IMS MTP Program

The IMS MTP program has a focus on business innovation which can include R&D projects but is not limited to an R&D focus. IMS MTP projects do not always have a research agenda and, in many cases, consist of the loose combination of existing but related activities from different IMS Regions combined in the hope that synergies will result that will benefit all parties.

IADP MTP Project

The IADP MTP project has been described from the outset as two parallel activities taking place in three different IMS Regions but with the possibility of value to all parties through mutual awareness of the activities themselves and through possible joint application of the results of the parallel activities at the appropriate time.

It has also been clear from the outset, that the IADP MTP is back-end loaded, which is to say that the main activities related to the MTP depend on MEDEIA project results which would not be available until sometime in 2010.

Partners in the project include ICIMSI from Switzerland, the European partners within the MEDEIA project, and the Automation Federation representing primarily, OMAC from the USA. Switzerland, the EU and the USA are three distinct IMS Regions, a base level requirement for an IMS MTP project.

The purpose of the IADP IMS MTP project remains as originally conceived. The MEDEIA consortium will develop its automation modelling bearing in mind the ongoing OMAC efforts to develop interoperable guidelines / standards for industrial automation.

From the Automation Federation / OMAC perspective, the IADP MTP is a form of watching brief relating to the possible potential for using the MEDEIA solutions for configuration and reconfiguration of industrial automation processes within the Automation Federation / OMAC membership.

The OMAC interoperability standards have been developed and continue to be refined. In conference calls and written document exchanges, MEDEIA partners have been made aware of OMAC interests and also made aware of their emerging guidelines / standards requirements.

Similarly, OMAC has been briefed on MEDEIA progress and the publicly - distributable information on MEDEIA has been supplied to OMAC for their information and comment. This activity is consistent with the O3neida role within MEDEIA of dissemination since OMAC represents key industrial entities which are target markets for the eventual MEDEIA automation components-based solution.

These early discussions set the stage for the watching briefs from both streams of the IADP MTP and enabled each group to develop a basic understanding of the aims and objectives of the other as well as an appreciation of the then current "state of the art" of both initiatives (that is, MEDEIA and the OMAC guidelines / standards efforts.

These interchanges were conducted at appropriate levels during the first year of the IADP MTP project with several teleconferences and document exchanges among interested parties.

In summary, the purpose of the IADP MTP is to align the efforts of these organisations to the extent feasible and to maintain a watching brief on each other's activities to ensure:

• that the MEDEIA "solution" is built (to the extent possible) in a manner consistent with the OMAC guidelines for interoperability, and
• to determine whether a closer alignment of efforts is reasonable once the MEDEIA project has progressed to the stage where a publicly-available prototype can be shared among all parties.

IADP MTP Project - Next Steps

The next steps in the IADP MTP project can be described as follows:

1. Contact (through O3neida) with Automation Federation and OMAC indicating that MEDEIA continues to make progress and seeking feedback on OMAC activities.
2. Progress report from MEDEIA to OMAC on project using publicly-releasable materials.
3. Internal MEDEIA assessment of timing for release of MEDEIA prototype for review by OMAC and possible inclusion of timing in Item 1 above.
4. Contact (through O3neida) with OMAC to arrange international teleconference or meeting to discuss progress within MEDEIA project and latest developments within OMAC guidelines / standards efforts.
5. Scheduling (within MEDEIA project team) of dissemination of MEDEIA publicly - releasable prototype to OMAC for their review and comment.
6. Depending on the completeness of the MEDEIA prototype with reference to its commercial application and on the reaction of OMAC and OMAC members to the MEDEIA prototype as developed, the IADP MTP project team might decide to extend the MTP project into a post-MEDEIA commercialisation phase with budget and resource requirements for all parties still to be determined.

Summary

The IADP MTP project is the combination of two formerly unrelated efforts into an initial mutual watching brief pending the more robust development of the MEDEIA material.

In parallel with the MEDEIA R&D, OMAC continues to refine and develop its interoperability guidelines / standards.

Each party is working independently, but within a context of mutual awareness of each other's activities. This mutual awareness will hopefully improve the eventual synergy between the parallel efforts.

Depending on the MEDEIA project outcomes, including the relationship of these project outcomes to OMAC's guidelines and standards, there may be further opportunities for commercialisation of some or all the MEDEIA solutions within the industrial automation projects of OMAC members.

Funding for the IADP MTP project for Swiss and EU partners consists exclusively of funds allocated already for the MEDEIA project. For the US partners, the funds allocated are those already expended and planned to be spent on OMAC interoperability guidelines / standards during the time frame of the IADP project.

Depending largely on MEDEIA project results, synergies, commercialisation potential, and other factors, all parties to the IADP MTP MOA might choose to extend the project to an additional phase for which no resources have currently been identified.