Alexander Allmendinger is the Administrative Director and Secretary to the Board of Directors, a role he has held since January 1, 2024. Additionally, he serves as the Test Lab Manager of the OPC Foundation European Certification Lab, overseeing its operations since its establishment in 2016. In those roles, he actively interacts with a diverse range of companies and their OPC products and solutions on a daily basis. With extensive experience in working with various communication protocols, he has long been aligned with the vision of the OPC Foundation. He started his journey with OPC UA during its early stages, validating the initial implementations of the Unified Architecture stacks. Furthermore, he is an active member of several working groups, including the Security Working Group, OPC UA over MQTT, and a group dedicated to harmonizing domain-specific information models. This involvement has provided him with valuable insights across these different groups, contributing to his comprehensive understanding of various aspects within the field.