Before the Industrial Internet Consortium changed its name (Industry IoT Consortium) I had two news items from it. The first is a Networking Framework publication and the second a definition for trustworthiness in cyber-physical systems. They both appear to be worthwhile additions to the state of the art.
IIC Defines Trustworthiness for Cyber-Physical Systems
The IIC has published IIoT Trustworthiness Framework Foundations. This foundational document explains the key concepts and benefits of trustworthiness in context, relating it to the real-world supply chain and offering model approaches. Trustworthiness is essential to government and commercial organizations with cyber-physical systems impacting the safety and well-being of people and the environment. These systems include industrial control systems and almost all systems that use digital technology to sense or affect the environment.
“Trustworthiness, and confidence in that trustworthiness, are an essential aspect of cyber-physical systems,” said Marcellus Buchheit, President & CEO, Wibu-Systems USA, a Co-Chair of the IIC Trustworthiness Task Group and one of the authors of the document. “Inattention to trustworthiness can lead to loss of human life, long-term environmental impacts, interruption of critical infrastructure, or other consequences such as disclosure of sensitive data, destruction of equipment, economic loss, and reputation damage,” continued Buchheit.
The IIoT Trustworthiness Framework Foundations document defines trustworthiness as a combination of security, safety, reliability, resilience, and privacy and the tradeoffs made among them in the face of environmental disturbances, human errors, system faults, and attacks. Ultimately, trustworthiness depends on the strategic intent and motivation of an organization, particularly its top management, to create and operate systems that inspire trust by partners, customers, and other stakeholders, including the community.
“Trustworthiness is the degree of confidence one has that a system performs as expected. It requires an understanding of the system, including interactions and emergent properties,” said Frederick Hirsch, Strategy Consultant, Upham Security, Co-Chair of the IIC Trustworthiness Task Group, and one of the authors of the foundational document. “In the digital world, trust and trustworthiness are achieved by understanding and addressing concerns related to the trustworthiness characteristics appropriately for the context of the entire system. Providing evidence of this can give others confidence.”
IIoT stakeholders will make different decisions and tradeoffs depending on the nature and or industry of the system. “Concerns in a factory are not the same as those for a hospital operating room,” said Bob Martin, Senior Principal Engineer, Cyber Solutions Innovation Center, The MITRE Corporation, Co-Chair of the IIC Trustworthiness Task Group, one of the authors of the document. “Designers must understand the many considerations involved in defining the appropriate trustworthiness implementation, including the supply chain, assembly, operation, and maintenance of a system.”
The IIoT Trustworthiness Framework Foundations document builds on the Industrial Internet of Things Security Framework (IISF). It is part of the IIC’s Industrial Internet Reference Architecture (IIRA), which provides an architectural framework of Industrial IoT Systems.
You can find IIoT Trustworthiness Framework Foundations and a list of IIC members who contributed to it here. Watch a short overview video. Register for the webinar, Ensuring Trustworthy Industrial Systems on September 1, 2021 at noon PST or 7:00 pm PST.
IIC Publishes IIoT Networking Framework
The IIC announced the Industrial Internet of Things Networking Framework (IINF) publication. The framework guides IIoT stakeholders on designing and developing the appropriate networking solutions to enable industrial IoT (IIoT) applications and stimulate industrial digital transformation. It details the requirements, technologies, standards, and solutions for networking that support diverse applications and deployments across a broad range of IIoT sectors and vertical industries.
“An underlying network is the foundation of any IIoT solution. It includes technologies at the network layer and below as well as related capabilities for management and security,” said David Lou, Co-chair, IIC Networking Task Group, Chief Researcher, Huawei Technologies, and one of the primary authors of the framework. “An underlying network enables the exchange of data and control and forms the basis of digital transformation across industries.”
The framework serves as a guideline and toolbox for IIoT networking solution stakeholders who design, develop, deploy, or operate the solutions and end-users in many industries trying to network their assets or products.
“IIoT applications span a range of industrial sectors as well as business, usage, deployment, and performance perspectives,” said Jan Holler, Co-chair IIC Networking Task Group, Research Fellow, Ericsson, and one of the primary authors of the framework. “The IINF helps organizations sort through numerous networking technologies to ensure interoperability across industry sectors. It answers the fundamental question, ‘How do I design, deploy, and operate a successful networking solution for my industrial IoT applications?'”
The IINF includes use cases from several industrial sectors, including smart factories, mining, oil & gas, and smart grid, to illustrate the diversity of networking considerations. Networking technologies and standards are covered in-depth to help organizations address their concerns and technical requirements. Finally, the IINF includes best practices for IT architectural blueprints.
