special report By Craig Resnick, ARC Advisory Group Reskilling today’s industrial workforce for OT-IT convergence The impact on manufacturing is mirrored in the utility space A nalysts forecast that the industrial sector will have over fifty billion internet-connected devices by 2020. In this connected environment, OT and IT professionals will have to collaborate on all aspects of design to create fully converged architectures. For this to succeed, however, manufacturers and other ‘industrial’ organisations, such as utility companies, must ensure that their IT and OT professionals have the critical knowledge and skills required to design, deploy, and manage high-value industrial network architectures. Transformative times According to Paul Taylor of Cisco, “Manufacturing will change more in the next five years than it has in the previous 20 as a result of greater connectivity and an explosion of internet- connected, ‘smart’ devices.” This is being made possible by the convergence of IT and OT systems leveraging common IP networking standards or using a single networking technology, as well as by enabling forces such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Big Data analytics. For utilities, the amount of data generated from millions of IoT devices including smart sensors, two-way communications and analytics is enabling them to make better decisions about their grid networks. Information-enabled operations offer virtually infinite potential to improve business performance. Companies will be able to use data that has long been stranded inside machines and processes to quickly identify operational inefficiencies and pinpoint potential safety and security or environmental issues. Remote access connectivity and mobile technologies will immediately connect operators with off-site experts to be able to avoid or more quickly troubleshoot and resolve downtime events – critical to public sector services such as electricity, water and gas. 42 Opportunities and challenges worldwide The move to information-enabled operations is taking place at a crucial time for many industrial organisations. Within today’s highly competitive global marketplace, manufacturers are seeking to retain footholds in established markets. Utilities and energy retailers are too, under increasing pressure to innovate and deliver value in today’s competitive, deregulated markets. Regulatory requirements are also increasing, including ever more stringent safety standards and emerging regulations that require greater product traceability and supply chain management aimed at reducing the spread of counterfeit products. Smart meter manufacturers are also called upon to meet the industry’s highest safety standards in response to numerous radiation exposure and fire safety concerns from consumers and regulators, while utilities themselves are under pressure to keep prices low and efficiencies high. At the same time, utilities face a workforce dilemma as older, highly knowledgeable workers retire and younger, less experienced workers take their place. A 2014 study by Accenture and The Manufacturing Institute found that US manufacturers may be losing up to 11% of their earnings per year due to increased production costs resulting from a shortage of skilled workers. In reference to a study complied for the Task Force on America’s Future Energy Jobs produced by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), the Harvard Business Review noted that in the US, “a backlog of baby-boomer retirees is expected to turnover upwards of 40% of utilities’ 400,000-strong workforce. The need for digitally savvy technical hires is especially pronounced.” The BPC predicts that by 2030, utilities in the US will need to hire 150,000 additional workers in information-technology intensive roles. INTERNET OF THINGS