Category Archives: Automation

NEW YORK, Nov. 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Claroty, the industrial cybersecurity company, today announced a new integration between its Continuous Threat Detection (CTD) solution and Rockwell Automation's FactoryTalk AssetCentre, empowering joint customers to automatically discover, protect, and manage the operational technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT), and industrial IoT (IIoT) in their industrial networks. Claroty will exhibit the CTD Connector for AssetCentre at Automation Fair, taking place November 10-11 in Houston, Texas and online, at booth #1409.

The joint solution fuses CTD's OT visibility with AssetCentre's data management capabilities to automate, optimize, and centralize inventory. It brings together CTD's risk and vulnerability assessment and correlation with AssetCentre's backup and recovery coverage for industrial networks, and includes highly flexible on-premise, cloud, and hybrid deployment options.

"Many critical industrial assets are at risk due to enterprises' limited abilities in inventory management, risk and vulnerability correlation, and asset backup," said Grant Geyer, chief product officer of Claroty. "Visibility is the foundation to every risk management program in the industrial economy. With this solution, asset-intensive organizations can be confident that their OT asset inventory is comprehensive and protected against a variety of cyber security and business continuity risks that threaten resiliency in today's digital and connected enterprise."

CTD Connector for AssetCentre: Key Benefits & Capabilities

"The combined technical prowess of Claroty CTD and Rockwell FactoryTalk AssetCentre gives customers visibility into their OT assets and the vulnerabilities and risks facing those assets, as well as full confidence that all critical assets are backed up," said Jason (JP) Wright, director of digital design and visualization appsat Rockwell Automation. "Through greater visibility into and protection of OT assets, organizations can improve uptime, productivity, quality, employee safety, and regulatory compliance."

Claroty at Automation FairClaroty will exhibit the CTD Connector for AssetCentre at Automation Fair, taking place November 10-11 in Houston, Texas and online, at booth #1409. Automation Fair is a free event, but registration is required to attend. Additionally, Claroty executives will lead the following sessions at the conference:

To learn more about CTD Connector for AssetCentre, download the integration brief.

About Rockwell AutomationRockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), is a global leader in industrial automation and digital transformation. We connect the imaginations of people with the potential of technology to expand what is humanly possible, making the world more productive and more sustainable. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Rockwell Automation employs approximately 24,000 problem solvers dedicated to our customers in more than 100 countries.

To learn more, visit http://www.rockwellautomation.com.

About ClarotyClaroty is the industrial cybersecurity company. Trusted by the world's largest enterprises, Claroty helps customers reveal, protect, and manage their OT, IoT, and IIoT assets. The company's comprehensive platform connects seamlessly with customers' existing infrastructure and programs while providing a full range of industrial cybersecurity controls for visibility, threat detection, risk and vulnerability management, and secure remote accessall with a significantly reduced total cost of ownership. Claroty is backed and adopted by leading industrial automation vendors, with an expansive partner ecosystem and award-winning research team. The company is headquartered in New York City and has a presence in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America, and deployments on all seven continents.

To learn more, visitwww.claroty.com.

SOURCE Claroty

http://www.claroty.com

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Claroty and Rockwell Automation Unveil New Integration to Secure Industrial Networks' Most Critical Assets - PRNewswire

If theres one thing that the smart home is in desperate need of, its better automation. Not only that, but it needs automation to be made simpler. Its an issue that Samsung is looking into, using its SmartThings platform as the base. I spoke to Chanwoo Park (pictured), vice president, head of IoT Business at Samsung, to find out more.

One of the critical things that Samsung is looking at is having its home appliances become easier to use, automatically picking the best settings based on usage.

Were adding artificial intelligence to study usage patterns and provide better recommendations that align with your lifestyles, explains Park. In practice, this means your devices will remember the modes you most frequently use and have it ready for you next time youre ready to use the appliance. This saves users time and the number of steps it takes to get to the features they want.

As Park goes on to explain, automation is about picking the right product at the right time, leaving some choices in the hands of users: We also understand that not all things should be automated and some decisions are best left to the consumers to make. The choice to check in on your loved one, looking up a recipe in the moment and even spontaneously setting the lights to a particular mood. Technology can help make things easier and more efficient, but not all decisions in the home are about efficiency.

Although SmartThings started as a more techy product, around smart home automation using sensors and user-created automations, the platform has expanded to be easier to use, encompassing new product types.

In the past year alone, weve introduced multiple new service plug-ins with SmartThings so that our consumers can monitor, control and interact with their smart appliances in more meaningful ways, explains Park.

New services include:

It has been relatively easy for appliance manufacturers to get their products to talk together, but theres an increasing demand for cross-manufacturer communication. To a degree, SmartThings allows this, supporting thousands of devices from different manufacturers, but the company is also betting big on the Matter protocol.

Designed to improve interoperability between smart devices, Matter is supported by the big names in the smart home, including Samsung, Apple, Amazon and Google.

The idea of removing walled gardens and having devices from multiple brands is one that we agree with and support, says Park. Having multiple smart speaker platforms, lights, sensors and a variety of IoT devices working together will help remove the complexity of making things work together for the consumers; one of the traditional barriers for smart home adoption. As Matter launches and works with SmartThings, we think it will further enhance the consumer experience.

With more devices connected online, theres an increased awareness of the security threat that this can bring. Samsung takes several approaches to keep users and their data safe.

Protecting our customers privacy and data security is fundamental to everything we do. We regularly conduct extensive security assessments and continuously work with third-party security research firms to improve the overall security posture of the IoT ecosystem, explains Park. Samsung Knox is also built directly into the device chipsets and helps to secure data stored, sent or received on a device throughout its entire lifecycle, from boot-up to runtime, and even when powered off.

