Wireless working group established for end-users
By Staff -- Plant Engineering, 1/1/2007
Current and future industrial applications for wireless technology will be the focus of the User Working Group, which was formed to ensure that the ISA-100 standard will be consistent and provide maximum benefit to the market. The UWG will also provide input that will help drive the development of ISA-100 compliant devices from multiple suppliers.
ISA's SP-100 committee formed the new user group to provide input and feedback to the committee's technical working groups. It will review, comment on and provide recommendations for the work of all SP-100 technical working groups.
“In a recent meeting held via teleconference with several end users, the users clearly identified a need for an increased focus on security as part of the standard,” said UWG co-chair Greg LaFramboise of Chevron.
“We've taken that input and asked the technical working groups to work on defining parameters for security in the wireless environment, and the UWG will provide feedback on their work. This is an example of how valuable end-user input is to the process, and how instrumental users will be in the development of this new standard.”
The UWG will develop a 'User Requirements' document, detailing requirements in users' language by Feb. 2007. The document will provide ongoing, real-time input and feedback and will serve as a mechanism for critical end-user communications throughout the standards development process.
“ISA is a user-driven standards organization with global reach,” said Ian Verhappen, ISA vice-president of Standards and Practices. “The creation of a group such as the UWG enables users to provide their input and requirements directly to the technical working groups of the committee. There's no better way to ensure a user-friendly standard.”
The UWG will act as a single, global voice of the end user community.
For more information visit www.isa.org/standards.
