Industrial Automation Magazine India

Navigating Digital India Modernising IT through Sustainability

Published on : Sunday 02-06-2024

The migration to green data centres, cloud adoption, AI/ML, and IoT is vital for developing a positive impact on the environment, says Sachin Bhalla.

India has come a long way in terms of digitalisation and information technology. These two concepts have become essential in achieving India's goal of becoming the most sustainable and self-reliant society in the world. They are key to building a robust infrastructure, empowering citizens, and strengthening governance. India is expected to have nearly a billion internet users by 2025, making it one of the fastest-growing digital consumer markets thanks to its vast IT talent. However, with these advancements comes the responsibility of managing IT energy efficiency, particularly considering the significant amount of power data centres consume.

Since 2000, there has been a significant increase in energy consumption worldwide, rising from 0.5% to 1-2% in 2022. This translates to 240-500 terawatt-hours of electricity being used by data centres. The Digital India program, which was launched in 2015, includes a variety of initiatives such as DigiYatra, Aadhar, and the Aarogya Setu app. These initiatives highlight the fact that the demand for connectivity and energy consumption is set to increase twofold. It is essential to adopt more energy-efficient and sustainable technologies to reduce carbon emissions.

Accelerating digital transformation

Optimising IT infrastructure with the help of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and IoT is revolutionising industries and promoting sustainability by monitoring real-time IT energy consumption and emissions. With the help of IoT-based software, hardware, and services, businesses across various sectors can now avail proactive data monitoring and remote management capabilities and contribute towards the global initiative against climate change.

To transform our country's IT infrastructure digitally, we need to identify areas where we can improve, come up with strategies to replace technologies that do not align with environmental goals, evaluate the current IT systems, and adopt advanced methods such as cloud solutions, predictive maintenance in manufacturing, and smart grid solutions in energy management. Furthermore, AI and IoT can help us make better data-driven decisions that improve operational efficiency and time management. By modernising older systems, we can unlock the potential of a progressive IT environment that is sustainable, efficient, and resilient.

Role of disruptive technologies

Disruptive technologies play a vital role in the success of businesses of all sizes while also promoting a greener future. Cloud computing, for instance, can reduce energy emissions by 88% and companies can meet their climate action commitments with increased efficiency. Advantages such as reduced hardware waste, energy efficiency, server visualisation, and shared infrastructure make it an increasingly popular choice for better IT infrastructure. Cost reduction is also a significant benefit, as companies do not have to continuously invest in and maintain massive hardware.

By improving their digital infrastructure, businesses can benefit from advanced technologies by transferring their content and assets to the cloud and reducing their dependence on outdated systems. In India's mission towards self-reliance and digitalisation, digital technologies are a vital component for achieving environmental responsibility and success in a globally connected world.

Building a sustainable and resilient future

India is making significant progress towards digitalisation by collaborating with government agencies, industry experts, and educational institutions. The country focuses on technological advancements, research, and energy efficiency in IT to create a sustainable and resilient future. The migration to green data centres, cloud adoption, AI/ML, and IoT is vital for developing a positive impact on the environment. By monitoring real-time data, organisations can increase their digital footprint awareness and accelerate their efforts towards better energy management.

India's economic growth and efforts to combat climate change are closely related to transforming its IT infrastructure. It is crucial for the country to utilise this transformation to support local businesses and overcome challenges in innovation and employment. Companies across India have adopted green digital practices, establishing the country as a leader in the sustainable digital ecosystem.

