News

AWS collaborates with the University of Western Australia’s i4.0 Energy & Resources Digital Interoperability (ERDi) TestLab

Published 5/3/2021

The UWA ERDi TestLab (the Testlab) today announced Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become the principal cloud provider for the Testlab.  This collaboration between AWS, the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, and the ERDi TestLab, will enable a step change in the adoption and deployment of Industry 4.0 digital transformation within the energy and mining industries as set out by the Prime Ministers Industry 4.0 Taskforce report[1].

This collaboration will build the knowledge and capability, of Testlab member companies, to cloud-native architectures and technologies, such as auto-scaling, high performance computing, security, etc that are key to driving sustainable operational performance improvements across the value chain in an Industry 4.0 landscape.  The collaboration will also provide greater accessibility, to Testlab member companies, to current and emerging cloud technologies and the opportunities to test and validate their existing software applications within a cloud environment.  This includes but is not limited to interoperability considerations between different software applications. 

AWS will provide cloud expertise and services to Testlab member companies to guide and support their respective cloud transition journeys to develop next generation, high performance software applications for the energy and mining industries.  The mechanisms for AWS to provide cloud expertise and services will include, but are not limited to, participation in the defined Testlab projects, technical presentations and immersion days on relevant topics (e.g., IoT, AIML, data and analytics), technical support to address the specific needs of a Testlab member, supporting Proof of Concepts to test realistic data sets at scale, and deepening the understanding of the AWS Culture of Innovation and the Art of the Possible.  

“We are pleased to be the principal cloud provider for the ERDi Testlab. This collaboration represents the commitment AWS has to working with customers, partners, and community to build future industry skills and impactful solutions in Mining and Energy. We are acutely aware of the rapid technological changes occurring in the industry and believe this is a great opportunity to collaborate on the application of cloud technology to overcome today’s challenges and innovate for tomorrow. We look forward to breaking new ground together, actively contributing and growing Industry 4.0 in Western Australia.” said Sarah Bassett – Amazon Web Services Head of WA & SA.

 “We have also been involved in designing and developing some high performance, cloud native, auto-scaling software ourselves and we have found the knowledge of various concepts and skillsets required to do this well is vastly different from traditional software design and development approaches. As such, we consider it is of critical importance to help close knowledge gaps across the mining and energy sectors so that the next generation of high performance and interoperable software becomes a reality, sooner rather than later. This is where the collaboration with AWS will have great impact.” said John Kirkman – co-founder of the UWA I4.0 ERDi TestLab.

[1] https://industry.gov.au/industry/Industry-4-0/ Pages/PMs-Industry-4-0-Taskforce.aspx

If you would like to find out more about the collaboration and how you can get access to these services, please contact us and keep an eye out for further announcements and events in this space in the coming months.