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NEWS IN BRIEF
Kao Data named as Infrastructure
Masons Foundation Partner
Kao Data, specialist developer and operator of advanced data centres for high performance
computing, cloud, AI and enterprise, has become a Foundation Partner of Infrastructure
Masons (iMasons). The iMasons are a global, non-profit association that unites industry
professionals and business leaders who represent over $150 billion in digital infrastructure
projects in over 130 countries.
“I’m delighted to welcome Kao Data as an iMason Foundation Partner,” said Dean Nelson,
iMasons Founder and Chairman. “Kao Data is closely aligned with the social investment
values of iMasons, including promoting and driving sustainable digital infrastructure.”
Additionally Paul Finch, Interim CEO and COO, Kao Data, has joined the iMasons Advisory
Council, contributing his insight and experience into data centre cooling, energy efficiency
and sustainability, which have become an increasingly important focus in the sector over the
last decade.
Paul Finch stated, “It is a privilege to be appointed to the iMasons Advisory Council.
Now more than ever, our industry provides the foundations that ensure global businesses
can continue to operate without interruption. As the world becomes more dependent on
connected technologies, demands for digital services will only increase and with them, so will
energy usage. Through technical excellence and innovation, our sector must work together
and ensure that we design, build and operate data centres with greater energy efficiency,
doing our part to minimise the impact of their emissions.”
During his extensive career, Paul has played key roles at Fortune 500 corporations and
publicly traded REIT’s including CBRE and Digital Realty Trust. Through these roles he has
overseen the creation and execution of global developments exceeding £1bn in capital
deployment and supporting over 200MW of technical space. A Chartered engineer, Fellow of
the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and former voting executive committee member of
ASHRAE’s Technical Committee 9.9, he holds a BSc (Hons) in Building Services Engineering,
PgDip in Engineering Management and is a graduate of the General Management
Programme at the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School.
Dean Nelson, iMasons Founder and Chairman, continued, “Paul Finch has been a highly
respected member of the iMasons community and we welcome him onto our Advisory
Council. Paul’s contribution to the industry spans many years and his insights and expertise
will add value on many levels.”
The iMasons’ vision is to ‘Unite the Builders of the Digital Age’ by enabling the global
membership to connect, grow, and give back. n
Smart Buildings Show 2020 deferred
Turret Group Limited is to defer Smart Buildings Show from 14-15 October 2020 to 6-7
October 2021. The show will continue to be held at ExCeL London.
Ian Garmeson, managing director of Turret Group, commented, “Following consultation
with exhibitors and exhibition partners we have made the difficult decision to defer the
event to next year. The main reason for this decision is that we want to continue to provide
the best experience for both our exhibitors and visitors in a safe and secure environment.
Unfortunately, at this moment in time we cannot confidently predict that we would be able
to do this if the show were to go ahead in October 2020.
“Since the UK lockdown started just over three months ago we have been carefully
monitoring the Government’s progress towards controlling the Covid-19 outbreak as well
as considering the viability of running events under the safety and security measures being
put forward by the events industry as the current restrictions start to be eased. Whilst the
worst is hopefully behind us and we are now on a path to a gradual return to normality, there
remains some doubt that we will be able to run the event as we would like to by the end of
this year.
“However, the enthusiasm and support of our exhibitors and exhibition partners in
particular and current interest in the smart buildings industry in general makes us confident
that Smart Buildings Show 2021 will be the most successful to date.”
Terry Sharp, president, BCIA, endorsed the decision to defer the event, "The BCIA looks
forward to continuing to support the Smart Buildings Show and we look forward to seeing all
of our industry friends and colleagues at the Smart Buildings Show in 2021.” n
Schneider Electric
extends strategic
partnerships enable
IT/OT convergence
Schneider Electric has announced the expansion of its
partnerships with leading technology companies to
address the convergence of IT and OT.
Bringing together system integrators with IT solution
providers to build integrated industrial edge computing
solutions, the expanded partnerships have resulted in
the immediate release of three programs including:
new reference designs, co-developed with AVEVA, and
integrating solutions from Lenovo and Stratus; a learning
path for system integrators; and a collaborative online
community for learning and sharing opportunities within
Schneider Electric Exchange.
The industrial edge programs from Schneider Electric
empower system integrators to expand their value to the
end user, enabling their customers’ industrial
digital transformations.
“The smart factory is becoming smarter. Our expanded
partnerships and new industrial edge programs empower
system integrators to leverage their domain expertise
and become IT/OT convergence specialists and meet
these needs for their customers,” said Philippe Rambach,
Senior Vice President, Industrial Automation,
Schneider Electric.
“We know that smart manufacturing is driving an
unprecedented wave of IT technologies into industrial
spaces. As companies leverage AI, robotic processing
automation, and more, they will require edge computing
solutions to reduce latency and enable resiliency, while
ensuring privacy and security, and addressing important
data and bandwidth requirements.”
For industrial operators to capture the benefits
of increased automation, they cannot rely on
cloud-technology alone to bring the resiliency and
speed demanded by AI, HD cameras and other
Industry 4.0 technologies. Local edge data centres
are IT infrastructure enclosures/spaces/facilities
distributed geographically to enable endpoints on
the network. When in industrial environments such
as a manufacturing plant or distribution centre, this
application is referred to as “industrial edge.”
“The industrial edge is one of the fastest-growing
segments of industrial automation and a key driver that
is influencing digital transformation,” according to Craig
Resnick, Vice President, ARC Advisory Group. “To achieve
the shortest possible ROI, manufacturers must properly
measure asset performance, rapidly identify any problem
areas, and make any crucial changes in real-time that
will drastically improve their operations.
The industrial edge is where this important on-site
data capture occurs, real-time analysis of this data is
performed and converted into intelligent information,
and then shared with the cloud and throughout the
entire enterprise while addressing manufacturers’
concerns, such as latency and security for production
environments.” n
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