Dragos protects next gen of manufacturing: The Smart Factory @ Witchita

Dragos has announced that it has become a founding sponsor of The Smart Factory @ Wichita, a new Industry 4.0 immersive experience centre by Deloitte.

As a founding sponsor, Dragos will work with Deloitte to protect and enable manufacturers to quickly adopt Industry 4.0 technologies to drive new business models and boost quality, productivity, and sustainability.

The Dragos Platform will be deployed into The Smart Factory @ Wichita and showcased throughout the experience as cyber security topics are addressed, and OT monitoring use cases are demonstrated. The experience will also highlight Dragos’s integration into the smart factory ecosystem – including OT asset management and advanced analytics.

Visitors to The Smart Factory @ Wichita will also have an opportunity to co-innovate with Dragos in the Infor Garage. A collaboration between Infor, a Koch Industries company, Koch manufacturing companies such as INVISTA and Georgia Pacific, and Koch portfolio companies such as Dragos.

The Infor Garage will offer a dedicated collaboration space to explore case studies, use cases, and co-innovate new solutions for smarter supply chains, asset management, maintenance, and operations.

“Of the customers Dragos worked with on security assessments in 2020, 90% lacked visibility into their OT assets. In addition to this lack of critical visibility, manufacturing leaders must contend with increasing exposure to cyber threats and the ongoing threat of high profile cyber security incidents,” said Jon Lavender, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, Dragos.

“The Smart Factory @ Wichita by Deloitte will help customers better understand this link between ICS/OT cyber security and the advancement of new, transformative manufacturing technologies.”

The Smart Factory @ Wichita is a highly digitised, connected production facility that uses technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics to help companies manufacture products, create new business value, unlock data-driven insights, and automate or eliminate business processes.

These technologies enable people to do their jobs in a more productive, efficient, and secure manner while improving quality and overall safety. The Smart Factory @ Wichita will bring digital transformation to life by demonstrating how to merge existing technologies with new innovations, sparking a dialogue about how companies can accelerate their journeys toward scalable and sustainable capabilities.

“We are thrilled to have Dragos on board as a founding sponsor of The Smart Factory @ Wichita to accelerate the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and the value it can bring to manufacturers across their business ecosystem,” said Stephen Laaper, Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

“The Dragos Platform, developed by their recognised ICS/OT industry specialists, will be seen in action on the factory floor. In addition, the industry knowledge Dragos brings to the manufacturing cyber security environment will enhance the experience and outcome available to clients that walk through the factory doors, accelerating the speed and adoption of digital transformation for their organisation.”

The Smart Factory @ Wichita is a 60,000 square feet sustainable space located on Wichita State University’s Innovation Campus. The Smart Factory includes a fully operational production line and experiential labs for developing and exploring smart factory innovative capabilities.