MARKET MOVEMENT
GE Digital and HPE sign three years regional
go to market agreement
Ali Saleh, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
for GE Digital MEA said, “This partnership will enable our most
important customers and partners in the region to begin the
journey of digital transformation in a secure environment. HPE
has the strongest partner programme among peers to manage
a partnership of this scope and scale, to bolster a secure digital
ecosystem, and reach customers quickly through an innovative
business model.”
Johannes Koch, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa
for HPE said, “This agreement for Middle East, Africa and Turkey
builds on our global partnership with GE to help our customers and
partners take advantage of the Industrial Internet of Things and
drive digital transformation across their business. The requirement
for security in both information technology and operational
technology environments, and the need to protect critical
infrastructures, makes this an ideal opportunity for our partners.”
(Left to right) Johannes Koch, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa
for HPE with Ali Saleh, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
for GE Digital MEA at the signing of the strategic partnership.
GE has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Hewlett
Packard Enterprise that will bring GE Digital’s industrial solutions
to the Middle East, Africa and Turkey. The three-year agreement
with HPE, is the first collaboration of this scale and scope in the
region, and will focus primarily on cyber security solutions in
Operational Technology, with the potential to move into other
digital solution in the future.
One of the first solutions this partnership will focus on is
OpShield from GE Digital. OpShield was created specifically to
protect critical infrastructure, drawing on years of embedded
device testing and assessments of hundreds of industrial facilities.
The solution reduces risk of cyber-related unplanned downtime;
improves asset protection from cyber-related damage; helps
safeguard protected health information; reduces risk of damage to
reputation and intellectual property theft due to cyber incidents;
and increases customers’ confidence to connect and optimise assets.
In the first year of the partnership, GE Digital Cyber Security
solutions will be distributed through the HPE Channel Partner
Network across the region, with a particular focus on the Gulf, Levant,
Northern Africa, South Africa, and Turkey. By using this existing
Partner Network with more than 1,500 partners in the region today,
HPE and GED together will bring critical digital and cyber security
solutions to industrial controls and infrastructure networks.
To enable this outreach, the HPE Partner Ready Programme will
ensure that more than 340 HPE specialists and Channel Partner
technical and sales resources will be trained and certified on GE
Digital solutions to deliver the solution on HPE storage and server
infrastructure. In addition, HPE’s own security capabilities for
information technology infrastructure will complement the solutions
provided by GE for the operational technology environment.
ArabianChain partners with Jibrel
Network to offer smart contracts
on blockchain
ArabianChain, the first company in the region to develop a public
and decentralised platform for Smart Contracts on Blockchain, has
announced it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with
Jibrel Network, the first protocol allowing traditional assets like
currencies on the blockchain. This partnership will help government
and bureaucratic processes to adopt and leverage Arabian Chain’s
innovative blockchain technology, with support from Jibrel’s
technical advisory services. With its advances in regional blockchain
technology and entrepreneurship, ArabianChain aims to transform
the way governments, businesses and people respond to blockchain
in the economy, e-services and digital transformation. Jibrel’s
technical expertise will help ArabianChain consolidate the role such
technology plays in both public and private enterprises.
Backed by its multinational, talented and experienced team,
ArabianChain has grown exponentially since its inception in
February 2017. It hopes to combine its expertise in banking,
telecommunications and other vertical business domains, with
Jibrel’s 30-plus years of experience working in financial securities
for leading management consultancies such as PWC and Deloitte.
“We recognise the immense potential blockchain has when it
comes to driving a technology-first approach and changing the region’s
economy,” said ArabianChain Founder and CEO Mohammed Alsehli.
“Having already built the infrastructure for the development
of self-executing and globally accessible smart contracts and
decentralised apps, we are delighted to enter this partnership with
Jibrel and believe it will help the region further embrace blockchain
for smart regulation and achieve its innovation agenda.”
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