MAY - 2023AUTOTECHOUTLOOK.COM9What is your opinion on the automation, connectivity, energy diversity resulting from the convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT)?There is a framework prevalent in the transportation and automotive industry called ACE--automation, connectivity, and energy diversity. But in my opinion, it is more about hyper-automation, hyper-connectivity, and hyper-energy diversity. Typically, IT and OT have technology in common, and when these two come together, it impacts the space through hyper-ACE. Hyper-automation is not only about automation but also about more of a personalized experience. For example, in the future, we can expect our automobiles to know about us, such as habits, requirements, calendar schedules, and so on. And this feat will mostly be achieved by bringing together all kinds of artificial intelligence including, assistive intelligence and intelligent assistants, to create a more individualized and personalized vehicle in its features and functionalities. With automation becoming critically personalized, it is imperative that it will require a robust cybersecurity posture. In regards to that, the IT personnel would be required to adopt some of the OT characteristics like hyper-resilience and hyper-security to ensure a secure cyber environment. In this way, hyper-automation will have all three tenants--IT, which refers to technology facilitating automation, OT, which makes it resilient and trustworthy; and cybersecurity which renders it safe and secure from threats--working together. Next comes hyper-connectivity, which refers to technologies sensing and being aware of each other in a graph-based network. A significant example is the ongoing 5G model, which enables operations at the speed of thought. This is where cybersecurity, IT, and OT play a great role as they keep the connections intelligent, resilient, and safe. Finally, hyper-energy diversity is all about storing and transferring energy efficiently. Soon, we will have a wide variety of storage and delivery choices for multiple use cases, such as fossil-based fuels, non-fossil-based fuels, fuel cells, hydrogen cells, electric cells, and more. In a nutshell, hyper-automation, hyper-connectivity, and hyper-energy diversity will thrive in the ACE world in upcoming years. How do you envision the IT space changing in the upcoming years from all the potential disruptions and transformations happening today?The best way to predict the future is to create it. From an industry standpoint, we can expect to serve communities in new and unique ways of hyper-ACE. Creating this capability will allow us to develop an economy that serves each and every need of people or communities. There is a lot of talks happening about environmental and social governance (ESG). It is highly significant today to be concerned about our environment in order to create a better place to live, and thankfully, most organizations are playing an active role in this dialogue. We need to adapt and appropriately use hyper-automation, hyper-connectivity, and hyper-energy diversity to lead the way towards the best possible outcomes for our planet. As a result, instead of being whimsical about our future and fancying about flying cars, let's focus on being purposeful and building a future beneficial for both us and the planet. We must create a sustainable, resilient environment that supports and empowers communities of minorities so as to collectively build a responsible and green future. What would you advise your peers and colleagues regarding navigating the current IT space?Having years-long experience in the IT space, our biggest responsibility is to not only create a better and fruitful future for our colleagues and peers but also for those who will succeed us. To achieve this vision of building an environment that allows every person to succeed in this niche, a group of CIOs, leaders, and IT professionals has joined their hands to form an organization, TechPACT, that advocates diversity and equity in the technology industry. The organization follows a two-pronged mission--reducing the digital divide and increasing the representation of diverse and minority communities in the technology space. As the co-chair of TechPACT, I would encourage my peers and colleagues to come forward and take the pledge of creating a world where anyone with a passion for technology will have the opportunity to succeed. Currently, every industry is facing massive talent shortages, and it is primarily because of the inequality that exists within it. This is why we have to embrace everyone who is passionate about technology to harness the talents available in the market and leverage it in driving our organizations towards success. I would advise everyone to join this volunteer-driven organization and share its mission and vision with their networks. We need the power of networking to create a force multiplier that would bring a measurable and meaningful change in the industry. At TechPACT, we call this concept Plus One--impacting one member, one community, and one organization at a time. TechPACT will always be laser-focused on providing proven strategies, resources, and tools to maximize diversity and inclusion in the technology space. There is a framework prevalent in the transportation and automotive industry called ACE--automation, connectivity, and energy diversity
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