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94 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2021 ity. ese challenges are only growing more extreme with the advent of 5G, AI, AR, auton- omous systems, and IoT everywhere. So, digital transformation strategies need to be formulated today, but this it isn't easy, and I believe that there's quite a lot of work ahead. e good news is that critical enabling technol- ogies are available to close the digital transfor- mation gap within electronics systems design. e challenge is establishing a programmatic approach to both methodology and technol- ogy adoption in order to get ready for a digital future. So, where do we focus? 1. Cross-domain collaboration. It's amazing to me the degree to which silos still exist across so many different organizations, and this is aer years of non-stop business- speak about the importance of tearing down silos. Look closely throughout the electronics industry and you'll see these barriers everywhere, separating teams and groups whose collaboration is essential to success—mechanical/electronic co-design, FPGA/PCB, and even design and manufac- turing. Silos still exist and they are costly. But they can be dismantled more easily than ever using digital enterprise strategies and technologies that are available today. 2. More verification, earlier in the cycle. Even with today's complex designs, higher speeds, and advanced IC technologies, it remains quite common to see verifica- tion addressed in silos or within discrete groups. But, today it's possible to digitalize a large portion of verification and sign-off processes, from the schematic to manufac- turing and in between. And since digital technologies oen abstract complexity and optimize efficiencies via automation, many of these checks can now be completed with little-to-no domain expertise. 3. Multi-board systems design. Many in our industry are still primarily designing sys- tems by starting with a discrete PCB and then proceeding to more complex multi- ple-board systems, instead of starting at the system architecture and decomposing down into individual PCB logic and design. is approach not only fails to leverage the opportunity to make better decisions around trade-off and perform virtual simu- lation matter, but it also increases the risk of error associated with connectivity and signaling. Again, this can be handled today with readily available digital technologies. 4. Design data management. According to analyst firm Aberdeen 3 , almost 30% of a PCB engineering teams' time is spent researching data—from component/librar- ies to work-in-process, to certified re-use of blocks. But establishing a formalized data management strategy is clearly the supe- rior approach. In fact, it represents nothing less than the foundation of all digital trans- formation. And again, it can be achieved with technology that's here today. Digital transformation is a journey, and like any journey, preparation is critical. I've pre- sented four areas where I believe the PCB systems design community can take steps— today—to increase the success of their digital transformation programs. In future columns, we'll dig more deeply into ideas, case studies, observations and other con- tent intended to help you on your digital jour- ney, whether you're starting from the begin- ning, or already well on your way. DESIGN007 References 1. Worldwide Semiannual Digital Transformation Spending Guide, IDC, November 2018. 2. Simulation and Verification for Board Develop- ment, Lifecycle Insights, October 2019. 3. PCB Design Data Management: Smaller Win- dows and Higher Complexity, Aberdeen, May 2016. AJ Incorvaia is senior vice presi- dent, Electronic Board Systems Division, Siemens Digital Industries Software.