Thomas Schulz studied Mechanical Engineering at the Budapest University of Technology. During his various roles in different companies he has acquired 25+ years of experience in digitization projects, with the introduction of industrial software in manufacturing and process industries as well as cyber security for the protection of machines and plants. Since January 2010 he is responsible for medium-sized and partner business in the German speaking region (D-A-CH) as well as Central and Eastern Europe in the GE Digital division at General Electric (GE). As a member of the platform Industry 4.0, he is author and co-author of numerous publications such as the DIN SPEC 91345 Reference Architecture Model Industry 4.0 (RAMI 4.0). In his books "Industry 4.0 - Identifying and Tapping the Potential" and "Cybersecurity for Networked Applications in Industry 4.0", Thomas Schulz, along with over 50 other authors, summarizes recognized specialist knowledge, expertise, concepts and practical applications in order to make the knowledge base of digital transformation in industry easier for the reader. 

Operational Technology (OT) and traditional IT are set to converge into Industrial IoT with the emergence of connectivity and interoperability, intelligent devices and Industry 4.0. By enabling data processing, storage, and analytics closer to machines, Edge technology creates a tight union between machines, control systems, and modern applications while easily and securely connecting edge devices to Industrial IoT platform services. Edge technology includes a secured Edge Operating Systems; a cloud application, the Edge Manager, to remotely manage fleets of edge devices; and Connectivity as a set of optional services to securely connect Edge devices to cloud. These all together simplifies and accelerates the development and deployment of edge applications by providing a hardened, stable, and extensible platform.