC server, and it was communicating to a certain PLC, and there were certain registers I was getting data from. Well, now I also wanna connect to a different OPC server that has, entirely different brand of PLCs. And then maybe I wanna share data in between them directly. Well, with this software, I can just bridge those points between them. Once they’re in the data hub, I can do kind of whatever I want with them. I can then allow them to write between those PLCs and share data that way, and you’re not now having to do any type of hardwiring directly in between them, and then I’m compatible to communicate to each other. Through the standards of OPC and these variety of different communication levels, I can integrate them together. Shawn Tierney (Host): You know, you bring up a good point. When you do something like that, is there any heartbeat? Like, is there on the general or under under, one of these, topics? Is there are there tags we can use that are from DataHub itself that can be sent to the destination, like a heartbeat or, you know, the merge transactions? Or Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. Absolutely. So with this as well, there’s pretty strong scripting engine, and I have done that in the past where you can make internal tags. And that that could be a a timer. It could be a counter. And and just kind of allows you to create your own tags as well that you could do the same thing, could share that, through bridge connection to a PLC. So, yeah, there there are definitely some people that had those cert and, you know, use cases where they wanna get something to just track, on this software side and get it out to those hardware PLCs. Absolutely. Shawn Tierney (Host): I mean, when you send out the data out of the PLC, the PLC doesn’t care to take my data. But when you’re getting data into the PLC, you wanna make sure it’s updating and it’s fresh. And so, you know, they throw a counter in there, the script thing, and be able to have that. As as long as you see that incrementing, you know, you got good data coming in. That’s that’s a good feature. Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. You know, another big one is the the redundancy. So what this does is beyond just the OPC, we can make redundancy to basically anything that has two things running of it. So any of these different connections. How it’s unique is what it does is it just looks at the buckets of data that you create. So for an example, if I do have two different OPC servers and I put them into two areas of, let’s say, OPC server one and OPC server two, I can what now create an OPC redundancy data bucket. And now any client that connects externally to that and wants that data, it’s gonna go talk to that bucket of data. And that bucket of data is going to automatically change in between sources as things go down, things come back up, and the client would never know what’s hap what that happened unless you wanted to. There are internal tasks to show what’s the current source and things, but the idea is to make this trans kind of hidden that regardless of what’s going on in the operations, if I have this set up, I can have my external applications just reading from a single source without knowing that there’s two things behind it that are actually controlling that. Very important for, you know, historian connections where you wanna have a full complete picture of that data that’s coming in. If you’re able to make a redundant connection to two different, servers and then allow that historian to talk to a single point where it doesn’t have to control that switching back and forth. It it will just see that data flow streamlessly as as either one is up at that time. Kinda beyond that as well, there’s quite a few other different things in here. I don’t think we have time to cover all of them. But for for our demo, what I wanna focus on first is our OPC UA connection. This allows us both to act as a OPC UA client to get data from any servers out there, like our top server. And also we can act as an OPC UA server itself. So if anything’s coming in from maybe you have multiple connections to different servers, multiple connections to other things that aren’t OPC as well, I can now provide all this data automatically in my own namespace to allow things to connect to me as well. And that’s part of that aggregation feature, and kind of topic I was mentioning before. So with that, I have a connection here. It’s pulling data all from my top server. I have a few different tags from my Alec Bradley and and my Siemens PLC selected. The next part of this, while I was meshing, was the tunneling. Like I said, this is very popular to get around DCOM issues, but there’s a lot of reasons why you still may use this beyond just the headache of DCOM and what it was. What this runs on is a a TCP stream that takes all the data points as a value, a quality, and a timestamp, and it can mirror those in between another DataHub instance. So if I wanna get things across a network, like my OT side, where NASH previously, I would have to come in and allow a, open port onto my network for any OPC UA clients, across the network to access that, I can now actually change the direction of this and allow me to tunnel data out of my network without opening up any ports. This is really big for security. If anyone out there, security professional or working as an engineer, you have to work with your IT and security a lot, they don’t you don’t wanna have an open port, especially to your operations and OT side. So this allows you to change that direction of flow and push data out of this direction into another area like a DMZ computer or up to a business level computer as well. The other things as well that I have configured in this demo, the benefit of having that tunneling streaming data across this connection is I can also store this data locally in a, influx database. The purpose of that then is that I can actually historize this, provide then if this connection ever goes down to backfill any information that was lost during that tunnel connection going down. So with this added layer on and real time data scenarios like OPC UA, unless you have historical access, you would lose a lot of data if that connection ever went down. But with this, I can actually use the back end of this InfluxDB, buffer any values. When my connection comes back up, pass them along that stream again. And if I have anything that’s historically connected, like, another InfluxDB, maybe a PI historian, Vue historian, any historian offering out there that can allow that connection. I can then provide all those records that were originally missed and backfill that into those systems. So I switched over to a second machine. It’s gonna look very similar here as well. This also has an instance of the Cogent Data Hub running here. For anyone not watching, what we’ve actually have on this side is the the portion of the tunneler that’s sitting here and listening for any data requests coming in. So on my first machine, I was able to connect my PLCs, gather that information into Cogent DataHub, and now I’m pushing that information, across the network into a separate machine that’s sitting here and listening to gather information. So what I can quickly do is just make sure I have all my data here. So I have these different points, both from my Allen Bradley PLCs. I have a few, different simulation demo points, like temperature, pressure, tank level, a few statuses, and all this is updating directly through that stream as the PLC is updating it as well. I also have my scenes controller. I have some, current values and a few different counters tags as well. All of this again is being directly streamed through that tunnel. I’m not connecting to an OPC server at all on this side. I can show you that here. There’s no connections configured. I’m not talking to the PLCs directly on this machine as well. But maybe we’ll pass all the information through without opening up any ports on my OT demo machine per se. So what’s the benefit of that? Well, again, security. Also, the ability to do the store and forward mechanisms. On the other side, I was logging directly to a InfluxDB. This could be my d- my buffer, and then I was able to configure it where if any values were lost, to store that across the network. So now with this side, if I pull up Chronic Graph, which is a free visualization tool that installs with the DataHub as well, I can see some very nice, visual workflows and and visual diagrams of what is going on with this data. So I have a pressure that is just a simulator in this, Allen Bradley PLC that ramps up and and comes back down. It’s not actually connected to anything that’s reading a real pressure, but you can see over time, I can kind of change through these different layers of time. And I might go back a little far, but I have a lot of data that’s been stored in here. For a while during my test, I turned this off and, made it fail, but then I came back in and I was able to recreate all the data and backfill it as well. So through through these views, I can see that as data disconnects, as it comes back on, I have a very cyclical view of the data because it was able to recover and store and forward from that source. Like I said, Shawn, data quality is a big thing in this industry. It’s a big thing for people both at the operations side, and both people making decision in the business layer. So being able to have a full picture, without gaps, it is definitely something that, you should be prioritizing, when you can. Shawn Tierney (Host): Now what we’re seeing here is you’re using InfluxDB on this, destination PC or IT side PC and chronograph, which was that utility or that package that comes, gets installed. It’s free. But you don’t actually have to use that. You could have sent this in to an OSI pi or Exactly. Somebody else’s historian. Right? Can you name some of the historians you work with? I know OSI pie. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. So there’s quite a few different ones. As far as what we support in the Data Hub natively, Amazon Kinesis, the cloud hosted historian that we can also do the same things from here as well. Aviva Historian, Aviva Insight, Apache Kafka. This is a a kind of a a newer one as well that used to be a very IT oriented solution, now getting into OT. It’s kind of a similar database structure where things are stored in different topics that we can stream to. On top of that, just regular old ODBC connections. That opens up a lot of different ways you can do it, or even, the old classic OPC, HDA. So if you have any, historians that that can act as an OPC HDA, connection, we we can also stream it through there. Shawn Tierney (Host): Excellent. That’s a great list. Connor Mason (Guest): The other thing I wanna show while we still have some time here is that MQTT component. This is really growing and, it’s gonna continue to be a part of the industrial automation technology stack and conversations moving forward, for streaming data, you know, from devices, edge devices, up into different layers, both now into the OT, and then maybe out to, IT, in our business levels as well, and definitely into the cloud as we’re seeing a lot of growth into it. Like I mentioned with Data Hub, the big benefit is I have all these different connections. I can consume all this data. Well, I can also act as an MQTT broker. And what what a broker typically does in MQTT is just route data and share data. It’s kind of that central point where things come to it to either say, hey. I’m giving you some new values. Share it with someone else. Or, hey. I need these values. Can you give me that? It really fits in super well with what this product is at its core. So all I have to do here is just enable it. What that now allows is I have an example, MQTT Explorer. If anyone has worked with MQTT, you’re probably familiar with this. There’s nothing else I configured beyond just enabling the broker. And you can see within this structure, I have all the same data that was in my Data Hub already. The same things I were collecting from my PLCs and top server. Now I’ve embedded these as MPPT points and now I have them in JSON format with the value, their timestamp. You can even see, like, a little trend here kind of matching what we saw in Influx. And and now this enables all those different cloud connectors that wanna speak this language to do it seamlessly. Shawn Tierney (Host): So you didn’t have to set up the PLCs a second time to do this? Nope. Connor Mason (Guest): Not at all. Shawn Tierney (Host): You just enabled this, and now the data’s going this way as well. Exactly. Connor Mason (Guest): Yeah. That’s a really strong point of the Cogent Data Hub is once you have everything into its structure and model, you just enable it to use any of these different connections. You can get really, really creative with these different things. Like we talked about with the the bridging aspect and getting into different systems, even writing down the PLCs. You can make crust, custom notifications and email alerts, based on any of these values. You could even take something like this MTT connection, tunnel it across to another data hub as well, maybe then convert it to OPC DA. And now you’ve made a a a new connection over to something that’s very legacy as well. Shawn Tierney (Host): Yeah. That, I mean, the options here are just pretty amazing, all the different things that can be done. Connor Mason (Guest): Absolutely. Well, I, you know, I wanna jump back into some of our presentation here while we still got the time. And now after we’re kinda done with our demo, there’s so many different ways that you can use these different tools. This is just a really simple, kind of view of the, something that used to be very simple, just connecting OpenSea servers to a variety of different connections, kind of expanding onto with that that’s store and forward, the local influx usage, getting out to things like MTT as well. But there’s a lot more you can do with these solutions. So like Shawn said, reach out to us. We’re happy to engage and see what we can help you with. I have a few other things before we wrap up. Just overall, it we’ve worked across nearly every industry. We have installations across the globe on all continents. And like I said, we’ve been around for pushing thirty years next year. So we’ve seen a lot of different things, and we really wanna talk to anyone out there that maybe has some struggles that are going on with just connectivity, or you have any ongoing projects. If you work in these different industries or if there’s nothing marked here and you have anything going on that you need help with, we’re very happy to sit down and let you know if there’s there’s something we can do there. Shawn Tierney (Host): Yeah. For those who are, listening, I mean, we see most of the big energy and consumer product, companies on that slide. So I’m not gonna read them off, but, it’s just a lot of car manufacturers. You know, these are these are these, the household name brands that everybody knows and loves. Connor Mason (Guest): So kind of wrap some things up here. We talked about all the different ways that we’ve kind of helped solve things in the past, but I wanna highlight some of the unique ones, that we’ve also gone do some, case studies on and and success stories. So this one I actually got to work on, within the last few years that, a plastic packaging, manufacturer was looking to track uptime and downtime across multiple different lines, and they had a new cloud solution that they were already evaluating. They’re really excited to get into play. They they had a lot of upside to, getting things connected to this and start using it. Well, what they had was a lot of different PLCs, a lot of different brands, different areas, different, you know, areas of operation that they need to connect to. So what they used was to first get that into our top server, kind of similar to how they showed them use in their in our demo. We just need to get all the data into a centralized platform first, get that data accessible. Then from there, once they had all that information into a centralized area, they used the Cogent Data Hub as well to help aggregate that information and transform it to be sent to the cloud through MQTT. So very similar to the demo here, this is actually a real use case of that. Getting information from PLCs, structuring it into that how that cloud system needed it for MQTT, and streamlining that data connection to now where it’s just running in operation. They constantly have updates about where their lines are in operation, tracking their downtime, tracking their uptime as well, and then being able to do some predictive analytics in that cloud solution based on their history. So this really enabled them to kind of build from what they had existing. It was doing a lot of manual tracking, into an entirely automated system with management able to see real views of what’s going on at this operation level. Another one I wanna talk about was we we were able to do this success story with, Ace Automation. They worked with a pharmaceutical company. Ace Automation is a SI and they were brought in and doing a lot of work with some some old DDE connections, doing some custom Excel macros, and we’re just having a hard time maintaining some legacy systems that were just a pain to deal with. They were working with these older files, from some old InTouch histor HMIs, and what they needed to do was get something that was not just based on Excel and doing custom macros. So one product we didn’t get to talk about yet, but we also carry is our LGH file inspector. It’s able to take these files, put them out into a standardized format like CSV, and also do a lot of that automation of when when should these files be queried? Should they be, queried for different lengths? Should they be output to different areas? Can I set these up in a scheduled task so it can be done automatically rather than someone having to sit down and do it manually in Excel? So they will able to, recover over fifty hours of engineering time with the solution from having to do late night calls to troubleshoot a, Excel macro that stopped working, from crashing machines, because they were running a legacy systems to still support some of the DDE servers, into saving them, you know, almost two hundred plus hours of productivity. Another example, if we’re able to work with a renewable, energy customer that’s doing a lot of innovative things across North America, They had a very ambitious plan to double their footprint in the next two years. And with that, they had to really look back at their assets and see where they currently stand, how do we make new standards to support us growing into what we want to be. So with this, they had a lot of different data sources currently. They’re all kind of siloed at the specific areas. Nothing was really connected commonly to a corporate level area of historization, or control and security. So again, they they were able to use our top server and put out a standard connectivity platform, bring in the DataHub as an aggregation tool. So each of these sites would have a top server that was individually collecting data from different devices, and then that was able to send it into a single DataHub. So now their corporate level had an entire view of all the information from these different plants in one single application. That then enabled them to connect their historian applications to that data hub and have a perfect view and make visualizations off of their entire operations. What this allowed them to do was grow without replacing everything. And that’s a big thing that we try to strive on is replacing and ripping out all your existing technologies. It’s not something you can do overnight. But how do we provide value and gain efficiency with what’s in place and providing newer technologies on top of that without disrupting the actual operation as well? So this was really, really successful. And at the end, I just wanna kind of provide some other contacts and information people can learn more. We have a blog that goes out every week on Thursdays. A lot of good technical content out there. A lot of recast of the the awesome things we get to do here, the success stories as well, and you can always find that at justblog.softwaretoolbox.com. And again, our main website is justsoftwaretoolbox.com. You can get product information, downloads, reach out to anyone on our team. Let’s discuss what what issues you have going on, any new projects, we’ll be happy to listen. Shawn Tierney (Host): Well, Connor, I wanna thank you very much for coming on the show and bringing us up to speed on not only software toolbox, but also to, you know, bring us up to speed on top server and doing that demo with top server and data hub. Really appreciate that. And, I think, you know, like you just said, if anybody, has any projects that you think these solutions may be able to solve, please give them a give them a call. And if you’ve already done something with them, leave a comment. You know? To leave a comment, no matter where you’re watching or listening to this, let us know what you did. What did you use? Like me, I used OmniServer all those many years ago, and, of course, Top Server as an OPC server. But if you guys have already used Software Toolbox and, of course, Symbol Factory, I use that all the time. But if you guys are using it, let us know in the comments. It’s always great to hear from people out there. I know, you know, with thousands of you guys listening every week, but I’d love to hear, you know, are you using these products? Or if you have questions, I’ll funnel them over to Connor if you put them in the comments. So with that, Connor, did you have anything else you wanted to cover before we close out today’s show? Connor Mason (Guest): I think that was it, Shawn. Thanks again for having us on. It was really fun. Shawn Tierney (Host): I hope you enjoyed that episode, and I wanna thank Connor for taking time out of his busy schedule to come on the show and bring us up to speed on software toolbox and their suite of products. Really appreciated that demo at the end too, so we actually got a look at if you’re watching. Gotta look at their products and how they work. And, just really appreciate them taking all of my questions. I also appreciate the fact that Software Toolbox sponsored this episode, meaning we were able to release it to you without any ads. So I really appreciate them. If you’re doing any business with Software Toolbox, please thank them for sponsoring this episode. And with that, I just wanna wish you all good health and happiness. And until next time, my friends, peace. 