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AI and automation: How SmartThings will make life easier - TrustedReviews

As the global staffing shortage grinds on, corporate recruiters everywhere are relying on their online hiring platforms and automated systems to deliver the candidates they need. Too often, these tools will fail them, sidelining many qualified workers in the process.

The current labor market has exposed flaws in the hiring model that many employers have relied on for years. Where there were a near-record 10.4 million job openings in the United States in August, there were at the same time 8.4 million people unemployed and actively seeking work, according to government data.

There are numerous reasons for this labor market imbalance, which the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated, but several decades of misapplied HR automation have undoubtedly contributed. Hiring systems put in place to attract high volumes of applications have inadvertently created a blind spot that hides millions of capable and motivated workers.

Behind the statistics are the individual stories of the caregivers, veterans, older workers, previously incarcerated people, and others who determinedly look for work despite repeated (and often unexplained) rejections. Employers wind up missing out on needed skills and the bottom-line benefits of a workforce with diverse talents and life experiences. For those looking to get back into the workforce, the process can be distressing and discouraging, affecting their sense of self-worth and optimism. And, the longer an individual is out of work, the longer the odds of their getting back into a good job.

Harvard Business Schools Project on Managing the Future of Work, in collaboration with Accenture, surveyed hidden workers and business leaders in an effort to understand how such a broad range of individuals has been systematically excluded from consideration by conventional approaches to recruiting and tracking job applicants. In the US, this represents a substantial portion of the working-age populationmore than 27 million people in 2020.

Our report, Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent, is the product of a two-year study involving a survey of 8,720 hidden workers (with middle and high skills) and 2,275 executives in the US, UK, and Germany.

Hidden workers have faced mounting challenges for decades, and the pandemic has made those obstacles even harder to overcome for the majority. Nonetheless, four in 10 told us their experience during the pandemic was on a par with their pre-COVID struggles.

Automating the hiring process allows firms to rapidly sort the large number of applications they receive for a typical job opening, but this efficiency comes at a cost. In filtering out all but those candidates who match exacting and expanding requirements, companies reject many experienced, reliable, and creative individuals. There may be gaps on their resumes or their years of experience may not precisely match the position they seek. Or they may lack a post-secondary degree or are not currently employed, studying, or training.

The use of automated hiring systems is pervasive. In 2019, 99 percent of Fortune 500 firms used applicant tracking software, according to job seeker platform Jobscan. More than half of firms with 50 to 999 employees also make heavy use of this type of filtering software, according to our research. Overall, roughly two-thirds of employers we surveyed in the US, UK, and Germany (63 percent) reported that they used a recruitment management system (RMS). A higher proportion (69 percent) of larger enterprises, with more than 1,000 workers, reported using an RMS. Crucially, more than 90 percent of employers we surveyed that used an RMS relied on it to make a first cut or rank potential middle-skills (94 percent) and high-skills (92 percent) applicants.

Among the hidden workers we studied, only one in five made the first cut, but not for a lack of effort. The average person we surveyed:

Companies can ill afford to narrow their pool of legitimate candidates, given the persistence of critical skills gaps and the increasingly complex nature of work. The high rejection rate also discourages many individuals in their efforts to rejoin the workforce.

The majority of employers acknowledged that their hiring systems rejected potentially productive applicants, but change may be in the offing. Companies as varied as Amazon, Bank of America, Centrica, CVS, General Motors, Google, Ikea, McDonalds, Microsoft, Siemens, Slack, UPS, and Verizon have had measures of success in thinking more broadly about who they hire and how they hire.

Overlooking hidden workers forces employers to leave positions open longer or choose from a smaller pool. Conversely, firms in our survey that hire from untapped talent pools were 36 percent less likely to experience shortages of talent and skills than companies that dont hire from this population. Further, those firms that hire formerly hidden workers rated their performance better or significantly better in terms of attitude and work ethic, productivity, quality of work, employee engagement, attendance, and innovation. They also saw lower rates of voluntary turnover.

The bottom-line benefits are clear, but how can employers recalibrate to tap the talents of this varied group, and what are some common pitfalls? To connect with workers theyve systematically overlooked, companies must:

Rethink unrealistic, outmoded job descriptions. For middle-skills openings, 72 percent of employers surveyed acknowledged that they recycled existing descriptions. For high-skills positions, 38 percent said they used existing or slightly altered descriptions. Updating job descriptions more regularly to reflect the essential skills and experiences required to succeed in a position, while eliminating superfluous nice to have or dated qualifications, would help prevent otherwise competitive candidates being eliminated from consideration prematurely.

Set filters with inclusivity in mind. ATS systems rely heavily on negative filters, such as exclude candidates without college degrees or rank candidates who have not been employed for a six-month period, to winnow the applicant pool. If they employed affirmative filters that identified applicants with the essential skills and experiences known to correlate with success in the role, employers would broaden their applicant pools.

Highlight the value of hidden workers. Companies would also benefit from reframing their approach to hidden workers in terms of bottom-line business strategy, rather than corporate social responsibility. Employers can engage with their existing workforce to explain the rationale and business case.

Target a subset of hidden workers with complementary experience. Given the variety of hidden workers, companies may choose to focus on those most compatible with their work. Health care organizations might consider recruiting caregivers, for example. This allows them to identify and address skills gaps common to a particular group and partner with nonprofits and social entrepreneurs that support those hidden workers.

