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Topical Roundup: January 2026

By: Melissa Landon
14 January, 2026
2 min read
Feature Image for Topical Roundup: January 2026
The best ways to get the most out of Automation.com, particularly on our new website, are to create an account and subscribe to our newsletters.

The best ways to get the most out of Automation.com, particularly on our new website, are to create an account and subscribe to our newsletters.

When you create an account, you can read the gated articles in Automation.com Monthly, the Salary Survey Report and more.

When you subscribe to a newsletter, you can opt for receiving Automation Weekly, our general interest newsletter, or pick one topical that aligns with your interests, like Cybersecurity & Safety or Automation & Control. 

In the meantime, check out our topic articles in each category from the past month.

Operations and Management

Automation Professional Salary Survey: Automation.com, a subsidiary of International Society of Automation (ISA), conducted its annual Automation Professional Salary Survey and asked about income in 2024 and how it changed in 2025. Results are compared by geographic region, job function, industry, years of experience and professional certification.

How Battery Storage Automation Can Address Energy Reliability ChallengesElectricity demand is at its highest point in decades, driven by electrification, digital infrastructure and renewable integration. The International Energy Agency reports that more than 40 GW of battery storage was added worldwide in 2023, yet storage still accounts for only a small fraction of global electricity capacity. 

Digital Transformation

AI-on-AI Hacking: Winning the New Cybersecurity BattleAI tools, which introduce a litany of new factors for security teams to consider, are empowering attackers. The breadth of their potential applications makes AI hacking tools both potent and dangerous, exposing previously unseen gaps in cyber defenses.

Report: AI Is Accelerating Embedded Software Development, and Organizations Must Evolve Security PracticesRunSafe’s recent survey finds that AI has moved from experiment to production in critical infrastructure, but security practices lag behind. Respondents acknowledge AI’s benefits for speed and quality, yet express significant security and operational concerns, and plan major security investments over the next two years.

Automation and Control

International Robotic Safety Conference 2025: Key Takeaways Shaping the Future of Safe Automation: The International Robotic Safety Conference (IRSC), hosted by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), took place in Houston, Texas, from Nov. 3 to 5, 2025. It highlighted how safety requirements are evolving within one of the fastest-growing segments of industrial automation.

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How Semiconductor Policy Could Undermine US Motion Control Market Momentum: Semiconductor investment is a critical driver for industrial automation and motion control. Changes to major subsidy programs influence the timing, scale and certainty of semiconductor equipment spending.   

Industrial Cybersecurity & Safety

How NIS2 Is Redefining Cybersecurity for Industrial and Energy SystemsThe European Union’s new Network and Information Systems Directive (NIS2) demands that cybersecurity go beyond firewalls and passwords.

How Edge Security Protects Smart Buildings Against Rising Cyber AttacksSmart buildings, powered by an ever-expanding network of IoT devices, face a staggering 820,000 hacking attempts every day, a 46% increase from the previous year.

Process Automation & Control

Process Industry Working Group Accelerates Process Control and Automation ConvergencePLCopen will start a new workgroup—the PLCopen Process Industry Working Group—to explore the incorporation of the function blocks PLCopen has developed for the O-PAS standard into a new PLCopen standard. Establishing this group will further PLCopen's ongoing goal to drive standardization and interoperability in industrial automation.

Five Steps to Modernize Plant Floor Operations in High-Hazard Industries: Modernizing and safeguarding plant floor operations will help keep the plant operating continuously, efficiently and safely. Steps include conducting a plant health assessment and evaluating safety and compliance programs.

Enterprise Architecture and Networks

Securing Industrial Applications by Protecting Modbus Communication: Modernizing industrial communication isn’t just about upgrading equipment—it’s about adding security around the systems you already have.

How 5G RedCap Is Powering the Next Wave of IoT: As 5G roll-outs accelerate worldwide, the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is entering a critical new phase. Because most don’t need the full gigabit performance or cost of enhanced mobile broadband, 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) may be just the right thing.

This article is part of our Automation.com Monthly January 2026 issue.
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