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What happens when cities become “networked”—and water systems start telling us what they need in real time? In this episode, Trace Blackmore speaks with Christine McHugh (CEO, White Strand Development) about practical smart-city strategies for water: real-time monitoring, digital twins, and IoT/AI approaches that turn Legionella control from periodic testing into continuous risk management. Christine frames smart water not as gadgets, but as a disciplined, data-driven process that improves human health, operational efficiency, and insurability. Building the “Networked” City: A Practical Definition Christine defines a smart city as a networked one—linking health, energy, waste, and water through technology that measures and correlates across systems. The aim isn't novelty; it's safer drinking water and safer water environments via better data and faster decisions. Digital twins, decentralized treatment, and AI-enabled pattern recognition help teams move from “single point-in-time readings” to persistent trends they can act on. Legionella Risk, Reframed as Strategy Most water programs still sample periodically, waiting days for results. Christine argues the future is pattern-based, proactive control: track temperature, stagnation/flow, and disinfectant continuously; intervene when pattern thresholds indicate elevated risk. This lens aligns water quality, human wellness, and insurance risk reduction, encouraging property insurers and building owners to incentivize water science as part of smart-building operations. From Sensors to Sense-Making: Hierarchy, Data Lakes, and Reporting Adding devices isn't enough. Christine stresses a hierarchy of sensors and data governance so operations, engineering, and ESG teams aren't running conflicting reports from siloed sources (BMS vs. cloud dashboards). Her model: create a data lake with agreed-upon sources of truth and standardized outputs so every stakeholder “sees the same movie.” Case Studies & What “Good” Looks Like Christine highlights programs that combined water management plans, continuous disinfectant monitoring, and campus-scale digital twins—reducing manual tests, achieving compliance, and cutting consumption. European hospitals using IoT on hot-water systems report faster compliance and fewer manual interventions. The pattern: real-time insight + trained people + maintenance and reporting contracts = measurable risk reduction. Cybersecurity: Close the Back Doors Smart water raises legitimate cyber concerns. Christine's guidance: encrypt all sensor communications, hire experts to penetration-test your own systems, and watch for unexpected bridges (e.g., HVAC or even “non-critical” devices) into critical networks. OT/IT segmentation, alert transparency, and a culture of continuous testing matter as much as the sensors themselves. Public–Private Partnerships (with Academia) The fastest path to adoption pairs public oversight and access to infrastructure with private-sector technology and capital—and an academic partner for research and validation. Clear performance metrics and maintained as-builts keep pilots honest and scalable. Resilience: Droughts, Floods, and Stormwater Smart networks matter beyond Legionella. Real-time consumption, leak detection, and pressure management minimize waste during droughts; stormwater and wastewater sensors prevent overflows that contaminate receiving waters during floods. Long-running sensor programs abroad show how a single resort area eliminated contamination events by instrumenting the system and responding to alerts. Emerging Tech to Watch From self-healing pipes and biosensors to drone inspections and AI-orchestrated networks, Christine sees water systems becoming more like natural ecosystems—self-regulating, adaptive, and resilient—while humans supervise exceptions and validate performance. For industrial water professionals, the takeaway is clear: treat smart water as an integrated risk-management system, not a pile of devices. Invest in sensor hierarchy, unified data, and team training, and align the work with safety and insurance outcomes. That's how you protect people, performance, and the balance sheet. Stay engaged, keep learning, and continue scaling up your knowledge! Timestamps 02:37 - Trace Blackmore kicks off the episode by reminiscing about the TV show Leave It to Beaver and how families used to watch together in the 1950s. 08:40 - Water You Know with James McDonald 09:48 - Upcoming Events for Water Treatment Professionals 12:20 - Interview with Christine McHugh, CEO of White Strand Development 13:03 - What Is a Smart City? 15:13 - Risk Reduction as Strategy 16:23 – Real-Time Monitoring: Core Controls 17:06 - Smart Fixtures & “Only When Needed” Flushing 19:28 — Duplication, BMS vs Cloud, Data Governance 25:03 — Case Studies: VT & Copenhagen University Hospital 31:59— Cybersecurity: Water Systems at Risk 40:21— City Resilience: Drought & Flooding 41:59 — Emerging Tech to Watch Quotes “Technology will give us real-time patterns, and… by just having that pattern recognition, we have power to be more proactive.” “We really should be trying to break into our own system or hiring people to break into our own system… the bad guys will find it as well.” “Creating a water system that's more like a natural ecosystem… self-regulating, adaptive, and maximizes both efficiency and resiliency.” Connect with Christine McHugh Phone: 9179409383 Email: christine.mchugh@whitestrand.com Website: White Strand Development LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christine-a-mchugh/ Guest Resources Mentioned Practitioners' Perspective on the Prevalent Water Quality Management Practices for Legionella Control in Large Buildings in the United States Tenets of a holistic approach to drinking water-associated pathogen research, management, and communication Smart Cities, Copenhagen and the Power of Data Chlorine Disinfection of Legionella spp., L. pneumophila, and Acanthamoeba under Warm Water Premise Plumbing Conditions NLM's Water heater temperature set point and water use patterns influence Legionella pneumophila and associated microorganisms at the tap Scaling UP! H2O Resources Mentioned AWT (Association of Water Technologies) Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses Submit a Show Idea The Rising Tide Mastermind Industrial Water Week Water You Know with James McDonald Question: What type of resin is primarily used in a sodium zeolite water softener? 2025 Events for Water Professionals Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE.
In this episode, Ann Wyatt interviews John Piller, a seasoned expert in automation and controls, who shares his journey from working in a corporate environment to starting his own consulting business. The conversation delves into the importance of workforce development, the role of Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEPs) in supporting small manufacturers, and John's passion for teaching the next generation. Additionally, John discusses his involvement in a fundraising event for at-risk youth, highlighting the significance of community support and mentorship. In This Episode:-00:00: Introduction to John Piller and His Journey-02:38: The Importance of Teaching and Mentorship-05:21: Passion for Youth and Workforce Development-07:49: Real-World Applications in Education-10:30: Teaching Challenges and Successes-12:59: The Role of Engineering in Understanding Systems-15:44: Connecting Theory to Practice in Engineering-18:14: The Impact of Teaching on Future Generations-20:53: Understanding Complex Concepts Through Simple Analogies-22:55: The Importance of Manufacturing and MEPs-26:31: Data as the New Currency in Manufacturing-34:46: Community Engagement and Supporting At-Risk YouthMore About John Piller:John Piller is the founder of JPiller Design and Consulting, where he helps small and mid-sized manufacturers chart their path into the era of smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0. With a career spanning industrial controls, advanced automation, and OT/IT integration, John combines deep technical expertise with executive-level strategy to guide organizations through digital transformation.Today, John is recognized as a fractional CTO and thought leader, helping executive teams turn complex technologies into practical, scalable solutions. His work emphasizes not just adopting new systems, but building the culture and strategy to make them sustainable. Check out the Over The Edge Fundraiser here. Learn more about John and connect with him here.The Future of Work (and this Episode) Is Brought To You By Secchi:Secchi is a revolutionary workforce engagement tool created for organizations to make data-driven frontline decisions in real-time. By measuring and combining multiple people-related lead indicators, Secchi provides in-the-moment visibility into individual frontline employee performance, team performance, engagement/turnover risks, and positive employee behaviors all while removing the traditional barriers of administrative burden on leaders. To learn more about Secchi, check them out here.
Think you can manage industrial systems like your IT infrastructure? Think again. In this episode of The Audit, Dino Busalachi unpacks the high-stakes complexity of OT-IT convergence—and why your trusty IT playbook flatlines on the plant floor. Join the IT Audit Labs crew as we dive into the chaos of managing 10,000+ industrial assets across a sprawling landscape of vendors, protocols, and operational rules that laugh in the face of standardization. From Siemens to Rockwell to Honeywell, Dino draws sharp parallels to hospital systems juggling specialized third-party contractors—because in the world of OT, consistency is a luxury and adaptability is survival.