After a company hires a hidden worker, they raise their odds of success if they:

Tailor onboarding procedures and upskilling opportunities. The post-hiring transition is critical, and companies must keep hidden workers unique needs front of mind. By involving colleagues and managers of the new hires in the onboarding process, companies can ease the transition and increase the likelihood of success.

Reconsider the success measures of hiring. The common practice is to focus on comparatively short-term metrics like the time and cost involved in filling job openings. More long-termand arguably substantialmetrics include how long it takes new employees to get up to speed, how long they stay with the company, and their rates of promotion.

All of the foregoing is easier to achieve with the endorsement and active participation of senior leadership. Such sponsorship not only signals the organizations commitment to hiring hidden workers, but also comes into play as challenges arise, as performance is measured, and ultimately, in seeing that the effort succeeds.

While the Hidden Worker study focused on workers and employers, the role of government is essential, from providing incentives for companies and skills providers to collaborate to adopting policies that encourage discouraged hidden workers to reengage with the labor market.

Since the reports release, we have been encouraged by the response from employers, industry groups, policymakers, and other stakeholders. In particular, employers and providers of recruitment management and applicant tracking systems have expressed a remarkable willingness to adapt their systems to consider more applicants and address the tight labor market. There are also signs of a greater appreciation of the need to transition from credentials-based to skills-based hiring.

Employers that take steps to reach a broader spectrum of potential workers will alleviate their skills shortages, diversify their workforces, and become more competitive. Businesses also stand to boost productivity and good will with employees, customers, and policymakers. For hidden workers, the opportunity to reenter the workforce represents not only a path to economic security, but a greater measure of personal dignity.

For previously hidden workers, the opportunity to re-enter the workforce represents financial and personal progress. Instead of the stress and anxiety of navigating a hiring system that often fails to recognize their experience and circumstances, they can benefit from a process that focuses on their capabilities and potential.

Joseph B. Fuller is a Professor of Management Practice at Harvard Business School. He co-chairs the HBS Project on Managing the Future of Work and the Project on Workforce at Harvard. [Image: iStockphoto/Aaron Hawkins]

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How to Tap the Talent Automated HR Platforms Miss - Harvard Business School Working Knowledge

Automation cannot make the unreliable reliable, especially when the parts entering the automated system arent consistent. Variability is the biggest pothole on the way to automating a manufacturing process. Getty Images

So many manufacturers struggle to automate seemingly straightforward operations only to spend months debugging and eventually throwing their hands up in despair. They eventually remove the automation, often spurring a string of disputes with automation suppliers. In almost all cases, failure can be traced back to part-to-part variability or a lack of process stability, neither of which are the automation providers responsibility.

In the industrys fever to automate, organizations are making some fundamental mistakes that result in significant process delays, cost overruns, and sometimes outright failure. They end up producing nonconforming parts or losing production throughput from frequent machine faults. In these cases, automation can actually have a net negative impact on productivity and costs. Even worse, project-specific failures cast automation in an unnecessarily bad light with management such that subsequent projects are rejected.

Fabricators can avoid this scenario by taking steps to identify, understand, and reduce what remains the biggest technical reason for project failure: process variability.

Part-to-part dimensional variation, the most commonly overlooked and important risk factor for any automation project, involves two components. The first is process capability. Do the parts conform to print specifications 100% of the time? A process capability study provides a snapshot of this capability and is measured as Cpk, a process capability index that identifies the ratio between the print specifications and natural process variability.

The second component is process stability. Does the process remain relatively stable over time? Every process has some natural variability, as shown in the normal distributions in Figure 1. If the process centerline in that distribution shifts over time, does it still yield 100% conforming parts? Unless they provide a turnkey cell or operation, automation providers typically hold the fabricator responsible for process stability.

Consider a process in which coil-fed, leveled, cut-to-length blanks are deep-drawn and trimmed. Specifically, blanks are cut to length in-house from preslit coils and positioned for loading into a two-station draw and trim press with appropriate lubrication.

The first station has in-die blank-detection sensors that alert the operator of misfeeds and prevent actuation if a blank isnt seated properly. The second station has in-die sensors that detect if the formed part is properly seated before trimming. This includes trim splitting and ejection so that the finished part can be reliably removed and placed on an exit conveyor.

A press operator loads each blank into the press, actuates the lubrication system, and moves the part manually between drawing and trimming stations to a basket for finished parts. The scrap is sectioned in the trim die and falls away to a conveyor.

In front of the press is a safety curtain with a fast interlock. Still, the company wants to automate the process for productivity and safety reasons. Operating the press is very demanding work, and business is increasing.

On the surface, this might look like a straightforward pick-and-place automation project. An automated system could precisely place blanks into a die, move the drawn part from the die once ejected, then place it in the trim station (see Figure 2). It could then remove the finished part from the trim die and place it on an outgoing conveyor. With the proper interfaces between robotics, the sensors, and press controls, this project should ramp up without a hitchright?

Figure 1. A stable, capable process has narrow parameter distributions that all occur well within the process specification limits.

Drawn parts need to be accurate and consistent. Misformed parts might stick in the dies and become scrap. And if automated, such mishaps might cause faults that shut down the operation. For this reason, the company needs to assess the drawing process itself for capability and stability.

Planning for automation requires a keen eye for failure modes: What can and will go wrong? This is the essence of excessive process variability that manifests itself in automation that alarms-out frequently, producing excessive scrap and diminishing throughput.

A three-step process has proven quite successful to minimize such process variability and roadblocks to automation: (1) observe, (2) analyze, then (3) plan and implement.

