Leading New ICT, The Road to Digital Transformation. ICT INSIGHTS Enterprise

03/2017 ISSUE 21

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Three Steps to Digital Transformation Open Source Powers the Global Economy Page 54 >> Page 56 >>

Hand-in-Hand with the :

Huawei has become the enabler and preferred partner for the digital transformation of industries. Page 12

Analytics Show the Way 03/2017 ISSUE 21 Orchestrating an Ecosystem of Business Partners A Small, Smart City with Big Plans Scan for mobile reading Comment

Platform, Ecosystem, and the Future Sharing the Success in the Era of Industrial Digital Transformation | By Yan Lida, President, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Co., Ltd.

t is the best of times and it is the worst of times.” After decades of working in the ICT industry, we have acquired a deep understanding of this industry and how “Iit is being reshaped. Continued growth in data, applications, and connectivity is putting mounting pressure on enterprise IT budgets, which typically remain static. To address this issue, enterprises are increasingly investing in new third-party platform ICT technologies, such as cloud computing, Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial Intelligence (AI), to help them innovate and grow.

According to statistics, the investment market research companies, commented in its in new technologies in 2016 accounted for 2016 brand research report that “promising,” nearly 50 percent of customers’ total ICT “energetic,” “innovative,” and “progressive” budgets and this number will grow to 71 increasingly define Huawei. percent over the next five years. However, Let us take a look at some recent digital this brings both challenges and opportunities. transformation cases. Schindler is the world’s second largest Digital Transformation: Why Are manufacturer of elevators and escalators, Fortune 500 Companies Choosing with one million operating elevators, escala- Huawei? tors, and moving walkways around the Since forming the Huawei Enterprise globe. Huawei and Schindler are partnering Business Group six years ago, we have on a joint project named the Internet of experienced two distinct phases of growth. Elevators and Escalators (IoEE), which During our first three years the group’s aver- has now entered the deployment stage. We age growth rate was 28 percent, and in the plan to enable the networking of millions of last three years it was 45 percent. The 2016 elevators and escalators across the world in contribution from global partners accounted the next few years. This will allow opera- for 76 percent of total revenue. tional data on the elevators and escalators to In recent years, more and more leading be transmitted to a monitoring center in real enterprises from various industries are time for preventive maintenance, which will choosing Huawei to drive their digital improve the operational security of elevators transformation. In fact, based on internal and escalators, and reduce labor costs. By data, 172 of Fortune 500 enterprises and making elevators and escalators smart, the 43 of Fortune 100 enterprises have chosen traditional elevator and escalator industry Huawei. Delivering these successful digital can gain huge benefits from implementing transformation engagements would not be digital transformation. Our customer said: possible without support from our partners. “digitalization has been integrated into As the business continues to grow, everyday service and has become an indis- Huawei’s brand awareness is also rising pensable part of Schindler’s DNA.” rapidly within the industry. According to the In , Huawei has used multiple tech- latest statistics from Interbrand, an interna- nologies, such as cloud, Big Data, and the IoT, tionally renowned institute of brand research, to help customers achieve digital transforma- Huawei climbed from 88th to 72nd place in tion. For example, Huawei provided a media the 2016 ranking of global brand awareness. cloud solution to People’s Daily to facilitate In addition, Ipsos, one of the world’s largest its transformation from traditional media to 2 Comment

In the era of industrial digital transformation, Huawei Enterprise Business Group’s core strategy is to invest intensively in technologies to provide innovative, differentiated, and leading ICT infrastructure, build an open, scalable, secure, and flexible platform, and work with our partners to help customers achieve omnimedia. Other examples of Huawei’s digital transformation. At the Huawei Eco-Partner Conference diverse solutions deployed in China include 2017 in China, the Huawei Enterprise Business Group officially a converged Big Data platform for the announced the ‘platform + ecosystem’ strategy. >> Industrial and Commercial , an IoT metering solution based on eLTE wireless broadband for the State Grid Corporation of China, and a Smart City cloud-pipe-device collaboration. Digital While many enterprises use 70 percent solution for the City of Dunhuang. transformation cannot be achieved with of their investment on Operations and Within today’s digital landscape, we any one single technology, and the value of Maintenance (O&M) and just 30 percent believe the cloud has developed from stage the cloud cannot be realized without other for transformation, at Huawei the numbers 1.0 to 2.0. Cloud 1.0 was created and led technologies. To capitalize on the value of are reversed: We spend 70 percent of our IT by Internet companies that provide OTT the cloud, terminals need to collect vast investment on transformation and 30 percent services, while cloud 2.0 is deeply integrat- amounts of data and utilize networks for on O&M. Furthermore, we plan to achieve ing the cloud into various industries. transmission. This collaboration relies on full digitalization in the next three to five decades of experience and represents our years. We believe that our experience and ‘Platform + Ecosystem’: Huawei most powerful capability. capabilities gained from this process will Enterprise Business Group’s The digital transformation of an industry help customers from various industries. Strategy in the Digital Era requires participation from customers, part- A good digital transformation strategy In the era of digital transformation, the ners, and Huawei. Customers bring to the cannot succeed without paying close atten- Huawei Enterprise Business Group’s strat- table a deep understanding of their business; tion to key details. Huawei has identified 10 egy has evolved from our founding strategy partners excel in industry applications; and key detailed issues regarding the building, of ‘being integrated.’ We aspire to become Huawei provides an ICT platform that helps utilization, and management of the cloud (see the driver of digital and intelligent social customers realize their transformation jour- ICT Insights Extra cover story: Embrace development, and be the best partner to help ney. We aim to build a digital transformation and Integrate with the Cloud to be a ‘Digital customers achieve digital, cloud, and smart community with multi-party collaboration Enterprise’). Many people believe that transformation which is critical to future to accelerate joint innovations. We will digital transformation has a 50/50 chance business success. Based on our main focus develop our ecosystem from four perspec- of failure. However, by identifying and of ICT infrastructure, Huawei will work tives, namely; industry alliances, business resolving detailed issues throughout the with our partners to build an open, collab- alliances, developer platforms, and the open transformation process, I firmly believe our orative, and mutually beneficial ecosystem. source community. probability of success is far greater. Our strategy comprises two elements: Huawei has adopted a popular Silicon During digital transformation, custom- platform and ecosystem. Valley phrase of “Eating your own dog ers, partners, and Huawei have their own The core of our platform strategy is to ,” meaning that the development positioning and values. Huawei focuses on invest intensively in technologies to pro- and testing of new products, services, the ICT infrastructure platform, while many vide innovative, differentiated, and leading and business models is based on our own partners provide industry applications at the ICT software together with hardware infra- company’s needs before launching these upper layer. This approach has created value structure to build an open, scalable, secure, technologies and capabilities to customers. for customers in multiple fields, such as and flexible platform and work with our Huawei is a large enterprise with 180,000 public safety, , and finance. partners to help customers achieve digital employees and branches in approximately Today, Huawei officially shares its ‘plat- transformation. 180 countries and regions across the world. form + ecosystem’ strategy and I believe I think the main difference between We process more than 600,000 orders every that our collaboration with customers and Huawei’s platform and other platforms year. We have focused on driving IT agility partners will lead to successful digital trans- is that Huawei’s platform emphasizes and efficiency throughout our organization. formation and drive new opportunities.▲ 1 Inside

Comment P1 Platform, Ecosystem, and the Future Sharing the Success in the Era of Industrial Digital Transformation

News P4 Technology News

Features P6 Analytics Show the Way Big Data and predictive analytics are on the cutting edge of Safe City technologies — and integral to public safety. Combined with connectivity, cooperation, control, and intel- ligence, these sources of analytics will help safeguard our cities. >> P9 The IoT in Future Electric Utility Environments The electrical power grid will leverage IoT technologies to evolve into an active, intel- ligent system. >>

Special Report P12 Hand-in-Hand with the Fortune 500: On the Road to Digital Transformation Huawei has become the enabler and preferred partner for the digital transformation of industries. >> P17 Edge Computing Will Merge Human Abilities and Intelligent Objects Edge computing needs to interact and grow with networks because the data to be processed is heterogeneous and real time. Edge computing will be primarily used in OT for distributed sensing, decision making, and control, thus meeting real-time service requirements. >> P20 Building the Future Now with Smart City ICT Smart Cities are designed for sustainable economic development and growth. With the right goals and a sensible approach in place, Smart City technology can pay its own way — and sooner than you think. >> P24 Orchestrating an Ecosystem of Business Partners The principle of Huawei’s channel policy is based on collaboration and implementation to maximize the efforts of our partners and customers in promoting best-in-class solutions in the enterprise business market. >> P27 CIOs Prepare for Digital Transformation CIOs must become digital leaders who can help companies understand how disruptive digital transformation will be and how those disruptions create business opportunities. >>

New ICT P30 Cultivating Leadership in a Post-Digital Era Businesses must anticipate customer expectations and deliver differentiated experiences through new flexible technology architectures that will dominate the post-digital era. >> 2 Inside

Focus P34 The IoT’s Potential for Transformation From cloud-based Big Data to low-power wireless connec- tivity, the usefulness of the Internet of Things is dependent upon a vast array of supporting technologies. >> P37 Disruptors Change Education Technology The future of education will be defined by financial invest- ments and their impact on trends in digital service platforms Hands-On Technology and distance learning curricula. >> P52 A Maturing ‘Power IoT’ Market As the momentum of ICT continues to impact the electric power industry, Ecosystem the ‘Power Internet of Things’ will reshape future smart grids. >> P40 Leading the Innovation Curve Analyst Corner Success P54 Three Steps to Digital Transformation To seize the enormous potential of digitalization, enterprises must begin P42 Accelerating the Transition to Financial their journey into digital transformation guided by a three-step approach. >> Clouds P46 A Small, Smart City with Big Plans Last Word Core Competency P56 Open Source Powers the Global Economy Top global technology companies are leveraging open source software P48 Blockchains in Mobile Networks development for their future. >>

Publisher: To read or download ICT Insights in electronic form, visit http://e.huawei.com/en/publications/global/ict_Insights ICT Insights Editorial Board, To subscribe to ICT Insights, contact the Editorial Board. Huawei Enterprise Email: [email protected] Address: H2, Huawei Industrial Base, Bantian, Longgang, 518129, China Tel: +86 (755) 28780808, +86 (010) 82882758 Yue B No. 13154

Copyright © Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. 2017. Editors: All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior Catherine Du Jeff Peng written consent of Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. Andy Xu Lorra Liu Jane Chen Jing Chen NO WARRANTY Scott Jamar John North The contents of this magazine are for information purposes only, and provided ‘as is.’ Except as required Simon Locke Pauline Zhang by applicable laws, no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, Linda Hudson David Castle the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are made in relation to Gary Taylor Robert Peterson contents of this document. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, in no case shall Huawei Tracey Hum Jarrett Potts Technologies Co., Ltd. be liable for any special, incidental, indirect, or consequential damages, or lost profits, business, revenue, data, goodwill, or anticipated savings arising out of or in connection with any use of this document.

3 News

Technology News | Source: PR Newswire

Glassbox Launches Feature to Automate Analytics knowledge forum to include Artificial Intelligence and is changing and Anomaly Detection its name to IRPA AI. The organization’s rebranding reflects the NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA, Feb. 23, 2017 — Glassbox, broader range of coverage and resources the institute is extending a digital transformation company helping businesses optimize the to its 7,000+ growing membership, widening the scope beyond entire digital lifecycle, today announced the launch of its Automatic RPA to include intelligent automation, cognitive computing, ma- Insights feature that offers automated anomaly detection and real- chine learning, and artificial intelligence. time analytics. The feature will build on Glassbox’s automatic tag- “With our rebrand, we are changing more than just our name. It’s less recording capabilities to provide an end-to-end enterprise-wide the next chapter of a much bigger story that goes beyond techno- digital transformation solution. logy — it’s about how work gets done,” said Frank Casale, founder Automatic Insights will proactively alert IT teams and marketing of IRPA AI. “For most enterprises, it is no longer just about RPA. executives when there is a problem with online conversion rates so Many organizations have expressed their interest and need to learn they can identify the root cause. The capability shows why users are more and quickly; they are anxious about the quickening pace of dropping off a web page, share sample session replays, and provide change. IRPA AI means we are expanding our role as educator, insights for enterprises to better optimize their customer journeys. connector, supporter, facilitator and, occasionally, even therapist. We are aligning our focus to meet our members’ escalating needs.” Recorded Future Combines Technical, Open, and Dark Web Sources of Threat Intelligence for the First Time Intersil Announces Industry’s Smallest Isolated RS-485 , MA, USA, Feb. 13, 2017 — Recorded Future, the Transceiver threat intelligence company, today expanded its threat intelligence MILPITAS, CA, USA, Feb. 13, 2017 — Intersil Corporation solution to give threat intelligence analysts and security operations (NASDAQ: ISIL), a leading provider of innovative power manage- centers access to an unrivaled breadth of technical, open, and dark ment and precision analog solutions, today announced the indus- web sources in a unified solution. try’s smallest isolated RS-485 differential bus transceiver designed Manually turning data on cyber attacks, vulnerabilities, and exploits to provide 4 Mbit/s bidirectional data transmission for Industrial into actionable threat intelligence requires significant investment of Internet of Things (IIoT) networks. The high-speed ISL32704E time and resources. Recorded Future’s patented Web Intelligence delivers industry-leading Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Engine automatically collects data and conducts deep analysis from Common-Mode Transient Immunity (CMTI) in a small 4 mm x the broadest set of sources from the open, deep, and dark web, as 5 mm QSOP package that is 70 percent smaller than competitive well as threat feeds, technical collection, and security reporting. devices. It also provides 600 Vrms of working voltage, which is Using machine learning and natural language processing, these approximately 50 percent higher than the closest competitor. billions of data points are extracted and organized to filter noise to help businesses surface emerging threats up to 10 times faster. This UniPixel Prepares for Flexible Display Market is why 86 percent of the Fortune 100 trust Recorded Future. SANTA CLARA, CA, USA, Feb. 7, 2017 — UniPixel, Inc. (NASDAQ: UNXL), a provider of high performance metal mesh The Institute for Robotic Process Automation Expands capacitive touch sensors to the and flexible display Focus to Artificial Intelligence markets, announced today positive results from in-house testing NEW YORK CITY, NY, USA, Feb. 15, 2017 — The conducted on its XTouch touch screen sensors for use in future Institute for Robotic Process Automation (IRPA), today announced it flexible/foldable display devices such as , tablets, and has officially expanded the focus of its professional association and wearable devices. 4 News

Ethernet, machine vision, data center, enterprise, 5G wire- less, industrial, metro environments, and more. With the rising cost of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), many companies are resorting to develop, test, and commercialize products based on FPGAs. In appli- cations where of data and networking is required, Ethernet is often the preferred choice. Foreseeing the need to deliver smaller footprints and cost advantages to its customers, Aquantia has developed AQcite, a unique device that integrates both Multi-Gigabit BASE-T PHY and FPGA functions in a single-chip package.

UniPixel conducted tests in which its XTouch sensors were folded and Enea Announces Industry First: Qosmos opened more than 200,000 times at a 2-millimeter radius at the fold. Signatures for Third Party Deep Packet During the tests, as well as at the conclusion of those tests, there was no Inspection Libraries damage to the XTouch sensors and no degradation to their performance STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb 02, 2017 — Enea® capabilities. Flexible displays will also need to have a thin and pliable (NASDAQ OMX Nordic: ENEA) today announced the cover lens that will bend consistently without damage. UniPixel’s availability of Qosmos® Signatures for networking and Diamond Guard scratch-resistant cover lens technology is an excellent security product vendors who wish to extend their Deep complement to XTouch sensors as it is applied in a very thin layer and Packet Inspection (DPI) libraries with the most complete and will bend and seamlessly fold as it protects the underlying touch sensor widely used signature dataset on the market. metal mesh from abrasion damage. Product vendors with in-house DPI libraries face the costly challenge of constantly updating signatures for protocols that Aurora Multimedia and Huawei to Introduce World’s First change regularly and without prior notice. While some basic 10G PoE Solution At ISE 2017 protocols are easy to manage since they are relatively stable, MORGANVILLE, NJ, USA, Feb. 7, 2017 — Aurora Multimedia a growing number of proprietary and fast-evolving protocols Corporation, a leader in A/V over IP, is pleased to announce the world’s such as websites, social networking, video streaming, and first long-awaited network switch by Huawei that will allow the 10G PoE gaming applications require important internal resources of Aurora’s IPX transceiver to receive PoE directly from the network for development, testing, and validation to keep signatures switch. This follows the initial introduction of Aurora’s award winning up-to-date. This can slow down product cycles and detract IPBaseT technology and the IPX Series 10G with zero compression/zero product developers from the development of their core latency, 4K streaming boxes and wall plates over two years ago. technology. Aurora’s IPX Series is the first 10G streaming product to utilize PoE but has been waiting for a 10G network switch to complement the capability. Platform9 Launches Industry’s First The IPX Series comprises six products; three of which are 10G copper Infrastructure-Agnostic Managed Kubernetes (IPX-TC1-C, IPX-TC2-C, and IPX-TCW3-C). Huawei will be releasing Service a 24 (S6720-32C-PWH-SI) and 48 (S6720-52X-PWH-SI) port 10G PoE/ SUNNYVALE, CA, USA, Jan. 24, 2017 — Platform9, PoE+/PoE++ switch in Q2. Simultaneously, the products will exhibit the the open-source-as-a-service company making cloud effectiveness of 10G PoE in real-world applications and rush in a new era infrastructure easy, today announced the general availability of 10G products. of its Managed Kubernetes service, the industry’s first infrastructure-agnostic, SaaS-managed offering. Unlike Aquantia Announces the Industry’s First FPGA- legacy software distribution models, Managed Kubernetes Programmable Multi-Gigabit Ethernet PHY Device is deployed and managed entirely as a SaaS solution, across SAN JOSE, CA, USA, Jan. 30, 2017 — Aquantia Corp., a pioneer on-premises and public cloud infrastructure. The company and market leader in high-speed Ethernet connectivity solutions for also introduced Fission, a new, open source, serverless data centers, enterprise infrastructure, and client connectivity, today an- framework built on Kubernetes. These offerings feature a nounced the AQcite product line of FPGA-programmable Multi-Gigabit drastically simplified operational and consumption model Ethernet Physical Layer (PHY) devices, integrating Aquantia’s AQrate that eliminates the steep learning curve currently associated BASE-T PHY with a Xilinx® Kintex®-7 FPGA. The new AQcite product with Kubernetes and allows DevOps and IT teams to focus line targets a vast range of applications such as Audio-Visual (AV) over on solving core business problems.▲ 5 Features

Analytics Show the Way Steven Cost | By Steven Cost, President of Safety and Infrastructure, Hexagon

Big Data and n addition to everyday threats such as crime, cities are vulnerable to natural disasters, epidemics, and acts predictive of terror. Even though we all know that these emergencies occur and how devastating they can be, few city analytics are I infrastructures are adequately prepared to cope with them. Yet, technology stands ready to make our cities on the cutting safer, while reducing costs and generally making cities more efficient. edge of Safe City technologies — Four Pillars of Safe Cities platform that helps Hexagon implement innovative and integral to Market research firm Frost & Sullivan defines Safe solutions, including video capabilities and all of the public safety. Cities in terms of four pillars. First, Safe Cities need necessary networking. The joint solution created by Combined with integrated communications and other technologies Huawei and Hexagon is the first worldwide converged connectivity, that connect multiple agencies into a cohesive command and control system. Before an emergency, cooperation, whole. This connectivity is important for emergency this system provides good communications to meet ev- control, and services as well as traffic and event management. eryday requirements. During an emergency, the system intelligence, With the first technology pillar in place, the second helps deploy the right resources. Afterward, the system these sources pillar supports collaboration among the agencies. In supplies analytics and video recordings that help opera- of analytics will many cities around the world, the police information tors understand how to prevent future problems. help safeguard silo is separate from the fire department or public our cities. >> works information silos. Cities that see this isolation as a problem can gain a lot of leverage from the connecting technology that makes cities safer and reduces costs. The third pillar is command and control, where the aggregation of information can enhance situational awareness. Technology can enable smooth transfers of information between emergency and public ser- vice agencies as each situation requires. When you have all the data from all city agencies smoothly combined, what good is it if you cannot make sense of it? So, the last of the four pillars is intelligence and analytical capabilities. Gaining in- sight from data is essential to making data gathering worthwhile. To implement these four pillars, you need a mix of software and hardware. That is why Hexagon and Huawei have partnered on many Safe City projects around the world.

