Tech titans Huawei and GE have signed an MoU to "accelerate development of innovative applications for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and support digital transformation for industry customers".
The partnership will involve "joint innovation powered by GE's innovative Predix IIoT application platform and Huawei's leading IoT gateways, network controllers, connection management platform and Big Data computing platform".
The two companies say they will "jointly develop, promote, and deliver new industry digitisation and automation solutions, and accelerate the adoption of cloud-based industry digitisation applications".
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“Companies need to collaborate openly with partners and integrate resources and capabilities from partners in order to contribute to customers' success.
"Regarding IoT, Huawei focuses on providing networks (pipes) capable of connecting a large number of devices and sensors, as well as our cloud computing infrastructure for Big Data processing. We believe open collaboration is the only way to achieve shared success, and we are very pleased to enter into a strategic partnership with GE in the IIoT domain.
"Together, we will deliver comprehensive industry digitisation solutions to drive our customers' transformation."
GE Digital chief executive Bill Ruh said: “The growth of the Industrial Internet in China demands not only capital and development from companies like GE and our partners – but also a commitment to align the private and public sector to build together.
“We are very pleased to become a strategic partner of Huawei in IIoT. We look forward to joining forces with leaders from every industry, including our customers, partners, and developers from around the world, to realise the brilliant vision for IIoT. "
From left to right: Rachel Duan, senior vice-president, GE and president and chief executive, GE China; Bill Ruh ,GE Digital chief executive; Xu Wenwei, executive director of the board and chief strategy marketing officer; Yan Lida, president, Huawei Enterprise BG.
Separately, GE also issued a media release, noting its own expansion of its "industrial Internet investment in China with its New Digital Foundry", alongside its Huawei partnership.
Rachel Duan, president & CEO, GE China said: “Today, the Industrial internet is profoundly transforming the global industry and how industrial companies operate. Building GE's digital industrial presence in China is one of our key strategic priorities in the market.
“We are committed to working with our customers and partners to unleash the power of the Industrial Internet for industrial transformation in China. The opening of GE's Digital Foundry in Shanghai is testament to that commitment and represents a significant step forward in GE's digital industrial transformation in China.”
With an investment of US$11 million in CapEx, GE's new Digital Foundry is located on the company's Shanghai campus.
It is housed in GE's China Technology Park in Shanghai, and is a "4000-square-metre modern facility is the first in Asia and the second of four foundries planned this year, following the launch of the GE Digital Foundry in Paris last month."
GE says its new foundry "will add over 200 jobs and will welcome more than 1000 developers over the next few years. These foundries support a global network that provides incubation of local start-ups, while also serving as a hub for collaboration with customers to develop new applications for the Industrial Internet."
The opening of the digital foundry in Shanghai "will enable GE to fast track over 10 digital industrial pilot programmes and 40 big data analytics applications it is operating in China. These pilot projects cover GE's key vertical sectors, including aviation, healthcare, power and intelligent environment and will serve as test beds for full-scale industrial solutions for Chinese customers. In the meantime, GE will continue to invest over US$20 million over the next two years to boost its technical and commercial capabilities in China".
GE says its alliance with Huawei aligns "its vision for the Industrial Internet with Huawei's proven track record of information communications technology (ICT)", and that "the integration strategies will help accelerate the development of innovative Industrial Internet applications that will support China's industry transformation".
Through this partnership, GE says "Huawei will use GE's Predix as the preferred IoT stack for industrial applications. In addition, GE and Huawei will leverage Huawei's strong product portfolio and experience in Internet and IT infrastructure to co-create end-to-end applications for customers."
Xu said, “By collaborating with GE, we are able to provide our customers with an E2E industrial IoT solution to help accelerate their success. In this market, Huawei will continue its strategy of being open and integrated to provide customers with the connectivity of their industrial assets and devices.”
Expanding the Industrial Internet ecosystem in China
More than 300 attendees from 20 partner companies are participating in GE's Partner Day to explore how to grow the ecosystem in China, held in conjunction with GE's Minds + Machines China event in Shanghai. The alliance programme will offer participants access to sales, marketing and technical resources from across GE Digital, as well as digital tools, training and enablement, online content and assets. GE points to industry leaders such as "Huawei, China Telecom, EY, Capgemini, Intel, TCS, H3C, Microsoft and Oracle" having already joined the programme and set to join the discussion.
In addition to the support provided at the Digital Foundry in Shanghai, these businesses also gain access to the exchange of knowledge, technology and resources available through the programme's network, which includes the dozens of partners that have joined the digital foundries located around the world.