Esto es un extracto de la Tertulia de AutoFM que se emite cada jueves en Onda Cero Comentamos cómo ha afectado el apagón a la industria española, especialmente a la de la automoción y detalles sobre el rearranque de las fábricas de coches en España. • Parón industrial masivo tras el gran apagón en la Península • El corte eléctrico del 29 de abril dejó sin suministro a España y Portugal, forzando paradas de emergencia en refinerías (Petronor Muskiz, Repsol Tarragona, Cepsa/Moeve) y activando antorchas de seguridad con visibles columnas de humo. • Las plantas siguen detenidas y no hay fecha de reactivación; el impacto económico aún no se ha podido cuantificar. • Automoción: más de 4 000 vehículos sin producir y líneas paralizadas • Ford Almussafes, VW Landaben, Seat Martorell, Ebro Factory y otros centros detuvieron todas las cadenas a las 12:30 h; generadores propios no cubren la demanda total. • Fabricantes evalúan añadir turnos de fin de semana en mayo para recuperar atrasos; de momento se descartan ERTE y se aplicará bolsa de horas. • Efectos en siderurgia, química y proveedores • La siderúrgica Celsa y firmas petroquímicas de Tarragona interrumpieron operaciones de alto consumo energético. • Proveedores de componentes de automoción y otras grandes industrias también frenaron producción a la espera de restablecer el sistema eléctrico. • Sector farmacéutico y pymes: resiliencia parcial • Multinacionales como Grifols y Boehringer mantuvieron actividad gracias a grupos electrógenos; patronales aconsejan priorizar comunicaciones y seguridad con generadores propios. • El incidente revela la vulnerabilidad del tejido productivo ante interrupciones súbitas y la dificultad de reiniciar plantas complejas. • Riesgos sistémicos y contexto • Red Eléctrica investiga la causa del colapso; la dependencia de renovables y el papel crítico de la nuclear vuelven al debate. • El apagón llegó días después de que Repsol alertara de un gran fallo de suministro en Cartagena, subrayando la necesidad de planes de contingencia energética. 1. Activación del Plan de Contingencia y Comité de Crisis 1.1 Inmediatamente después del blackout, convoque al Comité de Crisis (Dirección de Planta, Mantenimiento, EHS, Calidad, IT/OT, Producción, Utilities). 1.2 Compruebe que el Manual de Plan de Contingencia Eléctrica (versión vigente) esté a mano en sala de Control. 1.3 Designe a un Coordinador de Re-arranque que centralice la comunicación con el Centro de Control Eléctrico (REE o distribuidora local) y con los responsables de área. 2. Aseguramiento inmediato de la seguridad operacional 2.1 Verifique que todas las líneas se encuentran mecanicamente bloqueadas (paros de emergencia, enclavamientos de prensas, robots en posición segura, válvulas neumáticas cerradas). 2.2 Confirme la activación de UPS y grupos electrógenos críticos (servicios contra-incendios, servidores MES/ERP, iluminación de evacuación). 2.3 Realice un pase de seguridad por todas las áreas de alto riesgo: soldadura robotizada, cabinas de pintura con compuestos volátiles, pits de prensas y fosos de catforesis. 3. Evaluación del estado de suministro y calidad eléctrica 3.1 Reciba confirmación oficial de la energía de retorno (grid OK). 3.2 Revise parámetros de calidad: tensión (±5 %), frecuencia (49,8-50,2 Hz), THD (0,95). 3.3 Realice pruebas de carga gradual en CCMs secundarios antes de energizar MCCs de proceso. 4. Inspección eléctrica y de utilidades internas 4.1 Compruebe interruptores de potencia, fusibles, barras y tierras en subestación 30/6 kV y celdas de media tensión. 4.2 Inspeccione transformadores de distribución: nivel de aceite, temperatura y ΔP en bombas ONAN/ONAF. 4.3 Verifique arranque secuencial de compresores de aire, grupos de refrigeración, calderas y HVAC de cabinas. 5. Revisión de equipos de proceso y sistemas de control 5.1 Realice checklist mecánico-eléctrico en: • Prensas Transfer & Tandem: nivel hidráulico, enclavamientos, finales de carrera. • Robots soldadura: home position, circuitos de agua/glycol, pinzas. • Catenarias de pintura: tensiones de cadena, sensórica de posición. • AGVs y EMS: estado de baterías, comunicaciones Wi-Fi/5G. 5.2 Reinicie secuencialmente PLCs y Safety-PLC; valide checksum de programas y tiempos de ciclo. 5.3 Arranque servidores MES, SCADA y dispositivos IoT; compruebe sincronismo con ERP; habilite interconexión EDI con proveedores Just-in-Time. 6. Pruebas en vacío y con “racks testigo” 6.1 Ejecute “dry-run” de cada línea (sin piezas) para observar vibraciones, paradas inesperadas o alarms críticas. 6.2 Introduzca racks testigo (carrocerías dummy, bastidores de tren motriz) y realice el primer First-Off controlado por Calidad. 6.3 Liberación gradual: Soldadura > Pintura > Montaje final > Pruebas de pista interna. 7. Validación de Calidad y recalibración de procesos 7.1 Dimensional: pase de carrocería por CMM y láser gap-flush; tolerancias ISO 8062/8015. 7.2 Pintura: ensayo de espesor (μm), adhesión (cross-cut), brillos (GU) y cabina clase A. 7.3 Powertrain: correas de rodaje y dinamómetro en banco EoL; correlación con SPC histórico. 7.4 Ajuste fino de parámetros si se detectan derivas >1 σ respecto al CP/CPK nominal. 8. Reactivación de logística interna y externa 8.1 Reinicie kanban y milk-run; notifique a proveedores Tier 1/Tier 2 el ETR (Estimated Time to Resume). 8.2 Verifique que almacenes automatizados (AS/RS) y shuttle conveyors funcionan con inventario correcto. 8.3 Establezca plan de recuperación de volumen: horas extras, turnos de fin de semana, line-balancing temporal. 9. Comunicación y reporting 9.1 Informe interno a Dirección y casa matriz: duración de parada, líneas afectadas, producción perdida, OEE estimado, coste preliminar. 9.2 Parte a autoridades laborales/regionales si procede (>4 h de parada o activación de plan de emergencia). 9.3 Comunicación transparente a clientela OEM (si planta de componentes) o red comercial (si planta vehículo completo) con nuevo week-plan de envíos. 10. Revisión post-evento y acciones de robustez 10.1 Reunión “hot-wash” 24 h después: listado de incidencias, MTTR, piezas dañadas, mejoras de mantenimiento predictivo. 10.2 Actualizar Plan de Continuidad de Negocio: • Capacidad mínima de back-up (generadores diésel >20 % demanda pico). • Protecciones de sobretensión y almacenamiento energético (BESS). • Prácticas ciberseguras OT-IT (segmented VLAN, firewalls, backups off-line). 10.3 Programar simulacro anual de pérdida total de red para verificar tiempos de respuesta y ajuste de roles. 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Podcast: HOU.SEC.CAST.Episode: Special, Special, Special Guest – Marco AyalaPub date: 2025-02-05Get Podcast Transcript →powered by Listen411 - fast audio-to-text and summarizationMichael and Sam are gearing up for OT.SEC.CON. with keynote speaker, Marco Ayala! Marco is an ISA Fellow, and President of InfraGard Houston with over 30 years of experience in industrial automation controls and OT/IT security. They chat about some exciting OT Cybersecurity initiatives in Texas, the incident that led him to cybersecurity, and what to expect at his talk in April. Things Mentioned:· Governor Abbott Announces Texas Cyber Command An Emergency Item - https://gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor-abbott-announces-texas-cyber-command-an-emergency-item· Marco's Talk at S4: Normalization of Deviance - https://youtu.be/u1xmyJmGsS0?si=UrSlqVVfvyasvz68· Marco's panel at OTCEP in Singapore - https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/2023-otcep-embracing-new-perspectives-strengthening-ayala/?trackingId=OyeuSlWZQBSNUKgxBl%2BZmQ%3D%3DDo you have a question for the hosts? Reach out to us at podcast@houstonseccon.com Keep up with HOU.SEC.CON:· LinkedIn· Twitter· Facebook· Instagram· YouTube· BlueskyCheck out our other show:· CyberSundayCheck out our Conferences and Events:· HOU.SEC.CON.· OT.SEC.CON.· EXEC.SEC.CON.· HSC User Group Support or apply to our Scholarship Program:· TAB Cyber Foundation In this episode:· Host: Michael Farnum· Host: Sam Van Ryder· Guest: Marco Ayala· Production and editing: Lauren Lynch· Music by: August HoneyThe podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Michael Farnum and Sam Van Ryder, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
In season 4 episode 7 of The IoT Podcast, we sit down with Matt Oberdorfer, Founder and CEO of Embassy of Things, for a deep dive into industrial IoT. Matt shares his entrepreneurial journey, previews his upcoming book, reveals the common pitfalls of industrial IoT projects and offers practical advice for success. Additionally, we explore the exciting synergy between industrial IoT and generative AI, envisioning the future of this transformative technology. Matt, with an impressive track record in 15 successful businesses and publications, is a committed advocate for AI in sustainable energy. In his upcoming book, "The Trailblazer's Guide to Industrial IoT," he offers expert guidance on upgrading industrial OT/IT infrastructure for AI, ML, and analytics. In this episode, Matt draws from his extensive knowledge to dissect the industrial landscape, examining both failures and successes. Sit back, relax, tune in and discover… About Matt (01:47) Advice for start-ups (04:27) IIoT market overview (09:00) Why is the industrial market much slower than the consumer electronics market? (13:29) Common pitfalls in industrial IoT (19:21) Start with one use case and do it well (26:53) Gen AI's potential in IIoT (31:10) About Matt's new book (40:43) Prediction for IoT in 2023 (44:00) And much more! Thank you to today's episode sponsors... IoT Tech Expo Europe 2023 – get your free ticket for their upcoming conference in Amsterdam or virtual (26-27th September) We can't wait to see you there! ⏩ https://www.iottechexpo.com/europe/ticket-registration-2023/ And 5V Tech! Discover how 5V Tech can help you unlock your scaling potential in cutting-edge tech and IoT, here: https://www.weare5vtech.com/ ABOUT THE GUEST Meet Matt Oberdorfer, CEO of EOT and a leading voice in Industrial IoT (IIoT). With five books to his name, including the upcoming "The Trailblazer's Guide to Industrial IoT," Matt offers expert guidance for digital transformation in energy and manufacturing. He founded EOT in 2019, dedicated to modernising industrial infrastructure. Matt's pioneering spirit has earned him numerous industry awards, and he advocates for AI-driven sustainability in conferences worldwide. Connect with Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattoberdorfer/ Buy "Trailblazers Guide To Industrial IoT": https://thetrailblazersguide.com/ ABOUT EMBASSY OF THINGS (EOT) The Embassy of Things is a cutting-edge initiative at the forefront of the Internet of Things (IoT) revolution. Established as a visionary hub for IoT innovation, the Embassy of Things is a nexus where diverse technologies and digital ecosystems converge to shape the future. Find out more about EOT: https://embassyofthings.com/ SUBSCRIBE TO THE IOT PODCAST ON YOUR FAVOURITE LISTENING PLATFORM: https://linktr.ee/theiotpodcast Sign Up for exclusive email updates: https://theiotpodcast.com/ Contact us to become a guest/partner: https://theiotpodcast.com/contact/ Connect with host Tom White: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom5values/
In this episode our host Elena Melchert talks with author, speaker, serial entrepreneur, and investor Matt Oberdorfer about his work and insights related to upgrading the OT/IT infrastructure of industrial companies to harness the power of modern AI, ML, and analytics for digital twins with special applications to upstream oil and gas. https://oggn.com/ https://thetrailblazersguide.com/ https://embassyofthings.com/ This episode is made possible by Oliva Gibbs LLP Click here to take it one question survey and receive OGGN hardhat/laptop stickers Brought to you on Oil and Gas Global Network, the largest and most listened-to podcast network for the oil and energy industry. More from OGGN ... Podcasts LinkedIn Group LinkedIn Company Page Get notified about industry events
