At the Hannover Messe, ABB, Capgemini, Microsoft, Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and Siemens announced collaboration on a new initiative. Specifically, they want a more interoperable Industrial IoT ecosystems.

Hosted by the Linux Foundation and open to further interested parties, the Margo initiative draws its name from the Latin word for ‘edge’. Accordingly, it will define mechanisms for interoperability between applications, devices, and orchestration software at the edge¹ of industrial ecosystems.

Particularly, Margo will make it easy to run and combine applications from any ecosystem member on top of the hardware and runtime system of any other member. Margo aims to deliver on its interoperability promise through a modern and agile open-source approach. Thus, this will bring industrial companies increased flexibility, simplicity, and scalability as they undergo digital transition in complex, multi-vendor environments.

“Mastering efficiency, flexibility and quality faster than competitors is key to success in today’s industrial world,” said Bernhard Eschermann, CTO, ABB Process Automation. In addition, Eschermann said, “Digitalization can help deliver on these benefits, but digital ecosystems require a robust, secure and interoperable framework at the edge, connecting operations and information technologies. For ABB, a long-standing advocate of open automation systems, driving a forward-thinking collaborative initiative like Margo is key to achieving this goal.”

Interoperability is key to digital transformation at scale

Meanwhile, Florian Schneeberger, CTO of ABB’s Machine Automation division (B&R) said the more sources one gets from data can yield better decisions.

“Yet, while the benefits of digitalization increase with scale, so do the challenges of navigating heterogeneous industrial ecosystems. That’s why interoperability is so crucial to unlocking the full potential of digitalization. It empowers organizations to adopt and scale Industrial IoT solutions at full speed without large teams of IT specialists.”

In March 2024, ABB became a member of the Linux Foundation. This will enable the company to further enhance efforts in promoting open community collaboration. Therefore, helping unlock innovation and enable better products and experiences for customers. In addition, this will further strengthen ABB’s commitment to open standard based systems.

In a live panel discussion at the Hannover Messe, representatives from the six founding members met to present their vision for edge interoperability in the Industrial IoT. Furthermore, they made an appeal to like-minded industry peers to join the community and contribute to building a meaningful and effective standard.

The Margo initiative defines mechanisms for interoperable orchestration at scale of edge applications/workloads and devices. In fact, it will deliver the interoperability promise through an open standard, a reference implementation and comprehensive compliance testing toolkit. 

Furthermore, Margo unlocks barriers to innovation in complex multi-vendor environments and accelerates digital transformation for organizations of all sizes.  

–26 April 2024-