Mr. Steve Griffith with NEMA talks about Industrial AI and Cybersecurity for Future Success
In this week's Industrial Talk Podcast and in conjunction with The Industrial IoT World, we're talking to Steve Griffith, Industry Director, Transportation Systems and Cybersecurity at NEMA about “What you need to know about Industrial AI and Cybersecurity for future success”. Get the answers to your “AI and Cyber” questions along with Steve's unique insight on the “How” on this Industrial Talk interview!
Also….. Take ownership of the new normal at Industrial IoT World Virtual 2020 to ensure you don't get left behind. Join industry-wide discussions addressing core IIoT challenges from monetizing and securing data to updating legacy infrastructure and outdated business models. This year's speakers include leaders from Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Michelin, ExxonMobil, Nestle and more sharing their insights on Industry 4.0, Privacy & Security, IT/OT Integration, Edge Computing and Protective Maintenance/AI. Find out more about this wonderful event by clicking here: START YOUR IIoT JOURNEY HERE!
You can find out more about Steve and the wonderful team at NEMA by the links below. Finally, get your exclusive free access to the Industrial Academy and a series on “Why You Need To Podcast” for Greater Success in 2020. All links designed for keeping you current in this rapidly changing Industrial Market. Learn! Grow! Enjoy!
STEVE'S CONTACT INFORMATION:
Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-griffith-pmp-0175351b/
Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nema/
Company Website: https://www.nema.org/
PODCAST VIDEO:
THE STRATEGIC REASON “WHY YOU NEED TO PODCAST”:
OTHER GREAT INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES:
CAP Logistics: https://www.caplogistics.com/
Hitachi Vantara: https://www.hitachivantara.com/en-us/home.html
Industrial Marketing Solutions: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-marketing/
Industrial Academy: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial-academy/
Industrial Dojo: https://industrialtalk.com/industrial_dojo/
Safety With Purpose Podcast: https://safetywithpurpose.com/
YOUR INDUSTRIAL DIGITAL TOOLBOX:
LifterLMS: Get One Month Free for $1 – https://lifterlms.com/
Active Campaign: Active Campaign Link
Social Jukebox: https://www.socialjukebox.com/
Industrial Academy (One Month Free Access And One Free License For Future Industrial Leader):
Business Beatitude the Book
Do you desire a more joy-filled, deeply-enduring sense of accomplishment and success? Live your business the way you want to live with the BUSINESS BEATITUDES…The Bridge connecting sacrifice to success. YOU NEED THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES!
TAP INTO YOUR INDUSTRIAL SOUL, RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW! BE BOLD. BE BRAVE. DARE GREATLY AND CHANGE THE WORLD. GET THE BUSINESS BEATITUDES!
Reserve My Copy and My 25% Discount
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
NEMA, industry, steve, industrial, ai, members, data, manufacturing, cybersecurity, emerging, organizations, products, manufacturer, people, year, cyber, innovation, industrial iot, NEMA, solution
Welcome to the industrial talk podcast with Scott MacKenzie. Scott is a passionate industry professional dedicated to transferring cutting edge industry focused innovations and trends while highlighting the men and women who and keep the world moving. So put on your hard hat, grab your work boots, and let's go. Alright, welcome to the industrial talk podcast. That's right, this podcast celebrates you. You are bold, you are brave, you dare greatly. you innovate. Boy, you innovate, and you're changing lives and you're changing the world. That's why you are an industrial hero. You're a hero to me, you're making my life absolutely spectacular. And what's happening out there in industry is nothing less than spectacular. That's why this podcast is here. That's why we celebrate you each and every day. That's right. All right. You're in the hot seat. His name is Steve Griffith. That's g ri FF i th and he is with NEMA. That's an E Ma, but that's for National Electrical Manufacturers Association. It's a mouthful. That's why they went down to NEMA. Let's get cracking on this interview. It's good thing it's NEMA. I get tired just constantly saying National Electrical Manufacturers Association. Although superduper important. You need organizations like this. And especially and especially in a world that is just innovation, innovation, innovation and moving at a just an absolutely blistering pace, to be able to provide solutions for your business to make you resilient and successful in the future. NEMA, that's why they're there. Because you can't keep up with it. I mean, we had this conversation. I mean, if I put my business hat on, I can't keep up with the the level of innovation, the level of of just sheer brilliance that exists out there in manufacturing, that exist in