The disciplines of lean manufacturing and fundamental process controls (use of statistical process control, capability studies) help improve manual operations, but they become even more important in an automated environment. Once implemented in the manual environment, the transition toward automation can begin in earnest.

Screen Automation Providers. Automation providers are in the business of developing, designing, building, and implementing automated cells. They are not in the business of mitigating process variability and risks. In fact, they expect their customers to have a handle on both. The best providers will spend time on-site, observe the operation, and thoroughly identify risks. Still, do not rely on the automation provider to do this work for you.

If the automation provider is providing a turnkey cell, include in the contract the specific testing required at the factory and during commissioning to approve the project. Together with the provider, closely review the operation, including part location and workholding, to ensure they grasp the entire process, not just the automation.

Some automation companies will want to sell complex vision systems and in-process inspection devices. Be wary of these and focus first on obtaining and maintaining a very capable process. Inspection devices must be calibrated and maintained, and they add cost and cycle time. If these devices end up producing false signal after false signal, they might end up being turned off anyway.

Write a Request for Quote With a Two-stage Approval Process. Include process run-off steps in your contracts, one at the automation suppliers facility before shipment and one at your factory upon commissioning and before final payment. Be sure to document this two-stage approval while soliciting bids so the automation providers can plan for and include the cost and time in their bid documents. Tie progress payments for each step to the completion of each stage, and clearly define approval requirements, such as specific cycle times and desired uptime.

Conduct In-depth Automation Concept Reviews. Review the proposed automation concepts closely with prospective suppliers. Ask them to walk the team through each station, the proposed concept, and underlying assumptions.

Also, walk through the failure modes your team has identified and with the automation firm, and ask how their proposed solution would address each one. Finally, ask their design team about their concerns about the application. Good designers will have good questions.

Figure 2. The focused steps, outlined in red, look seemingly straightforward to automatebut not without process stability and capability.

Provide Representative Parts for Automation Development and Approvals. After you have tightened up process controls and reduced process variability, provide the selected automation supplier with parts from a number of lots or production runs to use in debugging the equipment at its own facility. The automation supplier will use these during the first approval stage, so avoid sending only the best of the best parts as this will only cause more issues during the second approval stage on-site.

Fabricators increasingly turn to automation and smart technologies to address critical labor and skills shortages across the nation. And the pace of automation is increasing, thanks to high demand and reshoring trends in supply chain management. Still, automation by itself cannot make the unreliable reliable, especially when the parts entering the automated system arent consistent.

Uncover process variability early in a project so it can be eliminated rather than detected during commissioning. Successful automation is always based on stable, capable processes. Successful fabricators understand this and do the hard work to understand their processes, stabilize them, reduce variabilityand only then automate.

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How process variability kills automation in the metal fab shop - The Fabricator

PHOTO:Adobe

Human engagement matters more than ever to consumers, who want intuitive experiences that reduce friction across all touchpoints of their customer experience. At the same time, businesses are looking to automated engagement tools to drive efficiencies and improve the customer experience in a way that still feels personal and connected. Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), for example, offer the kind of intelligence that amplifies the creative work of expert human designers and merchandisers to instantly predict intent, freeing up time for creativity and amplifying human efforts.

These technologies can quickly crunch a lot of data on past and present actions to get to the intent of the shopper as they search. Correlating shopping history, demographics, and personal preferences all lead to a better result, and a prediction on the next intended action.

Although AI shouldnt take over everything, it can automate tasks to reduce friction and create room for humans to shine. Shoppers arent always clear on what they are looking for, and there simply isnt time for human guesswork anymore, explained Zohar Gilad, CEO of Fast Simon, an AI-powered shopping optimization provider. Modern merchandising must use technology to instantly read the clear signals that get product displays closer to the buyers intent. These signals include geography (US vs. Canada, warm vs. cold climates), time-based events (limited arrangements for Mothers Day, Fathers Day), and previous experience (sales and search).

This information, when harnessed quickly by AI technology, can get the presentation of products much closer to buyer needs before they skip to someone elses screen.

In the customer service industry, the point of automation is not to take away the humanity, but to give customer service professionals the tools to respond to people more quickly, instead of digging through thousands of databases. Helping customer support workers get information in real-time can lead to faster time to resolution. Automation helps customer service representatives look for what theyre trying to say and leveraging these types of AI-based technologies provides the best knowledge they have, he said. The human interaction part comes by solving the customers needs in real time," saidGreg Armor EVP of sales for Gryphon.ai, developer of an AI-powered conversation intelligence platform.

Armor points out the best IP a business has is an employees knowledge. Theres no way to take the human element out of it. The technology will just provide value, and youll work hand in hand with it, Armor said. It is there to enhance the humans experience while using the technology. Its just another tool.

Related Article:Why Enterprise AI Needs Human Intervention

From the perspective of Raj Mahajan, senior vice president of corporate development at Zenoti, which provides a cloud-based software solution for the spa and salon industry, automation can be thought of as a subtle part of the customer experience. Technologies like AI help you get to things like what that person interested in, which helps the conversation but it cant replace the conversation, he said. Automation and the human touch intersect where customer experience is enhanced because you know them better and you know where theyre trying to go.

Mahajan sees the use of automation tools as indispensable in todays business world, because the average customer has grown accustomed to things like chatbots and personalized ads.

The function of AI is about the collection of data and how you can leverage that data to make everybodys life a little easier, he said. It creates a strong relationship for the brand and the consumer for those who have invested in it, because they know them better. Its not spray prayits a very accurate and tailored approach.

Indeed, a 2018 survey from Accenture found the vast majority (91%) of consumers were more likely to shop with brands who provide relevant offers and recommendations.

