Data Governance and Management in Robotics

Marina Pashkevich, VP of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, Oshkosh Corporation

Marina Pashkevich is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in starting and scaling advanced analytics at Global 500 companies, transforming data into valuable products that optimize business outcomes and enable significant profit improvements. In her present role at Oshkosh Corporation, she is entitled to bring advanced analytics capabilities and foster the adoption of advanced analytics and AI.

With your extensive experience in the field, what would you say are the prominent challenges affecting the robotics sector?

The overarching concerns that demand attention, whether related to robotics, AI, or any other technology, revolve around the ever-increasing concerns of cybersecurity and data privacy. Companies struggle to protect their crucial data from constantly evolving security threats, ultimately affecting their growth, credibility, and sustainability.

Another significant factor is the rapid growth of technology itself. Regardless of whether it involves robotics or other innovations, harmonious integration between evolving technologies and customer experience remains an ongoing struggle for organizations.

The competition for talent is yet another substantial concern faced by our company and the industry as a whole. The demand for skilled professionals to understand and operate the latest technologies continues to intensify, making talent acquisition and retention a pressing issue.

Companies across industries also witness challenges in ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and usefulness of data while exploring ways to derive value and monetize it. To that end, we are making infrastructural investments for transitioning from traditional on-premise data centers to cloud-based ones. This migration will help us have complete visibility and control over the data, ensuring its top-notch quality control and unlocking insights for monetization.

Please share with our readers the best ways to ensure optimum data quality. 

In the current business world, the pursuit of becoming a data-driven company is a common goal shared by organizations. To do so holistically, the quality of the information is paramount, encompassing aspects such as data governance and management.

" ​Integrating robotics with human intelligence is a continuous cycle of task execution, learning, issue resolution, and further learning. "

We, too, are committed to harnessing the power of data and utilizing data insights to inform our strategic decisions. To ensure the integrity and reliability of our data, we have focused on master data management and established specific rules, standards, and guiding principles. For example, these guidelines serve as a foundation to assist our customers in extracting data with credibility, enabling them to swiftly identify and address any challenges or shortcomings tied to specific activities performed with the data.

What are some of the prominent developments in the robotics sector?

Among the various technological advancements, autonomous mobile robots stand out as an essential development. It has multiple notable innovations such as automated and guided vehicles, humanoid robots, robotic cybersecurity, and intelligent robots. However, what excites me the most is the trend of integrating robotics with human intelligence.

What do you think are the best practices when it comes to integrating human intelligence with robotics?

Integrating robotics with human intelligence is a continuous cycle of task execution, learning, issue resolution, and further learning. To embrace this integration successfully and understand the scope of robotic activities, it is crucial to have a clear understanding of the desired objectives and endpoints.

In essence, the integration of robotics and human intelligence follows an end-to-end approach, where organizations must have a comprehensive vision of the entire workflow, from start to finish.

What will be your advice to peers in the robotics space?

Robotic cybersecurity stands out as one of the necessities because of its vulnerability as a potential target for threats. The vast amount of data generated by robotic activities, including IoT data, highlights the importance of securely managing and monetizing it. Organizations must also discern future possibilities from the data and capitalize on the valuable insights derived from it to optimize their operations and stay ahead in this data-rich landscape.