industry, and that exists across the spectrum of how people and companies are leveraging technology to be resilient, and especially after COVID-19 you need it. So we talked about again, we talked about collaboration, innovation, and education. And that's what this podcast is all about. We want to collaborate with people that have answers we want to educate with, with things that are changing constantly, all the time and boy, innovation, we want to hear about innovation, hear about solutions, not just from a technology point of view. But from the point of view of how are we dealing with people now? How are we how are we creating those connections, you got to be innovative, you've got to be innovative. Alright, listen to me lecture, holy cow. I don't feel comfortable with that. But I am so
excited and pleased to be able to call this family, my family, right because I get to interact with individuals like Steve, organizations like NEMA, and events that are going to be taking place that you got to put on your Doug gun calendar that are just out there so that you can continue to educate. And now is a VA time. Speaking of that, paper and pencil time, get your calendar out, you got to get your calendar out. And I'm talking about industrial i o t world. And this is an event called CS iio t now for lasting digital transformation. It is a free virtual conference. And I want to tell you it is December 1. She's How about that December 1 through the third this year, put it on your calendar. And I'll have that link out there and industrial talk.com. So you don't have to worry about it. Just go to industrial talk comm find Steve's interview. And you'll get all that information. Once again. cs iiot. Now for lasting digital transform you need you need these companies. You need these organizations. You need companies like NEMA to be able to sort of help navigate these waters, these IoT waters these industrial four dot o waters, because the water I mean that it's it's changing can constantly the currents are always shifting, and you just need to stay current. And that's why the industrial IoT world and NEMA and people like Steve are just vital to your desire to collaborate, innovate and educate So that you can act with a sense of purpose and tenacity, you need to do that. Alright, let's shift to Steve stat cart. So you go out there, and I want you to type in Steve Griffith, that's g r i f,f,i t h put a little comma PMP, because he is a professional manager of projects. I think that's what PMP stands for. Anyway, that's what he is, typing in, you'll see him, you'll see that he's with NEMA, reach out to him, become his buddy on LinkedIn, you will not be disappointed because his stack guard is spectacular. He is the director of transportation system and cybersecurity and what we're going to be talking about, and I'm just telling you, there are many topics within industry for Dotto. One is of course, cybersecurity. But two is AI. How do you leverage AI? Where do we stand with AI? You know, I mean, people talk about AI. Is it in commercial operations? Or is it still just sort of at a bench level, you know, sort of proof of concept type of stuff? Where does it stand? That's why organizations like NEMA. And people like Steve are so important. You gotta because it's, it's not going away, right? So you got to line yourself, figure out who to connect with so that you get real answers with real solutions to solve real problems. Right. That's what we want to be able to do. Steve Naima. And of course, that incredible conference, again, that is scheduled for December 1 through the third. See, see how it rolled into that. That's right. It's all out there on industrial talk.com. I can't, the URL is just superduper long. So I'm not going to be able to say that so just go out to industrial talk.com find it ASAP. How's that? All right. onto the the interview. We're talking AI talking cybersecurity. We're talking about how that leaves together. We're talking industry for Dotto, Steve Griffith. The company has NEMA and I enjoyed the conversation. It's always wonderful. So enjoy the conversation with Steve. Steve, welcome to the industrial talk podcast, absolute honor that you have joined. This platform is dedicated to you. Yes, you and the rest of the industrial and manufacturing professionals all around the world. How you doing my friend?
Great. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. Looking forward to the chat.
I'm telling you, man, I'm enjoying the heck out of it. I'm living the dream, Steve, I get to talk to one people like you. And I get to have a Master's class in all things, let's say industry for Dotto or anything, it doesn't matter. And I just sit there and I soak it up. I'm a sponge. I'm pretty smart now because of this podcast. Now I'm not I'm still the dumbest, dumbest knife in the drawer. That's for doggone. Sure. Okay. For the listener, Steve, we do this all the time on the podcast, you gotta lay that foundation give us a little 411 on who Steve is?
