Europe ICS Market Size

Europe Industrial Control Systems Market Analysis

The European industrial control systems market is expected to record a CAGR of 12.3% during the forecast period. The COVID-19 pandemic has forced manufacturing industries to re-evaluate their traditional production processes, primarily driving digital transformation and smart manufacturing practices across production lines. The manufacturers are also collectively being forced to devise and implement multiple new and agile approaches to monitor product and quality control.

There is an increased need to reduce manufacturing costs and applications of the Internet of Things and machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies. According to a government-commissioned review, the manufacturing sector in the country can unlock GBP 455 million over the next decade and create thousands of jobs if it cracks the fourth industrial revolution.

The majority adoption of automation tools is seen in the region's automotive and manufacturing sectors. IoT enables automated driving assistance, vehicle maintenance, passenger infotainment, and vehicle-to-vehicle communications in the automotive sector. For instance, in 2020, Ericsson and Audi partnered to establish a 5G collaboration to test Ultra-reliable Low-latency Communication (URLLC) capabilities for factory automation at the Audi P-Labs facility in Germany.

The government's efforts to regulate and bolster the cybersecurity industry have suffered resistance from business associations. The opposition to the creation of a certification regime to rank firms based on their performance against cybersecurity metrics is hampering innovations to upgrade security. However, the country's industrial policy is aimed at encouraging private investment and human capital development in line with addressing the cybersecurity challenge.

The National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI) proposed a similar class-based approach to deal with cyber security issues within France. The country's Industrial Cyber Plan aims at a voluntary information-sharing system (CERT-FR) to support a reporting mechanism, sharing of best practices among companies, sponsorship of crisis management exercises involving the private sector (Piranet), and certification schemes for cybersecurity firms.

Aging hardware or software for ICS in a lot of organizations is another factor responsible for increased complexity. Most organizations still use legacy ICS owing to their importance in the functioning of the plant. This increased age of ICS creates ample opportunities for cyberattacks and leads to increased complexities.