The popular press tends to focus on many of the potentially negative outcomes from next-generation technologies in general and Industrial Internet projects specifically. Privacy and security challenges and the danger of cyberwars targeting industrial production are raised as concerns. Such forums also call attention to potential job loss for workers possessing skills that are no longer in demand and accountability and liability challenges in IIoT implementations. While some of these concerns can be mitigated through proper architecture planning, other challenges being raised go well beyond the technology considerations.
Such challenges can cause a company to hesitate in pursuing IIoT projects. As an architect interested in moving such projects forward, you should be aware of potential concerns and objections and prepare responses and steps to mitigate them where possible.
While some think tanks and organizations call attention only to the potentially negative impacts of Industrial Internet, others (such as the World Economic Forum) provide a more balanced view. In addition to the challenges, they describe many positive outcomes that might be expected from these projects. Some of the potentially positive outcomes include the following:
- Increased efficiencies in using resources
- Improved productivity
- Lower cost in delivering products and services
- Better quality of life
- Environmental improvement
- Greater resource transparency
- Improved safety
- Better business management through data-driven decisions
In fact, improvement in the quality of products being produced and better management of resources has resulted from many IIoT projects. The introduction of digital twins as part of these projects has enabled better and more frequent testing of prototypes in safer environments. These projects can deliver tremendous economic benefits, and we described a methodology for identifying and documenting these benefits earlier in this book.
Industrial Internet solutions are leading to the creation of new kinds of businesses and the revising of old business models. Innovative companies are creating new jobs even as old ones disappear, albeit with a shift in the skills that are required. Workers are needed who possess skills in managing and maintaining the new footprints that are being deployed. Trainers possessing expertise in change management are required to develop the skills of people interacting with these devices. Demands for device and robotics designers continue to grow, as does demand for IIoT architects, programmers, data analysts and data scientists, managed services providers, and networking and security specialists.
A forthcoming role you might evangelize is that of Citizen Developers for Industrial Internet applications. Gartner (http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/citizen-developer/) describes the Citizen Developer as a business person who creates new business applications for consumption by other business users. They will utilize rapid development and runtime environments approved by the architects and the software development team.
To empower Citizen Developers, the applications development environment must be relatively code free and feature enhanced drag-and-drop capabilities. Often, such environments are referred to as studios, providing both mashup and integrated workflow capabilities, thus enabling the rapid application development of day-to-day scenarios. We believe the involvement of the Citizen Developers will accelerate the rapid realization of value from Industrial Internet applications. The industry has seen tremendous success in business intelligence applications by involving similar Citizen Developers with strong domain knowledge.
Your organization will likely face many tradeoffs when it considers the societal implications of these projects. The following illustration summarizes many of the tradeoffs that your organization will likely balance:
As with any technology, advances in IIoT can be used to create projects that test moral and ethical standards. Such projects might be envisioned to benefit just a few individuals and organizations to the detriment of others. Advancements in technology far outpace government bureaucracies and standards organizations and their ability to legislate and limit practices that might be viewed as unfair. Ultimately, architects and planners of these projects must take responsibility in considering the implications of their designs and their impact on privacy, safety, and other facets.