Yes. Steve Griffith. I'm an industry director for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, otherwise known as NEMA in acronyms speak in industry directors, kind of like a program manager strategic planning. Basically, NEMA is an association of about 325 equipment manufacturers that get together, you know, we have three or four core things we do. One of those is developing NEMA standards to address a performance issue in the market. We do government work lobbying for against regulations, we do market data and intelligence, then we look at a lot of emerging technologies and NEMA. So my job as an EMA is to kind of, you know, see where the industry is going, you know, look at all these emerging technologies and trends and and kind of bring it back to our members and see how we how NEMA moves with where the industry is going. Right? So there are a number of emergent things I lead at deema. And it's just making sure that our members are involved and
need them. It's it's interesting to me because if I had a nickel every time somebody talked to me about emerging tech innovation, or whatever industry for Dido, I'd be a wealthy man because it's happening so fast. And I would imagine organizations like NEMA. This is a great niche for this particular organization because me you know, Joe sixpack here, there's no way that I could keep up with all the changes that are taking place within manufacturing within industry. And and it's great stuff but I can't keep up with it. That's that's probably the best role for for NEMA among others.
Oh, great. Yeah, it's it's, it's, it's, it's it's pretty neat stuff. You know. I mean, the the Internet of Things and industrial IoT is happening, you know, more and more devices. Like there's a huge growth for this. And you know, a lot of our members that make manufacture these products are now developing products in the systems that are increasingly IoT enabled, right? Whether you're, whether it's manufacturing industrial, whether it's commercial and residential building, whether you're dealing with utility products, transportation, medical imaging, the IoT industrial, it spans across all our members. Right? And it's, it's, you know, it's something we're moving into, and, you know, it's I mean,
let's just, let's just sort of, you know, it's not gonna, it's not knocking on the door, It's here, it's here to stay. It's, it's putting their feet up on your coffee table. And if you're not engaged in trying to understand this whole, and I'll just sort of generally categorize it as industry for Dotto, if you're not, if I'm in manufacturing, if I'm an industry, if I'm something, I have to actively be engaged and leverage organizations like NEMA in a big way, because it's here, whether you like it or not. If you think business, as usual, is business as usual, and you're just going to merrily go about your business and think that you're going to succeed. You know, think another wise, because it's not going to be that way.
not totally great. I met Sarah. And the idea is we need to be there as well, but our members, right, as we're getting to, as well, as this space becomes prevalent, how does NEMA and our members get into this space? Right? And there's, there's there's a lot of challenges out there with with it with the industrial t in the chief of Chief number one is our members and manufacturers devices, all this data, and all this diverse data from all these devices that, you know, create data, how do you turn that into information that you can use? Right? And another another issue? that's and that's data tsunami,
I mean, exactly. Sure. We can collect that data, all the little squiggly lines, all the little zeros and ones and numbers and all that stuff. But the real value the real, you know, meat, the gold, or platinum, if you want to maybe diamonds, but in that data is the fact that I can find things in a very efficient way to be able to make tactical decisions to better my asset, that's for sure. Absolutely. Right. Yeah, I gotta jump in, because it is a tsunami.
Yeah. And then you have to deal with, you know, all that data, there's, there's privacy, there's viability, there's cybersecurity, you know, you there's all this stuff, and it's determining how you can take this data to derive meaningful outcomes, you know, predictive analytics, you know, maintenance, when you're going to products out there, you know, or improvements in a product, getting that full visibility across your product line, with all this with it with all this plethora of data and making it useful. Right. And I think that's something that we're addressing across the mind. There's there's different I think there's different trends out there different techniques, different technologies that could help our members, you know, get on top of that data.
And I'm seeing here, here's, here's the question I have for you. I'm putting on my manufacturing my industry hat. I don't know I'm putting it on. It's right there. Right on. And one of the challenges is that the speed at which the innovation, the speed at which the technology is moving, versus my ability to be able to consume it, that's one to the issue with me, saying, I think I see the value in that innovation. But where do I start? I mean, you're moving, you know, you're, you're driving at 80 miles per hour, I'm, I'm still sort of riding my bicycle. And I can't keep up with you. How do you address that?
