Unified Namespace Revolutionises Industrial Data Integration
UNS addresses the critical issue of fragmented automation ecosystems, where legacy PLCs, SCADA, MES, ERP and new IIoT devices yield data in inconsistent formats and isolated silos. By reorganising data into a semantic hierarchy aligned with business structures and situating all assets as nodes in a publish‑subscribe landscape, UNS ensures every connected system publishes updates when state changes occur and can subscribe to relevant data streams.
Architectures based on UNS deploy MQTT brokers and IIoT platforms at their core. Data flows from edge devices—PLCs, sensors, HMIs—into 'raw' MQTT namespaces. It is then tidied, contextualised, and republished into a clean, hierarchically structured UNS, often paired with time‑series historians and SQL databases for durability and retrospective analytics.
ADVERTISEMENT
Industry voices emphasise UNS's role in bridging OT–IT divides. Walker Reynolds, credited with coining the term, described it as 'a real‑time single source of truth…semantically organised like the business and built to be open'. HiveMQ positions UNS as an enterprise‑scale model that aligns with patterns used in Data Mesh and Domain‑Driven Design, placing context‑aware, edge‑driven data streams at the centre of manufacturing ecosystems.
Recent uptake is notable: OEMs and engineering integrators report streamlined onboarding of IIoT sensors, rapid deployment of smart analytics and reduced custom integration efforts. Clarify notes that UNS acts as the foundation for Industry 5.0‑ready systems—where real‑time context, resilience, and federated governance are critical. TCS analysts argue that consistent tag naming and publish‑subscribe methods democratise operations and facilitate near real‑time decision‑making across departments.
Drivers of UNS adoption include the surge of IIoT connections—forecast to exceed 37 billion by 2025—and the push for real‑time visibility and AI‑driven insights. Heavyweights such as HiveMQ, EMQX and Inductive Automation's Ignition platform are addressing the architecture's appetite for robust MQTT‑based messaging layers. HiveMQ in particular emphasises semantic data hierarchy design, security hardening, and mapping enterprise schemas to UNS topics.
The legacy Pyramid model—where data moves upward in batch‑driven flows—proved brittle and expensive to scale. UNS transforms this into a hub‑and‑spoke solution: systems publish events directly into the namespace; consumers subscribe as needed. This eliminates point‑to‑point wiring and custom middleware, reducing complexity and accelerating time‑to‑market.
Adopters also benefit from plug‑and‑play device integration. Sparkplug B over MQTT ensures that edge devices can join UNS without manual intervention, supporting standardized payloads and monitoring capabilities.
Challenges remain. Integrating legacy vendors requires protocol adaptation; data governance must balance federated ownership with enterprise consistency; cybersecurity demands are heightened by the open edge‑driven infrastructure. These technical and cultural safeguards are critical to UNS's sustainability.
Nevertheless, early implementations demonstrate tangible benefits: one manufacturer reported a 30 % reduction in downtime detection latency thanks to real‑time fault event publication. Another systems integrator noted a 40 % cut in engineering hours by replacing custom connectors with dynamic UNS subscriptions. Bracketology 4.0, an innovative application outside manufacturing, showcased UNS's versatility in handling real‑time tournament data and instant user analytics.
As newer projects integrate UNS, focus is shifting to best practice frameworks—semantic schemas, access control, naming standards aligned to ISA‑95 models—and more intelligent data models. HiveMQ's reference architectures are guiding industry audiences in mapping enterprise hierarchies into MQTT topic structures.
