The International Society of Automation (ISA) has published ANSI/ISA-112.00.01-2025, SCADA Systems – Part 1: SCADA Lifecycle, Diagrams and Terminology, which is now available on the ISA’s website and is accessible to ISA members.

Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is an automated control system architecture commonly implemented in industrial, utility and manufacturing environments. The ISA-112 Part 1 standard provides a vendor-neutral and technology-independent framework for the long-term management of SCADA systems and execution of SCADA modernization projects, offering a high-level overview of the SCADA lifecycle as well as diagrams and terminology. ISA-112 Part 1 applies to a variety of industries, including municipal water/wastewater facilities, oil/gas infrastructure, pipelines, dam/irrigation systems, electricity transmission/distribution, railways, highways, bridges/tunnels, airports, civil infrastructure, manufacturing, mining, defense and remote monitoring. Additional parts of ISA-112 addressing SCADA lifecycle review processes and SCADA architectures are also planned for release.

ISA-112 Part 1 is intended for companies, utilities, system integrators and others, whether they are designing a new SCADA system or upgrading existing legacy systems to meet modern security and connectivity requirements. An ANSI-approved American National Standard, ISA-112 Part 1 includes a functional architecture model and lifecycle framework applicable to every type of SCADA project, regardless of the type of industry, geographic location, technology, regulatory environment or operating history.

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Areas of focus include organizing end-user SCADA systems standards, work processes for management and operation, and a set of standardized workflows for designing, building, operating, maintaining, expanding and auditing SCADA systems.

The ISA112 standard committee was initiated by a core group of experts from the oil/gas, pipeline and municipal water/wastewater sectors who saw a need for an industry-wide standardized framework for managing, designing, building and pricing SCADA systems. Since its inception, the committee has grown to over 350 volunteer experts from around the world representing a multitude of industries, all with the common goal of making SCADA systems easier to design, build, operate and maintain.

“The ISA-112 Part 1 standard has been developed to make it easier for end users to organize their SCADA system standards and communicate to others what their needs and wishes are,” says Graham Nasby, founding co-chair of the ISA112 committee and systems lead – Eastern Canada at PBX Engineering Ltd. “The standard also gives system integrators, vendors and consultants a standardized way to execute the design, implementation and ongoing enhancements to SCADA systems. ISA-112 Part 1 is a testament to ISA’s proven approach to developing consensus-based, vendor-neutral technical standards.”

Those interested in learning more about ISA-112 Part 1 are invited to register for an upcoming webinar, “ISA-112 Part 1: The New Standard for Modernizing SCADA Systems.” This free webinar is scheduled for April 16 at 11 a.m. ET.