Siemens has a strong training program of its own, and the company’s offerings have recently been recertified by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) for granting continuing education units (CEUs).Another area where Batra sees NEMA playing a role is in cybersecurity. “As far as legislation goes, we certainly need to consider appropriate standards,” says Batra. “There is much we can do to safeguard installations. As a consumer, you wouldn’t buy a router or computer without some security. But many in the manufacturing space don’t have the same concern with their industrial facilities. But [a hack] can lead to an incredible loss in terms of downtime. Corporations really have an obligation to defend themselves.” On a nationwide level, keeping critical infrastructure up and running is also crucial, he adds.“There are numerous types of cyberattacks, and the reasons these are carried out are just as numerous. Regardless, for industrial operations, the consequences can be significant,” he says. “It’s not a question of if your facilities will have a cyberattack, but when. There’s a lot of advocacy, collaboration and action that has taken place around the cybersecurity topic during the past several years, which is a positive for all involved.” Based on this learning, Batra says that Siemens offers a comprehensive managed service offering to help customers in cybersecurity. These services include assessment, implementation, continuous monitoring and mitigation.