The Joint Solution Created by Huawei and Hexagon Hexagon is a leading provider of public safety software for integrated dispatch that is used in about 50 countries around the world. Huawei provides the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) 6 Features

Real-world examples, such as New York City, areas, this city had many different, unconnected The joint solution illustrate these points. Serving a population of 8.6 public safety agencies. Huawei and Hexagon created by Huawei million people, with more than 20.2 million people installed a command and control system that and Hexagon is in the greater metropolitan area, the New York aggregated the agencies’ information to create the first worldwide Police Department (NYPD) has more than 34,000 a unified solution. Today, using a Geographical converged command uniformed officers and 51,000 total employees. Information System (GIS) framework, the solution and control In 2013, the NYPD replaced its four-decade-old feeds video from around the city to agency person- system. Before Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system with a nel, establishing Chiang Dao’s Safe City system as an emergency, Hexagon solution. The new system enables the one of the world’s most advanced. this system city to follow police cars visually on a map. When provides good officers step out of patrol units, their whereabouts An Interview with Steven Cost communications can be tracked using video surveillance. Today, the In the following ICT Insights interview, Steven Cost, to meet everyday system permits the NYPD to handle about 30,000 Hexagon’s President of Safety and Infrastructure, requirements. >> calls per day. As a follow-on, the city’s fire depart- answers how and why Hexagon and Huawei teamed ment and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) are up and where he hopes the partnership will take the adopting the same solution. two companies. Chiang Dao, Thailand is a second example. Comprised of 11 rural districts and 12 suburban ICT Insights: How would you describe Hexagon’s partnership with Huawei? Steven Cost: I think the partnership has a bright future. Cities can use the software in the public safety space that Hexagon develops and marry that with the eLTE and broadband trunking technology from Huawei to bring an integrated solution to the table. Cities have a one-stop op- portunity to buy everything they need for a state- of-the-art solution.

ICT Insights: So, Huawei hardware supports Hexagon software, which runs the show. Steven Cost: Correct. As data becomes more and more prevalent, the opportunity in the public safety space to have real-time video sent to a 911 com- mand center becomes invaluable. Live feeds from the scene allow you to really help protect citizens by deploying the right resources based on accurate information.

ICT Insights: Please share your thoughts on Hexagon as a leader in the public safety industry. Steven Cost: We’ve been in public safety for about 25 years. Today, we protect about one in 12 people around the world with our systems. The company has progressed from a hardware platform to focus on software, and we continue to look at new tech- 7 Features

nologies. The task used to be about getting the We’re working allow machine learning, so the system will sensor data and aggregating the data. Now, the hard on creating actually make decisions before you even knew job is really about what you do with the data — predictive analytics there was a decision to be made. As the infor- how you use software to perform analytics. So, mation becomes available, the AI system will around public we’re turning all of these raw data points into analyze the data before you ask the question. safety to answer information in a public safety setting. questions like ICT Insights: So, the AI and Big Data pieces “Where do I need ICT Insights: How can partners such as Huawei are really a single piece? smart patrolling? work with Hexagon to achieve your goals and Steven Cost: They definitely will converge. I Where do we influence the development of the ICT infrastruc- think that, over time, all those lines will blend position the police ture? with Hexagon’s software. You see Huawei car?” By piecing all Steven Cost: Hexagon and Huawei comple- moving into software; you see these things of that together, we ment each other geographically. Hexagon’s moving together; and so these lines are all be- can help deploy the public safety solutions are very strong in North ing blurred. right resources in America and Western . Obviously, the right place even Huawei has tremendous strength globally but ICT Insights: What are the most interesting before a problem primarily in Pacific. We talk about the lay- challenges that you’re currently facing, and occurs. >> ers of the solution, and we can also point out the what solutions are under consideration? relationships with the major cities in Western Steven Cost: One of the things that we’re Europe. We are able to sit down with them and spending a lot of time and effort on right now have a conversation about Huawei hardware is smart patrolling. We’re working very close- and what the company’s great products can do. I ly with some robotics companies to replace think that’s the secret sauce that we’re after with their guards with robots. They’re mostly for the relationship. factory or industrial site use, but they change two things. ICT Insights: How is Hexagon changing the First, you really don’t want to displace all of shape of the public safety industry? the people, but you can replace two-thirds of Steven Cost: The analytics piece is a major them and still have a smart command center. focus. It answers the question, ‘What do you You don’t necessarily need an armed robot, but do with all this data?’ Our software reacts to all you can hang an unlimited number of sensors of the sensor data and is able to make sense of on a mobile sensor platform (robot). You can it. We’re working hard on creating predictive have a smoke sensor. You can have cameras analytics around public safety to answer ques- and all types of detectors for biometric data, tions like “Where do I need smart patrolling? infrared light, or anything else. Ninety percent Where do we position the police car? When do of security patrols are routine, so you mostly we put an officer or officers on the street based need information about changes. It’s when on weather, time, historical data, or a specific something is different from the last patrol that event?” By piecing all of that together, we can you need to react. We’re spending a lot of R&D help deploy the right resources in the right place there. even before a problem occurs. The second thing about robots is that their use can be greatly enhanced with good analyt- ICT Insights: What is the expected impact of ics. We need to use Big Data and create predic- technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), tive analytics. So, I think that those two areas Big Data, and the Internet of Things (IoT)? are really on the cutting edge, and they’re both Steven Cost: AI and the other technologies will obviously integral to public safety.▲ 8 Features

The IoT in Future Electric Utility Environments | By Bosco Eduardo Fernandes, CEO, COMCON Bosco Eduardo Fernandes Mr. Fernandes is an independent Senior eyond being smart, the high-voltage electricity utility grid needs to be active, meaning that it Strategic Advisor and CEO must be able to respond to changes in real time. To be useful today, the flood of data collected of the German consulting by power transmission networks and smart meters has to pass through analysis systems and company, COMCON, B which focuses on IoT and human interventions in the utility’s back office. In contrast, the active grid will leverage data to make real- future innovations for time changes in the field. The active grid harnesses the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve utilities. The COMCON efficiencies and create value for both utilities and communities. CEO is senior member of IEEE and a member of the Internet Society and Path to the Active Grid IoT concepts clearly resemble those of SCADA, Russian ITA. With a suite of technologies and associated business which uses sensors and actuators that communicate processes, the IoT gives all types of devices the with and are controlled by a central master unit. ability to communicate their status to other systems As a key component of the smart grid, AMI adds and creates the opportunity to evaluate and act on a two-way communication system of smart devices The electrical these new sources of information. The electric utility at both utility and customer sites using smart meters, power grid will industry has taken note of IoT applications and is communications networks, and data management leverage IoT using them prudently. While seldom on the bleed- systems. technologies to ing edge, utilities have always leveraged available Advances in computing, databases, and analytical evolve into an technology to optimize and control assets, increase tools now allow the rapid application of predictive active, intelligent safety, control the grid, and keep the lights on. and prescriptive analytics to large volumes of data system. >> To explain how the IoT is used in the electric from SCADA, AMI, and other commercial and power industry, we will look at Supervisory Control consumer IoT devices. And Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Advanced For example, an Advanced Distribution Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Management System (ADMS) is an IoT technology SCADA’s roots stretch back to the early 1950s and that solution providers are developing to achieve thus long predate today’s IoT concepts. Yet the ’new’ situational awareness. An ADMS is an integrated

9 Features

In addition to software platform that takes advantage of new and industry are so varied that it is difficult to discuss making the grid existing applications to create a unified monitor- them all. From smart buildings and urban infrastruc- smarter, the ing and control system. This control system must ture to the democratization of energy and a greater maintain reliability, leverage all manner of embedded push for renewables, the Energy Internet is undoubt- IoT enables the systems and distributed resources, and safeguard edly a massive disruptive force. Highly responsive connection of property and people from the variabilities inherent and granular control of our world’s energy supplies multiple new in the grid. ADMS is an important step toward the and distribution will bring about changes that just physical devices active intelligent grid. a few years ago were unimaginable. Communities to the power will be connected in ways never before conceived, grid and to the and energy will be optimized for greater savings on data networks IoT Capabilities IoT technology can improve the efficiency and per- scales not yet realized. In short, the IoT is the future that support the formance of the power grid in three phases: of the electric power industry. grid. They are • By gathering data from sensors to improve the In addition to making the grid smarter, the IoT all changing resilience of the grid enables the connection of multiple new physical local distribution • Through enablement in which utilities leverage devices to the power grid and to the data networks grids into that data with continuous monitoring and algorithmic that support the grid. Rooftop solar, electric cars, bidirectional, interpretation of electrical characteristics to actively fuel cells, home battery storage, smart meters, smart multi-party manage resources thermostats, and smart appliances are all changing marketplaces for • Finally, through optimization in which all stake- local distribution grids into bidirectional, multi-party energy. >> holders can make informed decisions about power marketplaces for energy that will replace the old one- generation and use that are then built into the way the way system for energy delivery. grid works These new connected devices could cause chaos These three phases point to a future in which on distribution grids that were never designed to utilities can thrive in a more competitive environ- handle these new dynamics, yet customers will still ment. By providing the means to optimize real-time expect energy service to be safe, reliable, affordable, operations, the IoT helps realize the full value of the and, increasingly, sustainable. Transmission and Distribution (T&D) network. The Fortunately, as a result of advancements in potential use of IoT technology includes: Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and the af- • Self-healing network automation fordability of increased computing power, it is now • Intelligent asset management and utilization practical to deploy robust smart grid platforms. • Power outage and failure management More importantly, for the first time, smart grid tech- Additionally, security can be improved even as nology enables coordinated analysis and response additional IoT devices are added. Traditional identity among connected devices in ways that were previ- management platforms have been designed to support ously impractical or impossible. authorization policies only for URLs and lack the Robust processing power and memory also allow ability to address the unique needs of the IoT. Today’s smart meters and grid sensors to provide a unified identity platforms offer new universal authorization software and computing platform that simultane- capabilities that make it possible to secure IoT devices. ously supports multiple communications and appli- These capabilities are similar to the ones used, for ex- cation protocols. Moreover, placing a significant de- ample, to unlock a hotel room with the guest’s phone. gree of processing power in the endpoints combined Universal authorization makes it possible to define with advances in software-defined communications specific resource types or ‘things’ with custom actions have paved the way to solve critical connectivity to build solution-specific policies. and communications performance challenges that As with any industry-wide revolution, the trans- have long frustrated utilities deploying single- formations that the IoT will soon make in the energy communications networks. 10 Features

Versatile Communications Choices For now, much of separate components, although memory integration Communication modules now combine RF mesh, work remains can lower chip yield and increase fabrication cost. Power-Line Carrier (PLC), and Wi-Fi communications to be done as Resistive RAM (RRAM) technology promises easier on the same chip set. These diverse choices enable integration with CMOS logic circuitry compared with fragmentation dynamic and continuous selection of the optimal com- conventional flash memory. and uncertainty munications path and the most appropriate frequency IoT applications can gain tremendous benefits from have not been modulation based on network operating conditions, the use of fast, low-power nonvolatile memory that satisfactorily data attributes, and application requirements. This new can be easily integrated in very large capacities on a addressed. platform also provides peer-to-peer and local broadcast single SoC. Such devices may be able to operate for Security, communications capabilities that enable edge devices to years without a battery charge or replacement. reliability, and communicate with each other individually or in select privacy issues groups to support new distributed analytics scenarios. are unresolved IoT Platform in the Future Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) or Low-Power Wide- The rapid evolution of the IoT market has caused as are business Area Networks (LPWANs) using licensed spectrum, an explosion in the number and variety of IoT solu- models and in-band, guard-band, and stand-alone deployments tions. Significantly for the Smart Grid, a wide range regulatory are expected to play an important role in connecting of software platforms are now available, intended regimes. >> a wide range of low-mobility, low-power, and low- to reduce the cost and development time for IoT cost devices. These new networking technologies solutions by offering standardized components that are designed to provide deep coverage of hard-to- can be shared across industry verticals to integrate reach places and support massive numbers of low- devices, networks, and applications. Most of these throughput, ultra-low-cost devices with low power IoT platforms can be categorized as connectivity- consumption and optimized network interfaces. management, device-management, or application- Should the prediction of tens of billions of IoT enablement platforms, although many products offer devices come true, then LPWAN base stations could overlapping functionality. be supporting hundreds of thousands of concurrent Globally, many electric power utilities are in a posi- device connections. tion to leverage these capabilities and the significant advances in distributed intelligence and analytics as Important Role for Processors and Memory they implement their grid modernization strategies. More connected devices mean more data is created Ultimately, these strategies will connect to broader every second, which is uploaded, stored, processed, opportunities beyond operational efficiency, such as and shared. The abundance of sensors — including those of the Smart City. temperature, pressure, direction, speed, weight, paces, For now, much work remains to be done as frag- heart beats, and light intensity — will generate a flood mentation and uncertainty have not been satisfactorily of information to transmit. Continuous wireless data addressed. Security, reliability, and privacy issues transmission requires far too much energy for battery- are unresolved as are business models and regulatory powered applications. One solution is to use powerful, regimes. All players and stakeholders in the IoT face yet low-power microcontrollers to pre-process sensor critical decisions on the way forward. It is time to fun- data and thus reduce the volume of data to be transmit- damentally rethink the technology strategy, business ted. However, efficient processing necessitates greater models, and product design — and involve regulators local memory capacity for stored data to be processed and others in the debate. and programs to execute. In the age of the IoT, we must keep up with the To further reduce the frequency of data transmis- latest technology trends and enable new IoT applica- sions, designers will make use of local data buffering. tions that reach beyond connections and truly bring Systems on Chips (SoCs) — monolithic integration of the power of action and intelligence to field-level memory in silicon — eliminate the need for a variety devices.▲ 11 Special Report

Hand-in-Hand with the Fortune 500:

Huawei has become the enabler and preferred partner for the digital transformation of industries Diana Yuan, President, Marketing and Solution Sales, Enterprise Business Group, Diana Yuan | By Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

By committing to Digital Transformation is the Only guide business transformation. 48 percent become a promoter Way for Enterprises to Survive of enterprises have already added digital for an intelligent In these past two years, as cloud comput- elements to their current services. More and digital society, ing, Big Data, and AI have developed, more more enterprise leaders believe that digital Huawei provides and more people believe advanced digital transformation is no longer a choice but the innovative, technology products and infrastructure will only way for their companies to survive. one-stop ICT take over people’s work, leisure, education, Using the Fortune Global 500 to rep- architecture sanitation, culture, and other areas. In the resent pioneering industries, we see they platforms that future, digital technology will diagnose are implementing digital transformation establish new diseases more accurately and Big Data will from three aspects: commercial innovation, benchmarks for revolutionize the industry. increasing efficiency, and improving cus- cooperative and “Rome wasn’t built in one day.” Before tomer experience. For example, Deutsche mutually beneficial the era of the intelligent society really Post DHL Group, a world-leading mail and ecosystems arrives, the digitalization revolution will logistics company, signed a cooperation for sharing the have impacted business processes across memo with Huawei in February 2017. The exploration each and every industry. IDC’s prediction memo summarizes their intention to cooper- of digital for global IT industries after 2017 state ate with Huawei to apply Internet of Things transformation that: By 2018, 67 percent of the world’s top (IoT) technology to optimize DHL’s global best practices in 1,000 enterprises will have selected digital supply chain logistics. This project’s goal partnership with transformation as a key strategy in facing is to achieve a fully digitalized connection leading global the future. By the end of 2017, 70 percent between vehicles, transported goods, and enterprises. >> of the Fortune Global 500 will have set up drivers. full-time digital transformation/innova- tion teams. In 2016, Huawei and Forbes Preferred Partner for the Digital conducted a survey on 212 industries and Transformation of Industries IT managers around the world. The survey DHL is just a grain of sand in the industrial showed that 25 percent of participating transformation of every industry on Earth, industries had already established a digi- and there is no denying that the road to talization strategy and a plan to use it to transformation for each specific industry

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The IoT is already will be unique and require its own special charac- Telecom. Huawei’s FusionCloud is driving each impacting the rate at teristics. Our question is ‘How should Huawei en- of these large public clouds from the bottom up. which terminals are able the digital transformation of all industries?’ The intelligent society we envision cannot The Huawei Enterprise Business Group (EBG) exist without the ability to understand and being added to the is applying our deep understanding and reflection process large amounts of data. The enterprise- network. To support regarding the digital transformation across indus- level Huawei FusionInsight Big Data platform is this growth, Huawei’s tries and issued its ‘Platform + Ecosystem’ devel- purpose-built to provide highly efficient, agile, IoT solution includes opment strategy. In the era of digital transforma- and precise information processing capabilities. one platform, two tion, Huawei is building an open, flexible, and Based on software components from the open- access methods, secure ICT infrastructure platform. Surrounding source Apache community, the FusionInsight and one IoT network this platform is a prosperous ecosystem that is core processing engine is built to handle massive . >> symbiotic, interdependent, and regenerative. To amounts of real-time data in the areas of storage, face the intelligent society of the future, Huawei query, and analysis to meet targeted Operations EBG’s newest position is to develop and promote and Maintenance (O&M) and App requirements an intelligent society. Huawei’s goal is to become for financial institutions, telecom carriers, and the preferred partner for the digital transformation other data-intensive industries. FusionInsight is of industries worldwide. an agile, smart, and reliable software platform All industries have the need to create their own that, because it is able to model operational platforms, and the synergies built into Huawei’s middleware, enables enterprises to discover new one-stop ‘cloud-pipe-device’ ICT platform is value and business opportunities from large, a strong differentiator when compared with unstructured data sets in a faster, more precise, our competitors. With thirty years’ experience, and more stable way. Huawei has gained a deep understanding of how The comprehensive Huawei cloud network cloud, pipe, and terminal components must be architecture is divided into three layers: ubiq- coordinated in order to operate with the greatest uitous connectivity, open cloud platform, and efficiently. We know the key characteristics of social media industrial applications. We support every component and how each must cooper- our enterprise customers to fully realize a Real- ate closely with the others to construct highly time, On-demand, All-online, DIY, and Social functional networks and not just collections of (ROADS) experience. Under Huawei’s ‘compre- technology islands. hensive cloud’ architecture, the entire enterprise In the cloud, we considered all the differ- network is ‘data center oriented,’ where campus ent stages in the enterprise IT transformation branches, the IoT, and other scenarios operate process, as well as the different core challenges in an interconnected data center infrastructure. that are faced at each stage. Huawei launched Unified network cloud management results in fast FusionCloud, an integrated, open-cloud infra- service deployments and easy cloud O&M for structure that supports private, public, and hybrid Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) environments that clouds. FusionCloud is currently operating over add business value with a combination of network 420 cloud data platforms and providing over resource transparency, fully open data across the forty cloud services, including computing, stor- network, and Big Data analytics to make sense of age, network, security, Platform-as-a-Service the complexity. (PaaS), and Big Data, among others. More and The IoT is already impacting the rate at which more big enterprises are choosing to commission terminals are being added to the network. To sup- global communications public clouds, including port this growth, Huawei’s IoT solution includes T-Systems, a Deutsche Telekom subsidiary, one platform, two access methods, and one IoT Spain’s Telefonica, ’s Orange, and China network operating system. Huawei is actively 14 Special Report

