The 29th joint annual meeting for PI Chairman, PI Competence Centers (PICCs), PI Training Centers (PITCs), and PI Test Labs (PITLs) was successfully convened by PI China on June 19-23 in Beijing, China. 58 representatives were present at the annual meeting, including PI Chairman and Vice Chairman, Regional PI Association Chairmen, and responsible persons and experts from various PICCs, PITCs, and PITLs around the globe. PI-China Chairman, Executive Vice Chairman, Directors of the Council, Secretary-General, and Commissioner to the Secretariat also attended the event.

As the data from factories scales exponentially, the ability to access that data transparently becomes critical. If we want the Industrial Internet of Things to truly be a game changer for the manufacturing industry, open standards will be a major enabler of that transformation.

OPC UA wherever you look. This was my first impression at Hannover Fair, which just closed its doors for 2017. With the rise of Industrie 4.0 and the IIoT, OPC UA came into focus for all industries and so came the products which support it. This is well-deserved of course. And then there is TSN – another attention-grabber for the fair visitors. But, not to be missed, was important news from PI…

It’s been hard to miss all the activity going on recently around time sensitive networking (TSN) and OPC UA. Here’s what it means for the near-term future of PROFIBUS, PROFINET, and industrial networking in general.