Insights from China’s ‘AIoT’ Wave for the Middle East’s Power & Utilities Sector

Looking ahead to the coming decade, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies are emerging as harbingers to revolutionize the way our connected societies live, work, and play.

I recently had the privilege to observe this next wave of pioneering innovations in action during a technology tour to Beijing, China, organized by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). I was privy to a raft of formative ideas in the “AIoT” space that got me thinking: Is the Middle East Power & Utilities sector ready to embrace the next chapter in synergized AI and IoT innovation? Furthermore, does this technology hold the power to drive the region’s shift towards knowledge-driven sectors and Energy Transition objectives?

I was impressed by the edge that China is gaining in this burgeoning AIoT space. Besides China, the US is also playing a big part in the quest for worldwide AIoT dominance. However, it’s interesting to note that Chinese technology companies are creating a virtuous loop in Technology, People, and Applications.

Here are some key observations:

Intuitive, Human-like AI

New AI chips (Edge computing) under development in China are emulating human brain mechanisms and cognitive functions. These new AI chips are set to mitigate the need for 11001001 binary architecture, instead enabling AI the ability to apply natively intuitive decision-making capabilities such as distinguishing between ‘cat or dog,’ ‘left or right,’ ‘accelerate or brake,’ or ‘anomaly detected.’

Moreover, the energy consumption of these AI chips is small compared to current ones. This projects an interesting picture for real-world applications where battery-enabled devices could be sufficiently powered to operate autonomously for years without human intervention. In addition to this, hardware and software will synergically evolve. According to emerging studies, in 10 years, a $1,000 computer is expected to have the same computational power of a human brain. These developments paint a promising picture of how AI chips could be incorporated into real-world use cases.

Tapping into Human Talent

In Beijing, there is a single district in which almost 200,000 highly skilled professionals are working on AI developments every day. This district is home to a series of major AI labs and hi-tech companies that are forming an epicenter for developing an AI industry, as part of the country’s wider technology-driven agenda. Talent acquisition plays a significant role in this district, with highly skilled employees joining from a variety of industries. Gender inclusivity is also making a major impact in boosting this vast talent pool of knowledge workers, with many women working their way to the top of leading organizations. Another key observation of this talented set of AI workers is that they are incredibly hard-working, humble, and eager to learn as much as possible to enrich their country’s future AI product and service offerings.

Synergized ‘AIoT’ Ecosystems

Through the workplace synergies and AI breakthroughs on display in Beijing, AI is set to leverage IoT technology to create devices that will intuitively learn and ingest knowledge, automatically sharing it with connected network devices – i.e., the discovery of a single sensor will result in knowledge for an entire network.

This will, in time, enable developments in self-driving cars, robotization, smart and secure cities, and enhanced customer experiences. For instance, when a self-driving car comes across a potentially hazardous proposition, the engaged AI will share it with all connected cars provide warning alerts and sharing how to cope with that situation in the future. By leveraging AIoT, trillions of machines will operate in this manner individually but will learn collectively through the seamless knowledge-sharing operated by connected networks: the ultimate neurons-like compound effect.

AIoT Application and the Middle East’s Energy Transition

In the Middle East, the Power & Utilities industry has provided a metaphorical well of economic profusion.

But as the region’s leading nations look to shift away from being solely dependent on legacy infrastructures and sectors, the AIoT applications emerging from countries such as China and the US provide a promising solution for advancing Energy Transition objectives. These innovations also offer a glimpse into how the Power & Utilities industry can develop a virtuous loop of Technology, People, and Applications to achieve enhanced knowledge-based economic output.

Energy Transition is a term that relates to the capacity of a country to reduce the use of high greenhouse gasses (or GHG), impacting fuels towards renewables and other technologies, sustainably. Net exporting countries are, of course under vast pressure in this area, as they have to change their internal energy mix and at the same time, cope with tendentially reduced cash-ins from their natural resources.

Middle East countries are putting an enormous effort into strategizing and executing the Energy Transition from fossil fuels to renewables. In parallel to this, they need to retain and attract citizens, businesses, tourists, investors as well as develop smart cities and diversify economies to sustain growth, minimizing concentration risks.

Often the biggest challenge can become the greatest opportunity to accelerate and successfully deliver. As such, I believe the Middle East’s Power & Utilities industry of tomorrow could proffer greatly from applied tech breakthroughs such as AIoT ecosystems to address the above challenges and thrive in the decades ahead by:

1.     Defining real-time short/medium/long term supply and demand optimal balance (energy management)

2.     Managing multidirectional energy flows in real-time (smart grids)

3.     Predicting future system failures (AIoT)

4.     Detecting any anomalies and reacting in real-time (smart operations)

5.     Synergizing human, technology, and application value drivers (AIoT value creation)

The perfect balance of AI and IoT technology could provide the arsenal needed to achieve Energy Transition and knowledge-based breakthroughs in tomorrow’s Power & Utilities sector. Applying insights and best use cases of the new AIoT wave that is emerging from China and the US represents a significant opportunity to capitalize on new technology to address national and global agendas.

Whether it’s playing a starring role in the current megatrends to address climate change, safety and security, youth empowerment, care for the elderly, or sustainable developments; tapping into technology’s synergized capabilities will provide the next big competitive edge.

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