• working with many partners around the world Providing platforms for developers that incu- In 2017, the to provide one-stop IoT solutions targeting the bate new players using the newly created USD 1 number of Huawei markets for public services, energy, transportation, billion Huawei ‘Developer Enablement Plan.’ OpenLabs will finance, logistics, sales, and many other industries. • Supporting the open-source software com- grow to twelve. munity and international standards development. And, in the next Huawei is actively participating in many open- Huawei OpenLabs Grow Industry three years, source projects, including OpenStack and ONOS. Partnerships Huawei will assign In the ecosystem domain, Huawei continues to Through 2016, Huawei has built and operates close to 1,000 act as the soil from which successful projects are five global OpenLabs to support the large and employees to the grown. With Huawei’s comprehensive, open ICT growing number of partnerships involved in OpenLabs facilities capabilities developers and partners across all creating industry solutions to meet the real-world — a USD 200 industries are exploring the road to digital trans- service requirements of our customers. Through a million investment formation. Together they are shaping symbiotic, program of continuous optimization, the OpenLabs to construct interdependent, and regenerative communities of are innovation centers for industrial solutions and sustainable, local interest. Huawei’s specific actions to build an open centers for joint development, verification, and ICT ecosystems. >> ecosphere include the following aspects: experience testing. In 2017, the number of Huawei • Driving big business through commercial alli- OpenLabs will grow to twelve. And, in the next ances, such as the 5G Vertical Industry Accelerator three years, Huawei will assign close to 1,000 (5GVIA) for the automotive-transportation industry employees to the OpenLabs facilities — a USD 200 based in , , and others. million investment to construct sustainable, local • Establishing commercial alliances that enable ICT ecosystems. continued commercial success, such as Huawei’s It is precisely because we have focused on build- cooperation with Hexagon to create Smart Cities. ing a single ecosystem that the number of partners

Enable digital transformation for customers to achieve business success

Ecosystem Strategy Platform Strategy Co-Existence, Mutual- Open, Elastic, Flexible, growth, Regeneration Secure

Guiding Principle: BDII Cornerstone: Technological Innovation

BDII: business-Driven ICT Infrastructure

One-stop synergy: ‘Cloud-Pipe-Device’ ICT platform 15 Special Report

we have attracted is growing non-stop. Through Currently, over a third upload times from four hours to thirty minutes, the end of 2016, we had already passed 12,000 of enterprises in the increasing processing speed four to six times global channel partners, 400 solution partners, and Fortune Global 500 list and, overall, improving the business efficiency 2,100 service partners. Huawei has trained and of sales and financial analysis reporting, and have already chosen certified 46,000 engineers worldwide. In 2017, operations decision-making. Huawei as their the Huawei partner ecosystem and industrial- Huawei is also collaborating with ABB, a digital transformation chain talent alliance continues to expand broadly. leader in the electric power and automation tech- partner, including nologies industry, to promote the deep integration France’s BPCE of automation and information for the oil and Establishing Digital Transformation bank, DHL, Deutsche gas industry. Together, Huawei and ABB have Benchmarks with the Fortune 500 Telekom, , Currently, over a third of enterprises in the Fortune developed an integrated Supervisory Control Deutsche Bahn, Global 500 list have already chosen Huawei as and Data Acquisition (SCADA) solution for oil SAP, ABB, and other their digital transformation partner. Among them, and gas communications. This solution is now industry-leading 40 percent of the top 100 enterprises, including widely used in the development and production enterprises. >> France’s BPCE bank, DHL, Deutsche Telekom, of oil and gas fields, and for oil and gas pipeline Siemens, Deutsche Bahn, SAP, ABB, and other transportation. Oil and gas pipeline administrators industry-leading enterprises. can monitor the pipeline’s operational status and The financial industry is the pioneer of digital gather network parameters in real time to com- transformation and their IT systems are directly prehensively understand the pipeline’s operating being used in enterprise business operations and situation in a timely manner, predict faults before decision-making. France’s BPCE Bank Group, for they occur, and greatly reduce management risks example, is France’s second largest bank and has to guarantee the safe, stable, and efficient opera- over 8,200 branches and 40 million customers. tion of the transportation pipeline. Achieving Using Huawei’s Agile Campus solution, BPCE the digital management of energy resources Bank’s over 8,000 branches achieve fast network incorporates the application of eLTE industrial coverage. Under a network unified management wireless private network solutions to ABB robots model, all branches’ services can be provisioned and industrial automation solutions to deliver quickly and business activities completed. remote wireless monitoring, management, and The partnership between Huawei and SAP configuration. Application services include O&M, is an example of two Fortune 500 companies Big Data analysis, and visualized smart produc- that have joined forces to benefit their custom- tion. Huawei and ABB are working hand-in-hand ers. Using Huawei’s high-performance, high- to create full connectivity in the Industry 4.0 reliability infrastructure and SAP’s innovative domain. HANA in-memory software platform, the two Currently, enterprises and industries have companies assist other Fortune 500 enterprises already entered a key period for digital trans- to reconstruct their businesses using flexible, formation. Huawei is committed to becoming a economical, and efficient processes to manage development promoter of digital and intelligent business data, increase real-time operating society and a preferred partner for the digital capabilities, and achieve digital transformation. transformation of industries. We do so by adher- For example, Huawei and SAP are cooperating ing to the two main strategies of ‘platform’ and with , fourth in the Fortune 500 list, to ‘ecosystem’ to provide innovative, one-stop ICT construct what is currently the world’s largest architecture platforms for establishing coopera- Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) SAP HANA tive, mutually beneficial ecosystems that explore cluster system, greatly improving Sinopec’s the best practices in digital transformation and database-loading performance by reducing assist enterprises to achieve business success. ▲ 16 Special Report

Edge Computing Will Merge Human Abilities and Intelligent Objects | By Yu Haibin, Director, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences Yu Haibin Mr. Yu is Director of the Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) nformation and Communications Technology (ICT) is witnessing a movement to push computing and a member of the applications, data, and services from centralized nodes to embedded networks. Behind this movement is Chinese Academy of edge computing, which enables process control and the generation of analytics to occur at the source of Sciences (CAS). He I won the 2016 Ho Leung the data. By combining ICT with Operational Technology (OT), we are accelerating the merging interaction Ho Lee Foundation of human abilities with machines and objects. (HLHL) Science and Technology Progress Edge computing is a hot topic, but because it duced the ‘Made in China 2025’ initiative for the Award and the 2016 covers such a wide range of devices many questions purpose of extending China’s influence as a global Excellence in Technical Innovation Award from about the direction for further research, applicable manufacturing giant. These three initiatives represent the International Society scope of use, and the relationship to the Internet of the development directions of the leading industrial- of Automation. Things (IoT) and to the Internet itself are raised. ized countries of the world, with each emphasizing an increasing convergence of ICT and OT. Interplay Between Edge Computing and the IoT In manufacturing, China faces enormous chal- Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA), focused on lenges, including resource waste, high energy con- The Internet of robotics and smart manufacturing, recognizes that sumption, and deteriorating environmental conditions. Things must share ICT is important for accelerating the transformation Although not overshadowed by developed countries the computational of traditional industries. For example, ‘Industry 4.0’ in terms of industrial infrastructure, China lags in load between st — Germany’s 21 century manufacturing strategy operational efficiency. One contributing factor is that processors located — aims to employ Information Technology (IT) to China has many low-grade mines where the set value in data centers consolidate its leading position in the global market. of raw material components fluctuates considerably, and at the network Also for the ‘Industrial Internet’ in the U.S., the with big differences between offline optimization and edge to provide goal is to maximize the country’s competitive edge actual production. In this case, ICT-based intercon- the optimization in manufacturing using IT. In turn, China has intro- nections are an effective way to boost efficiency by necessary to meet the functional objectives for specific applications. Achieving this result will require a robust ecosystem of technical standards and industry solutions. >>

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The relationship enabling automation and monitoring of all processes the face of increasing fragmentation on the edge, between people throughout the industry chain. traditional IT terminals are not able to meet modern and machines will Proposed by China’s Premier Li Keqiang in IoT requirements. New solutions and future-ready his Government Work Report in March 2015, the scenarios must be based on the convergence of change radically ‘Internet Plus’ program is essential to meeting the chipsets and networks with edge computing. over the next 20 goals stated for ‘Made in China 2025.’ Internet In traditional industrial automation, OT is primarily years. Human Plus refers to the application of the Internet and tasked with the breakdown of procedural objectives intentions, other IT advances to conventional industries. It and the generation of real-time feedback. The next behaviors, is an incomplete equation where various Internet step for industrial automation will be the ability to knowledge, and platforms (mobile, cloud, Big Data, and the IoT) can adjust the production objectives dynamically if and expressions be added to other fields and foster new industries and when commanded changes fail to achieve the intended will present new business developments. In the virtual world, Internet outcome. This requires massive amounts of converged challenges, and Plus brings people closer together; however, in the information, from design to development to production people will be physical world, Internet Plus has yet to play any and then to management. IT offers many opportunities increasingly significant role. for convergence, the first of which is connectivity. engaged with The IoT refers to the ever-growing network of The maturing Internet, for example, has established a edge computing physical objects that feature Internet connectivity and platform of connections between humans and machines on a regular communication links between these objects and other that permits users and businesses to store, share, and basis. >> similarly enabled devices and systems. A majority of analyze tremendous amounts of historical and predic- IoT functions face fragmentation challenges in a variety tive data on which to base any secondary changes that of scenarios due to the sheer volume of different device need to be made in production. types, communications technologies, and software used At this point, the IoT is still in its early stages and to manage, configure, and develop nodes and links. The has not matured enough to match existing industry unification of these different technology fragments is standards. It is still fragmented due to all of its both mandatory and the biggest game changer, since it different technologies, hardware, and non-uniform will level the playing field for small and large vendors development languages. It contains a large number competing for the best solutions. of elements and is accommodating new content with Issues to be resolved by IT will be modular in the development of the IoT. nature and focused on the unification of computing The public will also be a part of the IoT. The rela- models. In terms of OT, the intended outcome will tionship between people and machines will change require that IoT systems be dominated by edge com- radically over the next 20 years. Human intentions, puting resources that locate processing workloads behaviors, knowledge, and expressions will present in near proximity to the IoT sensors and endpoints new challenges, and people will be increasingly themselves — in other words, at the edge. engaged with edge computing on a regular basis. In a traditional model, the IoT transmits collected Challenges Facing Edge Computing data to a data center for processing and analysis. In Whether Industry 4.0 in Germany or the Industrial the future, it will be impossible to manage and house Internet in the U.S., technological innovations are billions of IoT connections using today’s cloud tech- successful because each new product generation nology. This issue will be resolved because of edge and infrastructure uplift is relatively more efficient processing of data collection, storage, and presenta- and effective (optimal) than its predecessor. Today, tion of results. By today’s standards, it will be difficult China urgently needs to converge the IoT and OT. to allocate tasks and perform automatic adjustments Such convergence is beset with difficulties because because the IoT data types have physical features (such OT and IT are two completely different technologies as multi-dimensional heterogeneity and temporal- with separate models, concepts, and platforms. In spatial correlations) that are totally different from 18 Special Report

current technology. These issues will be best resolved resulted in long wait times and, during the startup Edge computing by edge computing rather than by edge networks with phase, led to many mistakes. By 2020, a great number needs to interact little or no local processing. The Huawei LiteOS ker- of co-existent and collaborative methods will emerge, and grow nel is an example of the type of lightweight, memory- enabling robots to better understand people, and vice with networks resident operating system that will become a central versa, by eliminating long reconfiguration periods because the data foundation for severely restricted resource operations and other manual tasks needed to interact with robots. to be processed for enabling computing power at the edge, before Therefore, the convergence of human abilities, ma- is heterogeneous transmitting the results to the cloud data centers. chines, and objects will become a major trend. and real time. Edge computing will be primarily used in OT for To overcome the difficulties arising from this Edge computing distributed sensing, decision making, and control, thus convergence, we have established the ‘Edge will be primarily meeting real-time service requirements. The advan- Computing Industry Alliance.’ The alliance will start used in OT tage of edge computing is sensor-processor response with the definition of an open platform specification for distributed times within hundreds of milliseconds, which is a data to engage more industry vendors, drive ICT and OT sensing, interaction frequency that is much higher than is pos- convergence, and accelerate the development of edge decision making, sible between sensors and cloud data centers. computing in the form of Internet-like, rapid itera- and control, thus tion. The alliance will capitalize on its technologies, meeting real- Driving the Convergence standards, and test beds to achieve edge computing time service At SIA, we propose an open platform based on edge breakthroughs in manufacturing and the creation of requirements. >> computing to address the fragmentation, data hetero- new business models for ICT vendors. geneity, and interconnection issues found in the open Orchestrating a robust ecosystem to attract more source environment. players is a vision shared by the members of the An edge computing platform makes converged IT alliance and the SIA. Members of the alliance will and OT a reality. Whether on the edge or the cloud, provide edge computing technology to combine in- computerized processing must be modular, either digi- dustries, manufacturing, sensing, control, computing, tally or semantically. Take the application of robots storage, and networks. Their complementary advan- in the as an example. Starting in tages will fully meet edge computing requirements the 1980s, people were replaced by automated robots for technologies, standards, and industry solutions. in many situations, with little collaboration from Today, the entire ICT industry is attaching increasing outside sources. If a change needed to be made to the importance to developments by ecosystems; edge system controlling the robots, the robots needed to computing cannot depend on just one or two enter- be stopped, reprogrammed, and then restarted. This prises for its success. ▲

Link: Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA)

A research arm of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, SIA has more than 1,100 employees, two members of the Chinese Academy of , and more than 500 enrolled master’s and Ph.D. students. In the robotics field, SIA studies key technologies and has a presence in institutions, sensing, and control in a variety of domains, including land, sea, air, aerospace, and medicine. With industrial robots, SIA has made remarkable achievements, including the founding of SIASUN, a leading robotics company in China. In the automation field, SIA is involved in industrial chipsets, smart devices, control systems, and holistic industry solutions. SIA’s automation technologies have been widely used in oil exploration and the smelting and rolling of nonferrous metal, aerospace, and electrical equipment, as well as intelligent automobile manufacturing.

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Building the Future Now with Smart City ICT An IDC Government Insights White Paper

Smart Cities he implementation of Smart City technology is as much about finding a business model that offers a are designed return on the initial investment and support for system maintenance as it is about potential Smart City for sustainable T applications. economic development In this article, we explore how Smart City sys- U.S. neighborhoods were wrong. Police departments and growth. With tems work and then provide an overview of ways believed that individuals called ‘911’ 80 percent of the right goals the systems can be used. We conclude with nine best the time after shots were fired. In fact, this percentage and a sensible practices that have proven to help cities successfully could be as low as 20 percent. approach in roll out cost-effective Smart City technology. By The IoT also accelerates information dissemina- place, Smart City following these best practices, cities can improve tion. For example, city inspectors collect data on the technology can public safety and city services while limiting initial structural integrity of bridges and other infrastruc- pay its own way costs and boosting economic prospects for years to tures but are often understaffed, preventing these — and sooner come. inspectors from checking all the infrastructures as than you think. thoroughly as needed. Sensors on bridges, however, >> Relying on the IoT can provide structural integrity information at regular The Internet of Things (IoT) offers an abundance intervals, alerting inspectors when potential problems of capabilities for use by Smart City installations. may need attention. The value of the IoT begins with new information. In general, the IoT provides more topical informa- For example, strategically placed acoustic sensors tion — often in real time — such as status signals that detect gunshots have shown that previous as- sent from parking sensors to Apps that sumptions about the levels of gun activity in some alert drivers of available spaces. Another example

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could be the ability of transportation managers to In addition to Edge computing (and a subset of edge capabili- continuously monitor the location of all public buses cloud computing ties called fog computing) is defined as computing and mobile Apps that keep travelers updated with and HPC, edge performed near the edge of a WAN or near endpoint accurate bus arrival and departures times. devices at the edge of an IoT network (as opposed computing has to the computational processing that that occurs emerged as at the cloud data centers). Edge computing allows Device Enablement Meets Application a useful way organizations to satisfy the requirements for lower Enablement to manage While it is common to think of the IoT as a loose costs and faster responses that are impossible with diverse types collection of sensors and gadgets spread across the data transmissions between endpoint devices and of connections city, the true value of the IoT emerges in the higher- servers located in far-away data centers. with IoT devices, level applications that transform sensor data into Edge computing — defined as processing at the handle real- useful insights. The sensors, surveillance cameras, perimeter of the network rather than at the data cen- time services, and other data-gathering devices are networked with ters — offers value by analyzing raw, granular data optimize computers running software that brings intelligence close to the source, and 1) feeding only the results to data, provide to the system. higher-level applications, or 2) controlling local IoT application Even though they function at a relatively low devices in real time, at the lowest possible latency. intelligence, level, device enablement services can still manage In addition to improving real-time response close ensure security, devices and ensure the back-and-forth flow of data. to IoT endpoint devices, edge computing will likely and protect Key components include: develop into wide-area, decentralized cooperative privacy. >> • Activation platforms for IoT and data distribution business • Certification platforms by connecting with endpoint devices. • Diagnostics • Provisioning Smart City Goals Thus, device enablement focuses on the vertical The uses for Smart City technology seem endless, movement of data between ‘things’ and computers. but it is worthwhile to underscore a few of the most In contrast, application enablement concentrates on promising applications: the horizontal integration of software applications • Municipal administration — Smart City technol- that use IoT data. This form of enablement includes ogy aggregates and analyzes information within city Big Data analytics and the ability to make real-time ecosystems and makes useful information accessible decisions about collected data. Intelligent analytics across departments and agencies. This data serves are vital for extracting the value of Smart City IoT. as the foundation for new or improved internal processes and decision-making procedures. Intelligence at the Edge and in the Cloud • Smart lighting — IoT-equipped LED lights can Big Data analytics and other applications ideally run implement adaptable dimming, and the existing on cloud computing platforms or High-Performance street fixture infrastructure is ideal for the instal- Computing (HPC) systems. The latter are cost- lation of other sensors and devices. Streetlights effective for tasks ranging from the simulation of thus become a platform for additional Smart City complex physical systems to real-time detection of services. credit card fraud. • Smart grid — Smart grids enable more efficient In addition to cloud computing and HPC, edge management of electrical power outages and other computing has emerged as a useful way to manage revenue-impacting business processes. The deploy- diverse types of connections with IoT devices, ment of intelligent endpoints will enable utilities handle real-time services, optimize data, provide to improve the management of electric usage and application intelligence, ensure security, and protect optimize the use of distributed generation sources. privacy. Smart grid systems include instrumented gas pipe- 21 Special Report

Among the lines, electric transmission and distribution networks, rially make sense of the overwhelming flood of data most powerful smart metering, smart home energy management, with which organizations currently struggle. collections and demand response. • Smart transportation — Transportation systems of Smart City Safe Cities can leverage the IoT to monitor the movement of Both IOCs and associated command/control centers technology are people and freight on roads, intersections, bridges, are important components to every successful Safe the Intelligent and tunnels, as well as track public transportation City effort. Safe Cities deliver social value, such as Operation vehicles, such as light rail, subways, and buses. better overall quality of life, and economic value Centers. IOCs • Smart education — Schools can use computing like industrial development, improved employment enable cities and communications capabilities to improve the rates, and revenue generation from sources such as to integrate management of facilities and student care along with increased tourism. disparate data implementing interactive classrooms. Today’s Safe Cities utilize Information and sources in order • Smart and connected healthcare — The health- Communications Technology (ICT) to predict, prevent, to provide an care industry benefits from the use of intelligent and reduce crime; address new and emerging threats; operational devices (including smartphones and wireless medical improve emergency/disaster planning and response; and actionable devices) and pervasive broadband networks that lower the cost of operations; and allocate resources picture of the provide always-on connectivity, along with Big Data more effectively. These cities work to create safer city’s assets. >> analytics and cloud computing. communities using advanced analytics, social media, mobile technologies, and collaboration and information Funneling Data to an Operations Center sharing tools to support emergency response services, Among the most powerful collections of Smart City local law enforcement and policing, and the justice and technology are the Intelligent Operation Centers corrections system including local courts and locally (IOCs). IOCs enable cities to integrate disparate data operated jails and prisons, as well as probation, com- sources in order to provide an operational and action- munity corrections, and parole departments. able picture of the city’s assets. Near-real-time data visualization gives city managers the understanding Nine Best Practices for Smart Cities and insights necessary to handle both day-to-day and Experiences with Smart City development have emergency situations efficiently. IOC solutions can shown that the following best practices can help provide comprehensive support for Smart City busi- achieve useful results at a reasonable cost. nesses, acting as the central orchestration element • Create city-wide, inclusive Smart City strategies: for administrative systems (implementing business This approach serves to gather stakeholder input in data exchange and coordination), industrial systems order to prioritize each city’s goals by focusing on (integrating city needs with industrial planning), and specific challenges that stakeholders face, aligning environmental systems (monitoring and forecasting departments around common visions with internal water, energy, air, and soil conditions). and external buy-ins, and different approaches to the It bears noting that command and control centers chosen starting point for each city. By including ex- are completely different from IOCs. In times of ternal stakeholder participation early on, the strategy crisis, however, IOCs are force multipliers for gains local buy-ins and legitimacy, and increases the command and control situations — critical tools likelihood for broad support of the initiatives. that enable public safety organizations to integrate a • Realize regional variation in IOC implementa- plethora of information sources. City agencies can, tion: Many cities are adopting open, city-wide in this way, use advanced analytics, Geographic platforms that use cloud-based technologies. Western Information System (GIS) visualization software, cities are less likely to have large, multi-department and sensor data generated by the IoT and mobile operating centers, preferring to work with physically applications. GIS technologies are vital. They picto- separate locations that share a data layer provided 22 Special Report