Podcast: Control Loop: The OT Cybersecurity Podcast (LS 33 · TOP 5% what is this?)Episode: Compliance with an eye on OT security.Pub date: 2023-07-26An unnamed APT has a remote code execution exploit for Rockwell Automation ControlLogix communications modules. Court temporarily blocks water system cybersecurity mandate. Industrial controller vulnerabilities pose a risk to critical infrastructure. US Federal government issues voluntary IoT security guidelines.Our guest is Mea Clift of Woodard & Curran discussing how compliance should not be a checkbox activity with an eye on OT security and shares her experience in securing the water/utilities space.On the Learning Lab, Mark Urban is joined by Dragos Vulnerability Analyst Logan Carpenter in final part of three segments focused on vulnerabilities in the OT world.Webinars.Webinar: Operationalizing OT Threat Intelligence – a Rockwell Automation ControlLogix Case StudyJoin us for this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how Dragos approaches this on a regular basis, using the recently disclosed Rockwell Automation ControlLogix EtherNet/IP (ENIP) communication module vulnerabilities (CVE-2023-3595 and CVE-2023-3596).Webinar: Securing Digital Transformation: OT Cybersecurity Innovation and ResilienceAs business and innovation come together, digital transformation isn't a future concept - it's happening right now. Join Dave Bittner and our friends from AWS, Splunk and Dragos on August 3rd @ 2pm EST for a live panel on “Securing Digital Transformation: OT Cybersecurity Innovation and Resilience” where we'll dive into secure digital transformation, managing OT/IT cyber risk and the value and vision of Cloud resources.Control Loop News Brief.ControlLogix RCE exploit.Rockwell warns of new APT RCE exploit targeting critical infrastructure (BleepingComputer)Dragos Enabled Defense Against APT Exploits for Rockwell Automation ControlLogix (Dragos)Court temporarily blocks water system cybersecurity mandate.EPA 'disappointed' by hold on agency efforts to spur water systems cybersecurity (The Washington Post)Industrial controller vulnerabilities pose a risk to critical infrastructure.Security flaws in Honeywell devices could be used to disrupt critical industries (TechCrunch)Implementing the US National Cybersecurity Strategy.National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan (The White House)US Federal government issues voluntary IoT security guidelines.Biden-Harris Administration Announces Cybersecurity Labeling Program for Smart Devices to Protect American Consumers (The White House)White House, FCC advance efforts to add security labels to connected devices (CyberScoop)Control Loop Interview.The interview is with Mea Clift of Woodard & Curran discussing how compliance should not be a checkbox activity with an eye on OT security and her experience in securing the water/utilities space.Control Loop Learning Lab.On the Learning Lab, Mark Urban is joined by Dragos Vulnerability Analyst Logan Carpenter in final part of three segments focused on vulnerabilities in the OT world.Control Loop OT Cybersecurity Briefing.A companion monthly newsletter is available through free subscription and on the CyberWire's website.The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from N2K Networks, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
An unnamed APT has a remote code execution exploit for Rockwell Automation ControlLogix communications modules. Court temporarily blocks water system cybersecurity mandate. Industrial controller vulnerabilities pose a risk to critical infrastructure. US Federal government issues voluntary IoT security guidelines. Our guest is Mea Clift of Woodard & Curran discussing how compliance should not be a checkbox activity with an eye on OT security and shares her experience in securing the water/utilities space. On the Learning Lab, Mark Urban is joined by Dragos Vulnerability Analyst Logan Carpenter in final part of three segments focused on vulnerabilities in the OT world. Webinars. Webinar: Operationalizing OT Threat Intelligence – a Rockwell Automation ControlLogix Case Study Join us for this exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how Dragos approaches this on a regular basis, using the recently disclosed Rockwell Automation ControlLogix EtherNet/IP (ENIP) communication module vulnerabilities (CVE-2023-3595 and CVE-2023-3596). Webinar: Securing Digital Transformation: OT Cybersecurity Innovation and Resilience As business and innovation come together, digital transformation isn't a future concept - it's happening right now. Join Dave Bittner and our friends from AWS, Splunk and Dragos on August 3rd @ 2pm EST for a live panel on “Securing Digital Transformation: OT Cybersecurity Innovation and Resilience” where we'll dive into secure digital transformation, managing OT/IT cyber risk and the value and vision of Cloud resources. Control Loop News Brief. ControlLogix RCE exploit. Rockwell warns of new APT RCE exploit targeting critical infrastructure (BleepingComputer) Dragos Enabled Defense Against APT Exploits for Rockwell Automation ControlLogix (Dragos) Court temporarily blocks water system cybersecurity mandate. EPA 'disappointed' by hold on agency efforts to spur water systems cybersecurity (The Washington Post) Industrial controller vulnerabilities pose a risk to critical infrastructure. Security flaws in Honeywell devices could be used to disrupt critical industries (TechCrunch) Implementing the US National Cybersecurity Strategy. National Cybersecurity Strategy Implementation Plan (The White House) US Federal government issues voluntary IoT security guidelines. Biden-Harris Administration Announces Cybersecurity Labeling Program for Smart Devices to Protect American Consumers (The White House) White House, FCC advance efforts to add security labels to connected devices (CyberScoop) Control Loop Interview. The interview is with Mea Clift of Woodard & Curran discussing how compliance should not be a checkbox activity with an eye on OT security and her experience in securing the water/utilities space. Control Loop Learning Lab. On the Learning Lab, Mark Urban is joined by Dragos Vulnerability Analyst Logan Carpenter in final part of three segments focused on vulnerabilities in the OT world. Control Loop OT Cybersecurity Briefing. A companion monthly newsletter is available through free subscription and on the CyberWire's website.
Great conversation where we discuss movies to Sonic the hedgehog. and the adoption rate for IIoT and IoT in general, plus his new book. Matt has a grasp of the topic and simplifies the technology for all of us. His book covers real use cases, root causes of failure, scalable strategies, architecture for digital twins and industrial data lakes, actional checklist and plans. Matt also shares his thoughts on Chat GPT, and it is very interesting. About Matt:Matt Oberdorfer is an author, speaker, serial entrepreneur, and investor. His new book “The Trailblazer's Guide to Industrial IoT” is a comprehensive guide for energy and manufacturing digital transformation leaders that offers expert insights and practical advice on upgrading the OT/IT infrastructure of industrial companies to harness the power of modern AI, ML, and analytics for Digital Twins, IndustrialData lake, and cloud historian. Matt has been involved in more than 15 privately held businesses that have been honored with the " Innovation Quotient Award for Information Technology," the " Annual eWeek Excellence Award" winner, and the "Red Herring 100 North America Award." Matt is the founder and CEO of EOT, a leading industrial software company dedicated to helping industrial companies improve efficiency, reduce downtime, and increase productivity. EOT's innovativeproducts and services leverage the latest technologies, including AI and machine learning, to deliver real-time insights and enable data-driven decision-making. EOT's customers, such as BP and Hilcorp, represent more than $160 billion in revenue, $45 billion in fixed assets, and 60,000 employees. Matt holds five patents and advocates using AI to pave the way for smart manufacturing and sustainableenergy.Learn more about his new bookhttps://thetrailblazersguide.com/Support the show
"Pioneering the IIoT: Insights from Matt Oberdorfer on his latest book, 'The Trailblazer's Guide to Industrial IoT.' Discover valuable insights for upgrading OT/IT infrastructure and leveraging AI, ML, and analytics for digital transformation in energy and manufacturing."
Mel Migriño, Vice-President and Group CISO at Meralco, the largest power distribution conglomerate in the Philippines, joins us this week to talk about Operational Technology (OT). Tune in to this episode of Ask A CISO to hear:
The war in Ukraine has highlighted the role that cyber plays in modern warfare. Some of these tactics are poised to impact the oil and gas industry. Get ready. Duration: 11m 45s Register to attend the June 2nd virtual panel discussion–hosted by Geoffrey Cann–to learn how to proactively protect industrial organizations and critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Hear from leading OT (industrial) Cybersecurity experts– from OTORIO, ACSI and Netscout–on risk management strategies for industrial organizations as they discuss: --risks of convergence: OT & IT --how to talk to the Board --the importance of cyber hygiene --risk management best practices Who should attend: Cybersecurity decision-makers (IT and OT) who want to proactively protect their industrial organizations and critical infrastructure from cyber threats. Register today: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/9616503154908/WN_GPZT_zuaRc6D0BncLhgaiw
Ep 106: In this episode, we speak with Grant Geyer, Chief Product Officer at Claroty, on how to approach Zero Trust in operational technology environments and the importance of culture in the success of a zero-trust program.
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We tend to be familiar with “Information Technology” and the efforts organisations put to secure the data, applications and systems we refer to IT. Operational Technology is less understood and only with the adoption of IoT, and more importantly, the attacks on infrastructure critical systems has the issue of securing OT become a point of contention starting with those is responsible for IT-OT or OT-IT converged systems. In this PodChats for IoT, we speak to Richard Farrell, Asia-Pacific Director for Cloud, Data and Digitalization, on securing IT-OT convergence.1. What is IT-OT convergence? What is the implications to businesses?2. Should it be considered IT-OT convergence or IT-OT integration?3. How has the growing adoption of 5G and IoT technologies leading to the convergence (integration) of IT and OT systems? 4. How should these be connected to the IT systems be secured? 5. Please name 3 best practices for a holistic IT/OT cybersecurity programme?