Yeah, where to start? How do you capture all this data? And I think, yeah, how do you make it? How do you make it useful? And I think one of the new things we're looking at an EMA is artificial intelligence. That's a key, a key aspect of how, you know, with the manufacturing device that generates all this data, AI can help manufacturers derive actionable information, whether it's in the manufacturing industry, to, you know, improving the production and distribution of the manufactured goods, looking at it in the pen, maybe the back office of a manufacturing, working with, you know, distribution channels and partners to to improve aspects of product design, maintenance, and then Lifecycle Management. I think AI is one of those emerging, well, maybe it's not really merged anymore. It's one of those technology it's happening. And it's being adopted in manufacturing. And that's, that's, that's a technique that manufacturers can use to do to take this data and derive meaningful information right to better help their
manufacturing. This is interesting, because for me, I, it was interesting, here's a story, quick little story I worked for, with a company when I was consulting and I created a solution that pulled data that determine sort of that Health of that asset by the data parameters, all of that good stuff. But it was like a CAPX project, right? You had to dig a ditch, you had to do certain. And I could do it on one asset, right. But now all of a sudden, these devices, they're cost effective. And for me, as a business person, I'm thinking to myself, yeah, I'll take a box of those, and I'll stick it out here, and I'll do this and it got into five G, get back, I could do that. And it's like, all of a sudden, the floodgates open, and I'm able to track data. But then I never take the next step forward. And I'd say, Where do I put it in? How do I do? But I can incrementally me, I can incrementally approach this, because I highly recommend that by the way. There it's happening, and get some wins under your belt. And I don't know how you keep I don't know how NEMA you, your team. Hold on to that Tiger's tail. Because you guys are so innovative. Your your industry, the people you interact with are just like, we could do that too. We can do that too. And and you know, normal blokes like me, I'm just like, Oh, God, I just sat on this asset, you know? How do you do that? How do you how do you keep? How do you prioritize that name of these these? I mean, industry for Dotto AI, you know all the things it five g five g all of a sudden like me now?
Yes, good question. actually a very good question. So there's all these, there's all these emerging, we come strategic initiatives. And because NEMA is a member kind of driven organization, our members actually have a say, you know, we actually year to year, we have these, you know, these these emerging topics that we that we run across NEMA. And you know, we have a vetting process where, you know, we take any idea, no ideas, a bad idea, and then we kind of, you know, we deal with. And then we have like, emerging opportunities for when we get our members together, and we discuss the ideas, we kind of try to prioritize them, we kind of get a you know, okay, we'll kind of do a poll around the room, you know, what are your thoughts on this idea? What are your thoughts on AI, this is a good idea, we should pursue. And we have a, we have a board of governors, and even that kind of is our governing body, it consists of about 30 or so CEOs across organization, they meet four times a year. So they kind of year to year, they take the input from, you know, all the ideas from our members, all the ideas, and they've kind of coalesces and prioritizes, and actually vote on these, these, these, these, these, these initiatives, in the July timeframe. So we actually, you know, when our board met in July, they voted on, you know, what are the emerging things we want to do next year? Right, so we're already knee deep into 2020. Yeah, activities, but then we're already planning ahead for 2021 and AI, at just to kind of, is something that it's going to be carried across year to year, because there's a lot of work we're doing with AI this year, you know, we were working to look at, you know, what are all the use cases for AI, you know, you know, what, what are the places where AI is proof of concept, versus actual, you know, commercial deployments? What are the, you know, what is the implementation guidance, you know, because NEMA is a, you know, a standards organization, what are the standards gaps, what are the are the standards that you need to develop our, their testing standards. So, we're getting all that information in this in this in a research paper this year, to kind of feed into what we do next year, right, you know, whether we set up working groups to look at these, look at this in greater detail, whether we, you know, work with research institutions, you know, join government groups, put out thought pieces on AI developed standards, or like a form, you know, a form of form a more permanent group to to tackle AI and NEMA. So these, these kind of emerging topics, that they start in this kind of program, but the idea is because, you know, they kind of continue to become a more permanent home and NEMA. And to give you an example of, of something that we did in the past, I'm shifting gears,
cyber security, baby,