Sachin Bhalla is the Vice President & Country GM for India & SAARC in Secure Power Division of Schneider Electric’s Energy Management Business. Sachin is responsible to lead the Business Operations for Greater India Zone of Secure Power Division, which provides complete Physical Infrastructure Solutions for Data Centres, Distributed IT environments, and Industrial applications through its industry-leading brands APC, Uniflair Cooling, President Racks, and Luminuos UPS

Filler with pix option

AVEVA launches CONNECT – a leading industrial intelligence platform, at Hannover Messe

AVEVA, a global leader in industrial software, driving digital transformation and sustainability, chose Hannover Messe to unveil CONNECT, the world’s fastest growing industrial intelligence platform providing trusted and actionable insights to decision-makers in diverse sectors. CONNECT empowers industrial leaders with a deeper understanding of their business and an intelligent digital twin that unifies insights across their industrial ecosystem to drive performance, optimise efficiency, and maximise sustainability for increased RoI. Built on the trusted software of AVEVA, CONNECT brings together applications from diverse other providers including Schneider Electric, RIB, ETAP, and other partners.

As an open and neutral digital platform spanning the entire industrial lifecycle in real time, CONNECT offers native data services, visualisation services, modeling and analytics capabilities, application development services, as well as service and usage management. Within a single experience, the platform brings together data, the digital twin, industrial artificial intelligence, and deep domain expertise. Thanks to its cloud foundation on Microsoft Azure, CONNECT also empowers industries with scalable capabilities that can unlock new levels of sustainability and efficiency.

During the press conference held at Hannover Messe, Caspar Herzberg, CEO, AVEVA declared, “The connected industrial economy will unlock the benefits of global collaboration across the industrial ecosystem. As the world’s leading industrial intelligence platform, CONNECT empowers industrial teams with a holistic understanding of the value chain and sparks real-time innovation at every level. Enhanced with analytics and AI, this unique and complete data ecosystem provides unparalleled efficiency in one frictionless environment, where teams are empowered to engineer smarter, operate better and drive profitability. “

“CONNECT is accelerating the next wave of industrial digital transformation (Industrial DX 2.0). This AI-infused platform shares and unifies relevant industrial intelligence in the cloud to drive enhanced efficiency, productivity, and sustainability for companies, their partners and customers. From streamlining workflows to real-time monitoring and control, to improving remote collaboration, and maximising the end-to-end lifecycle performance of industrials assets, CONNECT addresses the industry’s digital transformation needs” Herzberg added.

CONNECT enables industrial enterprises to make the most of their technology investment in the cloud by combining remote assets, applications from AVEVA, and 3rd-party data sources into one single, secure platform, creating a unique industrial ecosystem calibrated for game-changing innovation.

According to IDC’s 2023 Future of Industry Ecosystems global survey, the vast majority (90%) of 1288 industrial C-suite and business leaders said they planned to maintain or accelerate their investment in their unique data ecosystems. IDC’s survey spanned decision-makers across energy, construction, process manufacturing, government and other industries around the world.

ZGlobal, a California-based consulting firm, closed the gap between insight and emissions reduction using CONNECT’s cloud-based data-sharing solutions to consult and contextualise in real time insights from across their solar power ecosystem. Tangible outcomes include enhanced transparency for both companies and their partners, thousands of dollars saved, and thousands of metric tons of carbon emissions avoided—all while enabling the clean energy transition.

CONNECT, is already used by tens of thousands of active users each month. Featured products within CONNECT's near-limitless boundaries include AVEVA PI System, AVEVA Operations Control, AVEVA Unified Engineering, AVEVA Advanced Analytics, AVEVA Asset Information Management , RIB CostX, and more.

The CONNECT ecosystem is growing to include new and exciting partnerships that will form the basis of a new industrial applications marketplace.

For example, AVEVA and Microsoft unify and contextualise production execution data and supply chain production planning data in Microsoft Fabric, using AVEVA’s industrial intelligence platform, CONNECT, and Microsoft Cloud for Manufacturing.

Matt Kerner, CVP Microsoft Cloud said: “CONNECT bridges the gap between operational technology and information technology. CONNECT seamlessly integrates data, enables real-time monitoring, leverages predictive analytics, and ensures cloud scalability. This solution empowers our customers to optimise processes, enhance quality, and drive efficiency.”

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