Beckhoff joins the OPC European Steering Committee (ESC)


		Stefan Hoppe, program manager for HMI and system connectivity at Beckhoff, was elected to the OPC “European Steering Committee”.

	Beckhoff joins the OPC European Steering Committee (ESC)

	OPC is an open automation interface standard and stands for “Openness, Productivity & Collaboration”. OPC simplifies the integration of automation components from different manufacturers in PC-applications such as visualization systems or office applications. The OPC Foundation is a global, independent organization dealing with the OPC specification and its dissemination. OPC Europe is part of the OPC Foundation. On November 24, 2004 it elected its new “European Steering Committee” (ESC). ESC is managed by Siemens. Active members are Phoenix-Contact, Softing, Trebing+Himstedt and Beckhoff. Stefan Hoppe was elected to represent Beckhoff in the OPC ESC. He is program manager for HMI and system connectivity at Beckhoff. The “European Steering Committee” has two main aims: It represents the interests of the European OPC members within the OPC Foundation and therefore has a seat on the board of directors and in the technical steering committee. Furthermore, ESC controls all marketing activities for the OPC Foundation and its members in Europe. It has is own multi-lingual website and organizes attendance at trade fairs. Activities include a joint OPC stand, press conferences, publications and events such as seminars and road shows. The OPC Foundation is currently working on the new “OPC UA” (Unified Architecture) technology. OPC UA aims to realize standardized data exchange in further application areas, e.g. ERP/MES, and with open, platform-independent technologies. OPC-Foundation www.opcfoundation.org OPC-Foundation Europa www.opceurope.org Back to Overview