Ira Sharp is the Director of Product Marketing - Automation at Phoenix Contact USA. Ira has over 18 years of experience in Industrial Automation, with a focus on Open Control, IIoT, Industry 4.0, Networking, and Cybersecurity. Over the past 15 years, he has led marketing, engineering, and Sales teams to run a multi-million dollar product portfolio. In addition, Ira has an active digital presence as a LinkedIn Content creator focused on Automation and as a co-founder of the Industry 4.0 club and on the board of advisors for IIoT-World. Ira was named a who’s who for IIoT on the annual Onalytica report in 2021 & 2022, and was named in the Top 100 IoT Influencers by CBT.