132 INTERVIEW Tapping into the hive mind Bry Dillon of AVEVA explains how radical collaboration between organisations across the industrial sector could help to solve the world’s greatest challenges Leafcutter ants work as a team to cut and transport fragments of leaves to underground nests, where they cultivate fungal ‘gardens’ to provide sustenance for the full colony. Together, they use their collective strength and intelligence to overcome challenges. The industrial sector is now exploring how radical collaboration can help it to harness the power of a similar ‘hive mind’ to solve business and real-world challenges. Bry Dillon, senior vice president of partners and commercial strategy at AVEVA, explains more. Why is it crucial for partners within the industrial sector to collaborate? Businesses want to collaborate, especially if they share common goals and complementary solutions. In these cases, partnering is straightforward – both sides work together to create shared value for the customer. However, radical collaboration goes further. It encourages partnerships with potential competitors and peers, embracing a balance between cooperation and rivalry. Through radical collaboration, organisations of all types can co-develop software solutions tailored to local or global needs. This kind of joined-up intelligence is essential for reimagining how we address some of the world’s most pressing sustainability goals. Working openly and collaboratively helps us tackle universal challenges, like resource management and global carbon emissions, on a faster and more efficient timeline. What is radical collaboration and what are the key benefits? Radical collaboration involves securely sharing data with partners, vendors, government bodies and customers to accelerate innovation. For example, oil and gas companies, which are usually fierce competitors, have collaborated on initiatives like the Offshore Safety Data Sharing Programme, where they pool data on safety incidents and near misses. By analysing this combined data set, companies can identify patterns, reduce accidents and enhance safety standards for the entire industry. We should universally embrace this approach, even if it challenges the status quo. Innovation thrives when diverse minds – and data sets – come together. Major breakthroughs often stem from building on each other’s ideas. For example, the collective hive mind can support innovations in cost reduction and operational efficiencies, as well as improved industry practices and increased sustainability. The more we collaborate, the greater our capacity for true innovation. How can the CONNECT platform and ecosystem help with radical collaboration? AVEVA supports industrial customers throughout the entire asset lifecycle – from design and build to operation and optimisation. This unique market position enables us to support the unlocking and extending of data across all phases for partners, vendors and customers. CONNECT, our open industrial intelligence platform, aims to foster sustainability and efficiency. We’re committed to offering endto-end solutions – leveraging artificial intelligence, distributed computing and data analytics – to help companies tackle previously unsolvable problems. BY REBECCA GIBSON “ Innovation thrives when diverse minds – and data sets – come together”
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