Siemens has opened a new MindSphere Application Center in Abu Dhabi to focus on developing digital solutions, applications and services for process industries, including oil and gas, water and wastewater. The center is the second of three to be built in the UAE, using the company’s open, cloud-based IoT operating system MindSphere to support the Middle East’s digital transformation. Encouraging closer collaboration with customers, the new center will leverage technologies including IoT, Artificial Intelligence and data analytics to address specific challenges in data-rich process industries, driving optimized operations, increased productivity and flexibility.
The new center is already developing digital and AI-based solutions for regional customers in the water and oil and gas industries. In oil and gas, Siemens is using AI techniques - such as Artificial Neural Networks – to identify anomalies in flow-rate patterns and allow better decision-making in complex upstream, midstream and downstream operations. With embedded self-learning algorithms, existing historical data can be used to process large quantities of incoming data, detecting anomalies to minimize downtime, production losses and protect customers’ critical assets.
“We recognize the importance of the Middle East’s industrial sector, and believe the MindSphere Application Center will play a significant role in accelerating the use of digital technologies in rapidly-expanding industries such as oil and gas and petrochemicals,” said Fida Khalil, Head of MindSphere Application Center, Siemens Middle East. “Our digital expertise in data analytics and IoT - combined with our extensive experience in process industries - are key to merging the virtual world with the real world, integrating all levels from the field level to automation and up to the Cloud. This new center allows us to work more closely with our partners than ever before, directly addressing their specific challenges and using digital tools to co-develop tailored solutions, faster.”
Based at the Siemens Middle East Headquarters in Masdar City, this is the second of three MindSphere Application Centers planned for the UAE. Earlier this year Siemens opened its first regional center in Dubai to cater for the aviation and logistics market, joining a global network of 20 centers with 900 software developers, data specialists and engineers.
Economic diversification in the Middle East is being driven by significant investments in digital technologies such as AI, 3D printing and smart cities, with many countries setting targets for key industries including manufacturing and logistics. The UAE recognizes the importance of employing IoT, Artificial Intelligence and data analytics to build up industry 4.0 capabilities in the oil and gas and downstream industries, in order to maximize resource use, create higher efficiencies and drive down costs. The nation also aims to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to overall GDP to 25 percent by 2025, and the MindSphere Application Centers will support this by driving the digital transformation, developing new business models, digital solutions and services as well as industrial applications.
In Abu Dhabi the teams will work according to agile Scrum methodology and customers are invited to co-create innovative applications with Siemens. With this approach Siemens will develop applications according to customer requirements, providing either cloud-based or on-premise solutions.
The three UAE MindSphere Application Centers are part of a US$500 million investment Siemens is making over three years, to expand its digital presence in the Middle East. This also includes software grants for local universities to boost digital skills in Egypt, UAE and Saudi Arabia.