cyber security started off for about four or five years in the same process, because, you know, when you're dealing with, you know, the Internet of Things, our members, you know, they get it, they understand that they have a role when they when they build these products to make them as, as secure as possible. And, you know, when these products are deployed, how do you make sure that they there's no bad actors that are malware that can then affect things after they're developed? So our cybersecurity activities, you know, started as a as one of these same kind of Strategic Initiatives about three or four years ago. Now it's a permanent activity with NEMA right because cyber is clearly not going away. Right? I mean, I mean, you get with the IoT my lifetime. Yeah. And, you know, and and so the stuff that we're doing is, you know, there's tons of standards out there with cybersecurity. We're trying to do practical guidance, right? You know, what, what can a manufacturer do in their supply chain to look at malware in the embedded components are tamper proofing, cyber hygiene is it's a topic when when a manufacturer, you know, delivers a product to their customer, whether it's a, you know, it's a hospital or utility or a building, how do you work with that, that customer that end user to mitigate cybersecurity risks by following industry guidelines, because cybersecurity is it is the responsibility that's shared between the manufacturer and the end user. So cyber started as a strategic initiative. But now it's a core activity, because it's not going away. So I envision
that will always fascinates me because it's never going away. And you have just come in, and you're just like, well, I've got to have some sort of plan of attack, to keep, keep my assets protected, my business protected, and that's ongoing. And that's once again, I would imagine that's a relationship between me business solution, manufacturing provider, and the the manufacturer of that,
that device,
right, because they're gonna have to keep up with it, they're gonna have to invest time, energy, effort and money into, you know, identifying those malicious, bad actors out there. Yeah. I don't I you know, I just don't I keep, but it gives me a lot of great feel, feel in my heart that companies and organizations like me, but you and your team and so on your part passionate about it, you keep up with it, because then for me, and then you prioritize it. So it makes my thought process a bit easier. And so I don't have to sit there and try to think through it myself. I like that a lot. I think that's now what industries are you specifically focusing in on Steve? What like, what what are you focused in on with these solutions?
Um, so the, you know, obviously, AI and cyber cuts across all all NEMA, right, whether it's, you know, manufacturing, you know, industrial products, automation, you know, commercial and residential buildings, all the building systems of fire and life safety, you know, medical imaging group, we have a, we have a group that does huge X ray machines in hospitals, right? utility products, right, the products that you know, switch gears, transformers, right, things that that are that are integral components to electric grid, transportation, which is the group I lead is all, you know, for example, you know, the the traffic signaling devices that connected intersections, right, you know, things that can't go down, right, that are, that are critical infrastructure, or electric vehicle, equipment, charging equipment, right. So, that's my focus. But you know, the activities that I do really cut across the entire Association, right, and I have colleagues that kind of lead the other divisions, but the idea is that the work projects that I do, like AI or cybersecurity are tailored across
our members. gonna sit there and go, Hey, I have the secret sauce over here, the world and I'm not going to tell my colleagues about the fact that I've got the secret sauce, that's not going to happen, of course, it's going to go across. The only thing I can think of when you start talking about traffic lights, of course, everybody's seen movies where somebody in the computer chain, I'm gonna create chaos, and I'm gonna just hack into these, these traffic lights and and make them all green. Right?
Yeah. Now we've actually we actually developed in my transportation, but we actually developed a cybersecurity standard for it for intelligent transportation systems that addresses some of that low hanging fruit, you know, hacking into, for example, you know, traffic controller can, it's all the same keys, making sure those keys are unique, right? Using secure communication protocols, right? So cyber is a pretty big issue across me.
And you know what the problem is with you with cyber people. Nobody wants to talk about it. Right? Nobody wants to say,
Hey,
I just had a breach over here. And it's not good. But you know what I learned? I learned that don't do this and learned and I did, but nobody says but nobody wants to talk about their dirty laundry and their cyber hacks. But it's it's like, that's how you learn, but nobody wants to talk about it. It's,
it's tough. Yeah, it's tough. So
let's put on our future hat a little bit. Where do you see it going? I mean, I mean, the speed is ridiculous. I mean, I don't know. I haven't. I have people talking about industry five Dotto already.
