PEA, Huawei link up for innovation centre
THE Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) has partnered with Huawei Technologies (Thailand) to establish the PEA Innovation Centre, which is expected to get off the ground in the middle of next year.
The partnership is in line with PEA’s policy for developing human resources through innovation and fostering operational performance through technology. This also serves PEA’s goal of becoming “the electric utility of the future”.
PEA governor Sermsakool Klaikaew and Huawei Thailand managing director Qiang Hua yesterday jointly signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the two partners to create the centre, which will be located on the third floor of the LED Building in the PEA headquarters, in Ngamwongwan Road.
The centre will be promoted as a place for the development of innovations for the electricity industry based on advanced information and communications technology, as well as enabling PEA staff to learn related technologies and share their technological knowledge with the public.
Sermsakool said that in the initial stage the centre would focus on research and development (R&D) on the Internet of Things (IoT) and related communications systems for the power system.
IoT refers to everyday physical objects connected to the Internet and which are able to identify with other devices.
Sermsakool said the PEA would combine its rich experience in construction and operations in the electric power industry with Huawei's industry-leading ICT technologies and R&D capabilities to develop the smarter power networks required in the future.
Qiang said that the centre would become another major milestone to better serve local needs, and the company was confident that it would contribute greatly to the country’s social and economic development, in line with the government’s Thailand 4.0 policy. He said the PEA centre would become the second such innovation centre focused on electricity established by the Chinese company, after it had set up one in its home market.
Asked about the cost of the centre’s establishment, Qiang said that it was difficult to specify at this stage, as it fell under Huawei’s long-term investment view.
In September, Qiang announced that Huawei Thailand was focused on promoting the full digital transformation of 10 economic sectors in the country, including energy, as part of its contribution to nation’s shift into the Thailand 4.0 era.
The cooperation with PEA is among the initiatives that the local unit of the China’s leading ICT solution provider Huawei Technologies has been undertaking in Thailand.
In June, Huawei Thailand launched its OpenLab Bangkok at the G Tower, Rama 9 Road, that houses its new headquarters.
The lab helps Huawei’s customers and business partners in digital transformation, offering them an open platform and data-centre resources to help test solutions and speed up innovations. It is its seventh OpenLab in the world. The others are in Suzhou, China; Mexico City; Munich; Singapore; Johannesburg; and Dubai.
