Scottsdale, AZ – November 27th, 2018 – The OPC Foundation announces the election of three new directors to its Board of Directors (BoD). The new BoD members include Dr. Bernhard Eschermann, CTO of ABB Industrial Automation Division, Dr. Juergen Weinhofer, vice president of common architecture and technology for Rockwell Automation, and Fabrice Jadot, Senior Vice President, Technology & Innovation and CTO, Industry Business, at Schneider Electric.
The new OPC Foundation BoD members join a “who’s-who” list of prominent companies on the BoD that span the Industrial IoT/I4.0 spectrum. Aligned on the need to establish OPC UA as the single end-to-end standard for open and secure data interoperability across the IoT/I4.0, these market leaders have the collective expertise and market influence to help make this collective vision a global reality.
Asked about their respective views on the role OPC UA will play at the new OPC Foundation initiative “Field Level Communications” (FLC) and beyond, the new BoD members shared their viewpoints on the topic:
“OPC UA has become the dominant open protocol for machine-to-software and machine-to-cloud solutions, and it is becoming critical for companies deploying a Connected Enterprise,” said Dr. Weinhofer adding “I look forward to helping the OPC Foundation become a leader in machine-to-machine applications and helping OPC UA users unlock more value from their production systems.”
Dr. Eschermann pointed out that “In the future, customers across various industries will no longer be bound to suppliers based on the communications protocol used and competition will more strongly focus on creating value. Adoption of OPC-UA over TSN will drive this paradigm also into the world of deterministic and real-time communication. At the same time, it will enable using the same consistent information model from the field to the cloud.”
Mr. Jadot elaborated on the critical role OPC UA has to play in industry, “At the field level it is connected IT and OT that will be the foundation of the IIoT or 4th industrial revolution. For industrial customers to realize the value of automation at every level requires technology interoperability. We believe open standards-based communications system architectures [like OPC UA] are key to future success.”
Stefan Hoppe, OPC Foundation President and Executive Director commented “The OPC Foundation is the “United Nations of Industrial Communication and IIoT” and thus the ideal platform for major automation suppliers to collaborate on a neutral ground. Thanks to the OPC UA standard and the active OPCF member participation in its ongoing expansion, the OPC Foundation offers the only concrete, open, and secure way for multi-vendor systems to interoperate from sensor to cloud and everything in-between. This is the base on which an ever-broader range of true IIoT/I4.0 solutions can be built, and the real benefits of this era can be realized.”
About the OPC Foundation: Since 1996, the OPC Foundation has facilitated the development and adoption of the OPC information exchange standards. As both advocate and custodian of these specifications, the Foundation’s mission is to help industry vendors, end-users, and software developers maintain interoperability in their manufacturing and automation assets. The OPC Foundation is dedicated to providing the best specifications, technology, process and certification to achieve multivendor, multiplatform, secure, reliable interoperability for moving data and information from the embedded world to the enterprise cloud. The Foundation serves over 600 members worldwide in the Industrial Automation, IT, IoT, IIoT, M2M, Industrie 4.0, Building Automation, machine tools, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and Smart Energy sectors.
For more information about the OPC Foundation, please visit https://opcfoundation.org.
For more information, contact:
Stefan Hoppe
OPC Foundation
Stefan.Hoppe@opcfoundation.org
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