Welcome to the August 2006 edition of OPConnect, the official newsletter of the OPC Foundation. Things are sizzling on the OPC Foundation front this hot summer. A lot of projects that have been simmering on the back burner are now coming to fruition and are ready to be served.

The OPC Foundation has been proud to sponsor some hot events during these summer months, including the Foundation training sessions in Houston and Atlanta, several successful presentations held in conjunction with the ARC Forum, and the formal release of the OPC Unified Architecture specifications.

During 2006, the OPC Foundation is hosting four training events designed to educate end-users on the use of OPC technology, and provide an in-depth view of the OPC Foundation’s Unified Architecture vision of the future. The first two of these events, which are co-sponsored by ten OPC vendor companies, were held in Houston and Atlanta, and had more than 100 people in attendance.

End-users continue to speak of the importance of OPC certification as a mechanism for ensuring secure, reliable interoperability, as they build complex solutions from multi-vendor products. There was also a lot of end-user excitement surrounding the commitment by the Foundation and OPC vendors to build products that foster the movement of data to the enterprise systems—effectively expanding the capabilities of OPC-based solutions.

To register for one of the remaining OPC training events, scheduled for Chicago on August 23 and Boston on Sept. 27, visit http://www.opcfoundation.org/Events/Events.aspx?CN=COM&CI=495 .

OPC UA specs released

At the ARC Forum this June, sponsored by ARC Advisory Group and held in Boston, the OPC Foundation announced the release of the OPC UA specifications during a press conference attended by more than 40 technical press editors. More than 30 vendors have announced their plans to develop products based on the Unified Architecture technology. See the next article in this newsletter for more information on the announcement.

In conjunction with the Forum, the OPC Foundation and ARC hosted a Unified Architecture workshop, where a demonstration of the technology showed the information exchange between the control system and the enterprise information system. The Forum also included a presentation from BOSE Corp. on its successful deployment of products based on OPC technology to improve operational efficiency.

Stay tuned as the OPC Foundation continues to raise the bar for certified interoperability. I encourage you to get involved and represent your company’s requirements, as the OPC Foundation builds the bridge to provide the same secure, reliable interoperability in manufacturing that we have come to expect from consumer electronics.

For more information on these programs, visit the OPC Foundation Web site at www.opcfoundation.org.