Communicative devices – standardized machine language of Plattform Industrie 4.0

In the digital factory, increasing numbers of machines and devices will communicate with one another. This requires a common machine language. Plattform Industrie 4.0, a broad network of business, academia, and politics, presented a concept for a standardized language at this year's Hannover industrial trade fair that machines can use to communicate with one another. 

"Digitalization does not stop at national borders and will significantly change the way everyone works," said Bernd Leukert, spokesperson for Plattform Industrie 4.0 and member of SAP's executive board. The foundation for this development is a digital "interface" to seamlessly integrate devices in the world of Industry 4.0. "We have to develop a master plan for implementing digitalization across the board," emphasized Leukert. Adel Al-Saleh, Member of the Management Board of Deutsche Telekom and CEO of T-Systems, added: "By the year 2020, we will have 20.4 billion connected things. To accommodate this, we need secure, reliable communication standards like 5G, as well as standards for cyber security and the Internet of Things."

T-Systems is providing a crucial module for industry

The experts from Plattform Industrie are now implementing what they call the "administration shell" in practice. It helps ensure that the machines speak the same language, acting as a kind of data hub. T-Systems is providing a crucial module for industry: with its "Telekom Data Intelligence Hub", Deutsche Telekom’s business customer arm is launching a platform for secure data sharing. What makes it special: The companies providing data remain in complete control of their data and can at all times control who has access to what data and to what extent. This serves to simplify data sharing between manufacturers and suppliers in planning, production and logistics, for example.