Mission-Critical Operations Require Reliable, Fast, and Secure Networks
The backbone supporting our local, state, and federal infrastructure are mission-critical networks that ensure that organizations across a variety of industries – from public safety and law enforcement to healthcare and transportation – are able to access their essential services and applications.
In order to ensure that vital data and applications are available 24/7, the networks behind them require security, performance, and uptime at the highest possible levels. Complete outages, or in some extreme cases even slight degradation of service, could have disastrous consequences.
This presents an issue for mission-critical organizations, as they are hesitant to make any changes to their networks – even with the promise of improved performance and security – because what they currently have is sufficient. However, what has once been seen as “sufficient” is quickly losing its potency as technology rapidly evolves with Industry 4.0 digitalization that allows organizations to improve efficiency, productivity, safety, cost-savings, and sustainability with a variety of automations and in-depth monitoring.
While these mission-critical organizations are understandably cautious in making major adjustments to their systems and risking their current operational status, they are some of the industries that can benefit most from Industry 4.0 innovations.
So, how can these organizations modernize their infrastructure without compromising their operations?
MPLS Provides The Redundancy That Mission-Critical Organizations Need
Presently, many organizations operate on “Fixed” networks comprising IP and optical networking technologies. These networks are capable of providing the necessary speed, security, reliability, and scalability that mission-critical organizations require. For a connected Industry 4.0 infrastructure, fiber optics stand as the ideal transmission foundation and empower various applications – including stationary robotics and safety mechanisms – deployed in hazardous and challenging environments.
In order to ensure that there’s no degradation in service or operations, organizations can supplement their current network connectivity with Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) technology that will provide them with the secure, fast, and reliable connectivity they need to run Industry 4.0 applications while also providing built-in redundancy.
Since MPLS carries data over optical transport, the data can be transferred to another route in the event of a failure while also alerting network administrators to issues for quick remediation. MPLS can also help shield networks from environmental disasters that are becoming more frequent due to climate change.
Industry 4.0 Use Cases Across Sectors
When examining which industries can benefit the most from Industry 4.0 adoption and evolution, the energy, transportation, and public safety sectors provide some compelling examples.
Energy Utilities
It’s undeniable that in our modern society, the power grid is essential and outages and blackouts that last more than a few minutes have the potential to create chaotic and hazardous situations. As digital endeavors – such as cryptocurrency mining – require more resources, they’re now putting heavy strain on the grid and – as we saw in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – can actually cause outages that disrupt the lives of thousands or even millions of individuals and businesses.
Similarly, in 2021 an attack on the Colonial Gas pipeline led to increased fuel prices, grounded aircraft, and a national security alert. In this particular instance, the attack wasn’t the cause of the outage – the network was deliberately taken offline in order to prevent the attackers from accessing additional data or infrastructure.
In addition to preventing outages and attacks, the energy sector also faces mounting pressure to achieve a delicate balance between electricity supply and demand and integrate more renewable and local energy sources while simultaneously enhancing grid resilience against cyber threats and climate change-induced environmental challenges.
Industry 4.0 – and its ability to support robust deployments of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications – are powerful examples of how the energy industry can not only potentially prevent incidents like those listed above but also increase its ability to monitor supply and demand and integrate renewable energy.
Railway Operations
Industry 4.0 has the potential to bring about revolutionary changes in the transportation sector as well. For instance, in Germany, Deutsche Bahn is collaborating with Nokia to establish an independent 5G network that will enable the seamless control of fully automated trains in real-time through an intelligent traffic management system. As a result, the capacity of the transportation system will increase, and operations will become safer and consistently punctual.
Meanwhile, in Western Australia, the Public Transportation Authority is embarking on a modernization journey for the existing metro railway communications network. This initiative involves the creation of an advanced high-tech private wireless digital platform. At its core lies a mission-critical IP/MPLS network, which connects to a dedicated private cloud.
This innovative setup facilitates mission-critical voice, high-speed data, and video services while simultaneously enhancing mobility benefits for the community. The ultimate aim is to offer improved and efficient transportation services to the public.
Public Safety
With its transformative technologies and digitalization, Industry 4.0 has the potential to bring substantial benefits to the public safety industry as well. By leveraging advancements in connectivity, data analytics, and automation, public safety organizations can enhance their operations, responsiveness, and overall effectiveness.
By enabling the collection and analysis of data from various sources – including sensors, cameras, social media, and other public safety systems – public safety agencies will have access to real-time incident insights, enabling faster and more informed decision-making. Additionally, predictive analytics can help anticipate potential threats and allows agencies to proactively address – and potentially prevent – safety concerns incidents before they occur.
Industry 4.0 facilitates the development of smart cities with interconnected IoT devices, including deploying smart sensors and surveillance systems that can monitor critical infrastructure, traffic conditions, environmental factors, and public spaces. These IoT-enabled solutions offer enhanced situational awareness, helping authorities respond quickly and efficiently to emergencies while keeping citizens safe and informed.
About Infinity Technology Solutions
Infinity Technology Solutions specializes in broadband and critical communications infrastructure development. We help our channel partners deploy private wireless, microwave backhaul, IP/MPLS, and optical networking technologies.
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