In this week's Industrial Talk Podcast we're talking to Hansa Iyengar and Alex West with Omdia about "The convergence of OT and IT". Get the answers to your "OT/IT" questions along with Hansa and Alex's unique insight on the “How” on this Industrial Talk interview! Finally, get your exclusive free access to the https://industrialtalk.com/wp-admin/inforum-industrial-academy-discount/ (Industrial Academy) and a series on “https://industrialtalk.com/why-you-need-to-podcast/ (Why You Need To Podcast)” for Greater Success in 2021. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy! HANSA IYENGAR AND ALEX WEST'S CONTACT INFORMATION: Hansa's Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansa-iyengar-0140a67/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/hansa-iyengar-0140a67/) Alex's Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexdwest/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexdwest/) Omdia's Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/omdia/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/omdia/) Omdia's Company Website: https://omdia.tech.informa.com/ (https://omdia.tech.informa.com/) PODCAST VIDEO: https://youtu.be/wQgtM-X1eGI Other Powerful Resources from Omdia: https://www.spreaker.com/show/the-digital-leaders-podcast (Omdia Digital Leaders Podcast (spreaker.com)) THE STRATEGIC REASON "WHY YOU NEED TO PODCAST": https://industrialtalk.com/why-you-need-to-podcast/ () OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES: NEOM: https://www.neom.com/en-us (https://www.neom.com/en-us) CAP Logistics: https://www.caplogistics.com/ (https://www.caplogistics.com/) Hitachi Vantara: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html (https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html) Industrial Marketing Solutions: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/ (https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/) Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/ (https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/) Industrial Dojo: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/ (https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/) Safety With Purpose Podcast: https://safetywithpurpose.com/ (https://safetywithpurpose.com/) YOUR INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL TOOLBOX: LifterLMS: Get One Month Free for $1 – https://lifterlms.com/ (https://lifterlms.com/) Active Campaign: https://www.activecampaign.com/?_r=H855VEPU (Active Campaign Link) Social Jukebox: https://www.socialjukebox.com/ (https://www.socialjukebox.com/) Industrial Academy (One Month Free Access And One Free License For Future Industrial Leader): https://industrialtalk.com/wp-admin/inforum-industrial-academy-discount/ () Business Beatitude the Book Do you desire a more joy-filled, deeply-enduring sense of accomplishment and success? Live your business the way you want to live with the BUSINESS BEATITUDES...The Bridge connecting sacrifice to success. YOU NEED THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES! TAP INTO YOUR INDUSTRIAL SOUL, RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. DARE GREATLY AND CHANGE THE WORLD. GET THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES! https://industrialtalk.com/business-beatitude-reserve/ ( Reserve My Copy and My 25% Discount) PODCAST TRANSCRIPT: SUMMARY KEYWORDS industrial, alex, technology, people, digital transformation journey, data, ot, business, companies, enterprise, customer, supply chain, digital transformation, pandemic, solutions, Hansa, industry, tx, machines, legacy 00:00 Hey industrial Talk is brought to you by CAP Logistics. You want to minimize downtime, absolutely increase reliability, you bet ensure operational profitability. Yes you do. That means you need 20 473 65 insights into your supply chain Look no further cap logistics go to cap logistics.com or just call them they're great people 800-227-2471 also TX one now you know cybersecurity is important if you're on this digital transformation journey, TX one networks has the solutions for you. And you're saying to yourself, Scott, they're going to be complex,
In today's episode we continue to focus on that very messy edge-of-network in industrial settings and how to solve this Factory-4.0 Achilles heel. Joining the discussion is PTC Kepware's Kyle Carreau. Kepware has been solving the messy edge problem for the world of OT since well before “IoT.” Now, under the spotlight of more OT-IT convergence and real progress in deploying Industrial IoT solutions, PTC Kepware finds itself in the right place, at the right time to help solve those messy problems at the edge, both with their traditional KEPServerEX or pushing out to the very networks edge with ThingWorx Kepware Edge deployed on widely distributed industrial gateways and PC's.
This week, In the first segment, we welcome Damon Small, Technical Director of Security Consulting at NCC Group, for an interview covering the Florida Water Treatment Facility Hack, and the Convergence of OT & IT! Next up, Artisom Holub, Senior Security Analyst and Austin McBride, Data Scientist, from Cisco Umbrella join to talk about some Chart Topping Threats and How Attacks will rage in 2021! In the Enterprise Security News: XM Cyber Announces Integration with Palo Alto Network's Cortex XSOAR, API Security Lessons Learned, Cycode Raises $20 Million, HelpSystems Acquires Beyond Security, Accurics Terrascan integrates with the Argo Project, Cequence Security API Sentinel 2.0, Seclore Security24 protects sensitive data, Who’s Really Behind the Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack?, Forcepoint acquires Cyberinc, Sophos launches industry’s only XDR solution for endpoint, server, firewall and email security?, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw227 Visit https://securityweekly.com/ciscoumbrella to learn more about them! Segment Resources: https://newsroom.nccgroup.com/news/insight-florida-citys-water-supply-attack-420952 https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/13/us/florida-hack-remote-access/index.html Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/securityweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly
This week, In the first segment, we welcome Damon Small, Technical Director of Security Consulting at NCC Group, for an interview covering the Florida Water Treatment Facility Hack, and the Convergence of OT & IT! Next up, Artisom Holub, Senior Security Analyst and Austin McBride, Data Scientist, from Cisco Umbrella join to talk about some Chart Topping Threats and How Attacks will rage in 2021! In the Enterprise Security News: XM Cyber Announces Integration with Palo Alto Network's Cortex XSOAR, API Security Lessons Learned, Cycode Raises $20 Million, HelpSystems Acquires Beyond Security, Accurics Terrascan integrates with the Argo Project, Cequence Security API Sentinel 2.0, Seclore Security24 protects sensitive data, Who’s Really Behind the Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack?, Forcepoint acquires Cyberinc, Sophos launches industry’s only XDR solution for endpoint, server, firewall and email security?, and more! Show Notes: https://securityweekly.com/esw227 Visit https://securityweekly.com/ciscoumbrella to learn more about them! Segment Resources: https://newsroom.nccgroup.com/news/insight-florida-citys-water-supply-attack-420952 https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/13/us/florida-hack-remote-access/index.html Visit https://www.securityweekly.com/esw for all the latest episodes! Follow us on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/securityweekly Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secweekly
Nosso convidado do dia 19/4/21 é o Victor Venâncio Dias, M.Sc, MBA Head of Digital Transformation – IHM Stefanini Group. Victor é técnico em instrumentação e automação, engenheiro de produção e mecatrônico, com MBA em gestão econômica e estratégica de negócios pela FGV-Management, mestrado em administração estratégica pela FGV-EBAPE e Senior Executive Program pela ESADE Business School de Barcelona. Com +25 anos de experiência em automação industrial, corporativa e predial, atuando em grandes empresas de tecnologia no Brasil e América Latina, como GE, Tyco, Mokveld e KPMG. Também é Diretor do comitê Global para Smart Manufacturing e IIoT da ISA (International Society of Automation), Diretor de estratégia e parcerias da ISA Seção Rio de Janeiro, Líder do Grupo de Trabalho sobre Convergência OT-IT do conselho de Transformação Digital do IBP ( Instituto Brasileiro do Petróleo ), coordenador do Open Innovation BR Squad RJ e membro da Câmara setorial de Equipamentos navais, offshore e Onshore da ABIMAQ. Participa também da Câmara Brasileira da Indústria 4.0 do MCTI – Governo do Brasil.
O criador do programa, Kleyson Teixeira, MSc., Eng. de Produção, pós graduado em Eng. Arq. De software e mestre em Cie.Tec. Materiais. Com mais de 30 anos de experiência em indústria química, nas áreas de produção, PCP, PCM, gestão de manutenção, acompanhamento de processos produtivos e projetos de automação e, com mais de 8 anos em docência em engenharia, Kleyson irá abordar importância de se preparar para a sua carreira, adaptar-se aos desafios das áreas de atuação e se superar no dia a dia das rotinas do trabalho e da vida de olho no futuro. Kleyson é Engenheiro Automação na FCCSA, Prof. na UCAM, Youtuber e Podcaster do Segunda Conectada, Mentor de engenharia, membro do comitê de Convergência de OT-IT no IBP. Venha se conectar conosco! O Segunda Conectada irá ao ar às 21hs no Youtube.
