Mipro’s core, railway safety and control systems, and water and energy supply systems, support and develop society’s critical infrastructure. We are deeply involved in developing a safe and environmentally friendly society. The past year has made the green transition, preparedness and continuity management significant themes of social discussion. What is crucial about the matter is that the questions that are familiar in the industries as such have gained air under their wings and issues are examined intersocially without the boundaries of silos. As mere knowledge and expertise have not moved development forward at a pace sufficient enough for the environment and society, now that emotions in these issues are involved, we are clearly seeing development progressing faster.
To be able to lead the transition, a reliable situational picture is needed. The green transition includes the requirement to be able to work in the value chain with a common understanding of calculation and measurement methods. Mipro’s own carbon footprint and the use of natural resources are modest compared to the number of users of our systems, but we are still obligated to play our part in creating and maintaining the situational picture. On the other hand, the transition opens up a new opportunity to create technologies and services needed in a new kind of society: society that is fossil-free and circular economy based, and actively revives biodiversity. These technologies arise from the realism of experience and understanding of application areas. Digitalisation and servitization are important components in rail transport and water and energy supply of the future.
The significant deterioration of the security situation in the surrounding areas has brought the questions of preparedness and continuity into the general discussion. The state of affairs is good in the sense that there are no actual structural deficiencies in the management of our society: operators of critical infrastructure and the legislation guiding them have long defined preparedness and continuity management as key activities. Now the general atmosphere and the resulting resource allocations enable faster development than before. Due to the general digitalisation of society, and with it the digitalisation of critical infrastructure, cyber security has become the most significant area to be developed in overall security. Cyber security cannot be added on afterwards: systems must be developed secure to begin with and they have to remain as such during their life cycle. Both work methods and work results must conform to prevailing the best prevailing practices in security to meet today’s threat models. In long-life systems, security maintainability is particularly critical.
During the past year, the pandemic situation has become commonplace, and the restrictions of it no longer substantially affect our daily work. The diversification of work happened quickly, and we still cannot fully control the opportunities or problems it creates. Our work is essentially multi-temporal, multi-place and multi-cultural. In terms of the green transition, the reduction in travel has a positive impact. From an individual’s point of view, the increased freedom in choosing time and place demands more self-management and active seeking of interaction with others. In terms of the company’s resilience, the ability for flexible multi-location is a clear strength. On the other hand, in a digital work environment, an in-depth understanding of information security and threat images is of paramount importance, because in an open world and in changing situations, you cannot achieve full coverage with advance instructions.
Although trains still run mainly on rails and the water supply brings clean and takes away dirty water, Mipro has to respond, and we want to respond, to the changed emphasis in order to remain viable and vigorous. Now, and from now on into the future, we regard the green transition, management of preparedness and continuity, and diversified work as trends that encourage and create new opportunities for customer service, as well as trends that build and enhance a safe and environmentally friendly society.
author
Anssi Laakkonen
Managing DirectorAnssi’s experience in railways and industrial automation and control systems dates back to the 1980s. He has worked at Mipro since the beginning of the 2010s, most recently as the Managing Director from 2019. Participating in the social debate – and thereby the questions of the green transition and preparedness and continuity – have been part of his daily work with the chairmanship of Raidealan neuvottelukunta’s advisory board.
