Ge Digital 2020 User Conference: From Resilience To Innovation

GE Digital began a three-day virtual User Conference featuring stories of companies in multiple industries on their path to digital transformation: enabling more renewable energy on the grid; reducing emissions; increasing plant productivity; adapting to demand, and keeping their teams safe. The conference will feature sessions from GE Digital executives, partners, and customers from around the world, including the Middle East and North Africa, where GE has successfully introduced digital transformation initiatives in core sectors such as energy, manufacturing, and aviation. 

“We have had a year of unprecedented challenges, in our personal lives, in our communities, and in our industries,” said Pat Byrne, GE Digital CEO. “The determination and commitment companies around the world have mustered is unmatched in modern business. How we exercise leadership through uncertain times matters even more than how we lead when times are good. It’s heroic and it’s important. Successful leaders are resilient, they create competitive advantage by streamlining their systems and processes, and by building sustained capabilities within their organizations. With this conference, we are recognizing those leaders as Industrial Superheroes.’”

GE Digital’s suite of digital technologies are widely deployed across MENA, including the digital transformation of a Dubai Electricity and Water Authority power plant to enhance productivity and efficiency, and an ongoing partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Obeikan Investment Group to create smart factories and roll out digital manufacturing solutions. 

Participating in the User Conference and joining GE Digital will be GE Aviation’s Digital team. They plan to align their Software as a Service (SaaS) business with GE Digital later this year. “This team brings deep domain knowledge in aviation and flight analytics to GE Digital with data-driven insights for commercial airlines, business jet operators, and military to reduce operational costs, empower crew, and improve passenger experience,” continued Byrne. “This connects well to our GE Digital purpose: Transforming how industry solves its toughest challenges by putting industrial data to work.”

Through the theme of “From Resilience to Innovation,” GE Digital highlights the challenges faced by “Industrial Superheroes,” most notably the urgent need for digital tools coupled with the concern that custom software is expensive and too slow to implement. Additional challenges include the struggle to make data actionable when organizations and data are siloed and the need to quickly and continually demonstrate the value of a software investment.

In each of the industries GE Digital serves, solutions are designed and delivered to help customers manage these shifting realities. Digital transformation is accelerating – and to meet the needs of companies on their digital journey, GE Digital has introduced 17 new products this year, all designed to meet current and future challenges head on, in partnership with customers, leaning into proven technology while continually innovating – at unparalleled speed and scale.

In conjunction with the User Conference, GE Digital introduced four new products: Visual Intelligence for Electric Utilities, Remote Operations and Operations Performance Management solutions for the Power Generation industry, and upgrades to industry-leading Digital Plant solutions Proficy Operations Hub, iFIX HMI/SCADA, Proficy Historian, and Proficy Plant Applications. 

“Where organizations are on their digital transformation journey varies,” said Colin Parris, GE Digital CTO, “but all share the common goal of making our businesses smarter, leaner, and more profitable. We can create new technologies, we can build powerful solutions and scale them like never before, but if there’s no clear path to value, no clear return on investment, all we’re building are barriers. This is especially true in the world of industrial IoT, where innovation is often seen more as evolution than revolution.”

The concept of Software is Mission Critical will also be addressed in a presentation by Parris entitled, “The Future of Digital.” Parris will discuss digital twins, technology that GE Digital has delivered for more than 20 years, providing real value to customers through reduced operations and maintenance costs, as well as avoided downtime. He will also talk about new AI / ML initiatives like Humble AI, Digital Ghosts, and “Twins that Talk.”

The Conference will feature industry tracks with sessions including lean and continuous improvement, Enabling Renewables and Distributed Resources, Ensuring Plant Continuity and Worker Safety During COVID-19, and Regaining Passenger Trust and Confidence Through Blockchain Technology. There will also be industry-focused roundtables moderated by business executives. In addition, attendees will be able to attend product demonstrations and participate in live Q&A sessions with subject matter experts.

“Our 1000+ dedicated software engineers, plus 4,000 professional services, managed services, and support staff are industrial experts,” concluded Byrne. “We know how to build the right products, implement flawlessly, and guide our customers to success. Our unparalleled expertise, exceptional software, global presence, and scalability lets us embed with customers, anywhere in the world. This User Conference demonstrates our commitment to those customers, helping them navigate this changing world and take advantage of the future with Digital Transformation.”