Schneider Electric, a leader in energy management, concluded its annual ‘Power to the Cloud’ conference and exhibition on a high note drawing more than 1,200 IT and government influencers from the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.

The conference and exhibition demonstrated the company’s leadership in Smart Cities under the theme ‘Building Next-Generation Mission Critical IT Infrastructure’.

Thierry Chamayou, vice president - Middle East and Africa IT Business, Schneider Electric, said: “The success of the event is yet another proof that IT growth and the urbanisation, industrialisation and digitisation of our economies are driving high energy consumption today and this growth is set to continue as global economies seek to develop further. Smart cities are definitely a solution to create sustainable cities and economies.

“To give an example, in 2010 nearly 12.5 billion devices were connected through the internet. This is forecasted to grow to 25 billion by 2015 against the global population of 7.2 billion in the same year.”

“The solution for sustainable energies is a combination of cleaner generation, greater efficiency and a smarter grid. According to the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook report in 2013, Japan and countries in Europe have introduced energy efficiency improvements in buildings,” Chamayou added.

“In the US this year, a MoU sets forth an agreement for the states to work together to help automakers sell at least 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) – plug-in electric, battery electric, and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles – by 2025. Closer to home, in the Middle East too, the mandate to mitigate energy consumption is being addressed with equal urgency.”

Speakers at the conference included executives from IBM, Intel, HP, Dell, Cisco and a host of regional and international customers. The outcome of the conference was a concurrence of opinion among the participating experts that energy efficient economies can be shaped through the convergence of IT for achieving smart city solutions.

Chamayou continued: “The efficiency economy is born from the convergence of the worlds of IT and energy to link and manage all elements of the smart grid, delivering the greenest energy at the cheapest price and the desired time.

“At Schneider Electric, we believe it is time to save, integrate facilities and use decentralised generators to reduce the energy consumed, as well as the cost per kWh and operating expenditure for driving a self-sufficient, net-positive mindset. It is also time to connect by accessing smart, real time data and information, optimise and deliver across integrated systems through open platforms. Schneider Electric plays an important role in connecting people, points and devices to enable insight and action for a sustainable future.”

The exhibition held alongside the conference, at the Atlantis – The Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, spanned 1,400 sq m and showcased simulated environments of a hotel, telco, bank, hospital, university, EV station and datacenter.

The 2014 edition of the event is planned to be bigger and better aiming to keep the industry updated on the latest technologies in sustainable energy and power management. – TradeArabia News Service