OPERATIONAL & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
OT-IT CONVERGENCE AN IMPERATIVE FOR INDUSTRY 4.0
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ndustry 4.0 (also known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution) was formalized by the World Economic Forum in 2016. Industry 4.0 uses automation and data exchange in processes and technologies that include IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things), cloud computing, and AI (artificial intelligence) for implementation. Corporations worldwide, including railroads and their partners in the transportation supply chain, are at the beginning of their journey for establishing true end-to-end digital continuity. Railroading is embarking in IIoT (for example, Positive Train Control, Enhanced Train Control) and automation (for example, autonomous track inspection), through to AI-based automation (for example, expanding autonomous track inspection to include predictive analytics for track data). The convergence of OT (Operational Technology) and IT (Information Technology) is essential for Industry 4.0. This convergence is at the core of business model digitization, as well as in
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BY SONIA D. BOT emerging concerns such as shared cybersecurity and safety. WHAT IS OT-IT CONVERGENCE? Both OT and IT involve computing, networking and storage technologies. However, these technologies are used for different purposes. In the rail industry, OT is a category of computing and communication systems to manage, monitor and control railroad operations, with a focus on the physical devices and operating processes they use. Meanwhile, IT focuses on business support and enablement by using technology to collect, manipulate, analyze and generate insights from data. Both OT and IT have been around since at least the 1970s. They have been existing separately and independently since then, where OT and IT teams each managed different technology on different networks for completely different purposes. (See Figure 1; p. 44.) In its most basic form, OT-IT convergence connects OT systems and IT systems, allowing them to transmit
data to each other. The goal of OT-IT convergence is to use this connectivity to enhance the value these systems deliver. For example, being able to collect, manipulate and analyze data from OT systems enables railroads to better use their IT systems to streamline business processes and generate insights that can be used to foster innovation, or introduce new services. Meanwhile, with OT systems that can be updated or optimized with data from IT systems, railroads can improve how these OT systems manage various physical operations. Imagine an IT system connecting to a shipping container’s OT system, and say, perishables such as fresh produce or pharmaceuticals are being shipped. When the temperature crosses a buffer threshold, an alert is sent, and proper corrective action can be taken before the shipment spoils. Or imagine a container that is rigged to provide location data, and then integrating this to the ERP/CRM system in IT. When the shipment reaches its destination, a real-time shipment delivery February 2021 // Railway Age 43
