Scroll down for short takes from Council partners
Most innovative IoT companies? Fast Company puts Microsoft in the top 10
In its list of The World's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 in the Internet of Things, Fast Company gave a shout out to Council Lead Partner Microsoft for opening Windows to the Internet of Things (IoT) "in a big way." The writers cited a variety of examples, from free Windows licenses and an accelerator backing home automation startups, to a version of Windows for Intel's Galileo processing board for IoT devices.
IBM makes top 10 list of digital health innovators
Citing IBM's Watson as an up-and-comer in the healthcare industry, WT VOX said "There's no denying that Big Blue’s Watson supercomputer holds promise to improve health care administration and, more crucially, cancer treatment." Council Lead Partner IBM describes Watson as a cognitive system that enables new partnerships between people and computers that enhances and scales human expertise. We told you recently about a pilot using Watson to speed treatment of veterans with PTSD.
ABB wins big order to help deliver a whole lot of wind
Council Associate Partner ABB won an order worth around $130 million from DONG Energy to supply a high-voltage cable system that will bring power from the Walney Extension wind park off the northwest coast of England to more than a million people in the United Kingdom. The Walney Extension will provide additional generation potential of 660 MW on top of the existing offshore wind farm’s 367 MW. When completed, the farms will be capable of providing clean electricity to over 800,000 households, making a significant contribution to the UK’s target of achieving 15% of its total energy production from renewable sources by 2020 and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Saudi Telecom partnerships reap data centers and expanded digital services
Saudi Telecom, a Council Associate Partner, is entering into two partnerships that will result in new data centers and a wide range of digital services that could stretch beyond Saudi Arabia. It’s partnering with South Korea’s SK Telecom, which could deliver innovations ranging from digital healthcare and education to startup development. South Korea’s government launched a creative economy innovation project, and the partnership allows Saudi Telecom to benefit from those innovations as it develops new ones. Another partnership with Council Lead Partner Cisco will result in three new data centers in Saudi Arabia to support the country’s rapid growth and accelerate efforts to move more data to the cloud.
OSIsoft snags two awards for innovation
OSIsoft won the 2015 East Bay Economic Development Alliance and San Francisco Business Times’ Innovation Award for Information and Communications Technology. The award recognizes companies that most contribute to the East Bay’s culture of innovation for new and improved products, processes, services, systems or methods. Council Associate Partner OSIsoft also received Esri’s 2015 Partner Conference Award in the Innovation Application category for its PI Integrator for the Esri ArcGIS product. Winners were chosen based on demonstrated best practices in business and in their advanced use of Esri technology, taking the ArcGIS Platform’s latest features and geographic visualization to the next level. OSIsoft is a global software leader providing enterprise data infrastructure for enabling real-time operational intelligence across all industries. Its flagship product -- the PI System -- collects, stores, analyzes and shares streaming sensor-based data from over 450 data sources. The result is real-time actionable data-driven insights into operations.
Dubai Chamber salutes Veolia with CSR awards
The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry recognized Council Associate Partner Veolia, a leader in optimized environmental resources management, with two awards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) – one for its work in the United Arab Emirates; a second for Oman. Xavier Joseph, Veolia's Chief Executive Officer in the Gulf, said: "The Corporate Social Responsibility Label award is a testimony of our commitment to developing, preserving and replenishing resources, across the region. CSR continues to play a key role within our operations and we are honored to be recognized for the second year running for our contribution over the last year. We pride ourselves on our innovative solutions which look to preserve precious natural resources through efficient conservation and management systems."
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