Government Technology Organizations and Domain Supplier National, ICT and OT Provincial, Suppliers,Telcos, Local, Startups, International Vertical Specialists Manufacturers, OEMs

Users/‘Customers’ Residents Planners and Community Groups Developers, Private Investors Real Estate, Urban Partnerships Engineers, VCs The development of Smart Cities is a long-term, complex Utilities, Academia, endeavor, but the Energy Foundations, implementation of Providers NGOs NGO discrete Smart City projects that fit into a long-term vision can be expedited. Smart City best-practice planning and use of stakeholders A recommended path is to develop by cloud solutions. Integrated data visualization in ensuring that data sharing can occur with optimal a strategic vision requires substantial buy-in from multiple stakehold- fluidity. and then identify ers and departments. Once this is accomplished, • Seek out scalability and easy integration: small, measurable however, the benefits of implementation will have Irrespective of the cloud deployment model imple- public projects that far greater reach and impact for the city. Risk will mented by a city, that city needs to build or purchase will demonstrate also be shared across departments. a scalable architecture that can accommodate and success. >> • Look for quick wins: The development of Smart manage all digital assets. Cities is a long-term, complex endeavor, but the • Go mobile: Mobile devices and mobile-enabled implementation of discrete Smart City projects that core ‘business’ solutions are key for effective police fit into a long-term vision can be expedited. A rec- service delivery. Police officers need the capability ommended path is to develop a strategic vision and to enter and receive real-time data to enhance situ- then identify small, measurable public projects that ational awareness. will demonstrate success. Examples include limited • Quantify business outcomes: Municipal organiza- video analytics projects and body-worn camera tions seldom make it a priority to quantify business deployments. outcomes. However, IDC recommends that organiza- • Focus on governance: In IDC’s case study tions define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) prior research, many public safety groups have stressed to implementing an IOC in order to make a strong that organizations starting multi-agency, data-sharing case for further business investments and set the arrangements should pay special attention to gover- stage for communicating success to citizens, tourists, nance. Comparatively, technology is the easy part. and businesses. • Take a multi-agency focus from the onset: IDC recommends that organizations tied closely Thriving in Smart Cities to the economic challenges currently facing law The core goal of a Smart City is sustainable econom- enforcement fundamentally change their operational ic development and growth. Smart Cities use Smart ecosystem. Various units within an organization and City initiatives to attract more businesses, startups, among multiple agencies can pool resources and tourists, visitors, and residents. By optimizing urban create centralized cloud repositories. transportation, Smart Cities make it easier for people • Ensure data quality: Data quality and validation to shop, attend events, and go to work. Safe Cities are critical to using insights across multiple agencies. and clean cities that follow sustainable environmen- Organizations typically underestimate the amount of tal practices attract companies and individuals who effort required to harmonize and integrate informa- want a good place to live and work. Many Smart tion from multiple systems. Information models City features pay for themselves in a short time, such as the U.S.-originated National Information and nearly all of them offer long-term payoffs in the Exchange Model (NIEM) will become invaluable form of thriving social and economic activity.▲ 23 Special Report

Orchestrating an Ecosystem of Business Partners Shu Yong | By Shu Yong and Liu Zebin, Partner & Alliance Management, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

igital transformation will present the greatest opportunities for many industries over the next five to ten years, and business ecosystems will be powerful tools used to seize those opportunities. During D their transformation efforts, major players are building solution-centric ecosystems that maximize the advantages of collaboration for the purpose of gaining a significant edge in their respective markets.

In the face of converged production systems and shares common interests. EBG does this by promoting ICT solutions, customers are heavily investing in new ecosystem awareness and cooperation within each of its Liu Zebin ICT platforms that depend on the complexities of the internal organizations, from R&D to marketing, sales, cloud, the Internet of Things (IoT), and Big Data. As delivery, and service. This ensures that all employees a result, a robust business and technical ecosystem recognize the significance of the family of partners who The principle will be a customer’s most important factor in choos- have chosen to join forces with Huawei. of Huawei’s ing a supplier. channel policy Streamlining Internal Processes to Support is based on Channel Policy Maximizes Partner Ecosystem Development collaboration and Opportunities To build a robust ecosystem with partners, Huawei implementation Huawei focuses on providing customers with in- has taken these five key measures: novative, differentiated, and leading ICT hardware • Determine open cooperation strategies. The EBG to maximize the and software. In the face of complex requirements and its product lines formulate and refresh partner and efforts of our and changing markets, Huawei works with partners alliance strategies every year in order to plan ecosystem partners and to help customers address challenges arising from development, operationalize annual business plans customers in digital transformation to achieve business success. for solution ecosystems and alliance partners, and use promoting best- Huawei’s Enterprise Business Group (EBG) continu- strategies and business plans to drive open cooperation. in-class solutions ously invests in ecosystem development to maximize • Streamline partner and alliance management sys- in the enterprise the skills of partners and expand their markets. The EBG tems. Huawei has established the Partner Executive business market. program orchestrates a regenerative community that Committee (PEC), which authorizes decisions on >>

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corporate-level alliances, ecosystem strategies, An innovative EBG has also explored ecosystem development mod- policies, and business development. It also makes ecosystem is els. The goal of the ecosystem program is to achieve appropriate decisions based on partner levels to sim- a collaborative multi-win situations among customers, partners, and plify decision making for partners. With the PEC’s Huawei. mechanism for authorization, the EBG further classifies partners and An innovative ecosystem is a collaborative jointly developing clarifies management mechanisms from headquarters mechanism for jointly developing customer-centric customer-centric to frontline departments to facilitate hierarchical solutions. Such an ecosystem creates substantial solutions. Such partner management. value that cannot be achieved by a single enterprise, an ecosystem • Build the ‘Manage Alliance Relationship’ (MAR) which is why any ecosystem jointly orchestrated by creates process. The MAR streamlines R&D, marketing, Huawei and its partners comprises the following: substantial value sales, delivery, and service activities to incorporate • Joint Huawei/partner developer platforms. that cannot be partner businesses in Huawei’s primary service Huawei organizes customer requirements, interacts achieved by a flows. With the MAR process, partners can easily with partners, and develops open Application single enterprise. join Huawei’s ecosystem, obtain support from Programming Interfaces (APIs) to transform part- >> Huawei’s R&D teams, and develop and roll out high- ners’ creative ideas into reality. value solutions on Huawei’s platforms. The MAR • Industry-oriented solutions. By focusing on the process also connects partners to Huawei’s market- ‘5 + 1’ industries (government/public safety, finance, ing and sales organizations. transportation, energy, and manufacturing plus tele- • Improve ecosystem organizations. The EBG has communications), the EBG works with partners to assigned experienced managers and employees to set build industry solutions tailored to customer needs. up the Alliance & Solution Cooperation Department. • Customer-centric ecosystem. Huawei’s EBG ana- With the development of partner services, the EBG lyzes the industry chains of key customers and works has built OpenLabs in many regions. An OpenLab with partners and customers. For example, regarding consists of joint innovation, partner development, so- banks and automobile manufacturing companies, lution development, and industry experience centers. the EBG works jointly with consulting companies, R&D, testing, and cooperation experts are scheduled Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), and software to support the OpenLabs operations. OpenLabs aggre- outsourcers. gate quality resources in target markets and industries and develop joint solutions with industry-leading Managing Each Ecosystem for Maximum customers and players to expand the market and build Advantage a robust ecosystem. By doing so, OpenLabs enable For ecosystem business development, Huawei partners to jointly develop truly innovative solutions, manages an ecosystem to maximize a partner’s verify the solutions, and implement them. advantages and profits. Ecosystems are like a unified • Continuously optimize partner-oriented IT business, with full lifecycle service activities, from systems and tools. A ‘Partners’ section is available strategic planning to Go-to-Market (GTM). on the Huawei Enterprise website (e.huawei.com/ Each ecosystem has its own features, and en/partner), where prospective associates can join Huawei’s role varies accordingly. Some ecosystems the EBG Channel Partner Program and interact with are dominated by Huawei as the ‘conference mod- Huawei online. The Partners section also provides a erator.’ In other ecosystems, Huawei is a ‘participant’ marketplace platform for solution partners to exhibit only. joint initiatives and integration capabilities. When serving as conference moderator, Huawei manages partner interaction, ecosystem rules, and Focusing on Customer Needs to Build an other behaviors. When operating as a participant, Innovative Ecosystem Huawei uses its open platforms and interfaces to While streamlining internal processes, Huawei’s support ecosystem activities. 25 Special Report

• By the end of The Safe City ecosystem is an example that con- For small- and medium-size solution partners, 2016, Huawei’s sists of alliance partners, such as Hexagon, a leading the EBG has launched its enterprise business solution EBG had global IT solutions provider, and a variety of regional partner program, which covers Safe City, finance, ISVs and Independent Hardware Vendors (IHVs). transportation, electric power, and other industries. cooperated Huawei leads its Safe City partners in the search for On Huawei’s EBG website, interested parties can join with more than market opportunities and rewards the most active the Enterprise Solution Partner program and register 400 solutions partners with greater exposure to new opportuni- with an industry solution. Partners can then obtain partners. ties. As conference moderator, Huawei invites U.S. online and nearby technical, testing, integration, and Cooperation experts to conduct enablement training sessions that verification support from Huawei’s global OpenLabs. domains include include industry-leading ecosystem governance and Huawei also exhibits the verified solutions on its Safe Cities, operations methodologies. marketplace platform for its customers and channel omni-channel partners. banking, digital • Huawei’s EBG also actively listens to partners. railway, better- Meeting Core Needs for Rapid Growth with Partners For example, when a partner submitted an improve- connected After years of experience and research, Huawei ment suggestion regarding Huawei’s platform grids, and recognizes that satisfying partners’ core needs is the interfaces and response, Huawei quickly organized omnimedia. >> foundation of ecosystem success. This core needs the EBG’s solution service team and IT R&D team lie in the improvement of business profitability. to conduct several rounds of discussions, perform Large-company partners prefer to improve their own retrospections, figure out the final solution, and im- brand, marketing, and solution capabilities for long- prove Huawei’s response to partner issues and R&D term revenue growth. Small-company partners focus information transparency. primarily on Return-On-Investment (ROI) and short- By the end of 2016, Huawei’s EBG had cooperated term market/brand benefits. Huawei teams with large- with more than 400 solutions partners, including size solutions partners to leverage the expertise of SAP, , Hexagon, Infosys, Thales, Sobey, all parties, improve our competitive edge, and better and Yusys Technologies. Cooperation domains serve customers. include Safe Cities, omni-channel banking, digital By analyzing the core needs of large- and small- railway, better-connected grids, and omnimedia. The size solutions partners, Huawei’s EBG has built EBG invited partners to deliver keynote speeches differentiated cooperation models: and exhibit solutions at Huawei’s 500 marketing • For large-size solutions partners, such as campaigns worldwide. In addition, Huawei set up a Accenture, SAP, and Hexagon, the EBG assigns dedi- dedicated joint marketing fund amounting to USD 50 cated alliance managers to cultivate cooperation oppor- million to drive campaigns with partners. tunities in the enterprise domain; streamline two-party policies; manage alliance relationships; implement two- A Future with Multi-Ecosystem Collaborative way interconnections between R&D, marketing, sales, Operations and service representatives; establish dedicated alliance In line with its customer-centric strategy, Huawei will foundations; and invest in the incubation, GTM, and continue to orchestrate win-win, sustainable ecosys- market exploration of joint solutions. tems as well as constantly improve ecosystem gov- The Huawei and Hexagon team is a model to con- ernance and operations capabilities. Today, Huawei sider. By engaging a dedicated alliance manager, the is starting to build a unified IT platform for partners two parties have rapidly built the world’s first visual- to perform end-to-end business interactions with ized and converged command center solution. The Huawei online. Meanwhile, Huawei will continue center enables active prevention before an incident, to engage in collaborative operations of multiple rapid response during one, and precise investigation ecosystems and join capability-building activities in afterwards. external ecosystems.▲ 26 Special Report

CIOs Prepare for Digital Transformation | By Fernando Velázquez, CIO, Latin America Marketing, Carrier Business Group, Fernando Velázquez Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

he rapid adoption of digital technology is changing the world as we know it. Companies that were CIOs must become born with a digital DNA are now taking over the market. Ten years ago, the list of most valuable digital leaders T corporations was dominated by Big Oil and multinational conglomerates. Today, companies such as who can help Google, Facebook, and dominate the headlines. their companies understand how Technology has affected companies’ roles and digital transformation requires far-reaching changes, disruptive digital the way they do business. Even if you don’t fully from talent to infrastructure, and will take several transformation understand the term ‘digital transformation,’ odds years to complete. Fortunately, CIOs can educate will be and how are you’ve got at least a couple of initiatives in the companies to adopt an approach that delivers results those disruptions works that would fall under its umbrella. The time is quickly, while still reshaping IT for the long term. create business now for companies to refocus on a full-fledged digi- This approach requires new, fast, agile IT to work opportunities. >> tal transformation strategy. That means CIOs must alongside legacy IT, and a focus on one or two valu- be able to help their companies understand how the able business areas such as the web and customer disruptions that digital transformation will bring to engagement. This will enable a company to address business can create opportunities for growth. To do its most critical IT areas within a few months before this, CIOs first have to reinvent themselves. it needs to scale up to cover the remaining areas. Successful transformations will avoid fractures The New Digital Reality between high-speed and legacy IT functions and will Reinventing Information Technology (IT) to support be driven by the CEO and business leaders who will

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treat it as one of their top priorities, not just ‘another A recent KPMG Therefore, digital enterprises are positioned to put IT project.’ survey of more the customer first anytime, anywhere, and at any than 600 IT leaders place, based on customer expectations. Change Ahead found that systemic Digital transformation will change the demands on issues are the main CIOs at a Crossroads IT in three principal ways: Digital transformation has put CIOs at a crossroads reason for a lack • Increasingly sophisticated technology will in their industries. Down one road, CIOs assume a of IT innovation, be needed to improve companies’ operations and leadership role that harnesses digital transformation with 66 percent interactions with customers and clients. Examples disruptions and turns IT departments into sources of respondents include Netflix’s recommendation system and of innovation. They work with business leaders citing environment Booking.com’s proprietary search and caching to develop new products, services, and business or structure, system. Even coffee store chains are introducing models. Along this road, CIOs are expected to be processes, and sophisticated mobile-payment and loyalty Apps. business enablers, and CEOs expect them to build standards as • Previously, efficiency was the most important new vertical markets that promote more business primary causes. >> IT performance measure. Now, everything matters: opportunities with maximum cost efficiency. Down time-to-market, reliability, security, and, especially, the other road, CIOs will preside over increasingly scalability. The inability to scale up quickly makes marginalized IT departments as other company it difficult to meet new business demands. clients go elsewhere for innovation. • Senior management will insist on much greater business engagement and oversight of IT Whatʼs Wrong with Traditional IT? departments. After all, the value at stake in IT • Legacy IT operations generally lack the agility, digitalization will be much greater than before: up flexibility, and speed necessary to deliver high- to 40 percent of revenue, 20 percent of costs, and, quality solutions to support digital transformation. sometimes, the very survival of the business. Traditional IT operations simply took too long, cost too much, and consistently failed to meet expecta- Preparing for Change tions. However, poor project execution was just one During prior technology shifts, such as from problem. A recent KPMG (the global audit, tax and mainframes to minicomputers and then to client/ advisory services firm) survey of more than 600 servers, specialized IT organizations were required IT leaders found that systemic issues are the main to sit between technology and the business in order reason for a lack of IT innovation, with 66 percent to provision and support solutions. Today, ‘millen- of respondents citing environment or structure, nials’ (people born after 1982) are much more tech- processes, and standards as primary causes. savvy, having grown up around computers. The • IT has a shortage of qualified digital profes- combination of tech-savvy users and Everything- sionals. Digital transformation requires new skills, as-a-Service (XaaS) offerings now permits busi- but user experience design, security, mobility, the nesses to procure and provision technology-enabled cloud, and other such skills are in very short supply. solutions without involving IT technical staff. Also, certain new roles such as solutions brokers, Business managers also have higher expectations product managers, and service managers require as a result of their own experiences with personal skills that may not exist in current IT organizations. technologies. • Many CIOs are ill-prepared for the reality of These managers search for the same kind of digital transformation. Despite this, CEOs have high experience at work. They expect to be able to get expectations on how much revenue this transforma- immediate help by conducting a real-time chat with tion can bring to their companies. CIOs will be chal- a customer-support specialist, and they share their lenged to strike a balance between risk and reward. experiences — good and bad — on social media. For example, if CIOs integrate new business 28 Special Report

solutions with existing applications, how do they Because of the scarcity of digital skills, using a Reinventing IT to ensure that disaster recovery and business continu- Digital Center of Excellence (DCoE) and/or Digital support digital ity plans will work? Will they comply with internal Acceleration Teams (DATs) can leverage this talent transformation and external policies and regulations? Additionally, across the company in a much easier and faster way. requires far- cyber threats present a continuing state of risk. A challenge facing CIOs is that projects to solve reaching changes, • Current IT infrastructures cannot be provisioned legacy back-office issues take priority over advances from talent to quickly or cheaply. Digital transformation requires in digital strategy. This makes it difficult to ‘evange- infrastructure, and new IT capabilities such as a scalable, cloud-based lize’ the business value of IT. As a result, some CIOs will take several infrastructure. Traditional IT is used primarily to appoint a second-in-command to manage operational years to complete. maintain systems of record: stable, reliable, transac- issues. Fortunately, CIOs tion-oriented applications that operate at the core of can educate the business. New releases were measured in years. A Digital Transformation Future companies to In the new digital world, the focus is on customer- The positive effect of digital transformation for adopt an approach and employee-facing systems in which the user expe- carrier operators should be the ability to produce that delivers rience is of major importance and new releases tend more revenue streams. Enterprises can expect to see results quickly. >> to be measured in weeks, even days. These systems more profitable and sustained growth in key verti- result from close collaboration between IT and users, cal markets such as Smart Cities, energy, finance, and are the product of iterative, rapid development transportation, and manufacturing. The success of cycles. consumer-oriented companies will require continu- ous investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI), human- Creating New IT Environments machine interfaces, Big Data, and other cutting- CIOs need to create or upgrade R&D functions or edge technologies in order to keep up with customer innovation labs to provide an environment where demand for smarter devices. IT, business users, and external customers can Huawei’s vision is to create a joint development explore and refine new digital solutions. According model in which our company, our customers, and to the KPMG survey, 34 percent of organizations our partners grow together throughout the digital have an R&D function within IT or IT and business. transformation journey.▲

Link: The ‘Internet of Intelligence’

In the not-so-distant future, the ‘Internet of Intelligence’ will emerge from technologies based on the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI). With it, humans and machines will be able to make decisions together. While the IoT has given us simple AI assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Google Now, those assistants are only a subset of AI known as contextual awareness. AI is the intelligence exhibited by machines or software. Major AI researchers and textbooks define this field as ‘the study and design of intelligent agents’ in which an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chances of success. Only further investment in AI can lead us to a truly intelligent age. For years, video gaming has been playing with AI and procedural generation — a method of creating data algorithmically. Advantages include smaller file sizes, larger amounts of content, and random, less predictable game play. In the future, true AI will come from a consumer technology company, not academia. The Application Programming Interface (API) as we know it will be replaced by the AI Programmable Interface (AIPI). Keeping up with demand for smart devices in a futuristic, intelligent world will require continuous investment in AI and other cutting-edge technologies by organizations and vendors across the industrial and consumer landscapes.

