The International Society of Automation (ISA) has issued a call for participants to join the new ISA113 Standard Committee, an initiative focused on defining a specification for integrating distributed workflow systems across multiple vendor platforms.
The ISA113 Standard Committee is being formed to address a growing need for improved interoperability across workflow systems used in industrial organizations. Many teams face a significant burden from bespoke, one-off integration projects required to connect workflow systems. ISA113 aims to create a standard that bridges workflow styles, decouples workflow logic from where work happens, establishes action-based integration for operational technology (OT)/IT workflows, and builds a foundation for multi-system orchestration.
The ISA move comes as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) published the official call for ISA113 committee members last Friday. The call for interested parties will remain open for 30 days following this publication date. Individuals with relevant expertise and interest in contributing to this effort are encouraged to participate.
“ISA is seeking volunteer committee members for the ISA113 Distributed Workflow System Integration,” according to the ANSI publication. “The scope of this committee will be to develop standards for abstract information models that enable the integration of procedural workflows across multiple vendor systems used in automation processes. The committee’s work supports consistent, interoperable interfaces for orchestrated workflows involving equipment, software, and human operators.”
At this time, the ANSI said that participation is being sought from volunteers across all defined interest categories. This includes users, who are individuals involved in using the type of product covered by the standard but who are not engaged in its production or distribution. It also includes producers, who are individuals involved in the production of the product. This category covers those working in design, engineering support, manufacturing, testing, or marketing, and who are employed by or represent a manufacturer or vendor.
Regulatory and government participants are also invited, specifically individuals who represent governmental entities with regulatory interest in or influence over the product.
In addition, participation is open to individuals from testing, certification, and approval organizations that provide validation or compliance services for the product. Finally, the general category includes individuals who do not fall into the previous groups. This may include experts from academia, professional associations, and retired professionals or those not funded by any related organization for their standards work.
It added that the call for volunteers will be open for 30 days from the date of publication. Interested parties can apply to this committee by filling out the form.
The ISA outlined that one particular area of emphasis for the committee’s work will be enabling interoperability between orchestrated workflows and choreographed workflows. Orchestrated workflows, such as ISA-88-style hierarchical procedures and phases, are widely used in industrial automation and batch control environments.
Choreographed workflows, which are common in Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), manufacturing execution systems (MES) and broader business process environments, support more distributed and event-driven process coordination. As organizations undergo digital transformation, they increasingly rely on both styles, and the need for seamless integration between them has become more urgent.
“The goal of initiating the ISA113 Standard Committee is to help bridge OT/IT workflow styles,” said Steve Ferguson, managing director of standards and technical activities at ISA. “This work has the potential to help organizations improve efficiency, reduce integration risk and support more scalable digital transformation initiatives. A vendor-neutral standard can also foster greater collaboration across suppliers, end users, integrators and software providers.”
ISA welcomes participation from end users, automation suppliers, software vendors, system integrators, consultants and other stakeholders with expertise in workflow systems, industrial automation, MES, BPMN and standards development. Broad representation will be essential to ensuring the resulting standard reflects diverse industry needs and delivers practical value.
Those interested in helping shape the future of distributed workflow interoperability are encouraged to respond during the 30-day ANSI call period.
In February, the ISA published a new standard aimed at modernizing SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) systems and improving how they are designed, built, operated, and maintained. The standard, ANSI/ISA-112.00.01-2025, SCADA Systems – Part 1: SCADA Lifecycle, Diagrams and Terminology, establishes a structured framework for managing the SCADA lifecycle and standardizing documentation and terminology. It is available for purchase through ISA and is included as a member benefit.
