After wrapping up an in-depth three days of meetings and presentations in Seoul, the takeaway is clear: cybersecurity is the most-asked-about topic not just in my home region, but across the globe.

To keep pace with the industry’s growing demands, the PROFINET specification is continuously being refined. In doing so, PI pays attention not only to current developments but also to backward compatibility.

With standardized interfaces such as JSON, OpenAPI, AsyncAPI, and MQTT, IO-Link lays the foundation for seamless data flows —from the field level all the way to IIoT and cloud applications.

Three new products to announce this month: central monitoring of PROFINET networks from Softing; safety gate control with IO-Link Safety from Pilz; and pneumatic grippers with IO-Link from Festo.

Physical AI—that is, AI that actively perceives the physical space and acts contextually—requires a unified understanding of positions, movements, and identities within that space. omlox enables coordinated, intelligent environments.

Industrial automation is at a turning point. Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) is emerging as a revolutionary concept that enables Ethernet communication and power over a single pair of wires.

In April 2026, the annual general meeting of the PROFIBUS User Organization e.V. (PNO) took place. In addition to the Executive Board’s report, the focus was on the elections for the Board of Directors and Advisory Board, which are held every three years.

Version V6.1 of the PROFIdrive Profile Tester is now available as a TRIAL Bundle, supporting developers and test engineers working on PROFINET devices with PROFIdrive, PROFIdrive on PROFIsafe Amendment, or ENCODER profile application interfaces.