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Part 2 of 2 Cultivating Leadership in a Post-Digital Era A Forrester Consulting ‘Thought Leadership’ Article Commissioned by the Huawei Enterprise Business Group

Businesses must o harness the power of technology in a post-digital world, as discussed in Part 1 (ICT Insights issue 19), anticipate customer companies must take an outside-in approach, investing in technologies that deliver outcomes most desired expectations and Tby customers. In the elevator industry, for instance, companies invest in technologies to optimize people deliver differentiated movement between floors and minimize downtime; agriculture companies invest in technologies to increase farm experiences yields; and cities invest in technologies to attract businesses and create a happy and safe environment for citizens. through new flexible technology All companies must first understand the needs, to expand. Forty-four percent of companies with architectures that wants, and desires of potential customers and engi- a full digital transformation strategy always use will dominate the neer an architecture tailored to better deliver these the cloud for core business applications, compared post-digital era. >> outcomes. Twentieth century architectures will not to just 17 percent of companies with a ‘bolt-on’ support the technology of tomorrow. New architec- strategy. Thirty percent of respondents state that tures must sense customers’ evolving expectations ‘adopting cloud platforms’ is the best choice to and adopt and adapt to emerging technologies to ensure business agility. better serve customers and drive revenue. • Support Big Data analytics. Technology archi- To do this, architectures must possess the following tecture must support real-time analytics to provide characteristics: immediate value to customers and must be analyzed • Be flexible and agile. Businesses must rapidly at the edge of the network to deliver the speed cus- evolve alongside customer expectations. A cloud tomers expect. Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial approach maximizes flexibility and agility and helps Intelligence (AI) will help create unique, high- organizations adapt quickly to dynamic market con- value, and immediate customer outcomes. Successful ditions and customer needs. In a competitive mar- businesses will anticipate customer expectations and ket, it is almost mandatory to minimize deployment needs and deliver differentiated experiences to meet costs across tens of thousands of mobile employees them. and allow digital touch points and revenue channels Twenty-three percent of survey respondents

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selected ‘new data-based digital services’ To capitalize on new analytics optimize everything from routing as their top choice when asked about technology-driven revenue, to scheduling. The logistics industry has digital product design and development, executives must transform been on a technology-enabled journey for 30 while 22 percent selected ‘predictive years, but the pace of change is accelerating. their business models and maintenance through analytics’ as the best Cloud services provide new opportunities work collaboratively across way to improve operational excellence. to optimize logistics across thousands of the organization to deliver new But cloud services must be tailored to the variables, including weather and traffic. outcome-based services. >> specific needs of the marketplace. Retailers • Higher education services tap digital in the U.S., for example, must expand their for learning. Syndicating learning through architecture to support peak customer loads digital media is transforming higher educa- during Black Friday, the busiest shopping tion, and the ability to use digital learning day of the year. and decision-making support tools, with tools to monitor and improve student • Be ecosystem-enabled. Not everything a further 28 percent planning to invest performance will be critical to future can (or should) be built in-house. Some within the next 12 months. Also in the near revenue growth. Campus-based education digital capabilities will be delivered to future, financial services companies may institutions must digitally connect students customers through partners within an drive revenue based purely on their ability to one another and teachers, not only in interconnected technology ecosystem. to increase the wealth of their clients. writing but with video as well. All of this Organizations must be ready and willing Using advanced analytics to predict market interaction increases dependence on a high- to share their data across the ecosystem. moves, companies able to automate invest- bandwidth communication infrastructure. Energy companies in the U.S. share peak ments to outperform market averages will Future intelligent learning environments energy forecasts with Nest to enable ‘Rush gain a significant competitive advantage. will adapt education materials to the unique Hour Rewards’ that help Nest thermostat • Manufacturing evolves to build-to- learning styles of each student, while owners reduce their energy bills. order. Using robotics, sensors, and a cloud- simultaneously monitoring progress and based ecosystem of suppliers, manufactur- automatically adjusting to student needs. Post-Digital Business Models will ers will continue to evolve, building more Augmented and will eventu- Evolve products designed for the unique needs ally allow every student to experience To capitalize on new technology-driven of each customer. Embedded sensors will 1:1 learning wherever and whenever they revenue, executives must transform their allow monitoring of product quality and desire. The adaptation of computer-based business models and work collaboratively reliability for the lifetime of the product. game design to learning will increase the across the organization to deliver new Car manufacturers, like BMW, are already effectiveness of education and eventually outcome-based services. Simultaneously, producing unique cars to fulfill each cus- become a source of differentiation. business operations must shift from tomer order. Future blockchain-enabled re- • Digital media and tech services compa- slow, product-oriented processes to agile, cords will track all components that go into nies build on clouds. As the digital media customer-oriented processes to keep pace a product, including replacement parts, to and tech service provider industries mature, with evolving customer needs. While the increase reliability and performance. These cloud-enabled services have become new business models are not fully defined, advances require the means to connect to standard — 94 percent of media companies some signs suggest the coming changes the product at any time, imposing even already use or plan to use public cloud across industries: greater dependence upon high-bandwidth, services in the next 12 months. Companies • Financial services adopting ML and high-availability 4G/5G data networks. now use emerging technologies to connect AI. Emerging Fintech companies already • Logistics and transportation tap to their customers’ digital ecosystems, use computer models to manage financial analytics, GPS, and sensors. With GPS, providing seamless services across multiple portfolios and optimize returns, in some transportation can track every movable devices and locations. French TV company cases replacing humans. Sixty-five percent asset, and low-cost cellular technologies TF1, for example, uses a hybrid cloud of financial services companies already provide the ability to transmit location approach for faster news production, from use Business Intelligence (BI), analytics, and environmental data in real time. Data anywhere, at any time. 31 New ICT

• To succeed, Energy companies seek to add value beyond can no longer be viewed simply as an expense to be the CEO and utility. With 72 percent of energy companies updating constrained. Because CIOs must focus their scarce executive their legacy applications, and the remaining 28 percent technology resources on the 20 percent to 30 percent planning to do so in the next twelve months, the of their differentiating business capabilities, they team must energy sector is one of the most active in technology. must also greatly simplify the remaining technology. take greater Digitally enabled smart grids already allow more effi- To succeed, the CEO and executive team must ownership and cient power transmission: Nigeria’s Smart Grid helped take greater ownership and responsibility for how responsibility reduce line loss by 20 percent. By embracing sensors technology is deployed across the enterprise. CIOs for how across the business model, from power generation to must help the executive team separate IT, which technology is consumption monitoring, companies in the energy sec- supports generic business capabilities, from Business deployed across tor compete to provide customers greater value beyond Technology (BT), which supports differentiation and the enterprise. the delivery of utility services. Today, U.S.-based creates customer value. Installing the right business CIOs must help Direct Energy partners with Nest to offer ‘Rush-hour technology is now a critical success factor for every the executive Rewards.’ As one of the few sectors already connected business. To help prioritize investments, technology team separate IT to every home and business, energy companies can governance and leadership must shift the focus to be from Business become enormous hubs for data collection, allowing more outside-in, working toward improving customer Technology. >> them to generate new insights that help customers outcomes. At the same time, CIOs must lead a change derive greater value from their relationships. in perception by changing how business leaders • Public sector organizations become more ac- perceive the technology teams that support revenue countable to citizens. Government departments in models. CIOs must also become more accountable countries as far apart as New Zealand, the U.S., and for driving revenue growth by: the U.K. are rapidly adopting digital technologies to • Shifting ICT culture toward the real customer drive greater efficiencies and become more connected and revenue growth. Just 36 percent of IT groups and accountable to taxpayers. As public sector de- surveyed reported viewing all non-IT employees as partments become more open in data sharing, private business partners; the rest consider other employees companies are springing up to leverage the data and to be ICT customers or a mixture of both. Business create new services to improve the lives of citizens. leaders most often view ICT as a supplier, not as a In addition, cities are wiring together services, com- partner. CIOs must help their teams get to know the peting to become the safest, most digitally friendly real ICT customer, who is also the real customer of the city. Nairobi’s Smart City project, for example, has business. Shifting ICT culture toward the end customer reduced crime by 46 percent. helps clarify what is really important. ICT teams are rarely held accountable for revenue; however, just as CIOs Must Move ICT from the Back Office to CEOs expect CIOs to become more responsible for the Front revenue generation, CIOs must also hold their teams Between 20 percent and 30 percent of any firm’s accountable for driving revenue growth. This means business capabilities account for its market differen- empowering teams to innovate and partner across the tiation; these capabilities are the reasons that a cus- business. Only then will ICT’s true creativity be fully tomer buys from Company A rather than Company B. realized in service of customers. In the past, product design and development capabili- • Focusing on growth and agility over efficiency. ties have typically stood out as strategic; however, in For years, CIOs have been challenged to use technol- the post-digital era, companies increasingly develop ogy to improve enterprise efficiency. But in this differentiation through the experiences they create post-digital era, the drive for business agility trumps for their customers and the technology that supports the need for efficiency. CIOs must examine every the delivery of better customer outcomes. As technol- opportunity to increase the agility of both the ICT ogy becomes a revenue driver, the company’s ICT team and the overall business, even at the risk of 32 New ICT

decreasing efficiency. Agility is needed to keep up zation build its digital DNA for survival. This means Since your with evolving customer expectations and secure more experimentation with emerging technologies, customers see future revenue growth. Efficiency remains impor- often without a clear Return on Investment (ROI). your business tant, but it is meaningless without revenue. Twenty- Encourage startups in your industry and create differently than eight percent of respondents cite business agility as incubator programs to speed innovation. you, learn to see their leading approach when sourcing new software CIOs face an enormous challenge in that almost things through applications; 27 percent deploy cloud rather than every technology company claims to be a leader in their eyes. on-premises solutions; and 27 perfect are moving digital transformation, yet few can demonstrate how. Only by using toward a hybrid cloud. Executive teams share a responsibility for helping technology to • Simplifying technology and improving security. CIOs select strategic technology partners that can help customers CIOs must lead a push to dramatically simplify the help transition today’s architecture into a platform get what they architecture that supports overall business. When for future revenue growth. need, want, and identifying their biggest IT challenge, 21 percent of desire will you respondents name applying new security protocols, Becoming Customer-Obsessed secure future while 20 percent point to keeping up with band- Without a clear focus on what matters to the growth. >> width demands and moving business applications customer, none of these changes matter. Your entire to the cloud. Simplification, however, cannot be business must become customer-obsessed. Since your implemented overnight, and multi-year ‘big-bang’ customers see your business differently than you, transformations are no longer an option. The smooth learn to see things through their eyes. Only by using transition from legacy to new, more secure, and technology to help customers get what they need, agile business technologies, and the simplification want, and desire will you secure future growth. of generic business capabilities, must be a continu- The technology investments of the past focused ous evolution. CIOs still must deliver world-class on operational efficiency — they were inside-out. digital experiences to their customers throughout the Future investments must focus more on agility and technology architecture makeover. the creation of customer value — they must be outside-in. Because the outcomes most valued by Key Recommendations the customer will continue to evolve and vary by in- As companies move beyond simply bolting digital dustry, the technology architecture has to be tailored assets to the existing business and to transforming to the industry, yet be flexible enough to adapt to the entire business into a technology company, change in the future.▲ executives must rethink their business vision, cul- ture, and strategy. The big challenges ahead can be About Forrester Consulting overcome but not without first changing the thinking of the leadership team. These teams must first build Forrester Consulting provides their business model around creating products, independent and objective research- services, and digital experiences to help customers based consulting to help leaders succeed achieve the outcomes they desire. in their organizations. Ranging in scope Efficiency is important. Improving efficiency from a short strategy session to custom and lowering prices for customers is not a unique projects, Forrester’s consulting services concept but making sure business agility remains connect you directly with research the focus does not come easily. Your customers are analysts who apply expert insight to evolving faster than your business can adapt; there- your specific business challenges. fore, in response, your business must also constantly For more information, visit evolve. forrester.com/consulting. Furthermore, it is now essential that your organi- 33 Focus

The IoT’s Potential for Transformation Karabet Krikorian | By Karabet Krikorian, Head of Western Europe IoT & Industry 4.0 Solution Innovation, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

From cloud- ith a rapid decline in the cost of sensors and new ways to connect sensors wirelessly, the based Big Internet of Things (IoT) is poised for dramatic growth over the next few years. To enable Data to low- W connected ‘things’ to achieve their true potential, the IoT needs many additional technologies power wireless to manage communications, extract meaning from collected data, and apply that meaning in useful ways. connectivity, the These technologies include Big Data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR), cloud usefulness of the computing, edge computing, and 5G cellular communications. The IoT story is about these technologies as Internet of Things much as it is about huge numbers of things. is dependent upon a vast array Further, the rise of IoT ecosystems and market- create a wide range of opportunities for optimizing of supporting places will play a part in changing the way products business processes and managing factories, networks, technologies. >> and services are conceived, developed, and offered to and fleets on a predictive basis. market. Just as cloud computing permits enterprises Huawei and its industry partners have developed a to rent the infrastructure they need, IoT platforms and number of solutions that combine IoT connectivity, ecosystems enable enterprises to outsource more of device management, and predictive maintenance. their ICT infrastructure. Enterprises can fully lever- Big Data offers exciting prospects for many kinds of age IoT technology while keeping a focus on their decision-making support. Combining Big Data ana- core business. lytics with the IoT and real-time industrial networks enables correlation-based process and productivity Big Data in the IoT improvements. The main reason to connect things is to harness their One example developed in 2016 is the Huawei data. The quantities of data generated by the IoT Elevators and Escalators Connection solution, which

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can connect and manage millions of elevators. The Huawei’s IoT solution between all layers • solution backhauls elevator operational data in real utilizes a ‘1 + 2 + 1’ Data storage and analytics layer • time using IoT technologies. Through Big Data architecture: (one) Application layers analytics and collaboration with an external system, • Backend enterprise systems such as Enterprise Huawei LiteOS open- a data center implements remote management and Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing source Operating predictive maintenance. The solution reduces costs Execution System (MES), Customer Relationship System; (two) access by more than 50 percent, shortens service interrup- Management (CRM), and Business Support modes using IoT tion time by 90 percent, reduces elevator failure Services (BSS) gateways and smart rates, and helps ensure passenger safety. A considerable amount of R&D and innovation home gateways; will be required to improve the technologies that and (one) unified make up these layers. Huawei’s IoT solution IoT Architecture open IoT connection Another important IoT development is the transi- utilizes a ‘1 + 2 + 1’ architecture: (one) Huawei management tion from special-purpose vertical management LiteOS open-source Operating System (OS), platform. >> platforms (silo-type systems) to multi-purpose which is ideal for smart IoT devices; (two) access horizontal solutions. The latter promote collabora- modes (fixed and wireless access) over enterprise tive partnerships, ecosystem development, and Long-Term Evolution (eLTE), Narrowband IoT interaction between industry players, vertical (NB-IoT), and 5G networks using IoT gateways service providers, public authorities, and com- and smart home gateways; and (one) unified open munities. IoT connection management platform. Horizontal solutions are useful, therefore, in Huawei’s OceanConnect IoT connection man- dealing with the complexity of managing an IoT agement platform is an open cloud-based system infrastructure that may include devices, connec- for use by operators, enterprises, and vertical tion methods, protocols, data throughput volumes industries. The platform permits connections both and collection intervals, time-sensitive networks, with and without SIM cards and supports connec- and application requirements. An overall tion management. The OceanConnect platform architecture can handle many of these variables uses open APIs and agents to integrate with transparently for developers and managers. An various Network Applications (NAs) and provide architecture ecosystem can help cope with ever- access to sensors, devices, and gateways. With changing requirements and provide users with these capabilities, the platform helps operators, the required platform capabilities, flexibility, enterprises, and industry partners implement fast scalability, tools, SDKs, and software libraries. NA integration and rapid device access, as well Connection security and data flow integrity across as secure and reliable connection management. At the whole IoT domain still pose challenges, and this point, the platform has a growing library of further advances are necessary to make horizontal integrated applications across different verticals. platforms practical. In contrast, a lot of good work has been done Low-power Communications to define the layers that make up the architectural NB wireless connectivity enables low-power com- framework of an End-to-End (E2E) IoT solution. munications using low-cost hardware. Specifically, Moreover, reference architectures show some NB-IoT can be implemented using a Huawei commonality in the layers required to support module that costs about USD 5, operates for up to very different vertical requirements and use cases. 10 years on one battery, provides good coverage The basic layers include the following: (20 dB gain), and supports connectivity of 50,000 • Smart sensor/thing layer devices per cell. • Network connectivity layer This module can be used inside devices such • IoT cloud platform enabling interconnection as smart electric meters and other Smart City sys- 35 Focus

By providing tems to achieve easy IoT communications. Huawei parts of these Huawei solutions are gateways and edge computing has been helping operators around the world controllers. capability, perform tests of smart parking, street lighting, and By providing edge computing capability, similar projects. Huawei’s agile IoT gateways meet local real-time Huawei’s agile Huawei was the first vendor to implement the computing and control requirements. The gateways IoT gateways standard for NB-IoT (3GPP Release 13) on a live can run OSs, such as Linux, Android, and KVM, meet local real- network. Several of Huawei’s networks with Tier 1 and can be equipped with third-party application time computing operators will go live with NB-IoT in the first quarter plug-ins for local processing. If sensors detect an and control of 2017. engine abnormality in a vehicle-mounted system, requirements. for example, the local IoT gateway can take The gateways can measures to deal with the problem — thus avoiding run OSs, such as OneAir eLTE To meet a variety of IoT connectivity needs, Huawei possible delays due to network faults or congestion. Linux, Android, has integrated several communications technologies At a higher level of the IoT architecture, Huawei’s and KVM, and in a solution called OneAir eLTE. This solution Agile Controller provides unified management can be equipped implements enterprise private networks that provide of IoT terminals, gateways, computing resources, with third-party broadband, NB, and many other industrial IoT applications, and data. The controller uses standard application plug- services. northbound interfaces to achieve fast interconnec- ins for local The OneAir eLTE solution can be integrated in tions with applications and other resources. The processing. >> manufacturing, rail transit, petrochemical plants, controller’s open software architecture permits ports, Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) virtualized, distributed deployment with seamless networks, open-pit mines, and railway yards. The expansion capabilities that enable management of solution complies with Message Queuing Telemetry tens of millions of IoT devices. Transport (MQTT), IP Proxy, and other standard IoT protocols to allow interconnections with indus- LTE-V Solution for Vehicles trial application systems or management platforms. Along with general-purpose IoT solutions, Huawei offers the LTE-V solution specifically designed IoT Operating System for Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) applications that Huawei’s LiteOS supports IoT hardware that has demand extremely low latency and reliable short- minimal memory, consumes little power, enforces distance communications. While conventional excellent security, and offers the flexibility to work cellular networks can handle the needs of vehicle in a wide variety of applications. With a kernel of telematics, Huawei’s LTE-V uses mature 4G LTE just 10 kB, the OS performs auto-discovery, auto- technology to meet more stringent V2X require- connecting, and self-organizing functions. These ments. functions allow users to achieve rapid connection and large-scale deployments, while helping to IoT Opportunities and Challenges ensure security at the kernel, transmission, and The IoT represents enormous opportunities for application layers. LiteOS is compatible with com- companies across nearly all industry verticals. The munications protocols that include ZigBee, Wi-Fi, way forward will not be without challenges, of Thread, LTE, Ethernet, and Bluetooth. course. The IoT requires a dramatic re-thinking of how to embrace new technologies. Agile IoT Solutions Huawei is committed to developing state-of- In addition to the technology needed to implement the-art solutions across the broad spectrum of IoT individual IoT devices, Huawei offers IoT solutions products and services in order to benefit operators, that deal with collected data and enable communi- enterprises, and consumers, and make the world a cation with the devices. Two of the most important smarter and better connected place for everyone.▲ 36 Focus

