Monitoring and controlling industrial equipment

A computer-implemented method for communicating between an operational asset and a backend network, the method being executed by one or more processors and comprising:

• receiving, from a first communication interface at a network edge device, first data from the operational asset, the first data formatted according to a first data format that is specific to the operational asset, the first communication interface being configured to communicate with an operational asset;
• processing the first data according to an asset template to generate second data, the second data including the first data and being formatted according to a second data format that is specific to the backend network, wherein the asset template identifies:
• the first data format for data received from the operational asset,
• the second data format for data to be sent to the backend network, and
• a control signal format of control signals for controlling operating parameters the operational asset;
• and
• causing the second data to be transmitted to the backend network by a second communication interface, the second communication interface being configured to communicate with a backend network.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions for communicating between an operational asset and a backend network, the instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, from a first communication interface at a network edge device, first data from the operational asset, the first data formatted according to a first data format that is specific to the operational asset, the first communication interface being configured to communicate with an operational asset;
• processing the first data according to an asset template to generate second data, the second data including the first data and being formatted according to a second data format that is specific to the backend network, wherein the asset template identifies:
• the first data format for data received from the operational asset,
• the second data format for data to be sent to the backend network, and
• a control signal format of control signals for controlling operating parameters the operational asset;
• and
• causing the second data to be transmitted to the backend network by a second communication interface, the second communication interface being configured to communicate with a backend network.