The Nagoya, Japan-based CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA), whose objective is to promote the widespread use of the Ethernet-based industrial open network CC-Link IE, has announced that Cisco Systems, Inc., will join the CLPA as a new board member.

The two organizations will collaborate on promoting solutions based on CC-Link IE. Cisco’s participation in the CLPA will also include driving technology in the greater Asia Pacific for industrial environments such as manufacturing.

Digitization in factories is a recent trend, and large-capacity networks are coming into demand. Additionally, many factories are transitioning to an Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure. In light of these trends, Cisco and CLPA will collaborate on Industrial IoT (IIoT) solutions based on CC-Link IE’s fast and reliable 1 GB bandwidth.