Disruptors Change Education Technology | By Zhou Mingfeng, Marketing Manager, Marketing and Solution Sales Department, Enterprise Business Zhou Mingfeng Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

s we move through 2017 and beyond, it is appropriate to reflect upon the current status and future The future of trends in the education market. During recent years, we have seen unprecedented integration education will A of Education and Technology (EdTech), as educational influencers continue to reimagine and be defined revitalize the industry by sharing knowledge and experiences with their digital campus solutions. by financial investments and Mobile devices connected to the cloud are a Today’s students are less attracted to a steady diet of their impact on disruptive way for students to customize eLearning teacher-led classroom courses; they expect new edu- trends in digital at their own pace. What’s more, global educational cational software and tools to suit their needs. These service platforms products and service platforms have moved forward students are prepared for and count on individual and distance through collaborations and partnerships while learning, online live classrooms, and webcasts that learning curricula. strategic Venture Capital (VC) investments continue make full use of mobile technologies. >> to pour billions of dollars into the educational Traditional learning environments are not only ecosystem with the objective of forever changing the limited to places like classrooms, libraries, and way people learn. dormitories but face a lack of access to the types of resources commonly available online. A broader Mobilizing Blended Learning move to learner-centered education is shifting the Digital classrooms enabled by smart cloud plat- role of teachers away from the traditional role of forms are replacing traditional teaching methods. lecturing to a tutoring role in which they mentor

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students through customized curricula. The results To move the industry example of blended learning. Students study are ‘blended learning’ environments that merge forward, educational at home on the Internet and then interact in the with smart educational platforms using student- practitioners must classroom with a teacher and fellow classmates centered instruction. who collaborate together to resolve problems exchange ideas Blended learning combines classroom teaching and improve their knowledge base. Flipped and experiences to with mobile smart devices for accessing resources classrooms turn extracurricular time into proac- revitalize education and feedback anytime, anywhere. Schools em- tive learning activities. Content decisions are through collaboration power EdTech by linking their physical and transferred from teachers to students who finish and partnerships. virtual campuses using digitized educational their studies after class by watching video lec- These educational platforms with network access. This combined tures, listening to podcasts, reading eBooks with influencers run methodology also includes a progression toward enhanced functions, or discussing topics with the gamut from network technologies built to support 4K video other students online. The goal of this approach is government animation and multimedia learning tools. These to allow teachers to spend more one-to-one time officials to scholars, forward-looking techniques support the goals of with each student. entrepreneurs, student-centered instruction by streamlining face- investors, academics, to-face interactions for distance education and Trending Innovations and enterprises. >> vocational training. Organizations and academic institutions world- wide are constantly searching for learning innova- Disrupting EdTech tions that inspire. To move the industry forward, Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) educational practitioners must exchange ideas development and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will and experiences to revitalize education through play larger roles in the future of higher education. collaboration and partnerships. These educational MOOC expands the number of students available influencers run the gamut from government online and facilitates the coordination of course officials to scholars, entrepreneurs, investors, program development for college and university academics, and enterprises. Linking government education as well as vocational training services. to the educational marketplace helps bring the MOOC-provided curricula disrupt online public and private sectors closer together. education with ‘live’ courses. For some entities, The goal of many colleges is to build digital the courses will be produced by teams made up campus service platforms that center on qual- of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows ity mobile learning services. This shift fulfills working with film editors and code developers students’ requirements for on-demand and per- to convert videotaped lectures into on-demand sonalized learning in addition to making quality courses. educational resources readily available. To ensure The addition of AI to blended learning will that learners have access to mobile courses from create disruptive milestones for enhancing the any place on campus, the go-to-classroom strat- efficiency of learning, improving the utilization egy is for schools to digitize teaching resources of courseware resources, lowering educational and implement an online learning management costs, and promoting personalized learning. These platform linked with a comprehensive wireless EdTech solutions represent a big step forward on network. the learner-centered roadmap, easily providing real-time information everywhere along the Connecting Smarter Schools education value chain. As the first step, a wireless campus network needs wireless access that ensures coverage for Flipping Education Solutions high-density access requirements in campus A ‘flipped’ classroom illustrates another typical cafeterias, auditoriums, and other high-density- 38 Focus

challenged buildings. Second, to ensure cyber se- The IoT will eventually help automate tasks Distance education curity protection and distribute online resources, with tools for taking notes, checking schedules, allows communication campuses need to choose solutions that can and doing research. Universities are transitioning with a growing number safeguard privacy and security against breaches. to connected devices that monitor students, staff, of users in the same Moreover, the platforms need unified manage- and resources to reduce operating costs and save frequency band at the ment of both wireless and wired networks to money. Connectivity allows professors to gather same time and is on simplify campus network maintenance. data about students and customize lesson plans track to becoming a With the upsurge of wired campus networks, for future classes. These tracking capabilities mainstream standard. an increasing number of world-renowned univer- will also protect and create safer campuses. Wireless interactive sities, such as the U.K.’s Newcastle University, whiteboards will also have established a 100G standard for their core Making eLearning Fun become everyday network bandwidth. To expand the number of Advances in recommendation engines for teaching tools with this wireless users and increase the performance of analyzing and predicting student performance increased connectivity. wireless access, wireless networks now have have received many strategic investments. Self- >> Access Points (APs) that support 802.11ac adaptive study engines that dynamically adjust Wave2, a technology that increases wireless also have new global investors. Meanwhile, speeds to a theoretical maximum. Distance financing intelligent speech technologies with education allows communication with a growing smart audio and sound solutions demonstrates number of users in the same frequency band the impact of smarter speech recognition for at the same time and is on track to becoming a online education. mainstream standard. Wireless interactive white- In China, strategic cooperation is responsible boards will also become everyday teaching tools for creating an educational design solution with a with this increased connectivity. search engine that specializes in natural language processing, data mining, and sorting algorithms. Investing Impacts Worldwide EdTech A smart piano App uses a smart electric piano, This past year has seen significant monetary online courses, and interactive learning with infusion into the education industry. Disruptive funding by famous Chinese pianist Lang Lang. technologies undoubtedly will continue to Through his venture firm Bryant-Stibel, former change learning solutions as well. For instance, Los Angeles Lakers basketball superstar Kobe a live cloud technology service provider is posi- Bryant made a multi-million dollar strategic tioned to offer live online interactive broadcast investment into -based VIPKID, financ- services for educational and training schools that ing an educational brand that teaches Chinese could result in a classroom product hosted in the children to learn English online. cloud. Smart Virtual Reality (VR) glasses and Investing in Tomorrow’s Education headgear are now being used as mobile Internet Clearly, disruptive influences are reshaping the teaching devices for futuristic science, medical, future of education. Smarter educational institu- and educational training purposes. By combin- tions will also benefit from greener energy ef- ing Augmented Reality (AR) with EdTech, ficiency and lower Operating Expenses (OPEX), companies and content providers are envisioning as evidenced by smart sensors and devices that a completely immersive teaching model. Also in are being installed to allow automated control of the works is the merging of Bluetooth-equipped equipment and classroom lighting. For education smartphones with Internet of Things (IoT) smart industry leaders as well as EdTech disruptors, education functions to complement connected perhaps the time is right for further investments homes and Smart Cities. in the education industry.▲ 39 Ecosystem

Leading the Innovation Curve Ajay Gupta | By Ajay Gupta, Director, Product Marketing, Network Product Line, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

Huawei’s obody could have imagined that, just six years after the Enterprise Business Group (EBG) was visionary product formalized within Huawei, Gartner, a world-leading technology research firm, would name Huawei innovations and N as a ‘visionary’ company for their enterprise switching and wireless products. It has not been easy strong global to gain mindshare of enterprise CIOs and other CxOs due to the vast sea of competitive options in the global ecosystem marketplace. Still, Huawei has reached a pinnacle of recognition for their innovation that some companies can comprised of only dream of achieving. partners and customers Visionary Companies Shape the Market the unconnected — is being recognized.” ensure industry- Huawei has shown its ability to shape and transform The monthly magazine notes that Huawei also leading advances the market with innovative products. Gartner ana- commits 45 percent of its employees to R&D and co- well into the lysts report that Huawei not only has demonstrated operates with global innovators through its 16 R&D future. >> sustained execution in the marketplace but will also centers and 36 Joint Innovation Centers in countries have clear, long-term viability. In addition, Gartner including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Sweden, gave kudos to Huawei’s central strategy of providing France, Italy, , India, and China. End-to-End (E2E) campus networking and Software- Among Huawei’s facilities is the Aesthetics Defined Networking (SDN) through its Agile Research Center, where French luxury brand designers Network solution. work with Huawei’s engineers to align future fashion In the book, Built to Last: Successful Habits of trends with technology. Huawei’s newest R&D center Visionary Companies, authors Jim Collins and Jerry is the Max Berek Innovation Lab in Wetzlar, Germany. I. Porras note that so-called visionary companies take At this lab, Huawei and premium camera maker Leica leadership roles in their industries, offer innovative are jointly researching technologies to improve the im- products and services, and consistently outsmart age quality of mobile device cameras. Huawei also has rivals. Great companies not only maintain leadership more than 10 open labs in China, Europe, and other but also constantly experiment. Let’s see how Huawei locations, where it works with more than 600 partners. has fared with other industry analysts and publica- At the same time, Huawei has launched a USD 1 bil- tions. lion developer enablement program to support partners and application developers. Riding High in the Fast Lane Fast Company, a highly regarded U.S. business and ‘Best Brands’ technology magazine, ranked Huawei the world’s 13th Huawei ranked 72 in the ‘Best Global Brands 2016 most-innovative company in 2016. According to the Rankings’ released by Interbrand, a - publication, Huawei is one of only a handful of large based global branding agency. This is the second con- technology companies that dedicate more than 10 secutive year Huawei has climbed up Interbrand’s list. percent of their revenues to R&D. In 2014, Huawei became the first mainland Chinese “To be recognized by Fast Company for our efforts brand to be recognized as a ‘Best Global Brand.’ In in innovation is truly an ,” said Ryan Ding, this latest report, Huawei moved up 16 spots from its Executive Director and President of Products and ranking in 2015. What’s more, Huawei’s brand value, Solutions. “At Huawei, we’re committed to building approximated at USD 6 billion, increased by 18 a better connected world, and innovation is one of percent compared to the previous year. Interbrand’s our core principles. This recognition is a positive af- annual report recognized Huawei as one of the fastest firmation that the innovation we’re trying to provide rising brands in the technology sector. Huawei’s globally — building better societies, and connecting significant progress is based on various innovative 40 Ecosystem

By the end of 2015, Huawei had become a member of over 300 standards organizations, industry alliances, and open source communities — holding products, services, and solutions that can Huawei Agile Distributed Wi-Fi solution, more than 280 important help build a better connected world. including converged Wi-Fi and LTE positions. >> Additionally, Huawei’s innovations have technologies, was selected as a finalist for been recognized by the following organiza- the ‘2016 Best of Interop Award.’ This tions: innovation significantly improves wireless • MIT Technology Review: Each year, the performance and addresses signal coverage The ICT solutions provider helped Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s problems in high-density environments — establish several key industry alliances on MIT Technology Review selects the 50 especially hotels, dormitories, and hospitals NFV/SDN and NB-IoT to bring together companies that best combine innovative — without increasing customer invest- industry players. In May 2015, ICSA technology with an effective business ments. The solution also encompasses Labs presented Huawei with the ‘10-Year model. They identify 50 companies that innovative breakthroughs in large-scale Excellence in Information Security Testing are ‘smart’ in the ways they create new Multiple Input, Multiple Output (MIMO), Award’ — demonstrating that Huawei’s opportunities. Huawei ranked 10th on their full-duplex antenna technology which fea- product security capabilities have been list. tures high bandwidth and multi-path fading recognized in the industry. • The World Intellectual Property cancellation. By the end of 2015, Huawei had become Organization (WIPO): Huawei is a global • Servers: Huawei EBG launched a member of over 300 standards organiza- leader in international patent filings, with KunLun, the industry’s first 32-socket x86 tions, industry alliances, and open source 3,998 applications in 2015 alone. server, which fully meets the needs of en- communities — holding more than 280 im- • The Boston Consulting Group (BCG): terprises for core applications that require portant positions. It is a board member of Huawei was ranked among the top 50 com- ultra-large memory. IEEE-SA, ETSI, WFA, TMF, OpenStack, panies in BCG’s 10th annual listing of the • Big Data Analytics and Artificial Linaro, OASIS, and CCSA. In 2015, world’s ‘50 Most Innovative Companies.’ Intelligence: Huawei developed the world’s Huawei submitted over 5,400 of 43,000 The BCG list is based on a survey of 1,500 first open source streaming processing li- total proposals. C-suite executives (high-ranking executive brary on Spark, the open source engine for titles) who were asked to rank companies large-scale data processing. Huawei also Envisioning the Future across industries and within their own indus- released the industry’s first deep learning- There is no question that Huawei has come try. Huawei’s ranking is a marked improve- based ‘single-turn dialogue generation a long way; however, not everyone may ment from a decade ago, when there were no model,’ that will, for example, enable on- realize the strides that Huawei has made Chinese companies on the list. Analysts say demand, automated service agents to better to become a global player. Its success has China’s presence is still growing. understand and mimic human conversation. extended from the carrier market, to the enterprise domain, and now the smartphone Innovative Huawei Enterprise Consortiums, Industry Alliances, market. Solutions and Standards Organizations Rising from humble beginnings, Huawei Huawei’s enterprise business has reached a Huawei’s enterprise investments and contri- is a force to be reckoned with on the world Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) butions also extend to professional groups. It stage. With focused strategies and effective of more than 30 percent thanks to increas- has become one of the most influential com- execution, Huawei’s strong global position ingly more industry customers realizing panies in the OpenStack consortium and has has paved the way for the company to added business value with Huawei products set new directions for the Network Functions continue as one of the most innovative and and solutions. Standout products include: Virtualization (NFV), container, cloud man- visionary companies to ever emerge from • Enterprise wireless domain: The agement, and large-scale data center domains. China.▲ 41 Success

Accelerating the Transition to Financial Clouds Cheng Kai | By Cheng Kai, Senior Marketing Manager, IT Data Center Solution Market Management, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

As industry o retain customers, financial institutions must meet increasingly higher requirements for services. professionals Transitioning to cloud computing offers bankers a way to become more competitive while improving rapidly reshape T their efficiency. Information Technology, Competition in the banking business is fierce, and encouraging banks to migrate their Internet-oriented banks are nowhere more so than in China. A few months ago, information systems to cloud computing platforms by incrementally for example, China’s Ant Financial Services Group, the end of 2020. adopting cloud an affiliate company of eCommerce giant Alibaba Huawei views this migration as three stages that architectures. >> Group Holding Ltd., closed the world’s largest round will gradually increase the use of cloud resources. of private equity financing for an Internet company at USD 4.5 billion (CNY 30.9 billion) that gave the New Clouds on the Rise company a post-money valuation of roughly USD 60 Financial clouds represent a business approach in billion (CNY 412 billion). which specific data, processes, and services are The China Banking Regulatory Commission moved to cloud computing platforms. The major recently began to explore the of public objectives of financial clouds include: financial clouds for the banking industry as well as • Improved user experience hybrid clouds that would combine private and sector- • Enhanced system agility specific applications. The commission suggests that • Greater computational capacity banks implement cloud computing architectures • Restructuring of data value that decouple applications and infrastructure, and is The goal is to enable financial institutions to pro-

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Financial clouds for specific data, processes, and services 42 Success

vide improved services to their customers while Modern financial 18000 V3 high-end storage, the KunLun 9032 reducing Operating Expenditures (OPEX). institutions need meets the high-performance and low-latency re- Private clouds are built for internal purposes, unified pools of quirements for efficient and trustworthy banking self-owned branches, and key services. Early services. computing, network, adopters have begun to lease surplus resources and storage and services to other financial institutions, resources that From Virtualization to Cloudification branches, and upstream and downstream partners. Many banks around the world necessitate that all enable collaboration Internet-based services that have bursty loads or new applications be deployed on VMs. Huawei across business less stringent security requirements are candidates refers to this stage as Financial Cloud 1.0. While applications. Unified for being reassigned to a public cloud. VMs are certainly useful, they apply only to resource pools For cloud computing or any other Information the layer where computing nodes reside. This are coordinated Technology (IT) architecture, managers of limitation raises questions concerning network among multiple mission-critical systems must choose servers, and storage devices, and how managers will ef- data centers to software, and storage that suit reliability and per- ficiently configure thousands of service policies instantiate business- formance goals. Around the world, managers are and deal with the databases on physical nodes. driven automated rethinking traditional choices. The trend in China To help address these concerns, Huawei’s management and is that businesses are actively seeking to reduce Financial Cloud solution employs enhanced scheduling. >> their reliance on the so-called ‘IOE’ system. IOE OpenStack-enabled Ironic components while stands for IT network components based on the leveraging Huawei’s extensive experience in names of three suppliers: IBM, whose servers Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and distrib- are packaged with the UNIX operating system; uted storage. The Ironic-based solution installs Oracle, the database management system vendor; management software for network and storage and EMC, a supplier of data storage hardware. automation onto a ‘bare-metal’ architecture that Dubbed the ‘De-IOE Movement,’ this effort has enables banks to roll out new services quickly been ongoing for many years and is a key motiva- without having to modify databases manually or tor in the drive toward the wider adoption of cloud write scripts. infrastructures. A qualifying factor for the movement of banks Stepping up to Financial Cloud 2.0 to replace UNIX-based servers is the widespread Cloud management platforms are the most availability of open platforms that are based on important core element of the stage that Huawei x86 servers and Virtual Machines (VMs). The calls Financial Cloud 2.0 — and basic virtualiza- reality is that many x86 servers do not provide the tion and resource provisioning are not enough. performance, reliability, and availability necessary Modern financial institutions need unified pools to match the long-proven, mission-critical reli- of computing, network, and storage resources that ability of the UNIX platform. Just one example is enable collaboration across business applications. the inability of x86 servers to support component Unified resource pools are coordinated among replacements without service interruption. multiple data centers to instantiate business- Huawei’s KunLun 9032 x86 Mission-Critical driven automated management and scheduling. Server is designed to accommodate the replace- To implement these platforms, financial institu- ment of CPU and memory modules as well as tions choose from three main approaches: other core components without interrupting ongo- • Undertaking in-house, open-source software ing services. With up to 32 CPUs and 576 cores, development projects. This is a short-term ap- a single KunLun 9032 delivers levels of perfor- proach that features low costs on a small scale. mance that rival mainstream UNIX servers. When • Purchasing proprietary, commercial off-the- deployed in conjunction with Huawei’s OceanStor shelf software. Although this path features mature 43 Success

