OPC-UA specifications released

At the end of the day, in this industry it is all about connectivity. From device to system to plant manager through the firewall into the enterprise up to the executive suite, everyone along the chain needs various forms of information.
That is where OPC Foundation’s OPC Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) comes in.
The foundation launched OPC-UA at the ARC Advisory Group’s 14th annual forum Tuesday in Boston. OPC-UA is a series of specifications that allows interoperability for data to move from the plant floor through the firewall to the enterprise.
“It’s all about taking information from the shop floor to the top floor,” said Thomas Burke, OPC Foundation president and executive director.
XML-DA brought data through the firewall, but it was just data. With OPC-UA we are able to turn that data into (useful) information,” he said.
This new specification takes the existing OPC structure adds in web services which helps enable the new architecture.