Momentum is growing within the automation vendor landscape. Inductive Automation's Ignition platform, paired with Cirrus Link MQTT modules, is gaining prominence for its streamlined UNS onboarding. EMQX promotes scalability across geographically distributed plants, enabling centralised monitoring while maintaining edge resilience.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Gulf Today
09-08-2025
- Gulf Today
TCS layoffs herald AI shakeup of $283 billion outsourcing sector
Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services' decision to cut over 12,000 jobs signals the start of a broader AI-fueled trend that could end up eliminating around half a million jobs over the next two to three years from the $283 billion sector, experts said. While TCS pegged the move to shed 2 per cent of its workforce to skill mismatches rather than AI-related productivity gains, experts viewed the largest-ever layoffs by India's top private employer as the beginning of things to come in the labour-intensive sector. Roughly 12,200 TCS middle and senior management jobs will be lost. The industry, which has played a crucial role in creating a middle class in India, is increasingly seeing AI being used for everything from basic coding to manual testing and customer support. The sector employed 5.67 million people as of March 2025 and accounted for over 7 per cent of India's GDP. It has a huge multiplier effect due to the direct and indirect jobs it creates and the cars-to-homes consumption it drives in the world's fifth-largest economy. It has historically absorbed a majority of India's engineers but that will change as rising AI use ekes out more efficiencies and demands newer skills that many current employees lack, according to half a dozen industry veterans, analysts, and staffing firms. 'We are in the midst of a massive transition that will transform white-collar work as we know it,' said Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research founder and chairman Ray Wang, echoing other experts who warned that more layoffs are likely on the cards. The most vulnerable employees include pure people managers with minimal tech knowledge, those in charge of testing or identifying bugs and ensuring user-friendliness before delivering software to clients, and infrastructure management staff who provide basic tech support and ensure networks and servers are working well, experts said. 'About 400,000 to 500,000 professionals are at risk of being laid off over the next two to three years as their skills don't match client demands,' tech market intelligence firm UnearthInsight's founder Gaurav Vasu said, adding that about 70% of those layoffs would impact workers with 4-12 years' experience. 'This (fear stemming from TCS layoffs) may hurt consumer demand for tourism, luxury shopping and even delay long-term investments such as real estate,' Vasu said. TCS and its peers Infosys, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, LTIMindtree, and Cognizant collectively employ over 430,000 workers with 13 to 25 years of experience, according to staffing firm Xpheno. 'At the moment, they may appear like the big fat middle layer,' Xpheno's co-founder Kamal Karanth said. None of the IT firms responded to Reuters queries seeking comment. 'With cost optimization being the key driver for new deal wins, clients are asking for productivity benefits - a trend which is also growing due to the rise in AI adoption. This requires IT firms to do more work with the same number of employees or the same work with fewer employees,' Jefferies analyst Akshat Agarwal said in a research note. TCS, which had more than 613,000 workers before the layoffs, said in its late July announcement it was gearing up to be 'future-ready' by investing in new technologies, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for its clients and itself, and realigning its workforce model. It did not answer Reuters queries on how many layoffs were tied to AI adoption and why it could not redeploy the affected employees. 'This is very devastating news,' said a 45-year-old, Kolkata-based TCS employee affected by the latest layoffs. 'It is very difficult for people my age to get new jobs.' Some others who are still at TCS fretted over its mediocre performance bonuses for senior employees in recent quarters, a new 'bench policy' that limits the time somebody could be without a project regardless of personal circumstances or past performance, on-boarding delays, and the emotional turmoil caused by the layoffs. 'All these developments have tanked the morale of mid-career folks like me,' a Pune-based TCS employee said. The Indian outsourcing sector has been a key employment engine since the 1990s, offering upward mobility to millions of engineers. But revenue growth has weakened recently as its clients, stung by inflation and US tariff uncertainty, defer discretionary spending and demand better cost management. 'The tech industry is at an inflection point, as AI and automation move to the very core of how businesses operate,' industry body Nasscom said. During past tech revolutions, disruption was felt at the organisational level. 'With AI, for the first time, the onus is on the individual to reinvent or re-skill themselves,' former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani said. Reuters
Zawya
08-08-2025
- Zawya
India tech giant TCS layoffs herald AI shakeup of $283bln outsourcing sector