The Huawei applications, the trade-offs are high upfront costs packages to provide back-end, enterprise-grade Financial Cloud and poor compatibility with other software. backup and recovery capabilities. • solution uses a Purchasing commercial open-source software, which also features mature applications and is stan- cloud platform The Next Stage dards compliant (highly compatible) but requires Financial institutions need to provide users with architecture to long-term planning. mobile Apps and services designed to support manage self-help Traditional financial institutions prefer the third distributed deployment and are extremely fast and service directories approach, particularly when operating within the offer flexible scalability. Furthermore, these institu- and resource OpenStack architecture. As a de facto standard for tions must consider the construction of platform pools for web and private clouds, OpenStack has matured rapidly. capabilities based on Infrastructure-as-a-Service App resources, Fortune 500 companies, such as BMW, Disney, (IaaS) so they can introduce quicker iteration transaction data, and , are all using OpenStack in their capabilities to the full App lifecycle (development, Big Data analytics, production environments. The number of financial testing, releases, and upgrades). and virtual desktop institutions deploying OpenStack is increasing year Huawei calls this stage Financial Cloud 3.0, infrastructure. >> by year. where the container-driven, lightweight Platform- Huawei provides solutions that both enhance as-a-Service (PaaS) model is a key technology. OpenStack and decouple OpenStack modules. The PaaS is especially applicable to newly constructed ability to decouple modules from the software stack cloud native application systems. In addition to allows components to be upgraded individually, supporting physical and virtual resources, IT infra- without impacting services. On the order of 200 structure resource pools must support unified de- Linux security patches are released each year, and, ployment and management of container resources. generally, it is expected that entire VM arrays will Based on the industry’s mainstream open-source need to be restarted for each patch to take effect. architectures, such as Docker and K8S, Huawei’s Cloud industry statistics reveal that, on average, Financial Cloud solution provides a number of more than 70 percent of hot patches require VM enhancements and advanced functions that fully restart. Amazon Web Services (AWS) registers at leverage the advantages of lightweight containers. about 50 percent. By comparison, Huawei supports In the development and testing environments of 75 percent of the patches without VM restart, banks, the solution has improved the application which significantly helps banks that employ 2,000 deployment density by four times and reduces the to 10,000 VMs. amount of time taken to deploy individual applica- Disaster recovery and security compliance tions from minutes to seconds. are two other critical aspects of financial IT. For For financial institutions that must release mission-critical services such as online banking, version updates periodically, this functionality is the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) must be less especially useful in the development and testing pe- than six hours, and the Recovery Point Objective riod. Additionally, Huawei offers the FusionStage (RPO) must be less than 15 minutes. To confidently PaaS platform, which gives enterprises a complete migrate their operations to the cloud, banks need environment for App development, deployment, automatic emergency handover, Backup-as-a- operation, and management. This open architecture Service (BaaS), and other powerful functions. provides a wide range of middleware services, In 2015, Huawei initiated an OpenStack project including those for Big Data and the IoT as well as to provide users with data protection orchestration application components specific to different types — or, Data Protection-as-a-Service (DPaaS) — for of enterprises. FusionStage supports mainstream applications, VMs, and network resources in the development languages and protocols, and allows cloud environment. Now called Karbor, this proj- customers to deploy millions of containers as well ect’s software integrates various backup software as new microservices in less than a minute. 44 Success

The Huawei Financial Cloud solution allows users to combine their own private clouds with managed cloud services to implement unified management and service-oriented utilization of their own and third-party data assets and resources.>>

Huawei has implemented container-based I and The solution also enables the implementation P layers to implement full-process automation of financial IT infrastructure platforms that sup- of IBM WebSphere® Application Server (WAS) port smooth evolution based on IaaS and PaaS Apps across regions and data centers, improving resources provided by private clouds. Huawei’s IT resource utilization and service agility. By solution includes reliable hardware, a cloud introducing distributed Server Load Balancers operating system, cloud management platform, (SLBs) that support the gray release function, and PaaS platform. At the same time, the solu- Huawei has achieved access for global routes. tion’s open-source architectures and standard Application Program Interfaces (APIs) support Unified Asset and Resource Management third-party PaaS and are compatible with native The Huawei Financial Cloud solution uses a cloud standard northbound and southbound interfaces. platform architecture to manage self-help service Thanks to ecosystem-friendly features, Huawei’s directories and resource pools for web and App solution has attracted contributions and support resources, transaction data, Big Data analytics, from more than 150 financial software vendors and virtual desktop infrastructure. The solution globally, including India’s Infosys, France’s allows users to combine their own private clouds Sopra Banking Software, and China’s Yucheng with managed cloud services to implement uni- Technologies and ChinaSoft International. These fied management and service-oriented utilization firms collaborate with Huawei to develop innova- of their own and third-party data assets and tive applications and provide leading solutions to resources. over 300 financial customers worldwide.▲ 45 Success

A Small, Smart City with Big Plans Jarrett Potts | By Jarrett Potts, Worldwide Director of Sales and Marketing, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

In cooperation elsenkirchen, a city in northwest Germany, has big plans to increase the quality of life for its citizens. with GELSEN- First, it worked to improve air quality as required in Germany’s 1991 Renewable Energy Sources NET and Huawei, G Act. Widely known for massive coal production — and smoggy skies — since the beginning of the the city of Industrial Revolution, the city now focuses on ‘green energy’ to improve the climate and help Germany lead Gelsenkirchen, the world in the production of renewable energy. Today, Germany’s largest solar power plant is located in Germany Gelsenkirchen, and two wind energy plants recently started producing CO2-free electricity. This technology is developed a also creating new jobs. model ‘Safe City’ solution. >> But the city wanted more for its citizens: A city- security mechanisms, and is supported by proprietary wide security platform that would unite local chipsets and source code. businesses, city officials, and law enforcement to GELSEN-NET, founded in 1983 as a regional maximize safety, minimize theft and other crimes, German phone service provider, today offers the and provide future city services. They also wanted to latest ICT services to over 72,000 residential and set an example for all other cities in Germany to use business customers. Recently, the company added digital technology in innovative ways. extensive cloud services to its IT offerings, providing local businesses with external hosting, access to scal- Vision for a ‘Smart City’ able storage, and cloud-based disaster recovery. To do this, Gelsenkirchen had to think big: What did Fast, open exchange of data is key to building they want their city to be like in the future, and how better cities, so Huawei and GELSEN-NET worked would they achieve this vision? They also needed to together to provide a secure cloud data center based figure out how to deal with their existing infrastruc- on an open architecture. They also developed open, ture. customer-centric solutions and built a sustainable Authorities in Gelsenkirchen realized that ICT ecosystem. The cloud data center integrates Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and shares city information resources to improve is changing the way we live and cities operate. The government service efficiency and decision-making city needed a comprehensive system featuring top- accuracy. level design, integration, operations, service applica- tions, and a new ICT infrastructure. Gelsenkirchen Smart City Features wanted to converge key data from city operations and With Huawei’s wired and wireless broadband net- management systems so managers could intelligently works and the Internet of Things (IoT), ubiquitous respond to a variety of governance, livelihood, and broadband coverage places services at the public’s business needs. fingertips. Gelsenkirchen decided to partner with Huawei and The Huawei and GELSEN-NET IoT network a regional technology services provider, GELSEN- accommodates data services for new industry ap- NET, to implement the country’s first Safe City plications with a lightweight IoT operating system, solution. LiteOS, and a wide range of access gateways. Huawei is also a major contributor to Narrowband Huawei and GELSEN-NET IoT (NB-IoT) standards organizations and brings Huawei’s Smart City solution incorporates cloud, net- those advances to bear on its Safe City infrastructure. work, and platform technologies, along with robust The two companies provided the town with an ICT security. The solution is safeguarded with physical, capability disclosure platform for encapsulated, pack- network, host, virtualization, application, and data aged ICT capabilities that enable developers from 46 Success

Developments in Gelsenkirchen are perfect examples of what the other cities in Germany are any third-party company to make open interfaces future-oriented, networked city,” said Thomas aspiring to provide. and develop integrated Smart City service ap- Dettenberg, CEO, GELSEN-NET. A large, free-of- The Gelsenkirchen plications. A Big Data support platform was also charge Wi-Fi hotspot area covers two kilometers of solution helps provided in order to share historical and real-time the Bahnhofstrasse, Gelsenkirchen’s main street. improve the everyday city data with all agencies. This innovation won the city of Gelsenkirchen the life of citizens and An application enablement platform combines 2016 Smart City Award from Huawei. businesses in the city Huawei applications (Big Data analysis, secu- Developments in Gelsenkirchen are perfect and could be used in rity management, and video processing) with examples of what the other cities in Germany are any city worldwide. >> third-party applications, such as a Geographic aspiring to provide. The Gelsenkirchen solution Information System (GIS), public services, uni- helps improve the everyday life of citizens and fied identification, and Single Sign-On (SSO). businesses in the city and could be used in any The result is a faster exchange of data resources, city worldwide. Huawei and GELSEN-NET offer new software, and improved Operations and innovative solutions for Smart City applications Maintenance (O&M) for Smart City applications. that include free-of-charge Wi-Fi access in public spaces, Internet access on buses, and better The New Gelsenkirchen coordination between security and emergency An extensive 13,000-kilometer, fiber-optic cable agencies. network connects all industrial parks, hospitals, “Huawei has developed one of the most and schools as part of the Gelsenkirchen Smart advanced Smart City solutions in Germany,” City solution. Some 40,000 customers use exist- said Hans Hallitzky, Deputy Sales Director at ing Internet service, while 50,000 users take ad- Huawei. “Using Smart City communications, vantage of the new public Wi-Fi. Comprehensive Gelsenkirchen is able to offer its citizens a Wi-Fi covers a pedestrian zone and two city wealth of new services in the Schalke 04 football centers. Free coverage is also available on stadium and the zoo. Also, the connectivity of public transport and in the city zoo — ZOOM schools plus new safety technology make life Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen — one of the most more attractive and are promoting the influx of modern zoos in Germany. new residents and companies.” GELSEN-NET also provides mobile hotspots that integrate public transport in the Smart A Promising Future for Tomorrow’s City. One example is the transport company Safest Cities Bochum-Gelsenkirchen Streetcars Corporation According to the United Nations, over 85 percent (BOGESTRA) that offers free onboard Wi-Fi of the world’s population will likely live in a city to passengers in its PowerBus. A mobile eLTE by the end of the 21st century. With such a large access point in the bus supplies passengers with number of people in these cities, governments unlimited access to the Internet via a fast broad- will struggle to provide essential services. While band connection. The technical solution for the future Smart Cities are unlikely to look much bus was developed in cooperation with Huawei. different than cities of today, they are destined to So far, 240 access points are available in the interact differently with their human inhabitants. Gelsenkirchen city zone. “We look forward to Gelsenkirchen is on the cutting edge of what any establishing Gelsenkirchen as a pioneer for a city of tomorrow could look like.▲ 47 Core Competency

Blockchains in Mobile Networks Ehud Langberg | By Ehud Langberg, Strategic Planning and Business Development, Wireless Access Department, and Sean Chen, Senior Director, Wireless Software Competence Center, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

lockchains are a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) with the potential to disrupt many industries by enabling open and trusted exchanges over the Internet without using central servers or an B independent trusted authority. Blockchains facilitate transparent, verifiable, and secure digital asset transactions with proof of rights and ownership.

Based on cryptography-driven consensus building, global network is difficult because the historical trans- blockchains use a decentralized database and peer- action data is embedded within multiple nodes. Sean Chen to-peer computing nodes to offer equal incentives for conducting transactions over a secure, trusted layer. Opportunities for Mobile Carriers In 2008, a blockchain was first used to introduce Blockchain technology offers mobile carriers superb Bitcoin, an electronic payment network, and is now opportunities to support the transformation of busi- By transporting emerging as the underlying technology to power a ness models through new network layers, which can valuable digital new ‘Internet-of-value’ paradigm. revolutionize how data integrity is verified and value assets over Each digital ledger block contains a timestamp and and rights are transmitted and/or tracked over the mobile networks a link to a previous block. Units of value go from infrastructure to subscribers. in a secure and owner A to owner B via network nodes that track Tier 1 mobile carriers are likely to create new transparent account balances. Ownership is verified through blockchain partnerships with universal digital ledgers framework, links to all previous transactions. Each node records to improve industry-wide interoperability. This will blockchains can all transactions. Authentication is achieved by con- control costs, provide wide coverage, and effectively speed the growth sensus, and trust is generated by the transparent and redefine the intermediary role of many industries. of the digital auditable flow of information. A number of blockchain projects are based on economy, deliver By storing information in multiple cryptographically concepts well aligned with the goals of specific 5G new services, validated ledger copies across a network, blockchains architectures, ranging from distributed systems and and enhance eliminate single points of failure, hacking attacks, or databases to low-latency/high-performance distributed user experiences. control by any single entity. Compromising an entire computing nodes. Adding blockchains to old and new >>

48 Core Competency

distributed systems can make operations more secure, Mobile technologies with a focus on security, encryption, and autonomous, flexible, and profitable. Network protocols networks can smart contract innovations. To compete, mobile carriers and infrastructures will need to address the network be critical in need to offer blockchain frameworks that leverage the timing requirements of blockchain-based applications, IoT, Big Data, content delivery, and digital identity. blockchain scale to support millions of nodes, and ensure that trans- Mobile carriers must look beyond simply extending success. actions are reaching all participating peers. Each trans- the connectivity of existing telecom infrastructure. The carriers action over the mobile network must be digitally signed They need to create value, authenticate digital infor- that step up to ensure authenticity. By enabling mobile network mation, and execute smart contracts that are supported will generate elements to be exchanged dynamically, blockchains can by market analytics, predictive maintenance, and the momentum encourage mobile network growth by enabling a market mass-scale automation of management applications for blockchain for access rights to other network resources. and services. Smart IoT contracts will allow the auto- integration by Mobile carriers are well positioned to offer a mation of remote IoT-based systems and facilitate the tackling new ‘blockchain-as-a-service’ ecosystem for content pro- autonomous exchange of data and value among de- use cases viders, who could store their offerings throughout the vices and virtual or physical objects over the network. to enhance mobile network and use the blockchain infrastructure For the next wave of technology, industry players the digital for access control and monetization. Smart contracts need to design a global network of computing nodes experience will protect copyrights, automate the sale of content for validating and relaying blockchain transactions. of their online, and eliminate the risk of copying and content This network must: subscribers. >> redistribution by hackers. In addition, blockchains • Allow secured nodes to join the network volun- provide for variable, demand-based pricing of con- tarily to manage the database and provide incentives tent through automated discovery to participate in the computation. • Feature speed, volume, and low latency. Keys to Adoption • Duplicate ledgers across thousands of servers and Mobile networks can be critical in blockchain success. perform regular updates and reconciliation. The carriers that step up will generate momentum for Blockchains will be integrated with Artificial blockchain integration by tackling new use cases to Intelligence (AI) and behavioral analytics, enabling enhance the digital experience of their subscribers. infrastructure providers to obtain insight from the With significant technical barriers to entry, moving transactions. blockchains beyond the proof-of-concept stage will require major industry players able to support many Blockchain Uses in Mobile Networks types of use cases over the public network to work • IoT in collaboration with private entities and government Today, IoT connections must scale up to secure bil- regulators that represent the legal systems of different lions of interactions among machines and sensors. states, provinces, and countries. This results in network slowdowns and higher costs. Service providers can offer low-cost, low-risk, Without managing microtransactions and settling blockchain-service platforms to various developers. payments, billions of daily transactions will engulf The core strategy must be the installation of new traditional financial services. infrastructure components to support the deployment The integrity of the data exchanged among billions of blockchain frameworks that are then backed by of IoT devices is ensured using blockchain’s decen- network and distributed cloud computing platforms. tralized approach. Trusted communications between Mobile carriers will own and support the backend peer-to-peer devices (distributed file sharing and blockchain that application developers can utilize to autonomous device coordination) will increase system create new trust and transaction applications. throughput and cut costs. Many large industry players are competing for Smart contracts will automate IoT devices and control in the IoT space, investing in blockchain objects, and guarantee secured access to trusted IoT 49 Core Competency

Blockchains data. Each blockchain can be addressed directly to cryptocurrency, zero-factor authentication, application can assist in 5G allow for registration and control. fault tolerance, consensus network protocols, Peer- wireless access • Smart City to-Peer (P2P) autonomous protocols, and private and Blockchains enable transparent, safe, and reliable public smart contract frameworks. technology transaction infrastructures that speed up digital services deployments • 5G Service Enablement by connecting trusted peers with municipal stakeholders. In place of the current and aging cellular system, a by providing Smart contracts will make value-added services blockchain framework will assist a new generation of seamless more secure, private, autonomous, and anonymous; distributed wireless networks by allowing seamless access across a they will increase efficiency and resource sharing. provisioning between heterogeneous access nodes and diverse number Open data and verifiable integrity allow multiple devices. With blockchains, provisions and agreements of networks to parties levels of transparency that simplify joint op- between access nodes, networks, and subscribers devices and erations and maintenance with increased and unifying are negotiated on-the-fly as digital smart contracts. IoT endpoints. trust. Further, the marketplace can now decide new Any device can negotiate the best service, and the Improved city services monetization. carrier can dynamically adjust the code in the smart internal For enhanced protection against cyber attacks and contract in any network node. This permits seamless processes, such fraud, blockchains help authenticate device identity, services and new charging and business models among as OSS and BSS, protect sensory data used in transportation, and man- networks, providers, and 5G access nodes. Blockchain- will reduce costs age access to city facilities. enabled mobile services can be adapted to location and and increase Smart City-driven shared economies will include subscriber needs, and adjusted to supply and demand. competitiveness. collaborative ownership and maximize urban asset Blockchains can assist in 5G wireless access tech- >> uses. For instance, blockchains can record solar nology deployments by providing seamless access energy production for purchasing excess renewable across a diverse number of networks to devices and energy credits. Electricity can be generated locally IoT endpoints. Improved internal processes, such as and transferred to neighbors or by selling back to the Operational Support Systems (OSS) and Business grid. Support Systems (BSS), will reduce costs and in- Linking smart contracts with IoT applications will crease competitiveness. further increase new service launches. Smart devices Networks will be flattened and latency reduced by and real-time data will help users make choices that delegating OSS and BSS functions to the edge using facilitate: distributed P2P negotiation. • Autonomous negotiations between car sensors • Content Distribution and traffic data for charging fees instantly to driver For large content delivery providers such as Netflix, accounts. placing secured content closer to users via a platform • Reduced carbon footprints by taxing cars for pol- running on blockchain technology will let creators lution and other metrics. upload content and transfer it ‘similarly to Bitcoin.’ • Monitoring environmental conditions and generat- This would create an open marketplace for content ing data for sale. trading and consumption by all with access. Privacy • Reduced insurance rates based on authenticated tools will enable users to manage and resell data to maintenance and safety records. which they have acquired rights. • Discovery and data mining across devices for Content providers can decide on the specifics of cryptographically protected automated neighborhood applying digital rights management to their assets. surveys. Also, decentralized storage protects against hacking 5G architecture and IoT connectivity are primary or lost data, accelerates data transfer, and minimizes Smart City initiatives, allowing mobile carriers streaming time. to supply blockchain solutions based on wireless • Integrity Protection infrastructure. Other critical innovations may include: Two shortcomings of traditional public key cryptogra- 50 Core Competency

phy are the possible compromise of private secure, auditable transactions. Furthermore, newcomers with cutting-edge keys and the expense of signature verifica- • Mobile money: This currency relies on blockchain technologies are addressing tion. Blockchain-based Keyless Signature blockchain. verticals like transportation (LaZooz), Infrastructures (KSIs) deliver scalable, • Recordkeeping: This step can protect social networking (Synereo), and cloud signature-based authentication of digital public records from fraud. storage (Storj.io). data. KSIs are fast, efficient, and scalable. • Cloud Computing Blockchains and Beyond Corporate Interest A decentralized mobile cloud solution can Blockchains can transform the digital Blockchain’s potential is being explored permit users to allocate portions of their economy and enable organizations to meet by new startups in partnership with large processing assets. This allows cloud ap- their goals for open and trusted exchanges institutions to offer a range of applications plications to be protected and encrypted. over mobile networks. Mobile operators — including digital rights, trading plat- • Dynamic Sharing can leverage the development of 5G and forms, and alternative digital currencies. Blockchain’s dynamic sharing functions blockchain technologies to deliver a broad Anticipating a growing demand for such offer: range of new services. Verizon is the first products and services, U.S. venture capital • Simplified authentication: Open stan- U.S. operator to provide access rights to funding has increased from USD 1 million dard authorization protocols can be applied digital content based on subscription type. in 2012 to over USD 300 million in 2016. to any or all parts of the mobile network. Rights are transferred by keys that migrate Major IT players, such as Microsoft • Billing, invoicing, and other transac- content to new users — who can define and IBM, are enabling enterprises to set tions: Blockchain cryptography protects new keys to protect the information. up blockchain infrastructures on cloud information and creates a fully recorded Recently submitted patents reveal that platforms. However, a number of blockchain transaction audit trail. Verizon has experimented with blockchain adoption barriers must be overcome, and • Roaming connection management: technology as a digital rights management proven solutions will take time. This leaves This method manages roaming connections platform for sensitive data storage. room for vendors such as Huawei to provide globally. A second wave of blockchain advances solutions based on 5G infrastructures.▲ • Shared network infrastructure and spec- is from the open source community. These trum: Network carriers can dynamically innovations are leading to new ventures, Contributions from Debashis Bhattacharya, transfer infrastructure elements among such as Swarm and Enigma, and other Director, Platform Software, and Zhibi themselves or other parties on demand via decentralized platforms and applications. Wang, Senior Engineer

Link: Blockchains, Smart Contracts, and the Shared Economy

Anything of value moved over the network can be recorded and validated by a blockchain ledger, including digital content and the electronic tracking of physical goods and services. From a user perspective, blockchains can have the appearance of an advanced distributed operating system. Smart contract software that runs on the blockchain layer is executed by the entire network. At its core is a common ruleset that is evaluated autonomously to agree upon common standards. Many people expect 2017 to be a breakout year for increased use of smart contracts. These contracts can change how digital transactions are handled by creating a more collaborative economy, improving the efficiency of how value is exchanged across physical and cultural boundaries, and executing complex multi-party agreements. Existing enterprises that embrace blockchain technology will be well positioned to provide customized and transparent transaction-validation services. Blockchain may have a big impact on the ‘shared economy’ concept as users will be able to reach and record transaction agreements without a controlling authority. Service suppliers could collaborate and deliver more value directly to customers by bypassing service aggregators and intermediaries.

