Schneider Electric, a leader in energy management and automation, in partnership with Knowledge Oasis Muscat and the French Embassy in Oman, has launched a showcase of Smart City innovations that could enable residents and businesses to save money on their utilities.
“As Oman’s population and business sector grows, the government needs to ensure safe, reliable and efficient utilities,” said Nasser Al Malki, Acting Director General of Knowledge Oasis Muscat. “In partnership with Schneider Electric, we are digitally transforming with IoT solutions that can predict and meet energy demand and enable people to monitor and optimise their utilities usage in real-time.”
Many of Oman’s innovators participated at the event held at the Knowledge Oasis Muscat. As part of the event, the Embassy of France in Oman and French-headquartered multinational company Schneider Electric launched the Innovation Hub on Wheels.
“French companies are playing a major role in Oman’s nationwide digital transformation and economic development, with more than 500 million Euros in bilateral trade and the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) stock represents around one billion Euros,” said His Excellency Renaud Salins, Ambassador of France in Oman.
“Energy, notably renewables, transportation, logistics and utilities are a major opportunity for French companies, such as Schneider Electric, to exchange best practices and support Oman’s utilities modernisation. It is, for the Sultanate, an incredible leverage to transform the country into a more knowledge-based one.”
The Innovation Hub on Wheels showcases 17 Internet of Things use cases for Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure architecture and platform, covering the segments of building, transportation, water and waste water, oil and gas, utilities and data centres. Smart metres, remote terminal units and advanced distribution management systems can be combined to provide flexible and scalable platforms for smart utilities.
In support of the Oman Vision 2020, Oman’s utilities providers are heavily investing in the Internet of Things (IoT) innovations that can enable smart utilities. Showing the strong market opportunity, TechSci Research is predicting the GCC’s smart grids market to triple to USD 1.7 billion by 2026.
“In the face of Oman’s urbanisation, digitisation and industrialisation, utilities are modernising their technology infrastructure,” said Hanan Darwish, Cluster President, Gulf and Pakistan, Schneider Electric.
“We are working closely across Oman’s energy spectrum to drive Smart Grids and smart cities – from driving renewable energy production, to identifying leaking pipes and supporting more energy-efficient smart buildings.”
Channel partners are helping utilities providers successfully launch digital transformation projects.
“Smart Cities and smart grids can be large and complex projects that need channel partners to tie them into wider digital transformation strategies,” said Eng. Hassan Abdwani, CEO of Voltamp Energy,
Channel Partner. “Channel partners have the knowledge and experience to help simplify and accelerate Internet of Things projects and exchange training with staff to optimise their projects.”
