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This year, IA hosted their 10th ICC, and it was the first time ever they held both an in-person and virtual event. The past few years following the pandemic, we’ve all realised the need and importance of expanding beyond geographical limitations. Adding a virtual event made it possible for many of IA’s global community members and partners to “attend” and share the experience, despite not being able to be there in person.
Here are some of the highlights from this year’s ICC X event:
- CTO Carl Gould announced plans for Ignition Cloud Edition. This new version will apparently not be SaaS, but will better integrate with cloud providers to make Ignition systems just as strong and flexible in the cloud as they are on the plant floor and at the edge.
- Director of Software Engineering Sabrina Reis revealed that the long awaited 8.2 Ignition update will end up being an 8.3 update (due to 8.1 having such a long freight of release trains) and will be released late 2023 or early 2024.
- This year’s Build-a-Thon (our favourite part of the event) saw the narrowest margin of victory ever, with Roeslein winning DMC by three votes. The challenge this year was to create a fully-functional recipe management system for combining three liquids, heating the mixture, and transferring it to a final vessel. They also had to provide real time analytics, alarming, and an intuitive UI/UX. And all within 16 hours. Check out Roeslein’s and DMC’s resources that they developed for their projects on the Ignition Exchange.
- The Discover Gallery had some of the most innovative Ignition projects yet. It included ones that leveraged the power of Ignition’s SDK module, projects that used MQTT to create a streamlined data pipeline for enterprise-wide applications, projects that pushed the boundaries of visualisation with high-performance dashboards and much more. You can learn more about the Discover Gallery here.
- The main topic of this year’s Integrator Panel was how integration has changed and where it’s going. As OT and IT converge, the role of an integrator is changing and now requires a more holistic approach, covering both the classic control-system side and a newer strain of software engineering expertise.
- Speakers at the Inductive Automation Sessions shared tips for achieving great mobile interface design, and took an in-depth look at Ignition containerization. They also demonstrated how cloud deployment strategies can extend on-premise storage as well as run Ignition natively in the cloud. Gateway optimisation and machine learning were discussed as well. One of the most difficult aspects of machine learning is getting started and building the necessary libraries. To help with this, IA has created the Ignition Machine Learning Manager resource to create, use, and manage ML models.
- The main topic of the Community Sessions this year was Digital Transformation. Integrators covered topics like bridging MQTT data models to web services, implementing low-code MES and how to leverage a cloud-based platform as a service. At the end of the Community Session, integrators paired with end users to discuss how a philosophy of collaboration and adaptation leads to a mutually beneficial relationship and a stellar Ignition system.
- The Exhibitor Showcase had some interesting gadgets, sunglasses, mugs, and even hot sauce on display. Each exhibitor had a mini-session of their own, highlighting the ever-evolving technology that is rewriting the rules of what’s possible in automation.
The Ignition Community is one of the most wonderful communities you’ll ever have the pleasure of being a part of. Not only do you get to meet and exchange ideas with the industry’s best and brightest, but you also have access to valuable insight and knowledge.
If you’re interested in learning more about the event, you can watch the replay of all sessions as well as have access to other event content, here. Note, that you’ll just have to register for the virtual event to be granted access, if you haven’t already.
We were treated like family at the ICC X, and already look forward to next year’s event. And who knows, perhaps we’ll see you there next year too!
