Cisco has launched its latest internet of Everything (IoE) innovation centre in Perth, in conjunction with foundation partners Curtin University and energy giant Woodside.
The centre, part of a $30 million commitment by the three partners, will include a state-of-the-art laboratory, a technological collaboration area, and a dedicated space to showcase IoE applications.
With the centre scheduled for completion later this year, Cisco’s ANZ Vice President, Ken Boal said it’s designed to serve as a hotbed for innovation and build the essential framework needed to capture the full potential of the IoE trend.
According to Mr Boal, fostering a multidisciplinary approach to the IoE trend is critical to getting the most out of an increasingly data-enriched environment.
“We can’t just walk into a plant and put a gazillion sensors in it and expect it to work,” Mr Boal said.
What’s required, according to Mr Boal, is an environment where disparate sets of skills are harnessed together to create a solution. The involvement of Woodside, with its ‘Plant of the Future’ gas project, is an example of the multidisciplinary environment Cisco is striving for.
Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman said the project will link Woodside’s knowledge base with artificial intelligence, data analytics, and advanced sensors and control systems.
“We are taking a collaborative approach to enhancing our operations as part of our digital transformation journey. This partnership will create a globally competitive centre for excellence that could be leveraged in our LNG operations, as we progress our remote operations capabilities,” Mr. Coleman said.
Meanwhile, Curtin University, which is hosting the centre in its Bentley campus, is looking to use the centre to act as an incubator for IoE enabled solutions and also a testing ground for computational and data scientists.
“We look forward to hosting the Centre on our Bentley Campus and working with our partners to help unlock economic and social benefit from our capability in astronomy, geosciences and big data, and the many benefits the internet of Everything Innovation Centre will bring,” Professor Terry said.
The local IoE ecosystem being developed by Cisco also looks set to welcome Australia’s peak research body CSIRO, which has signalled its intent to join Cisco and the centre foundation partners. Details of the partnership are expected to be completed over the next month.
The innovation centre is just the latest sign of the US networking giant’s commitment to the IoE trend. Cisco expects the trend to generate almost $US19 trillion ($24 trillion) across the next decade, including $94 billion in Australia.
“We are betting the company on IoE,” he told The Australian.
“We see the bulk of our growth coming from this new wave of connectivity.”
The innovation centre in Perth, will be the eight one in Cisco’s growing constellation of IoE hubs, joining the seven existing centres around the globe.
