ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute Completes Successful Asia Pacific Technology Seminar
Research Triangle Park, NC (13 September 2010) – The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (WCI) reported outstanding results for its first Asia Pacific wireless technology outreach event, with more than 100 supplier and end-user professionals in attendance. Yamatake hosted the event for the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute with support from Yokogawa, at the Queen’s Square in the historic port city of Yokohama, Japan.
WCI members provided a series of presentations on the ISA-100.11a technology, the status of planned additions to the standard, and a live interoperability demonstration using wirelessly networked ISA-100.11a sensor devices contributed by WCI supplier members. Key topics included announcements of successful ISA-100.11a product certifications, the product certification process, and organizational information on the ISA100 WCI.
The all-day seminar included English-language morning sessions for Asia Pacific supplier organizations, drawing over 80 attendees including Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) companies; and afternoon sessions presented
in Japanese for Asia Pacific end-user organizations, with more than 100 people in attendance. Presentations are available in English and Japanese on the institute’s website at www.isa100wci.org.
The ISA100.11a technology seminar followed three days of internal ISA100 WCI planning workshops to determine initiatives and goals for 2011 and beyond. One of the key items resulting from this year’s organizational planning was the establishment of divisions for regional support and outreach. The Asia Pacific Division is the first to be launched, with division leaders to be identified in upcoming weeks. ―The results of the Yokohama event exceeded our expectations,‖ stated Andre Ristaino, managing director of WCI. ―It sets the bar for future ISA100 WCI industry outreach events. I was impressed by the level of interest in the ISA100 industrial wireless standard and we are grateful to Yamatake and Yokogawa for their hard work, hospitality and marvelous outcome.
The ISA100.11a industrial wireless networking standard is the first in the ISA100 family of standards. This wireless mesh network standard protocol helps supplier companies build interoperable wireless automation control products. As a result, manufacturing sites are able to create, modify, optimize and scale a wireless network quickly, cost-effectively and seamlessly.
The ISA100.11a certifications are indeed a significant milestone for WCI and the certification provides users with the assurance that registered ISA100.11a devices will interoperate and adhere to their requirements. Manufactures have made their own product announcements about these certifications and, with a planned maintenance review underway, the ISA100.11a standard is expected to be submitted to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for approval in early 2011. Certified products already deployed can maintain compliance with a simple over-the-air firmware upgrade provided by the vendors—a clear example of one of the future-proof benefits of this standard.
Planned additions to the ISA100 family of standards include support for backhaul functionality, factory automation and other key-use cases. Details on the approved standard, the ISA100 roadmap, and use-case presentations are available at www.isa.org/ISA100.
About the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute
The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (WCI) is a non-profit industry organization providing users and developers with market awareness, educational information, technical support, and compliance for the ISA100 family of universal industrial wireless standards. The WCI provides real world feedback from deployment of ISA100 devices and systems to ISA Standards Committees in order to foster rapid refinement and development of open industry standards for wireless applications. Institute members include end users, technology suppliers, research and development professionals, academia, and other industry consortia and standards bodies. Early members include Apprion, BP, Chevron, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, ExxonMobil, Fuji Electric, Gastronics, GE, Honeywell, Nivis, Procter & Gamble, R3 Sensors, Shell, Shengyang Institute of Automation, Yamatake and Yokogawa. More information about the ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute can be found online at www.isa100wci.org.
Press Contacts:
Lisa Grau
GrauPR for WCI
760-207-9090
lisa@graupr.com
Andre Ristaino
WCI
919-990-9222
aristaino@isa.org