An era of decentralized autonomy

Industrial automation was founded on centralized supervision and management of industrial processes, field devices, and networks. Software-defined technologies and ubiquitous connectivity are quickly transforming that centralized model. Consider the case of time-sensitive network (or TSN, discussed in Chapter 7, Secure Processes and Governance), where endpoints collaboratively determine their necessary configurations, to synchronize in time. This autonomy addresses the complexity and inefficiencies associated with manual setup, teardown, and so on. An autonomous vehicle is essentially a robot (an AI specimen) on-the-wheels that dynamically learns, decides, and maneuvers without any central supervision.

The industrial internet is ushering in a new era of autonomous operations and decentralized control.

Meaningful evolution and the sustenance of an autonomous world depends on many foundational principles. Security is a prime one among them. As already elaborated...