With the political election season finally drawing to a close, the one thing that has been a bit of a silver lining is the renewed interest and focus on the country's Manufacturing sector. To truly grasp the impact of this industry on the U.S. economy, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provided some insights:

$1 spent in manufacturing creates$1.40 for the U.S. economy. U.S. manufacturing is the 9th largest economy globally.

To make our manufacturing sector as competitive as possible, we need to address the skills and knowledge gap, and emphasize the need for moreflexibletraining and e-learning options. In particular, training around industrial security will be key in the new economy, which includes protecting intellectual property and keeping factories humming without fear of cyber and physical attacks.

For those interested in taking their network security knowledge a step further, we're hosting a webinar on November 17: Industrial Security: Understanding How IT and OT Meet at the Firewall. This is powered by Industrial IP Advantage, our e-learning coalition with our partners Rockwell Automation and Panduit.

Robert Albach, one of my colleagues at Cisco, will present on best practices for implementing firewalls across a converged, IoT-ready network while addressing the security priorities for both IT and OT.

I truly believe that successful convergence of the information technology and operational technology can bring important business benefits for your company's strategy and competitiveness. When both functions are better aligned, you will have more disciplined, multi-pronged approaches to addressing security. And your operations can better focus on meeting company strategies.

Register for the webinar here. We hope you can join us!