Alphabetical

ICS and utilities glossary

Reference terms used in technical specifications, standards and the equipment registry.

25 B E H I M N O P R S A U C D

Categories

Protocols and networks

General

SCADA / dispatching

· HMI
· MES
· SCADA
· ICS

Regulation and law

Field level

· RTU
· I&C
· PLC

Utilities and energy

Information security

· Critical Information Infrastructure

B

Building Automation and Control Networks

ASHRAE standard for building automation: HVAC, lighting, access control, heating. Widely used in smart-building projects.

E

Computing at the network edge

Processing telemetry and analytics directly at the site (PLC, edge gateway, industrial PC) before sending to the cloud. Reduces latency, saves bandwidth and improves availability during connectivity outages.

H

Human-Machine Interface

Operator screen or dispatcher workstation: process mimics, alarm display, manual control and event acknowledgement.

I

Telecontrol equipment and systems standards

IEC standards family for telecontrol and SCADA in power systems. Subset 5-104 is most common in power network SCADA.

Communication networks and systems for power utility automation

Modern standard for substation automation, combining data modelling and network protocols (MMS, GOOSE, Sampled Values).

Industrial Internet of Things

Paradigm of connecting industrial assets to cloud and analytics services through standardised gateways and protocols (MQTT, OPC UA).

Industrial Control System

A set of hardware and software for automatic or supervisory control of an industrial or infrastructure process. Includes the field level (sensors, PLCs), data transport, SCADA dispatching and upper-level information services.

Individual Heating Substation

A facility that connects a building's heating and hot-water system to the district heating network. When automated, it modulates temperature and flow based on outdoor temperature and load, and reports telemetry to SCADA.

Instrumentation and Control

Field-level equipment class: temperature, pressure, flow, level and analytical sensors plus actuators and related control devices. The primary data source for an ICS.

M

Manufacturing Execution System

A class of systems above SCADA that handles operational planning, shop-floor execution, quality control and shift assignments. Bridges ICS and ERP.

Industrial fieldbus protocol (RTU, TCP)

A simple and widely adopted master-slave protocol for polling PLCs, meters and variable frequency drives. Comes in Modbus RTU (RS-485) and Modbus TCP (Ethernet) variants.

N

Client software bridge for Kazakhstan e-signatures

NCA RK local application exposing a JS API on 127.0.0.1:13579 for signing documents with qualified e-signature certificates. Used by Kazakhstan government services and association applications.

O

Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture

An open industrial protocol with an object model, TLS encryption and authentication. Recommended as the baseline protocol for cross-vendor interoperability.

Operating and capital expenditures

OPEX — ongoing operating expenses: fuel, maintenance, personnel. CAPEX — capital investments: equipment purchase, construction, modernisation. The association targets 20,30% OPEX reduction via standardisation.

P

Real-time industrial Ethernet protocol

Open industrial Ethernet standard by PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET International), used in discrete manufacturing and motion control.

Plant Utilization Factor

Plant utilization (capacity factor)

Ratio of actual energy produced to the theoretical maximum at full power for the entire year. Key KPI for power and heat plants.

Programmable Logic Controller

An industrial controller that runs real-time logic written in IEC 61131-3 languages (LD, FBD, ST, IL, SFC). The base element of an automation cabinet.

R

Remote Terminal Unit

Field device for remote telemetry collection and data transport to the dispatch centre, typically over DNP3 or IEC 60870 protected channels.

S

Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

Upper-layer hardware and software for real-time supervisory control and data acquisition. Visualises the process, logs events and alarms and powers the operator workstation.

Certificate of Kazakhstan origin for goods

Document confirming Kazakhstan origin of goods. Required for manufacturers participating in tenders with local content requirements.

A

Advanced Metering Infrastructure

A set of meters, communication channels and server software for remote metering, balancing and customer settlements. The foundation for reducing commercial losses in power and utility networks.

U

Unified Reference Data

Unified normative reference data

Corporate or industry vocabulary of reference values (equipment types, units of measure, unified work nomenclature). The foundation of cross-system interoperability for accounting and procurement.

C

Critical Information Infrastructure

Critical Information Infrastructure

Assets whose disruption would significantly damage defence, security or the economy. Includes ICS in energy, water, transport and defence. Protected by Kazakhstan's Informatization Law.

D

Virtual model of a physical asset

Dynamic software model of a physical asset (pump station, boiler room, control cabinet) synchronised with the real object via telemetry. Used for predictive analytics and what-if scenarios.

Digital signature

Qualified electronic signature (NCA RK, NCALayer)

A qualified electronic signature under Kazakhstan's e-signature law. Legally equivalent to a handwritten signature and used to submit documents to government services and to sign membership applications via NCALayer.