James Taylor, Business Devlepoment Leader, Connected Services – Rockwell Automation
& David Jirku, Consulting System Engineer, Internet of Things – Cisco Systems

 

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the network of physical objects or “things” embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and connectivity to enable objects to collect and exchange data. The Internet of Things allows objects to be sensed and controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration between the physical world and computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit.

 

Over the years there has been an increasing need for more information to be extracted from manufacturing control systems; and to have this information distributed to more people within an organization in order to make business decisions. This coupled with ever-changing computer operating systems and security concerns had put a strain on the traditional infrastructure design of control systems.

New designs leveraging modern technologies are allowing for more visualization into the systems allowing for real time data to be viewed remotely on mobile devices. The new designs also greatly reduce the maintenance involved day to day as well as making future upgrades seamless.

This discussion will review the traditional vs modern designs highlighting the technologies used and the benefits realized. Realizing these benefits today has become known as the internet of Things.

 

James Taylor is an Automation Professional with extensive experience in Operations Technology (OT) initiatives and solutions. His last 10 years have been spent in a technical sales leadership capacity providing business and technical consulting to Global Manufacturers with an emphasis on ROI analysis, implementation strategies and technical architectures designed to improve operations and maximize business value. A leader and contributor in consultation, design, management and implementation of a variety of network infrastructure projects for Industrial Control Systems (ICS) within industrial automation and critical infrastructure environments. His industry standards and compliance experience includes ISA95, ISA99, various IEEE and ISO standards and Converged Plant wide Ethernet (CPwE). James currently holds a “Business Value Analyst” certification and “Advanced Internet of Things – Industry Expert” specialization from Cisco Systems and is pursuing his Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional (GICSP) certification from the SANS Institute.

David Jirku is a 17-year Cisco Canada veteran, and an active 16-year CCIE. In his technical pre-sales roles, Dave has worked to support both large Service Provider and Enterprise accounts across the country, specializing in in core routing & switching technologies, with a focus on next-generation MPLS, Metro Ethernet and Core Enterprise networks. For the last two years, Dave has been a Consulting Systems Engineer in the Internet of Things group focusing on products and solutions for connecting the previously unconnected and driving network convergence outside of traditional IT.