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Leveraging the Power of Prediction
Industrial assets, like engines,
locomotives and wind turbines
generate terabytes of data on a
daily basis, but only two percent of
that is being utilized in conventional
operations. Today, analytics and
software technologies are being
developed and increasingly made
available to capture, store and
analyze this data and draw insights
from it to optimize operations,
enhance efficiency and productivity
and, ultimately, improve the
profitability and safety of businesses
around the world.
GE is at the forefront of innovating
how people and businesses
use data and analytics to drive
better economic and operational
outcomes. It all starts with Predix,
GE’s proprietary industrial Internet
operating system. “We are the first
company,” says Ed J. Boufarah,
Vice President (Middle East, North
Africa, Turkey and Pakistan) for
Digital Solutions at GE Oil & Gas,
“to develop an industrial operating
system with an open architecture
platform. The idea is that this
operating system will apply for all of
our infrastructure businesses, be it
aviation, healthcare, power or oil &
gas.”
Just as iOS on iPhones or Android
on other phones are mobile platforms
that run myriad applications for
various functions, Predix is an
industrial platform that can run
applications for the industrial world.
It enables an ecosystem of services
to allow applications to be easily and
quickly developed to run on it.
“Predix”, says Boufarah, “when
coupled with cloud computing, gives
you a combination whereby you
have an open architecture platform
and a cloud platform that can store
and manage data in a cost-effective
way.” GE, then, expertly analyzes
the captured data with its globally
recognized domain expertise to
draw insights and make decisions
to improve productivity, efficiency
and safety for its own and its
customers’ assets. “This is where
GE differentiates itself from the
competition,” adds Boufarah. “When
we take the data from our machines,
we know the data science of that
machine and we know what software
analytics need to be coded so we
can draw insights from the data.”
Oil & Gas Leaders • April 2017 27