In eCommerce, everything is measurable, and all that information makes both algorithms and humans smarter, Gilad said. Professional merchandisers who once relied on decades of experience, creativity, and no shortage of slow, experimental guesswork, now have automation and digital data to augment their craft.

Automation allows them to quickly validate hunches or experience with data, and businesses can create new, data-informed, creative pairings and presentations of products, based on whats trending and happening at the moment. In retail apparel, for example, they can quickly test and adapt new pairings and not wait for the next season, while simple features, like a complete the look option can show customers the items worn by a model, based on many different signals, and then deliver pleasing images of the items in real-life situations.

In addition, consumers can use images from smartphones, Instagram accounts, or store catalogs to instantly get matching results with a single click.

This brings shoppers closer to the best of physical commerce: being able to touch and try products in store, and it drives upsell and cross-sell by showing a personalized package, like matching jeans and shoes for that sweater. All of these capabilities give merchants time for small touches like personalized notes in shipping boxes and rapid human support, Gilad said. They can invest heavily in personalized loyalty programs that go beyond counting points and include meaningful, human interactions and communities of like-minded shoppers.

From Armors perspective, machine learning and automation go hand in hand: The more you use it, the smarter it gets. It learns and continues to provide more value, because the models will become more accurate and more efficient, he said. This will provide an even better experience for anyone who is using it because it will provide genuinely more accurate responses, and help you keep the process moving forward.

Read more:

Looking at the Intersection of Customer Experience Automation and Human Workers - CMSWire

The left side of Figure 3 illustrates how the task of efficiently operating a RAN to best utilize the deployed resources (base stations or frequencies) can be divided into different control loops acting according to different time scales and with different scopes. A successful RAN automation solution will require the use of AI/ML technologies [6] in all of these control loops to ensure functionality that can work autonomously in different deployments and environments in an optimal way.

The two fastest control loops (purple and orange) are related to traditional RRM. Examples include scheduling and link adaptation in the purple (layer 1 and 2) control loop and bearer management and handover in the orange (layer 3) control loop. Functionality in these control loops has already been autonomous for quite some time, with the decision-making based on internal data for scheduling and handover in a timeframe ranging from milliseconds (ms) to several hundred ms, for example. From an architecture perspective, these control loops are implemented in the RAN network function domain shown in Figure 3.

The slower control loops shown on the left side of Figure 3 represent network design (dark green) and network optimization and assurance (light green). In contrast to the two fast control loops, these slower loops are to a large degree manual at present. Network design covers activities related to the design and deployment of the full RAN, while network automation covers observation and optimization of the deployed functionality. Network optimization and assurance is done by observing the performance of a certain functionality and changing the exposed configuration parameters to alter the behavior of the deployed functionality, so that it assures the intents in the specific environment where it has been deployed. From an architecture perspective, these control loops are implemented in the RAN automation application domain [7].

The green control loops encompass the bulk of the manual work that will disappear as a result of RAN automation, which explains why AI/ML is already being implemented in those loops [8]. It would, however, be a mistake to restrict the RAN automation solution to just the green control loops. AI/ML also makes it possible to enhance the functionality in the purple and orange control loops to make them more adaptive and robust for deployment in different environments. This, in turn, minimizes the amount of configuration optimization that is needed in the light-green control loop.

While the control loops in Figure 3 are all internal to the RAN domain, some of the functionality in a robust RAN automation solution will depend on resources from other domains. That functionality would be implemented as part of the RAN automation application domain. The RAN automation platform domain will provide the services required for cross-domain interaction.

One example of RAN automation functionality in the RAN automation application domain is the automated deployment and configuration of ERAN. In ERAN deployments, AI/ML is used to cluster basebands that share radio coverage and therefore should be configured to coordinate functionality such as scheduling [8]. To do this, data from several network functions needs to be clustered to understand which of them share radio coverage. This process requires topology and inventory information that will be made available to the rApps through the services exposed by the network automation platform over R1.

The outcome of the clustering results is a configuration of the basebands that should coordinate as well as a request for resources from the transport domain. This information can also be obtained by services provided by transport automation applications exposing services through the R1 framework. When designing the rApp for clustering, it is beneficial to have detailed knowledge about the implementation of coordination functionality in the RAN network function to understand how the clustering analysis in the rApp should be performed.

An example of RAN automation functionality in the network function domain is AI/ML-based link adaptation, where AI/ML-based functionality optimizes the selection of the modulation and coding scheme for either maximum throughput or minimum delay, removing the block error rate target parameter and thereby the need for configuration-based optimization. Another example is secondary carrier prediction [8], where AI/ML is used to learn coverage relations between different carriers for a certain deployment. Both of these examples use data that is internal to the network function.

As the objective of RAN automation is to replace the manual work of developing, installing, deploying, managing, optimizing and retiring RAN functions, it is certain to have a significant impact on the way that the LCM of RAN software works. Specifically, as AI/ML has proven to be an efficient tool to develop functionality for RAN automation, different options for training and inference of ML models will drive corresponding options for the LCM of software with AI/ML-based functionality.

Figure 4 presents a process view of the LCM of RAN components, ranging from the initial idea for a RAN component to its eventual retirement. A RAN component is defined as either a pure software entity or a hardware/software (physical network function) entity. As the different steps in the LCM structure include the manual work associated with RAN operations, it is a useful model to describe how RAN automation changes the processes, reduces the manual effort and improves the quality and performance of the RAN.

