The OPC Foundation is proud to welcome:
- Dr. Holger Kenn (Microsoft)
- Mr. Claudius Link (SAP)
- Mr. Andreas Faath (VDMA)
- Mr. Aurelien Le Sant (Schneider Electric)
- Dr. Kazuhiro Kusunoki (Mitsubishi Electric)
to the Board of Directors and named Dr. Kenn as the Board’s newly elected Chairperson.
Find details about all OPC Foundation Board of Directors here.
Dr. Holger Kenn (Microsoft) and Mr. Andreas Faath (VDMA)
Dr. Kenn replaced Ms. Veronica Schmid-Lutz, as the chairperson. Dr. Kenn has extensive technical and business-related IoT experience gained working with Microsoft customers and partners for over a decade. Dr. Kenn’s insights from an IT company perspective and leadership will play a key role in helping the Board navigate the challenges and opportunities in the increasingly mixed IT and OT business landscape.
“I am honored by the trust and confidence placed in me by my fellow board members. With the future opportunities in the domain of OT that are offered by the cloud, but also emerging technologies such as autonomy, AI, and the industrial metaverse, there has never been a better time to work together within the OPC Foundation.”
Reflecting on the broader context an organization like the OPC Foundation plays in the global community, Dr. Kenn added, “At the same time, we all realize that disruption can occur rapidly, like global catastrophes such as the COVID-19 pandemic. But also, the far-reaching consequences of the climate crisis and the necessary decarbonization reminds us that it is also up to engineers and technologists like us to ensure a resilient and safe future of our planet.”
The OPC Foundation sincerely thanks Ms. Schmid-Lutz (SAP), Dr. Fabrice Jadot (Schneider-Electric) and Mr. Russ Agrusa (ICONICS/Mitsubishi Electric) for their years of service on its Board of Directors and wishes them all the best in their retirement or new business role.
- Mr. Link, Senior Vice President of Engineering for Manufacturing and Industrial IoT at SAP, will replace Ms. Schmid-Lutz on the Board
- Mr. Le Sant, CTO Industrial Automation and SVP Innovation & Technology, will replace Mr. Jadot as the Schneider Electric representative
- Dr. Kusunoki, Chief Technology Officer of Factory Automation Systems Group, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will replace Mr. Agrusa.
- Mr. Russ Agrusa has been representing Mitsubishi Electric Japan on the OPC Board since the acquisition of his company, ICONICS, in 2019. He has long-term experience on the BoD, having first been elected in November 2003.
The OPC Foundation members elected Mr. Faath, Managing Director of the Machine Information Interoperability Department (MII) at VDMA as a new member on the Board of Directors. Mr. Faath looks after member companies’ OPC UA needs by coordinating OPC UA-based information model definition efforts via OPC Foundation Joint Working Groups. Mr. Faath has wide-ranging exposure to the changing needs of businesses in process and discrete markets. He is actively involved in broader Information Model standardization and harmonization efforts globally.
Commenting on the role OPC UA plays in the industry, Mr. Faath explained, “The machine and plant engineering industry favors OPC UA communication technology for Industry 4.0. This is reflected in the enormous OPC UA Companion Specification development efforts being put in by more than 600 European and international companies as they develop industry-specific interfaces via over 40 OPCF (OPC Foundation) joint working groups under the leadership of the VDMA.” Mr. Faath continued, “Through this worldwide unique technological breadth of the numerous working groups, we also succeed in harmonization in the so-called OPC UA for Machinery. In summary, we are developing the world language of production based on OPC UA.”
Stefan Hoppe, President OPC Foundation: “OPCF started as an OT dominated organization – we extended the Board representatives to IT in 2015 and now it’s the second time an IT company is elected as chairperson. Microsoft has spent huge efforts over the years supporting open international standards – electing Dr. Kenn reflects these efforts. As OPC UA is more than just a protocol, and instead the value is to transport standardized information models, it’s a logical consequence that VDMA, by pushing half of the 65+ information models is represented on the BoD now. Mr Faath is getting the honor of all the efforts from more than 600 VDMA member companies around the world trusting the promise of industrial interoperability.” Hoppe continued: “The mix of OT and IT companies comprising the OPC Foundation Board of Directors attests to how far the organization has grown from its shop-floor-centric OT roots to playing a key role in enterprise-wide and cloud-based IT solutions.”