One of the great values at the annual international PI meeting was hearing from the other Regional PI Associations (RPAs). This year we had presentations from: Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Middle East, Netherlands, and North America. Their highlights:
Australia: includes video interviews on their website. They also participate in exhibitions and conferences.
Belgium: PI Belgium’s 15 members support a PROFI day and several exhibitions.
Germany: PI Germany is the largest of the RPAs with 343 members. On behalf of the international PI, they 
host the Working Groups and Technical Committees plus the PI Support Center with a staff of 10. PI Germany manages our presence at 4 German trade shows. Germany is celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Ireland: with only 15 members, PI Ireland is relatively small, but very active. In association with the PI Training Center (PITC) and PICC, they offer certified training classes, multi-vendor labs, and consultancy.
Italy: with 48 members PI Italia will host 3 roadshows for PROFIBUS and PROFINET and participate in 5 fairs and conferences.
Korea: PI Korea has 33 members and a staff of 3. They share responsibility for the local PICC. Members have created 11 PROFIBUS and PROFINET products.
Middle East: with 3 PICCs and 1 PITC, PI Middle East focuses on infrastructure projects… oh, and oil seems to be a huge market there, too.
The Netherlands: with 40 members PI Netherlands sponsors an annual PROFI day – this year with over 200 in attendance.
North America: PI North America is the second largest RPA with 160 members and 5 staff. We conduct 17 PROFINET one-day training classes across North America with the PROFI Interface Center. We cooperatively market Certified Network Engineer classes with local PITCs. Unlike many of our colleagues around the world, trade shows and exhibitions are not a possibility for us. (They all went out of business.) We do, however, speak at conferences and user meetings.
The assembled masses gathered so I could photograph them. As I told someone who mistook me for a professional photographer, “The camera is professional; the photographer is amateur.”
–Carl Henning