How do you transition to a next-gen enterprise architecture that enables data-driven innovation and operational excellence? Whether you are planning or executing transformative initiatives across energy services, grid analytics, application modernisation, or a 360 view of your utility, you need modern IT architectures that can simplify collaboration with market participants and accelerate time to market service innovation.Innovate to prepare for the challenges and opportunities for today’s fast-changing energy sector and technology landscape.In this podcast “Piecing together the enterprise architecture puzzle” you will learn actionable best practices from transformative industry-leaders and innovation frontrunners.We have put together an e-zine with articles which speak to these questions. You can download the digital version of this collection by visiting http://utility40.greenbird.com/ to get more information on the build vs buy debate, understand the digital integration journey and how to simplify the IT/OT relationship.Session highlights include:Discover a blueprint and reference architecture for the digital utility that you can put into action right away.Align next-generation architecture principles to your own business strategy.Hear how leading utilities overcame key challenges managing huge amounts of energy data or integrate OT/IT and edge devices to create smart benefits.Gain insight from other utilities and industries how those succeed with a multi-cloud strategy and understand their rationale behind their “make or buy” decisions.Learn key benefits from use cases that generate value.Listen to Greenbird and industry experts as they discuss utility data, building a blueprint architecture for the Utility 4.0 and how to extract value from it.Learn how a data-driven culture can transition data from a troublesome challenge item to a strategic renewable resource that drives meaningful digital reinvention.Moderator: Claire Volkwyn, Editor, Smart Energy InternationalSpeakers: Thorsten Heller, CEO | Greenbird; Klaus Wagner, IT Project Manager | Netze BW GmbH; Rinse Veltman, Director Solutions | Energyworx
On today’s show, host Christopher Gorog chats with John Jaisaree, Principal Cybersecurity Consultant at Revolutionary Security. They discuss what the security industry is lacking, the convergence of IT and OT, and the OT - IT gap. Listen and join in on the conversation! Visit our sponsors: Cyber Resilience Institute BlockFrame Inc. SecureSet Academy Murray Security Services
What should you do from an architecture standpoint to make sure that you have the right foundation in place for delivering innovation across your OT-IT landscape? How do you keep it secure? What role does Cloud have to play in it? How about Open Standards?And.. what does architecture have common with rubbish collection and bin men??In this very engaging episode we uncover these themes in conversation with IBM's Distinguished Engineer, and Industrial CTO - Paul Homan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/homanpaul/).Views expressed are personal; not those of our employer's.----------------------------Music credit:Timeless by Scandinavianz https://soundcloud.com/scandinavianzCreative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_timelessMusic promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/lDAq3M34tdk
Chris & Ahmed react to the Cowboys coaching hire, recap the Wild Card games and give a first look towards the Divisional Round.(3:00) Cowboys hire Mike McCarthy "This made the most sense"(8:20) What does this mean for Dak Prescott?(9:35) Playoff parity is back!(11:40) Vikings 26-Saints 20 (OT) How did Minnesota's D slow down the Saints?(15:10) Is Michael Thomas to blame for Drew Brees' fumble?(18:30) Is Sean Payton ready to turn from Drew Brees to Taysom Hill?(21:55) Did we see the death of Primetime Kirk Cousins?(24:30) Was Kyle Rudolph's TD pass interference?(26:45) "Has Drew Brees played his last game in New Orleans?"(27:40) Titans 20-Patriots 13 "Has Tom Brady played his last game in New England?"(29:00) Ahmed has Chris rank possible Brady 2020 destinations(32:55) "The Titans exposed New England's flaw"(37:15) Breaking down the Titans game-changing goal-line stand(41:30) Mike Vrabel's time shenanigans: "he had a great feel for the game"(43:50) "Brady doesn't make any plays. That needs to be talked about."(47:50) Texans 22-Bills 19 (OT) "It starts with the Deshaun Watson greatness factor"(51:10) The downside of Deshaun's game-winning play(52:30) Defending Josh Allen(57:50) Explaining the illegal blindside block on Cody Ford(59:55) Which Bill is to blame for Duke Johnson's 3rd-&-18 conversion on the game-winning drive?(1:04:05) Seahawks 17-Eagles 9 Was Jadeveon Clowney's hit on Carson Wentz dirty?(1:08:50) Jim Schwartz's gameplan: "I don't get it"(1:15:05) Chris takes a DK Metcalf victory lap(1:17:50) Speed Round: Divisional Round Preview (1:22:15) Requiem For a Team: Ahmed says goodbye to the 4 Wild losers
This episode covers the benefits of moving to platforms, and what that transition means for visualization, and topics like leveraging the latest technologies, augmented reality, accessing documentation, OEE, and empowering operators on the plant floor. We’re discussing computing at the edge, OT-IT convergence, and the challenges of cyber security management. Learn more at inductiveautomation.com
Chris dives into the biggest plays of the week in "What The $&*%! Happened?".(3:45) Steelers 17-Rams 12: Jared Goff's 3 turnovers "Ok, the guy's not open. You gotta do something else."(9:30) Chris has advice for Sean McVay to "reinvent himself"(12:30) How Minkah Fitzpatrick and the Steelers D took Cooper Kupp from 220 yards to zero(16:00) Packers 24-Panthers 16: GB's goal-line stand "Kyle Allen's got Christian McCaffrey open for a touchdown."(24:30) The Packers were not ready for the final play...and it helped them(30:45) Vikings 28-Cowboys 24: Big Phil joins to discuss the Cowboys failed 4th down(38:20) Were the Cowboys too worried about the clock? Chris & Paul disagree.(49:10) Steelers, Raiders, Bills and Colts: which dark horse does Big Phil like the best?(59:00) Seahawks 27-49ers 24 (OT): " It was the best game I've seen any NFL defender play all season."(1:04:00) "Jimmy Garoppolo did not play that bad."(1:13:15) Raiders 26-Chargers 24: Josh Jacobs game-winning TD "Rodney Huson was the star of the play."(1:16:45) Jets 34-Giants 27: Saquon Barkley 1 rush yd "There's nowhere to go."(1:19:00) "Daniel Jones is one of the most pure throwers in football."(1:20:45) Chris breaks down the Ravens "Heisman Package" in our new segment: We'll Do It Live!
Podcast: Automation World Gets Your Questions AnsweredEpisode: Configuring Wireless Networks for Mobile UsePub date: 2019-06-21In this third episode of the “Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered” podcast series, we connect with Justin Shade of Phoenix Contact to explore industrial wireless technologies and their OT/IT collaboration requirements, speed capabilities, and security concerns. This podcast is sponsored by Allied Electronics and Automation.The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Automation World, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