Well, I mean, I think they're the I mean, there's you know, AI is becoming irrelevant and another one that another top another thing that is emerging in the market is 5g with with with Communications right, and that is relevant across all of our members, right? Whether you're in a building a backhaul communications, you know, whether you're an industrial, you know, plant look at time center networking. You know, utilities, it's 5g connected micro grids or transportation with 5g. I mean, that's, that's something that's coming as well, in AI is going to become more prevalent. Everything's gonna become smarter, you know, members are making sense to the sensor technology is exploding across our industry, right? sensors are being used for everything across our members. And it's, you know, the data, tsunami is going to continue to occur. And I think, you know, our members that are getting more into, you know, while we still have members that still sell traditional products, you know, like wiring cable, we have members that are now selling systems, right? So it's, it's the hardware, it's the software, it's the communications, it's the network, it's the tunnel, this is the new soup to nuts solution,
because I tell us, because, again, my hat on, I don't want to go to, Hey, I got to go to Acme. And then when I pick that thing up from Acme, I'm going to go to this other company. I'm going to pick that up, and then I'm going to try to fit it together me And no, I'm looking for. I'm looking for a complete solution. That actually, because I don't want it. I don't want to have the problems. It's like, I turned the key on. And this whole thing just sort of fell apart. Now I'm just a mess. I don't want that. So, find reputable. Go to NEMA man find reputable businesses that do that. I would
great. I mean, headaches. Know that the industry is emerging. I love it. I mean, I'm an engineer by background so I sucked this stuff up. And all this new technology is great. It's it's great working with the members because you know, they'll tell you when you're doing great. They'll tell you when you're doing wrong. So that's that's good reaffirmation. I've enjoyed it. I mean, I've been here almost nine years now. It's never
and I'll say it it's dead sexy from my perspective, because I think it's just so cool. I think it is. And And to your point. You guys are so innovative. You think differently. I would imagine you bet your family just let's talk and talk to you about
like, it comes bad.
No, that's the case. I happen with my my kids. Like, yeah, I gotta go Dad, I gotta run. I gotta In fact, I gotta run fast and get away from you now.
My son has been after me to get to the Tesla from friends for ages. Not right.
That's cool. You got it. That's pretty cool. Yeah. You'd be all into that man. Yeah. I love that. Okay. Are you active out there on LinkedIn?
Yes, Sam. I am very much so.
So the way I would probably find him listeners would be of course, Steve. St. Louis Griffith. And I'm sure there's a handful of Griffiths out there. Yeah. That's Dr. IFF iith. Put a little comma in there. Slap in NEMA. And you'll find the jet.
Yeah, absolutely. You are
awesome. Great to wrap it up, because I can continue having this conversation all day long. But I'm sure there are listeners out there saying all right, I got it. She got along. Great. Wonderful. And listeners, we're gonna wrap it up on those other side, you know that I'm going to have all Steve's contact information. So don't come to me and say, Scott, I can't find Steve. Industrial talk.com. That's where his information will be. Got it. So stay tuned, we will be right back.
You're listening to the industrial talk Podcast Network.
All right. That is Steve Griffith. You need to reach out to him. He's got a madstad card out there on LinkedIn. I'm sure he would like to be able to connect with you telling you you're not going to be disappointed. He is. I mean, he's, he's got his finger on the pulse. And that's what you need. Because we're all about collaborating. We're all about innovating. We're all about educating. We're all about doing it with this sense of speed and purpose. And Doug gotta be tenacious about it. industry for Dotto is here, right? There is no no excuse for not knowing it. And learning from people like Steve. All right, again, get your calendars out I want you to write down for December 1 through the third. This is a virtual event because it is everything's virtual industrial IoT world is putting this on it is sees IoT now for Lastly, digital transformation. Do not come to me and say Scott, I'm not I can't connect because it's gonna all be out there on industrial talk.com every link that you need to know all right. Be brave, dare greatly hang out with people that are bold, brave and daring greatly you will not be disappointed. Another interview right around the corner so be safe
About the author, Scott
I am Scott MacKenzie, husband, father, and passionate industry educator. From humble beginnings as a lathing contractor and certified journeyman/lineman to an Undergraduate and Master’s Degree in Business Administration, I have applied every aspect of my education and training to lead and influence. I believe in serving and adding value wherever I am called.
