operational technology

One of the main topics of this year’s RSA Conference is IT-OT cybersecurity convergence. But what are we talking about? Industrial IoT (IIoT) is all around us: in water, in gas, and electricity distribution networks, running power plants and critical infrastructure, in production lines and transport…

How is cybersecurity viewed in your organization?  Do you feel like your company is well-positioned against cyber threats in your Operational Technology (OT) areas?  Is there acknowledgement that as more things and people are connected, that cyber risk will increase? These are just a few of the ques…

Have you ever been to a fast-moving square dance? Partners dance together, spin around a time or two, and then move onto new partners. As the dance progresses, some people return to their original partners, while others will dance once and leave the floor. If you pay attention, this resembles a fast…

I’ve been working on IoT projects since before the Internet of Things became a buzzword. From the beginning, as we were connecting equipment and processes for the first time, we knew we were onto something big. And big it is. Billions of devices are already connected to networks, and every day milli…

Recently, I participated in the panel on Internet of Things (IoT) security as part of the Automation Perspectives media event hosted by Rockwell Automation, just prior to Automation Fair 2015 in Chicago. It is clear that the ability to deal effectively with security threats is the No. 1 make-or-brea…

For years, industrial control systems have been characterized by proprietary devices, protocols, communications, and applications. However, at the Hannover Fair last spring, virtually every exhibitor showed products that support IP, Ethernet, or Wi-Fi interfaces—something that would have been unthin…

Bringing Alien Worlds Together in the Internet of Things In the 1990s, I, like millions of others, read the book Women Are from Venus, Men Are from Mars. This best-seller suggested that the frequent misunderstandings between genders make it seem as though men and women are from different, alien worl…

I had a great time recently at the EEI Annual Convention on June 7-10 in New Orleans, LA. EEI is the Edison Electric Institute, the industry association of the Investor Owned Utilities in the U.S. with international utility membership from all over the world. The Annual meeting is a unique event tha…

“Drill, baby, drill” makes for an easy mantra when it comes to energy exploration, but the oil and gas (O&G) industry moved past simply drilling long ago with the introduction of digital information processing. For example, integrated production modeling was introduced in the 1970s. With the rec…