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Leveraging AI and machine learning in RAN automation - Ericsson

Despite a 7.2% gain in Brooks Automation, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:BRKS) stock price this week, shareholders shouldn't let up. Although prices were relatively low, insiders chose to sell US$5.4m worth of stock in the past 12 months. This could be a sign of impending weakness.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

View our latest analysis for Brooks Automation

The CEO, President & Director, Stephen Schwartz, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$1.9m worth of shares at a price of US$69.62 each. That means that even when the share price was below the current price of US$116, an insider wanted to cash in some shares. We generally consider it a negative if insiders have been selling, especially if they did so below the current price, because it implies that they considered a lower price to be reasonable. However, while insider selling is sometimes discouraging, it's only a weak signal. It is worth noting that this sale was only 6.9% of Stephen Schwartz's holding.

Brooks Automation insiders didn't buy any shares over the last year. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

For a common shareholder, it is worth checking how many shares are held by company insiders. I reckon it's a good sign if insiders own a significant number of shares in the company. Brooks Automation insiders own about US$139m worth of shares (which is 1.6% of the company). I like to see this level of insider ownership, because it increases the chances that management are thinking about the best interests of shareholders.

The fact that there have been no Brooks Automation insider transactions recently certainly doesn't bother us. It's great to see high levels of insider ownership, but looking back over the last year, we don't gain confidence from the Brooks Automation insiders selling. So while it's helpful to know what insiders are doing in terms of buying or selling, it's also helpful to know the risks that a particular company is facing. In terms of investment risks, we've identified 1 warning sign with Brooks Automation and understanding it should be part of your investment process.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

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Brooks Automation, Inc. (NASDAQ:BRKS) insiders sold US$5.4m worth of stock, a possible red flag that's yet to materialize - Simply Wall St

Robotic process automation (RPA) is nothing new. In fact, its an automation toolkit that was first introduced back in the 1990s. But in 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic and the all new remote work norm, RPA interest and adoption hit a new high. Why? Because with RPA, digital workers are able to take over repetitive, manual tasks traditionally performed by their human counterparts -- freeing up time, energy and critical human resources.

Gartners Fabrizio Biscotti, research vice president, put it best: "The key driver for RPA projects is their ability to improve process quality, speed and productivity, each of which is increasingly important as organizations try to meet the demands of cost reduction during COVID-19. Enterprises can quickly make headway on their digital optimization initiatives by investing in RPA software, and the trend isnt going away anytime soon."

In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2022, 90 percent of organizations globally will have adopted robotic process automation (RPA). Whats more, through 2024, larger enterprises are expected to triple the capacity of their existing RPA portfolios.

Yet, in todays world, we know that when it comes to adopting emerging technologies, cybersecurity is far too often an afterthought. Even more vitally, when it comes to RPA adoption, organizations arent just adopting new technologies -- and the threat vectors and bad actors that inevitably come with them in the digital age -- theyre adopting new identities as well. Machine identities that have access to the DNA, the networks, and the ins and outs of the business.

So as RPA adoption continues to accelerate, its imperative that organizations proactively account for the cybersecurity concerns that will inevitably come -- and prepare for them accordingly.

Why the RPA risk

In order to proactively mitigate any RPA risk, organizations must first understand that RPA -- these new 'digital workers' -- have identities of their own.

MetLifes Gaurav Priyadarshi writes, "Introducing a new technology to an organization always comes with certain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers. For example, automated solutions or bots may not have the ability/functionality to identify malware, thereby increasing the threat and providing opportunity to hackers."

Just like you and me, these new digital identities have 'minds', capabilities and access of their own. Theyre equal employee counterparts, who have just as much access to sensitive systems as you or I, and they can just as easily give up that access if not properly secured.

Earlier this year, Forrester predicted that 33 percent of breaches in 2021 will be insider threat-related. Meaning that over a quarter of all breaches that take place this year will be due to exploited employee credentials (i.e. bad actors taking advantage of internal access), or internal cybersecurity negligence. With that being said, RPA is just another avenue for bad actors to potentially take advantage of unprotected or unmanaged insider access or credentials. Particularly as 'identity sprawl' proliferates, and organizations find themselves having to manage more disparate 'identities' (both human or non-human), the need for proactive, preventative cybersecurity has never been greater.

Mitigating RPA-related threats

Zero Trust -- an industry framework largely predicated on the notion 'never trust, always verify' -- was lauded as an industry best practice this year.

What Zero Trust essentially means is that if someone tries to access your networks, data, or any business asset, theyd be required to validate their identity before gaining access or entry whether they are the CEO or an intern, and that same practice should be standard for RPA, or 'digital identities'. Risk isnt one size fits all, and there are no guarantees when it comes to identity security, so a Zero Trust approach is one major way organizations can mitigate risk when it comes to RPA.

Another way to minimize RPA cyber concerns is through third-party security solutions like privileged access management (PAM). Through a PAM system, when a digital worker needs privileged access, the robot can retrieve credentials automatically, without any exposure to the bot owners or developers. This in turn, not only provides a full audit trail (i.e. which digital workers accessed which applications), but also provides individual accountability and proof that no one can obtain the password, in a noncompliant manner, without slowing down robotic operations.

With a PAM tool that connects to RPA systems, organizations are better equipped to proactively secure, control and audit the credentials and privileges of the bots. Plus by choosing a PAM solution that is easy to deploy, and one that integrates seamlessly into your pre-existing security stack, PAM can be achieved quickly without compromising the productivity that RPA affords.

Like any other new technology, RPA is at its best when the business ROI is high, and the security risk is low. But as new bad actors and threat vectors continue to emerge, its critical that enterprises build cybersecurity into the core of their business growth strategy -- leveraging it in tandem with new technologies. Making it more than just an afterthought.

