Where open standards exist, innovation is driven; disruptive technologies emerge.
That’s how a recent article around the critical need for open standards in our society began, and we couldn’t agree more. While we’ve been pushing for open standards across the Internet for years, it’s always refreshing and enlightening to read about that same push from another perspective. In this case, it is how open standards can help in manufacturing.
We often spend time focusing on the esoteric aspects of open standards. However, a piece in Automation World simply titled “The Importance of Open Standards” takes a look at how open standards can make the Industrial Internet of Things a true game changer for the manufacturing industry.
The article uses the some familiar principles to define open standards – those accepted by affirming OpenStand partners IEEE, Internet Society (ISOC), World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). To review, those core principles are:
- Cooperation
- Adherence to principles
- Collective empowerment
- Availability
- Voluntary adoption
The author goes on to demonstrate how his company, Profibus and Profinet International (PI), the largest automation community in the world, has proven their belief in open standards and each of the principles. For example, they observe adherence to principles through an extensive Call for Experts process where all members equally provide input. Our technical standards are developed in PI Working Groups, the processes and guidelines for which are published online.
Have organizations like this acknowledge the necessity for open standards in their field is the exact type of promotion we need to further the mission of OpenStand throughout the world. They state, and we absolutely agree, that “now, in the fourth industrial revolution, analytics and Big Data collected via increased connectivity are being driven by open standards.”
Join us in supporting the OpenStand Principles and be sure to let us know in the comments ways that you have seen open standards impact manufacturing industries.