GE set to unveil turbo machinery software solution for oil and gas sector

The GE Ecomagination Center in Masdar City. Delores Johnson / The National

A software solution for turbo machinery in the oil and gas sector is set to be the first technology developed at General Electric’s Saudi-based innovation centre to receive a registered patent, the US company said.

It has been designed by engineers at the Saudi GE Innovation Centre and a pilot programme will begin soon. The trial will show the capability of the innovation and its likely applications across the globe, GE said.

Research has been conducted over the years on economic growth, which has consistently highlighted patents as a key factor behind innovation because the prospect of reward induces people to invent.

GE’s facility in the Dhahran Techno Valley cluster in the Eastern Province of the kingdom opened 18 months ago and its Ecomagination Centre in Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City, a link-up with Mubadala, is now more than a year old.

“There are four conditions needed for innovation to happen,” said Nabil Habayeb, GE’s president and chief executive for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. “The first is stability in the country, it is not possible without it; then efficiency of government services such as education and health; thirdly, sustainability is important – the sustainability of the status quo and the infrastructure; lastly it is capability, whether there are people with the requisite skill sets to fill the jobs needed. Without these basic parameters innovation cannot happen.”

GE works across a number of sectors in the region including energy, aviation, health care and digital solutions. It is fostering innovation across the Middle East to drive its growth in the region, building partnerships with government institutions and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the private sector.

In Algeria, its Idea initiative will piggyback on its new production facility in the country. Through its GE Garages workshops it will train local suppliers to facilitate the production facility’s needs, bringing an 600 additional indirect jobs within the local supply chain.

“You can’t innovate on your own,” said Beth Comstock, GE’s chief marketing officer. “We have created a ventures arm that will incubate SMEs to help move into spaces GE cannot hit. We want to foster entrepreneurism.

We are not just looking for innovation to make money. We are looking for innovation that solves problems and we get that insight from our local partners which can then answer that need. While we are thinking locally, today, locally means regionally, it’s a springboard to growth.”

Other companies in the region are supporting innovation initiatives. Google will launch its innovation hub today in Ras Al Khaimah in collaboration with the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court with the facility targeting Emirati youth. Google will provide science, technlogy, engineering and maths classes aimed at promoting Stem education and career paths.

Tell us your nomination for the UAE’s top innovator by emailing [e-mail] or tweet @thenationaluae using #UAEinnovators

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