OPC Day Finland 2026 12.11.2026 Tampereella - tervetuloa!
@ Valmet Oyj, Lentokentänkatu 11, 33900 TAMPERE
MAIN THEME: FLUENTLY FROM FACTORY TO THE CLOUD WITH OPC UA
OPC Day Finland is gathering the best experts from the world to discuss the technology and use cases - from sensors to rockets in space! By arranging this yearly event, we want to help everyone working in manufacturing, OT and IT, to apply this standard for smarter solutions in all communication.
The OPC Day Finland 2026 is organized by Finnish Society of Automation, OPC Committee
Welcome - please register by using the link below on this page and join us!
PROGRAMME
08.30
Registration and morning coffee
9.00
Opening
Jouni Aro, Finnish Society of Automation
9.10
INVITED SPEECH: KEYNOTE
Valmet
INVITED SPEECH:
OPC UA and the Digital Product Passport
Erich Barnstedt, Microsoft
Erich has worked in various engineering roles at Microsoft for over 23 years, initially in the Windows team and later in the Azure team. Throughout his career, he worked in the automotive and manufacturing verticals and is the founder of both the Windows and the Azure Industrial IoT teams. He is the inventor of many Industrial IoT products from Microsoft. More recently, he shifted his work to the support of open industrial standards in Microsoft products as well as commitments to open-source and consortia work in the Corporate Standards Group at Microsoft as Senior Director and Architect. He is the holder of various IoT-related patents and has a bachelor and two master's degrees in computer science from Trinity College, Dublin.
INVITED SPEECH:
How OPC UA enables AI to work with the real world of factory automation
Holger Kenn, VDMA
Holger Kenn works in the Machine Information Interoperability team at VDMA. Previously, he has worked for 17 years in various technical roles at Microsoft. In his last role, he was responsible for the technical strategy for AI business development team and served on the Board of Directors at the OPC Foundation. He initiated and leads the AI working group at OPC Foundation. He holds a Ph.D in Computer Science on Artificial Intelligence from Vrije Universiteit Brussels
INVITED SPEECH:
OPC UA Certification: CTT Lite, Compliance, and the Growing Certification Ecosystem
Alexander Allmendinger, OPC Foundation
This session provides an update on the latest OPC Foundation certification activities, including the introduction of CTT Lite and its role in making OPC UA testing more accessible while supporting interoperability and product quality. We will also review recent developments in compliance certification, discuss the expanding certification ecosystem, and share the latest status of the upcoming OPC UA Engineer Certification program and what it means for vendors, integrators, and end users.
Alexander Allmendinger has served as Administrative Director and Secretary to the Board of Directors since January 2024 and as Test Lab Manager of the OPC Foundation European Certification Lab since its establishment in 2016. Through these roles, he works closely with companies and their OPC products and solutions. His experience with communication protocols and OPC UA dates back to its early stages, when he validated initial implementations of the Unified Architecture stacks. He also participates in several working groups, including Security, OPC UA over MQTT, and the harmonization of domain-specific information models, giving him broad insight into the OPC ecosystem.
INVITED SPEECH:
Trends in OPC UA Information Modelling
Wolfgang Mahnke, Unified Automation
Dr. Wolfgang Mahnke has been working at Unified Automation since 2018 and is a recognized expert in industrial automation, with deep expertise in OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA), information modeling, and industrial software systems. He has played a key role in the development and standardization of OPC UA, contributing to its Address Space Model and Information Model specifications. In addition, he serves as an editor of various OPC UA companion specifications, including the Machinery specification, helping to advance standardized information models and interoperability across industrial domains. As co-author of the book OPC Unified Architecture, he brings significant technical knowledge of industrial communication systems and supports the development of secure, standardized, and interoperable solutions for industrial automation.
INVITED SPEECH:
From devices to flexibility markets: Integrating OPC UA and data spaces for multi-agent energy flexibility
Ilkka Niskanen, VTT
Ilkka Niskanen is a Senior Scientist in the Advanced Data Spaces team at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. He received his PhD in Information Processing Science from the University of Oulu in 2018, where his research focused on information modelling and data integration in smart spaces. He has authored or co-authored more than 25 scientific publications and has contributed to numerous national and international research and development projects. His current research interests include data spaces, digital twins and data interoperability. He is particularly interested in enabling trusted data sharing and interoperable architectures for cross-organizational digital ecosystems
Please note: more speeches will be published soon!
PRICE AND REGISTRATION
Registration fee
- 120 EUR + VAT 25,5 % for members of Finnish Society of Automation
- 140 EUR + VAT 25,5 % for non-members of Finnish Society of Automation
includes admission to all the sessions and exhibition of the OPC Day Finland 2026, lunch, coffees and the material of the day
Registration
Please, register here: https://www.lyyti.in/OPC_Day_Finland_2026
SPONSORS
Would you like to become a sponsor? – Please contact us: office@automaatioseura.fi
ACCOMMODATION
For your stay at Tampere for participating OPC Day Finland 2026 we recommend for example:
Original Sokos Hotel Ilves
145 EUR Standard single room / night
175 EUR Standard twin room / night
Reservations with the code: OPCDAYFIN26 (by phone and email) BOPCDAYFIN26 (internet reservations)
More hotels in Tampere
More information about hotels and accomondation in Tampere: Visit Tampere
The OPC Day Finland 2026 is organized by Finnish Society of Automation, OPC Committee
For any further assistance, please contact: office@automaatioseura.fi
OPC UA is Open Platform Communications, Unified Architecture, a standard technology that enables secure and reliable, platform independent interoperability in industrial automation and other industries. (https://opcfoundation.org/about/what-is-opc/)
All rights for changes reserved.
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