Global energy technology company Schneider Electric has unveiled its EcoStruxure Foxboro software defined automation (SDA) platform, said to be the industry’s first open, software‑defined distributed control system (DCS).

The new development aims to help hybrid and process industry customers modernise faster, reduce risk, and ensure that operations are future-ready by delivering flexibility, scalability, and cost efficiency with continued reliability.

“EcoStruxure Foxboro SDA marks a defining moment for industrial automation,” said Schneider Electric senior VP: process automation Hany Fouda. “By embracing openness and software-defined architecture, we’re giving our customers the agility to modernise without compromise, protecting their investments while unlocking future-ready capabilities. This evolution is a strategic enabler for digital transformation.”

Fouda explains that Foxboro SDA decouples hardware from software to protect existing investments and enable a smooth, lower-risk modernisation path with simpler workflows, faster insights, and sustainable performance gains.

Key features of the system include:

• Open, software-defined architecture: decouples software from hardware to deliver vendor independence and interoperability, enabling flexible, scalable architectures that simplify.
• Cybersecure and future-ready: built with secure-by-design principles and IEC 62443-3-3 compliance, delivering a future-ready platform that enables information technology/operational technology (IT/OT), convergence, artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML), integration, and autonomous operations for Industry 4.0 and energy transition.
• Simplified operations and reduced costs: streamline deployment with intuitive tools and minimise downtime by avoiding obsolescence and enabling predictive maintenance.

Foxboro SDA is said to enable interoperability, rapid deployment, and fit-for-purpose configurations while maintaining high availability. The system ensures digital continuity by keeping data connected and consistent throughout the plant lifecycle — from design to production to maintenance. This helps ensure automated workflows, better product quality, and easy integration with analytics for real-time decision-making.

In addition, customers can benefit from a future-ready upgrade path, built-in cybersecurity, and simplified operations that support IT/OT convergence and advanced technologies like AI/ML.

“The launch of EcoStruxure Foxboro SDA marks a major milestone in the evolution of process automation,” said ARC Advisory Group VP Craig Resnick. “By decoupling control logic from hardware, Schneider Electric is providing manufacturers with the agility to scale, adapt, and simplify their operations. This software defined approach helps to reduce maintenance costs, protect legacy automation investments, and ensure digital continuity throughout the entire plant lifecycle. With cybersecurity built into its core, and a commitment to open, interoperable standards, Foxboro SDA enables manufacturers to modernise at their own pace, accelerate IT and OT convergence, and increase their adoption of next generation technologies, such as AI, edge computing, and autonomous operations.”