51 Hands-On Technology

A Maturing ‘Power IoT’ Market Chen Cailin | By Chen Cailin, General Director, Energy Solutions, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.

As the ower Internet of Things (IoT)’ is a networked system that uses new Information and momentum of Communications Technology (ICT) and sensor innovations to sense, characterize, connect, and ICT continues ‘P manage the status of grid infrastructures — including individual customer and environmental to impact the effects. Power IoT integrates information-sensing devices and communications networks to form physical electric power entities capable of self-identification, proactive sensing, and intelligent processing. Through collaboration and industry, the interaction between intelligent endpoints, related objects are being built to provide real-time and near real- ‘Power Internet time control-related information. The result is a smarter, more reliable, and more easily maintained electricity of Things’ will production and consumption system. reshape future smart grids Power IoT Ecosystem Advances • Gateways: Converged Access Becomes the Norm by enabling The rapid rise in distributed energy sources has acceler- Rapid progress in ICT, sensor, and control innova- bidirectional ated a need for the electric power industry to integrate tions has raised the requirements for front-end signal communications ICT into its technical systems. The future markets for processing. This change is the result of improvements between power consumption will be stimulated by converg- in the integration between sensors and controllers, and generation and ing the roles of electricity producers and consumers. has improved the compatibility across multiple data transmission Undoubtedly, Power IoT will contribute to all aspects transmission methods. The improved compatibility facilities, of modernizing smart grids. These advances will update illustrates the continuing industry-wide effort to com- information the entire ecosystem by merging the metering systems bine information processing with intelligent feedback. systems, for electricity, water, gas, air conditioning, and heat. In this context, the communications gateways that and end-user Transmission loads will be automatically monitored and support multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) services. >> adjusted based on line status and demand. Smart power have become the best choice for processing front-end distribution and consumption applications will permit signals, and the further convergence of related tech- connections with new energy sources and fundamentally nologies is the leading trend for future development. alter the business of selling electricity. Smart, converged gateways are understood to be • Terminals: More Availability of Products and the platforms for various sectors of the electricity Solutions generation industry to consolidate the communica- Grid companies worldwide are exploring how Power tions interfaces and access protocols for delivering IoT applications will become part of their plans to end-to-end systems and services. Multi-RAT gate- construct converged smart grids and communications. ways support custom applications over a diverse area, The State Grid Corporation of China has carried out including security monitoring, production control, such experiments. In one example, a smart commu- user interaction, and asset management. Augmented nity program has conducted a trial that uses a ‘smart reality technologies that assist production control, socket + wireless networking’ method for managing remote inspection, and maintenance are becoming the power consumption of household appliances. popular for comprehensive monitoring of transmis- Another example uses real-time monitoring via self- sion lines and substation environments. Converged organizing wireless network technology in high volt- gateways support user interactions through Advanced age substations to deactivate faulty equipment due to Metering Infrastructures (AMIs). Improved asset changes in environmental conditions. Further, broad- management tools use converged gateways for full band carrier chips developed by Huawei’s HiSilicon lifecycle equipment management and warehouse semiconductor subsidiary are specially designed to supervision activities. Thanks to these enhancements, handle the complicated environmental conditions for converged gateways will become a primary feature of transmitting data over high-voltage power circuits. Power IoT. 52 Hands-On Technology

As ICT, sensor, and energy storage expansion continues to shape the future of Power IoT, industry standardization is puting and Big Data analytics, power com- • Communications: No Unified creating a solid foundation for panies have insight into vast data collections Standards on the Horizon — Yet the healthy development of the Several communications technologies sourced in real time from intelligent terminals entire ecosystem. >> are available for the IoT, including IPv6 throughout their grid monitoring systems. + MESH, Long Range (LoRa), and Big Data analytics are combined with power Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT). Faced with an system models to diagnose, optimize, and evolving range of technologies, decision predict the operating status of transmission makers must choose the most suitable grids to ensure security reliability, and the of resources while providing advantages resources for their Power IoT installations. most economical grid operations. to members of the industry chain. The net Although vendors are stepping up their ICT advances are empowering electricity effect is acceleration in the overall growth R&D efforts and delivering products on an distribution companies to explore the full of the Power IoT ecosystem. increasingly large scale, no technology is market potential of collected Big Data. capable of fulfilling all industry require- There are estimates that the global market Advancing the ICT Industry with ments. The NB-IoT technologies that uti- for Big Data-based electricity management Power IoT lize licensed frequencies versus the LoRa systems will reach USD 3.8 billion by Smart grids are a powerful driver for the products that operate over non-licensed 2020. As a result, companies engaged in further development of the IoT industry. The frequencies is one such example of the electricity data collection, management, positive results of innovation are having an strength of the Power IoT network-layer and analytics expect unprecedented devel- impact on the long-term planning goals in the market. Both NB-IoT and LoRa solutions opment opportunities. areas of industrial manufacturing, production are expected to co-exist. operations, and the details of everyday life. • Applications: The Trend of New ICT Accelerating Technology Looking ahead, disruptive cloud comput- Power companies are integrating cloud Standardization for Power IoT ing and Big Data technologies based on computing into their power systems to The process of defining international converged communications gateways with ensure reliability, visualize scheduling standards for Power IoT technology is edge computing will see widespread use. and maintenance, and improve internal gaining momentum. The NB-IoT standards For medium- and high-voltage power networks. By combining cloud comput- established in June 2016 have created a systems, the digitalization of substations, ing with Big Data analytics on smart foundation for large-scale commercial transmission lines, and switching networks grids, power companies are optimizing deployments. This means that 2017 is an- will continue to generate vast quantities the processes of data collection, storage, ticipated to be ‘Year One’ for commercial of data that call for the deployment of and transmission of power system status NB-IoT networks. Additionally, Huawei’s more reliable industrial communications during power generation, distribution, and broadband data over power line technology technologies that will be based on Ethernet consumption. ICT platforms are critical to was officially certified as IEEE P1901.1 over optical and wireless circuits. fulfilling business goals that rely on intelli- compliant in September 2016. As ICT, sensor, and energy storage gent data collection, automated production, Power IoT standardization is receiving expansion continues to shape the future of and information-enabled management. particular attention from countries and Power IoT, industry standardization is cre- For example, power companies are us- organizations that wish to see greater ating a solid foundation for the healthy de- ing the intelligent cloud to divide the huge cooperation across the IoT industry as a velopment of the entire ecosystem. Going computing loads of their power systems into whole. These efforts are promoting the forward, Huawei will maintain cooperation smaller blocks. Multiple servers are process- interweaving of R&D and the definition of with its partners and customers to promote ing large quantities of information in the standards throughout the Power IoT indus- innovations in Power IoT with advances shortest possible time. By using cloud com- try by focusing on the improved utilization that add value throughout the industry. ▲ 53 Analyst Corner

Three Steps to Digital Transformation Wu Qi | By Wu Qi, Deputy Geographic Unit and Country Managing Director; Qiu Jing, Research Manager, Accenture Institute for High Performance; and Yu Jing, Research Specialist; Accenture Greater China

s the global economy enters a ‘new normal,’ countries must urgently find new means of growth, for which digitalization is an extremely effective new driver. In China, for instance, it is estimated that A by 2020, digitalization will generate 3.7 percent growth for the Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Such an impressive scale of growth is expected to a lesser extent in other developed economies, including the U.S., U.K., and , as well as developing economies like Brazil.

Despite the alluring prospect offered by digitaliza- digitalization, enterprises must take a three-step ap- Qiu Jing tion, companies seem to hesitate before investing in proach to planning digital transformation. this gold mine. In an survey of global companies in 32 countries, Chinese CEOs ranked only 26th in terms of Step 1: Develop Objectives their enthusiasm to invest further in IT. Have a clear understanding of the necessity and objec- tives of digitalization. In this stage, company leaders Hindering the Pace of Digital Transformation need to conduct a comprehensive analysis of many ‘Not knowing what to do’ is the biggest problem men- factors, including the development trends of technolo- tioned by these business leaders. Of the enterprises gies, industries, and consumption, and then define the that are ‘crossing the river by feeling the stones’ or re- company’s optimal objectives for digitalization. forming step by step, some just perceive digitalization One major objective is to enhance operational ef- Yu Jing as a simple technical project that is of interest to them ficiency; another is to increase revenues. The former when they try to introduce information technologies focuses on the use of digital technologies to optimize to improve the control of production processes. Some processes and improve business agility. The latter companies even take a simplistic view that equates emphasizes digital technologies to build new sources To seize the digitalization with the construction of online business of revenues; for example, using new technologies to enormous channels and eCommerce. improve the consumer experience and develop new potential of Such an unexamined start often ends well below pricing modes. As an example, Walmart established a digitalization, the expected return, which, consequently, discour- goal of creating digital campaigns to improve market- enterprises ages businesses from making continuous investments ing accuracy. The U.S. retailer set up a new search must carry out in digitalization. To seize the enormous potential of engine based on innovation and algorithm optimiza- meticulous planning and effective Global ranking of enterprises planning to increase IT investments (32 countries over the next 12 months) implementation, and begin their journey into digital ἲ1 90% transformation guided by a three- ἲ26 China 52% step approach. >>

ἲ32 Morocco 34%

0 20 40 60 80 100 Source: Accenture Analysis

Global ranking of enthusiasm for IT investment 54 Analyst Corner

tion that enables the company to push the To sustain operations of its suppliers, downstream distributors, and most relevant merchandise to consumers digital business models, others. Participants in this enterprise eco- by analyzing their search history and social a truly digitized company system actively work together in different patterns. This search engine has brought a ways to provide products or services col- needs a corporate culture that 10 to 15 percent increase in trading volume lectively that will cost-effectively deliver encourages faster adaptation for Walmart. the best user experiences. to change, higher levels of To sustain operations of its digital busi- collaborative cooperation, ness models, a truly digitized company Step 2: Take Initiatives and a stronger willingness to Once enterprises have defined clear objec- needs a corporate culture that encour- accept risks.>> tives, they must start a more profound ages faster adaptation to change, higher process of internal evolution in which they levels of collaborative cooperation, and a will undergo changes from mindsets to stronger willingness to accept risks. First, capabilities. user experiences that are closely related to companies must form a collaborative Companies need to increase their company- the personalized needs of their customers. atmosphere within teams that encourage wide recognition of the significance of For example, a Japanese convenience chain parties to resolve problems more quickly digital transformation and establish a ‘digi- collected and analyzed data from 40 mil- and, second, encourage innovative ways to tal way of thinking’ to help make changes. lion loyal customers around the world to approach work that form new sets of em- These include a mindset change from self- optimize its marketing investment programs ployee behaviors. (GE), as sufficiency to open cooperation for estab- and improve shelf space allocation and utili- an example, released Predix, an operating lishing competitive advantages; a switch zation. This initiative brought a net profit of system for the IIoT, to attract more talented from linear development to rapid testing in USD 1.24 million (CNY 8.5 million) from people to participate in the development of terms of product design and development an annual revenue growth of more than USD IIoT programs. In 2015, more than 4,000 (a modification from machine replace- 125 million (CNY 858.5 million). engineers developed over 500,000 software ment of human beings to human-machine programs and applications on this platform. cooperation); and a shift from compulsory Step 3: Maximize Results compliance to proactive pursuit to support Eventually, enterprises must associate Empowering Enterprise information security. their digital transformation initiatives with Digitalization It is a given that new digital technolo- sustainable digital business models, as well As enterprises continue to undergo a gies will keep emerging, so companies as operating models that will support the profound digital revolution, they must be must make informed decisions on creating successful operation of these models. aware that digital transformation cannot digital businesses and winning over digital To establish a sustainable business mod- be achieved overnight and that they have consumers. el, companies have to identify and integrate to implement systematic, long-term plan- To develop into digital businesses, en- digital resources within the ecosystem to ning, a clear definition of their objectives terprises should make use of the Industrial provide customers with differentiated value for digital transformation, and effective Internet of Things (IIoT), Artificial propositions. For example, consumers want implementation. Specifically, enterprises Intelligence (AI), agile innovation, and to enjoy the most cutting-edge product need to enhance the recognition of digital other digital technologies to upgrade their features within a reasonable price range transformation from within their organiza- operations so they can improve their inter- for the best user experience. Therefore, tion and encourage digital thinking and nal operating efficiency. successful digitized companies need to capabilities. To win digital consumers, enterprises identify the best resources in their own Digital transformation must become need to get rid of the long-accepted, con- value chain and integrate them into their the top priority of each enterprise. Those ventional, product-driven development asset allocation systems. In this context, companies that quickly leverage the power approach. Companies must truly understand profit maximization is no longer the goal of digitalization will become the most vital customers’ explicit and implicit demands so of a single company but the goal of a group and competitive businesses within their they will be able to provide solutions and in the value chain — consumers, upstream respective markets.▲ 55 Last Word

Open Source Powers the Global Economy Jim Zemlin | By Jim Zemlin, Executive Director, Linux Foundation

No single n an incredibly short time, Huawei has transformed from one of the world’s largest equipment makers to company has one of the largest ICT software solutions companies. How was Huawei able to achieve this so quickly? the resources to I The answer lies in one key insight: In a world powered by software — whether for Software-Defined create its own Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), cloud computing, or the Internet of Things (IoT) software, get it to — there is simply too much software to be developed. market in time, and still compete. The Linux Foundation is working with thousands million open source contributors have created 31 The result is of organizations, including Huawei, to build the billion lines of code across a wide variety of publicly that top global greatest shared technology asset in the history of the available repositories. Billions of dollars have been technology world. The Linux platform — worth billions of dol- and continue to be invested in open technology- companies are lars — literally runs modern society. based companies. In Silicon Valley alone, investors leveraging open Linux operates the vast majority of the world’s are backing hundreds of companies, 10 of which are source software stock markets, holds the majority share in the mobile worth over a billion dollars each. This is an amazing development for device and embedded systems industries, and runs transformation — from a world where technology their future. >> virtually all high-performance computing systems. companies built everything themselves to one where By far the most successful software endeavor to date, they can no longer compete using that model. it is not just the scope of the organization but the The first generation of open source was much sim- velocity at which it continues to accelerate: Each day, pler: to create free alternatives of existing proprietary a Linux project adds an average of 10,800 lines of technologies. Whether operating systems (Linux) or code, subtracts 5,300 lines of code, and modifies 1,800 databases (MySQL), these free alternatives shrunk lines of code — a daily net gain of 7,300 lines of new the legacy markets. Today, however, that has all or modified code. changed. We have entered a new era of open source development. The Transformation to Open Source Open source ecosystems now make it possible Open source is here to stay. Today, more than 3.8 to open new markets and create new opportunities.

56 Last Word

Emerging ecosystems include the Hadoop Big Data open source by teaching thousands of organizations Huawei is a top frameworks as well as container cloud technolo- how to manage their intellectual property in an contributor to gies that have produced the Kubernetes and Docker industry based on software assets. The successful the open source projects. It is fair to argue that the future of all companies are those that learn how to manage movement. In cloud technology lies with open source software. open source licenses, patent commitments, and addition to the At virtually every layer of the software stack, an other aspects of sharing intellectual property while Hadoop project, open source project leads in innovation, developer protecting valuable assets. Huawei is a adoption, and pace of development. These benefits Finally, the Linux Foundation works with founding member of are found in every aspect of the ecosystem, from companies like Huawei to create training and and top contributor the lowest layers of data plane services (Open certification programs to ensure that, as the pace of to the Cloud vSwitch) to high in the management stack with open source adoption increases, developers will be Native Computing Open Orchestrator (OPEN-O). available to meet the demand. Foundation and a Huawei and China Mobile announced their top-four contributor OPEN-O project at the 2016 Mobile World A Top Contributor to Spark. >> Congress in Barcelona, Spain. At this event, China Huawei is a top contributor to the open source Mobile said their future Operational Support movement. In addition to the Hadoop project, System (OSS) will be based on three different open Huawei is a founding member of and top contribu- source JavaScript frameworks, including server- tor to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation side JavaScript, the world’s fastest-growing web and a top-four contributor to Spark, a fast, general technology platform. engine for large-scale data processing. The total effect is a form of organic innovation More than five years ago, Huawei decided to — a kind of natural selection with thousands of take open source seriously. The company created companies and tens of thousands of developers internal groups that specialize in managing open competing for who can develop the best code. The source and devised a strategy to pick the right open aim of the Linux Foundation, which hosts most of source projects for their products. Huawei integrat- these projects, is to accelerate innovation up and ed open source development into their procurement down the stack in order to create more secure and and engineering processes, enabling them to bring stable software for everyone. code in, modify it, create products, and then share The foundation is working with more than 20 of their revisions with the original open source proj- the top technology companies, including Intel and ects. This approach created a beneficial innovation Huawei, on initiatives to teach open source devel- cycle, not just within Huawei but with hundreds opers to write more secure software, perform better of other companies as well. It took considerable threat modeling and testing, and create stronger, effort in planning and training. The results have more responsible disclosure policies. More secure been effective because Huawei understands, as do code means less vulnerability when the finished all leading technology companies, that we simply software is deployed in commercial products. need too much software for any single company to develop it alone. Creating Exceptional Ecosystems As we all work together to create the greatest The Linux Foundation is organized to enable all shared technology asset in history, not only do of these open source projects to create exceptional we recognize that there is too much code to be ecosystems that accelerate scaling. The companies written in-house by any single company, we also that invest in open source projects recognize that understand that together we are smarter than any software code and intellectual property assets will one of us alone. Good companies create products, be freely available for decades to come. A core but great companies create ecosystems based on foundation activity is to speed the development of open source.▲ 57 Message

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58 Leading New ICT, The Road to Digital Transformation. ICT INSIGHTS Huawei Enterprise

03/2017 ISSUE 21

e.huawei.com

Three Steps to Digital Transformation Open Source Powers the Global Economy Page 54 >> Page 56 >>

Hand-in-Hand with the Fortune 500:

Huawei has become the enabler and preferred partner for the digital transformation of industries. Page 12

Analytics Show the Way 03/2017 ISSUE 21 Orchestrating an Ecosystem of Business Partners A Small, Smart City with Big Plans Scan for mobile reading