Introduction: Acceleration in the Digital Transformation of Operational Technology(OT)
Today’s manufacturers are facing unprecedented challenges such as supply chain disruptions, fluctuating customer demand, skill gaps, and a growing hybrid work model. In fact, 2.1 million manufacturing jobs could go unfilled by 2030 due to a growing skills shortage. With increasing pressure to improve margins, increase productivity and reduce cost, manufacturers are implementing new operational models and digital technologies in their plants such as:
Internet of Things (IIoT): to enable communication and interoperability across machines, devices, sensors, business systems and people.
Information transparency providing easy access to large amounts of data to allow more informed decisions.
Machine learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support employees in making more informed decisions and aid in effective problem solving.
Decentralized decisions to leverage systems that make decisions autonomously without the need for human intervention.
The continued convergence of information technology (IT) with operational technology (OT) systems has been a target in recent cybersecurity attacks where the business systems were targeted, affecting production, customer perception and even revenue. In fact, 88% of manufacturing breaches were social engineering attacks, system intrusion and web application attacks. As more organizations actively invest in security solutions to protect the apps and devices their employees use, there is a growing need to extend these technologies to operational technology devices across the full breadth of the manufacturing enterprise, ecosystem and supply chain.