BENGALURU - Indian outsourcing giant Tata Consultancy Services' decision to cut over 12,000 jobs signals the start of a broader AI-fueled trend that could end up eliminating around half a million jobs over the next two to three years from the $283 billion sector, experts said. While TCS pegged the move to shed 2% of its workforce to skill mismatches rather than AI-related productivity gains, experts viewed the largest-ever layoffs by India's top private employer as the beginning of things to come in the labour-intensive sector. Roughly 12,200 TCS middle and senior management jobs will be lost. The industry, which has played a crucial role in creating a middle class in India, is increasingly seeing AI being used for everything from basic coding to manual testing and customer support. The sector employed 5.67 million people as of March 2025 and accounted for over 7% of India's GDP. It has a huge multiplier effect due to the direct and indirect jobs it creates and the cars-to-homes consumption it drives in the world's fifth-largest economy. It has historically absorbed a majority of India's engineers but that will change as rising AI use ekes out more efficiencies and demands newer skills that many current employees lack, according to half a dozen industry veterans, analysts, and staffing firms. "We are in the midst of a massive transition that will transform white-collar work as we know it," said Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research founder and chairman Ray Wang, echoing other experts who warned that more layoffs are likely on the cards. The most vulnerable employees include pure people managers with minimal tech knowledge, those in charge of testing or identifying bugs and ensuring user-friendliness before delivering software to clients, and infrastructure management staff who provide basic tech support and ensure networks and servers are working well, experts said. "About 400,000 to 500,000 professionals are at risk of being laid off over the next two to three years as their skills don't match client demands," tech market intelligence firm UnearthInsight's founder Gaurav Vasu said, adding that about 70% of those layoffs would impact workers with 4-12 years' experience. "This (fear stemming from TCS layoffs) may hurt consumer demand for tourism, luxury shopping and even delay long-term investments such as real estate," Vasu said. TCS and its peers Infosys, HCLTech, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, LTIMindtree, and Cognizant collectively employ over 430,000 workers with 13 to 25 years of experience, according to staffing firm Xpheno. "At the moment, they may appear like the big fat middle layer," Xpheno's co-founder Kamal Karanth said. None of the IT firms responded to Reuters queries seeking comment. "With cost optimization being the key driver for new deal wins, clients are asking for productivity benefits - a trend which is also growing due to the rise in AI adoption. This requires IT firms to do more work with the same number of employees or the same work with fewer employees," Jefferies analyst Akshat Agarwal said in a research note. ADAPT OR PERISH TCS, which had more than 613,000 workers before the layoffs, said in its late July announcement it was gearing up to be "future-ready" by investing in new technologies, entering new markets, deploying AI at scale for its clients and itself, and realigning its workforce model. It did not answer Reuters queries on how many layoffs were tied to AI adoption and why it could not redeploy the affected employees. "This is very devastating news," said a 45-year-old, Kolkata-based TCS employee affected by the latest layoffs. "It is very difficult for people my age to get new jobs." Some others who are still at TCS fretted over its mediocre performance bonuses for senior employees in recent quarters, a new "bench policy" that limits the time somebody could be without a project regardless of personal circumstances or past performance, on-boarding delays, and the emotional turmoil caused by the layoffs. "All these developments have tanked the morale of mid-career folks like me," a Pune-based TCS employee said. The Indian outsourcing sector has been a key employment engine since the 1990s, offering upward mobility to millions of engineers. But revenue growth has weakened recently as its clients, stung by inflation and U.S. tariff uncertainty, defer discretionary spending and demand better cost management. "The tech industry is at an inflection point, as AI and automation move to the very core of how businesses operate," industry body Nasscom said. During past tech revolutions, disruption was felt at the organisational level. "With AI, for the first time, the onus is on the individual to reinvent or re-skill themselves," former Tech Mahindra CEO CP Gurnani said.
Khaleej Times
27-07-2025
- Khaleej Times
India's TCS to cut 12,000 jobs as demand contracts
Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services said on Sunday it will cut around two percent of its global workforce, or about 12,000 jobs, as demand contracts in the sector it leads. The software services firm — India's largest by market cap — said the reductions would mainly affect employees in middle and senior roles and would be rolled out over the course of this year. TCS employs 613,000 people worldwide, and the IT services sector is one of India's biggest employers and revenue earners. The company said the move was part of efforts to become a "future-ready" organisation as it enters new markets and scales up its use of artificial intelligence. "As part of this journey, we will also be releasing associates from the organisation whose deployment may not be feasible," TCS said in a statement. It said the restructuring was being carried out with "due care" to avoid disruption to client services. After TCS's June-quarter revenue fell short of expectations, CEO K Krithivasan said this month that "continued global macro-economic and geopolitical uncertainties caused a demand contraction". IT services are the most visible part of India's modern economy and historically one of its biggest white-collar job creators, driving the expansion of the middle class. But a slowdown in the sector has seen hundreds of thousands of new graduates struggle to find work.
