Today, the Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA) launches COPA QuickStart to accelerate the adoption of industrial control systems (ICS) based on the open process automation standard (O-PAS). This is based on The Open Group O-PAS standard, a “standards of standards” for industrial process automation developed by the Open Process Automation Forum (OPAF).
COPA is a diverse group of IT and OT technology companies, led by newcomers Collaborative Systems Integration of Austin, Texas and Cplane.ai of Silicon Valley, California. Its membership includes veteran industry organizations such as Phoenix Contact, R. Stahl, Supermicro, Nova Smar and Codesys. With the release of COPA QuickStart, the Coalition is applying years of research, collaboration and investment by OPAF to bring ICS systems to market that are built on industry standards for open, secure and interoperable architectures.
Securing ICS’s from ransomware attacks and state-sponsored hacking is now one of the top priorities of governments and corporations. These cybersecurity issues along with outdated and crumbling infrastructure reportedly add to the imperative to increase value generation and reduce total cost of ownership through digital transformation. The first step in digital transformation for industrial manufactures is open process automation, according to COPA.
The COPA member companies have engineered COPA QuickStart to incorporate components and technologies from multiple vendors into a single, advanced and cohesive ICS. The COPA QuickStart system is the catalyst for industrial manufacturers to accelerate their adoption of state-of-the-art ICS systems that greatly improve security, flexibility and profitability of their operations.
Don Bartusiak, who is reportedly known as the “Father of Open Process Automation,” previously served as ExxonMobil"s chief engineer for process control. He says, “Industrial manufacturers have repeatedly told me that if O-PAS based systems were available, they would buy them. The COPA QuickStart system is our answer to that challenge.” Bartusiak’s company, Collaborative Systems Integration (CSI) is the systems integrator for the COPA QuickStart offering.
The COPA QuickStart system is designed to accelerate the innovation efforts of leading industrial manufacturers, allowing them to realize the benefits of open systems sooner. First availability of COPA QuickStart system will be in Q3 of 2021.
For more information, visit: www.copacontrol.org
