At each stage of the tour, regional partners will be involved. In Turin, the local partners were the Italian initiative Piano Industria 4.0 and Comau S.p.A. The participants at the kick-off event of the IIoT World Tour took the opportunity to discuss key issues such as standardization, testbeds and IT security and different approaches to Industrie 4.0.

The next event of the IIoT World Tour will take place on September 15, 2017 in Singapore.

We asked Dr. Ulrich Löwen, Senior Principal Key Expert at Siemens AG and member of the Research and Innovation Working Group within Plattform Industrie 4.0 to briefly describe his impressions of the event in the northern Italian metropolis:

What are your impressions of the IIoT World Tour in Turin? What aspect surprised you?

The great interest of the companies in the kick-off event has shown that the topic of industry 4.0 has attracted considerable interest in Italy and the implementation of concrete projects has begun. The participants were particularly interested in the possible solutions and recommendations for action from Germany.

What contribution has the IIoT World Tour made to international cooperation in Industrie 4.0?

It was primarily about presenting the results and cooperation between the Plattform and the IIC. For us as a platform it was also important to gain a better understanding of the Italian perspective. The focus was on standardization & interoperability, IT security, testbeds / test labs / competence centres and architecture. The listeners could learn first-hand about best practice examples from the experts and make important contacts.

You moderated the briefing session on Testbeds / Test Labs / Competence Centres and presented the German activities. What is important to you in this field in international exchange?

The IIC and Plattform Industrie 4.0 have a different domain focus and thus take different perspectives on IIoT and Industrie 4.0. This is important to understand, because it explains the different characteristics of the modes of operation. For example, the design of testbeds differs: On the IIC side there is a stringent approval process for testbeds. In Germany, Labs Network Industrie 4.0 is open to any company that wants to use testbeds to implement an innovative idea in the context of the digitalisation of the manufacturing industry. And this is also the basis for the successful introduction of standards through the Standardization Council 4.0. The Plattform’s idea is, in the first place, networking and mutual learning from the experiences of all parties involved. It is not productive to evaluate these complementary methods of work, there is no "right" or "wrong", both approaches are justified!

Are there any thoughts that were inspired by the IIoT World Tour in Turin?

It would be nice for the next event to leave even more time for discussions, to be able to go further in-depth during the briefing sessions.