Today the SCADA market is projected to grow by 6% by 2022, which is influenced by the integration of IoT environments, and industrial control systems becoming more digitised and automated. However, the progression of 4th generation IoT SCADA systems brings new challenges for operators, with some even predicting that as IIoT and Edge Computing develop and become increasingly fundamental in industrial applications, they may entirely replace SCADA systems.

SCADA is much like IoT. Yet IoT, the shiny new technology, is developing faster than anything we’ve seen in recent years. Instead of replacing SCADA though, these technologies will add new capabilities to SCADA platforms, as they can contribute to strengthening industrial communications, improving plant efficiency and performance whilst reducing downtime.

So, SCADA systems are still predominant within heavy asset industries. With three generations of SCADA – standalone, distributed and networked – working alongside new tech.

To better understand how these technologies are being used in existing SCADA systems we take a look at how three Australian organisations, Coliban Water, Shell QGC and Coopers Brewery are harnessing modern SCADA system capabilities to increase efficiency and network security.