In this third episode of the “Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered” podcast series, we connect with Justin Shade of Phoenix Contact to explore industrial wireless technologies and their OT/IT collaboration requirements, speed capabilities, and security concerns. This podcast is sponsored by Allied Electronics and Automation.
添加微信"siemensfm1847"，加入听友群，发现更多精彩！咨询西门子业务，请拨打400-616-2020今天，数字化解决方案使更加灵活的制造、更高的生产率和新的业务模式的开发都成为可能。但是，工业的未来为所有行业都提供了更多的潜力：尖端技术将为离散工业和过程工业创造新的机会，以满足其客户定制化的需求。本文是西门子数字化工业集团CEO何睿祺在汉诺威工业博览会期间的署名文章。近几年来，工业4.0一直是工业发展的推动力。它的目标是让客户在线上配置、并以最好的质量和有吸引力的价格迅速得到他们想要的产品。实现这一目标的先决技术条件已经具备。关键就在于使用所谓的“数字化双胞胎”，即以数字化的形式全面复制工业制造过程中的每个环节。这对孪生兄弟模拟仿真，并以最优化的方式协调从产品设计到产品实际生产和产品性能表现的各个环节。通过使用这些将虚拟和现实生产世界结合在一起的解决方案，离散工业和过程工业的企业都可以在其充满变化的市场中应对与日俱增的挑战。他们可以满足不断增长的对更多的新产品和定制产品的需求，可以针对一系列品种繁多的产品灵活建立自己的生产工厂，可以实现更高的产量而同时消耗更少的资源。他们也可以通过减少浪费和宕机时间来提高产品质量、节约成本。今天，实现这一切的解决方案已经具备。在工业发展进程的这一历史节点上，有两个因素至关重要：协作和尖端技术。工业企业，不论规模大小，无论属于哪个行业，都需要共同努力，不断推动产业转型向前发展。要做到这一点，大公司和中小企业之间以创新为基础的伙伴关系，以及产业、科学和政治领域之间的合作同样重要。对于较小的企业来说，利用顾问技术专家的专业知识并与他们合作为其特定需求开发理想的解决方案也是很有帮助的。数字化转型尚未完成第二个要素同样重要：思考工业未来。毕竟，数字化转型尚未完成。这就是为什么西门子正在与其客户和合作伙伴合作推进下一阶段的数字化转型：技术提供商、供应商和用户必须共同努力，使用更高级别的开放式技术平台——例如云应用程序——和尖端技术来改进现有的解决方案。集中使用人工智能和边缘计算等技术将极大地提高未来工业的灵活性和生产力。这些尖端技术依赖于数据的可用性。而数字化则产生了大量的数据。上面描述的数字化双胞胎，即通过与工业制造的每个环节连接在一起的虚拟图像，产生大量的数据，这些数据将在未来以全新的方式进行分析并加以利用。只有在生产流程实现数字化、软硬件平台实现联通的情况下，尖端技术所需的数据才具备可用性。人工智能，或AI，充分说明了这一问题。首先，人工智能是一个简单的计算机程序，它使用机器学习持续优化自身，而不需要人工干预，然后在此基础上做出决策。但是为了学习，人工智能需要大量的数据。而只有在生产流程实现数字化、软硬件平台实现联通的情况下，所需的数据才具备可用性。例如，西门子安贝格工厂的人工智能算法使用来自切割机的数据来判别机器中的主轴何时达到其使用寿命，需要更换，从而最大限度地减少计划外宕机时间并节省成本。这些高度复杂的计算过程的算法可以作为工业物联网的一部分在云中运行，也可以直接在机器设备所在的工厂车间中运行。这一技术被称为边缘计算。这样做的好处是，智能应用程序在现场运行时，传输路径短，数据处理接近实时。此外，与运营相关的数据在本地环境中受到保护，只有在更新AI应用程序时才需要连接到云端。在西门子位于安贝格工厂，边缘计算已经在印刷电路板的质量控制等功能方面得到工业应用。因为人工智能算法使用制造数据来识别可能有缺陷的工件，所以只有被识别出的部件才需要通过人工进一步进行仔细检查。人工智能还为自主生产系统开辟了全新的可能性。例如，机器人以前需要在熟悉的物体上进行长时间的训练，每个动作都需要被定义并进行极其详细的编程；而人工智能则使它们能够识别甚至是未知的物体，并计算出最合适的抓握点。这在汽车等复杂产品的全自动装配线中颇具价值，因为这些产品的生产线必须尽可能灵活，机器人需要能够定位和移动各式各样的部件。这些尖端技术正在逐步融入到工业4.0解决方案中。通过开发新型业务模式并释放新的生产力潜力，它们为所有离散和过程行业提供了巨大的机会。因此，它们是确保工业企业在未来世界保持竞争力的重要因素。网络信息安全同样重要：如果不保护工业系统免遭网络攻击，数字化将是无法实现的。而人工智能和边缘计算可以借助数据分析更快速、更可靠地识别安全事件，从而在这一领域发挥支持作用。OT和IT进一步融合将是下一阶段的方向参观汉诺威工业博览会的观众可以在西门子展台通过一系列来自不同行业的案例亲身体验这些新的进展。此外：在主题为“面向未来”的展区，大家还可以看到这些尖端技术不断实现集成的下一个阶段的方向：即运营技术（OT）和信息技术（IT）进一步融合。这意味着来自工业发展和制造业的数据将与来自企业其他领域（如采购和客户管理）的数据相关联，从而使工业生产能够更快、更有效地满足客户的个性化需求。
添加微信"siemensfm1847"，加入听友群，发现更多精彩！咨询西门子业务，请拨打400-616-2020今天，数字化解决方案使更加灵活的制造、更高的生产率和新的业务模式的开发都成为可能。但是，工业的未来为所有行业都提供了更多的潜力：尖端技术将为离散工业和过程工业创造新的机会，以满足其客户定制化的需求。本文是西门子数字化工业集团CEO何睿祺在汉诺威工业博览会期间的署名文章。近几年来，工业4.0一直是工业发展的推动力。它的目标是让客户在线上配置、并以最好的质量和有吸引力的价格迅速得到他们想要的产品。实现这一目标的先决技术条件已经具备。关键就在于使用所谓的“数字化双胞胎”，即以数字化的形式全面复制工业制造过程中的每个环节。这对孪生兄弟模拟仿真，并以最优化的方式协调从产品设计到产品实际生产和产品性能表现的各个环节。通过使用这些将虚拟和现实生产世界结合在一起的解决方案，离散工业和过程工业的企业都可以在其充满变化的市场中应对与日俱增的挑战。他们可以满足不断增长的对更多的新产品和定制产品的需求，可以针对一系列品种繁多的产品灵活建立自己的生产工厂，可以实现更高的产量而同时消耗更少的资源。他们也可以通过减少浪费和宕机时间来提高产品质量、节约成本。今天，实现这一切的解决方案已经具备。在工业发展进程的这一历史节点上，有两个因素至关重要：协作和尖端技术。工业企业，不论规模大小，无论属于哪个行业，都需要共同努力，不断推动产业转型向前发展。要做到这一点，大公司和中小企业之间以创新为基础的伙伴关系，以及产业、科学和政治领域之间的合作同样重要。对于较小的企业来说，利用顾问技术专家的专业知识并与他们合作为其特定需求开发理想的解决方案也是很有帮助的。数字化转型尚未完成第二个要素同样重要：思考工业未来。毕竟，数字化转型尚未完成。这就是为什么西门子正在与其客户和合作伙伴合作推进下一阶段的数字化转型：技术提供商、供应商和用户必须共同努力，使用更高级别的开放式技术平台——例如云应用程序——和尖端技术来改进现有的解决方案。集中使用人工智能和边缘计算等技术将极大地提高未来工业的灵活性和生产力。这些尖端技术依赖于数据的可用性。而数字化则产生了大量的数据。上面描述的数字化双胞胎，即通过与工业制造的每个环节连接在一起的虚拟图像，产生大量的数据，这些数据将在未来以全新的方式进行分析并加以利用。只有在生产流程实现数字化、软硬件平台实现联通的情况下，尖端技术所需的数据才具备可用性。人工智能，或AI，充分说明了这一问题。首先，人工智能是一个简单的计算机程序，它使用机器学习持续优化自身，而不需要人工干预，然后在此基础上做出决策。但是为了学习，人工智能需要大量的数据。而只有在生产流程实现数字化、软硬件平台实现联通的情况下，所需的数据才具备可用性。例如，西门子安贝格工厂的人工智能算法使用来自切割机的数据来判别机器中的主轴何时达到其使用寿命，需要更换，从而最大限度地减少计划外宕机时间并节省成本。这些高度复杂的计算过程的算法可以作为工业物联网的一部分在云中运行，也可以直接在机器设备所在的工厂车间中运行。这一技术被称为边缘计算。这样做的好处是，智能应用程序在现场运行时，传输路径短，数据处理接近实时。此外，与运营相关的数据在本地环境中受到保护，只有在更新AI应用程序时才需要连接到云端。在西门子位于安贝格工厂，边缘计算已经在印刷电路板的质量控制等功能方面得到工业应用。因为人工智能算法使用制造数据来识别可能有缺陷的工件，所以只有被识别出的部件才需要通过人工进一步进行仔细检查。人工智能还为自主生产系统开辟了全新的可能性。例如，机器人以前需要在熟悉的物体上进行长时间的训练，每个动作都需要被定义并进行极其详细的编程；而人工智能则使它们能够识别甚至是未知的物体，并计算出最合适的抓握点。这在汽车等复杂产品的全自动装配线中颇具价值，因为这些产品的生产线必须尽可能灵活，机器人需要能够定位和移动各式各样的部件。这些尖端技术正在逐步融入到工业4.0解决方案中。通过开发新型业务模式并释放新的生产力潜力，它们为所有离散和过程行业提供了巨大的机会。因此，它们是确保工业企业在未来世界保持竞争力的重要因素。网络信息安全同样重要：如果不保护工业系统免遭网络攻击，数字化将是无法实现的。而人工智能和边缘计算可以借助数据分析更快速、更可靠地识别安全事件，从而在这一领域发挥支持作用。OT和IT进一步融合将是下一阶段的方向参观汉诺威工业博览会的观众可以在西门子展台通过一系列来自不同行业的案例亲身体验这些新的进展。此外：在主题为“面向未来”的展区，大家还可以看到这些尖端技术不断实现集成的下一个阶段的方向：即运营技术（OT）和信息技术（IT）进一步融合。这意味着来自工业发展和制造业的数据将与来自企业其他领域（如采购和客户管理）的数据相关联，从而使工业生产能够更快、更有效地满足客户的个性化需求。
Podcast: Unsolicited Response PodcastEpisode: 4 Takeaways from 2018 ... And Kicking Off 2019 With My S4x19 Mini KeynotePub date: 2019-01-29The first Unsolicited Response episode of 2019 is a shorter solo-sode. It begins with my four major takeaways from 2018 Finally figuring out the OT / IT issue Consequence based risk reduction Detection market acceleration and shake out The ICS bane called Cyber Hygiene And then at 10:20 in the podcast I've included my S4x19 minute mini-keynote Create The Future, with a bit of help from Patrick Miller, Eireann Leverett and Rob Lee. Links Article on the best way to build an OT Security workforce Podcast on INL's Consequence Driven, Cyber Informed Engineering (CCE) Page with my ICS Detection Market analysis YouTube video of my S4x19 mini-keynote This episode was sponsored by CyberX. Founded by military cyber experts with nation-state expertise defending critical infrastructure, CyberX has developed an end-to-end platform for continuous ICS threat monitoring and risk mitigation. Check out the 2019 CyberX Global ICS and IIoT Risk Report, the CyberX report on the NIS Directive, and my podcast from last year on the report with Phil Neray.The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dale Peterson: ICS Security Catalyst and S4 Conference Chair, which is the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Listen Notes, Inc.
The first Unsolicited Response episode of 2019 is a shorter solo-sode. It begins with my four major takeaways from 2018 Finally figuring out the OT / IT issue Consequence based risk reduction Detection market acceleration and shake out The ICS bane called Cyber Hygiene And then at 10:20 in the podcast I've included my S4x19 minute mini-keynote Create The Future, with a bit of help from Patrick Miller, Eireann Leverett and Rob Lee. Links Article on the best way to build an OT Security workforce Podcast on INL's Consequence Driven, Cyber Informed Engineering (CCE) Page with my ICS Detection Market analysis YouTube video of my S4x19 mini-keynote This episode was sponsored by CyberX. Founded by military cyber experts with nation-state expertise defending critical infrastructure, CyberX has developed an end-to-end platform for continuous ICS threat monitoring and risk mitigation. Check out the 2019 CyberX Global ICS and IIoT Risk Report, the CyberX report on the NIS Directive, and my podcast from last year on the report with Phil Neray.
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