Image credit: Sergey Tarasov / Shutterstock

Bhagwat Swaroop serves as President and General Manager of Quests One Identity Business Unit and joined the company in November 2020. He is responsible for driving the overall strategy, product innovation, GTM and P&L for One Identity. Bhagwat is a seasoned strategic leader and brings a deep understanding of the enterprise security landscape, technology ecosystem, SaaS and cloud-driven business models. He is a sought-out expert and public speaker on Cybersecurity and implementing Identity Centric Security models in the cloud age.

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How rampant robotic process automation (RPA) adoption is introducing new threat vectors - BetaNews

DUBLIN, Oct. 29, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Substation Automation Market - Forecasts from 2021 to 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The global substation automation market is evaluated at US$46.173 billion for the year 2019 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.27% to reach a market size of US$70.675 billion by the year 2026.

Substation automation is the technique of controlling and directing orders from distant users utilizing data or information from intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) within a substation. It connects power plants and grids to ensure that power is delivered consistently and dependably. Numerous reclosers, programmable logic controllers and capacitor banks, smart meters, transformers, switches, and digital relays are all part of it. This software-based substation automation system (SAS) is used to optimize assets while minimizing human involvement and operational expenses. As a result, it finds widespread use in a variety of sectors, including oil and gas, transportation, mining, and steel.

Rapid industrialization, along with a growing need for cost-effective energy management systems throughout the world, is propelling the market forward. Automated substations control voltage variations and are an important part of energy transmission and distribution (T&D) systems, helping to reduce outages and total operating costs. Various technical advances, as well as the integration of main equipment with contemporary sensors, protective relays, programmable logical controllers, and digital transducers, are also boosting market expansion. Furthermore, the growing trend of smart cities and the widespread use of smart grids, particularly in developing nations, is boosting the market's prospects. Other factors such as growing retrofitting and upgrade of old substation equipment, government efforts supporting substation automation, and significant research and development (R&D) activities are expected to propel the market even more.

The market for smart grids is growing due to the rising need for efficient energy transmission, cheaper utility operations, and administration expenses, and ultimately lower power bills for consumers. Smart grids in substation automation are also growing due to the increased integration of large-scale renewable energy systems and enhanced security, among other factors. Smart grid communication technology offers utilities, their suppliers, and their consumers' predictive data and advice on how to effectively manage electricity. Furthermore, smart grids are being implemented through the use of contemporary technology in substations and power networks. To get to the smart grid, you'll need comprehensive data from transmission network substations to evaluate and control it. The market is being driven by trends toward updating and retrofitting aging traditional substations as well as new contemporary substations.

Escalating investments in renewable energy projects to aid market expansion

Solar and wind energy are now the most popular power generation choices, with most nations generating more than 20% of their electricity from these sources. Renewable energy sources accounted for 25% of global electricity generation in 2019, according to the International Energy Agency. Renewable energy will be able to provide the majority of global power demand by 2050, which is expected to be about 86 percent. Companies all across the world are putting their money into renewable energy infrastructure rather than fossil fuels. Total investment in renewable energy sources was USD 259 billion in 2019 and USD 226 billion in 2020, according to the IEA's World Energy Investment 2020 report. The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 epidemic contributed significantly to the fall in 2020. Countries all around the world are attempting to develop new renewable energy projects for power generation. They are also investing in solar and wind projects to fulfill rising electricity demand while minimizing environmental consequences, as well as non-renewable energy generation.

Inclining new installations to augment market demand

The market for new substation automation installations is projected to expand as the need for new power plants and smart grids in various industries grows, as does the demand for automation, IEDs, sophisticated communication technologies, HMIs, and SCADA systems. In addition, new installations provide increased operating safety and dependability while requiring less maintenance. In the substation automation market, leading firms have developed numerous new installation projects to increase power flow, improve electric reliability, improve the quality of energy supply, and modernize the power infrastructure.

Increasing adoption in the utility sector is expected to contribute to escalating market size

The use of renewable energy by utilities as an end-user is expanding rapidly, owing to increased government initiatives to modernize power networks and growing investments in renewable energy generation. In the current environment, the wind sector has a higher demand for substation automation solutions; government organizations and power generating firms are collaborating to introduce automation to wind farm projects. General Electric (GE) and DTEK inked a deal in June 2019 to deliver high-voltage equipment for the 150 kV central power distribution station and two 150/35/10 kV substations, which would enable energy transmission from the Prymorska wind farm (Zaporizhia area) to the Ukrainian power grid. The wind farm will be home to the digital substation.

The wide range of services offered is leading to increasing market adoption

The fast increase in the number of projects including renewable energy sources such as solar and wind can be ascribed to the market's strong development potential. For example, Sun Tech Power Holdings (China), a solar module manufacturer, intends to increase its investment in solar energy projects to fulfill China's rising energy demand as a result of rapid urbanization. Several Chinese power firms, including State Grid Corporation of China, China Three Gorges Corporation, and State Power Investment Corporation, are working on 25 wind turbine contracts totaling about USD 586 billion to generate electricity.

High initial installation costs restrain the growth of the market

The first phase of substation automation is capital-intensive, which may limit the worldwide substation automation market's growth. The expanding necessity to incorporate multiple IEDs in substations, as well as the increasing usage of sophisticated technologies like microprocessors and service-oriented architecture (SOA), has raised the purchasing costs of these substations. Smart substation implementation also necessitates strong cooperation beyond traditional organizational boundaries, considerable process change, and strict governance. High expenditures in smart substation deployment might add to the government's financial burden.

