Overview

Traditional ISA-95 "automation-pyramid" integrations move data upwards through a stack of firewalls and proprietary databases. Every new use-case requires another point-to-point path; the result is spaghetti diagrams, data loss through aggregation, and weeks of lead-time each time someone asks "can I please add this tag to the dashboard?"

The Unified Namespace flips that flow:

• Event driven – every device, PLC or app publishes its own events as they happen.

• Standard topic hierarchy – a hierarchical key (compatible with ISA-95, KKS, or custom naming standards) encodes enterprise, site, area, … plus a data-contract that describes the payload, data sources and data sinks.

• Publish-regardless mentality – producers do not care whether a consumer exists yet; that turns "add a new dashboard" into a reading exercise, not a PLC­-reprogramming project.

• Stream Processing / Data Contextualization - Bridges give incoming data already a base contextualization and enforce schemas, Stream Processor allows you then to properly model the data top-down.

Architecture Benefits

The UNS eliminates the traditional automation pyramid's limitations:

• No point-to-point complexity: All systems publish to and consume from one namespace

• Schema enforcement: Data contracts ensure message consistency

• Scalable fan-out: Add new consumers without touching producers

• Event replay: Embedded Redpanda provides message persistence and replay capabilities

Topic Structure

UNS topics follow a strict Topic Convention:

This structure provides:

• Location context: Hierarchical addressing (supports ISA-95, KKS, or custom naming)

• Data semantics: Contract-based payload validation

• Version control: Schema evolution support

Integration Patterns

Connect systems to the UNS using:

• Bridges - Device connectivity with health monitoring (YAML: protocolConverter:)
• Stand-alone Flows - Custom data processing (YAML: dataFlow:)
• Stream Processors 🚧 - UNS-internal data transformation

Learn More

For comprehensive understanding of UNS concepts and implementation:

• The Rise of the Unified Namespace - Core UNS principles and benefits
• Chapter 1: The Foundations of the Unified Namespace in Operational Technology - Automation pyramid challenges
• Chapter 3: The Foundations of the Unified Namespace in Information Technology - IT architecture patterns
• NAMUR Open Architecture versus Unified Namespace - Standards alignment and industrial context