Determined to improve energy efficiency and sustainability for its partners in post-COVID-19 Africa, the French energy management giant, Schneider Electric says it has introduced three new digital innovative solutions.
It said the solutions will help its clientele in Africa to adapt to the post-COVID-19 `new normal’ and prime them for energy transition.
The digital solutions which were introduced to about 2,000 customers and partners at Schneider Electric’s virtual Innovation Summit Middle East and Africa 2020 include connected breakers, building and machine advisors to enable predictive maintenance on equipment through remote monitoring.
Speaking at the unveiling of the products, the Chairman/CEO of Schneider Electric, Mr Jean-Pascal Tricoire, noted that digitization had brought far greater efficiency at a lower cost in energy use as the world adapts to the `new normal’ occasioned by COVID-19 global pandemic and had moved towards energy transition.
Tricoire said the disruptive digitization had affected the way people live their lives and in their environment, adding that it can enable people to bridge progress and sustainability.
“As we are adapting to the new normal and learning new ways to live, we all see that digitizing is the solution to accelerate. It makes remote and collaborative operations possible and strengthens resiliency by allowing us to better understand, anticipate and adapt with agility.
“It brings a far greater efficiency at a much lower cost and with a much faster implementation in energy use and operational process, and enables a step-change in sustainability with everything we do.
“Digital has disrupted the way we live together. It is now disrupting the way we live with our environment and can enable us bridge progress and sustainability for all,’’ he explained.
Focusing on how big industry including grid, oil and gas, and transportation can approach the New Electric World while still meeting business goals, the Executive Vice-President, Power Systems and Services, Mr Frederic Godemel said: “As caretakers of the planet, we are on the wrong path. But all is not lost. It is still possible to reverse the trend. The New Electric World describes a set of criteria we must achieve: decarbonizing demand and generation and improving energy efficiency. “
Also speaking, the President, Middle East, and Africa for Schneider Electric, Caspar Herzberg said 2020 has underlined the need for the industry to move faster.
“Digitization is the way forward for business continuity. The skills and technologies exist – it is for us, today, to accelerate that shift, and be prepared to work with a new mindset where we make the most of everything digital to support our physical operations.”
Earlier in her address of welcome, the Vice-President, Marketing, Mr Firdaus Shariff, said with the rapid changes taking place in the world, companies needed to respond quickly and responsibly.
“With the world changing at an exceptional pace, companies today must respond quickly and responsibly. I am a firm believer that with every crisis comes the opportunity of innovation.
“After years of meeting in person with customers and partners around the world, we at Schneider Electric are taking the digital commitment to the next level.
“We have been able to engage with 300,000 customers and partners through the digital event in the first half of 2020. And we are just getting started. Today we have an audience of 1000 people connected from more than 30 countries,” he said.
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