Can the BMS finally deliver?

www.smartbuildingsmagazine.com/features/can-the-bms-finally-deliver
This article gives great insight to what building systems could hold for us all in the future.This article depicts a more utopian view point of the benefits of building wide system and IoT integration on common communication platforms.
There is no denying the benefits that this could offer and the UK government is starting to drive more toward this the development of the next levels of BIM. However, if we go down this road then we need to do so with eyes wide open. Such levels of common communication platform can become very hard to defend. More and more automated systems are being targeted by hackers and ‘bots’ with intentions toward either finding a backdoor to more sensitive areas of the incumbent IT or instigating a DOPS (Denial Of Physical Service) attack to disrupt building usage. The article talks of removing Gateways to simplify inter-system communication, but the Gateways can actually act like entry level firewalls for automated systems and prevent anyone of anything getting to systems they should not. Have a look at the UK Government PETRAS Research Group (www.petrashub.org) to gain further insight into this.