Duane Green

BY MARK SMITH Since the earliest days of computing, technology gurus have espoused a grand vision for a digitally interconnected future. The full potential of electronics and automation will only be realized if people and data are not kept captive in isolated systems, they've said. Making individual processes digital—or creating "islands of automation"—increases productivity, but is just the first step. Computer-integrated manufacturing is supposed to be the ultimate goal. The manifestation of this concept can be seen in the progression from standalone computers to systems linked via local area networks (LANs), then wide area networks (WANs) and, ultimately, the Internet. Passing information digitally