Geographically, the substation automation market in 2019 was dominated by North America. North America's dominant position may be attributed to various financial initiatives for electricity grid upgrading established by the US and Canadian governments. Governments in North America are also contributing funding to the deployment of new energy and power technology, which will aid the region's transition to smarter, stronger, and more efficient electric grid networks. The expansion of the substation automation market in North America is fueled by aging grid infrastructure and rigorous government laws requiring the use of sustainable power technologies.

Key Topics Covered:

1. Introduction

2. Research Methodology

3. Executive Summary

4. Market Dynamics4.1. Market Drivers4.2. Market Restraints4.3. Porter's Five Forces Analysis4.3.1. Bargaining Power of Suppliers4.3.2. Bargaining Power of Buyers4.3.3. The Threat of New Entrants4.3.4. Threat of Substitutes4.3.5. Competitive Rivalry in the Function4.4. Function Value Chain Analysis

5. Global Substation Automation Market Analysis, By Module5.1. Introduction5.2. Communication Networks5.3. SCADA Systems5.4. Intelligent Electronic Devices

6. Global Substation Automation Market Analysis, By Offering6.1. Introduction6.2. Hardware6.2.1. Protective Relays6.2.2. Recloser Controllers6.2.3. Load Tap Changers6.2.4. Others6.3. Software6.4. Services

7. Global Substation Automation Market Analysis, By Installation Type7.1. Introduction7.2. Retrofit Installations7.3. New Installations

8. Global Substation Automation Market Analysis, By Industry8.1. Introduction8.2. Energy and Power8.3. Mining8.4. Travel and Transport8.5. Steel8.6. Oil and Gas

9. Global Substation Automation Market Analysis, By Communication Channel9.1. Introduction9.2. Ethernet9.3. Power line Communication9.4. Copper wire Communication9.5. Optical fiber Communication

10. Global Substation Automation Market Analysis, By Geography

11. Competitive Environment and Analysis11.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis11.2. Emerging Players and Market Lucrativeness11.3. Mergers, Acquisitions, Agreements, and Collaborations11.4. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix

12. Company Profiles12.1. ABB12.2. General Electric12.3. Siemens AG12.4. NovaTech12.5. Cisco12.6. Toshiba Corporation12.7. Eaton Corporation12.8. Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories12.9. NovaTech Automation12.10. Cadillac Automation and Controls

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/nixdaz

Media Contact:

Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [emailprotected]

For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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SOURCE Research and Markets

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Insights on the Substation Automation Global Market to 2026 - Featuring ABB, General Electric and Siemens Among Others - PRNewswire

Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes

With the production and supply chain issues of the last year still plaguing various industries worldwide, costs are carrying a greater burden on businesses than ever before and, as a result, margins are extremely tight, leaving little room for human error.

Unfortunately, human error amounts to a staggering amount of costs for businesses. Dr. Tony Kern and David McKay of Risk Management Magazine estimate that more than $37 billion are lost each year due to human error. While these lapses in proficiency are usually from simple mistakes, they can become very expensive and cut into revenue and the business's overall health and success.

Fortunately, there are modern, robotic hyper-automation solutions to these problems that AppsTango says will enable you to run your business with less human dependency, increase productivity, and will save you $100,000 or more on the backend. Some Utah-based businesses are saving at least half a million dollars every year by automating hiring, finance, and other processes through AppsTango.

If you haven't implemented hyper-automation solutions for your business, not only are you dealing with more human errors than you should, but you're leaving a significant amount of money on the table.

Essentially a fancy word for a simple service, AppsTango describes hyper-automation as "the use of advanced technologies to automate any tasks and processes that can be automated in an organization," which are probably more common than you might assume.

Automating various processes in your organization can save you a lot of time, money, and frustration in reducing human error.

Each day, an employee spends approximately 30% of their time on repetitive tasks. Because of the mundane nature of such tasks, the repetition opens the gates to human errors being made.

As Anthony Macciola of Forbes writes, "...attention loss or fatigue can result in employees forgetting to complete tasks, sending documents to the wrong colleague or customer or typing mistakes that impact terms in a contract," among other errors.

The good news is that robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and other process automation technologies increase productivity and margin. AppsTango's bots can do the same tasks that humans can but with greater speed and accuracy.

Some of these tasks include:

Automating any one of these processes will save your company and its employees time and money, and businesses are catching on. Just think of it: no more tedious number-crunching, sifting through piles of job applications, or sending out endless paperwork, emails, and forms, all the while saving money.

No wonder more businesses than ever are turning to RPA for their tedious tasks.

Forbes states that more businesses than ever are learning that leaving rules-based repetitive tasks to machines is significantly more cost-effective than having employees go through their tasks the old-fashioned way.

Growing at a rapid rate, Gartner expects the RPA market is set to reach nearly $2 billion in 2021 and continue to grow in double-digit figures through 2024.

So, how can you take advantage of RPA for your business?

If getting an RPA service for your company sounds interesting, look no further than AppsTango.

AppsTango is offering free licensing for the first year of their RPA platform "Process Bot," as well as free consultation and quotations for those who fill out a quiz on their website.

If you're not skilled at coding there's no need to worry. Process Bot is designed for business users with no coding experience or those who do not have web developers on staff. Offering in-house analytics that provides insights for return on investment and other important data, Process Bot is your one-stop-shop for your Robot Process Automation solutions.

Hyperautomation through RPA is the best way to avoid costly employee errors and costs and AppsTango will help guide you every step of the way.

To learn more, visit AppsTango.com.

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See how business owners are saving up to $100000 in costs with automation - KSL.com