The world's largest energy company, Aramco, and Nokia Bell Labs, the research arm of Nokia, have inked a non-binding agreement for R&D collaboration to support the creation of digital use cases and proof of concepts for Industry 4.0/4IR for priority industrial sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond.

 

Building on the vision of the recently launched Aramco Digital Company, this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is envisioned to accelerate digital transformation within the Kingdom, the Middle East, and North Africa (MENA) region and globally. The collaboration seeks to leverage cutting-edge research and technologies from both companies to advance digital use-cases for a diverse range of industries, including oil and gas, utilities, mining, manufacturing and logistics, as per Nokia Oyj.

 

The firms will work together on research and development, create collaborative proof-of-concept solutions, and verify technologies in real-world deployments to extend corporate industrial automation applications, unlocking new possibilities for industrial operations. 

 

Nabil Nuaim, Sr. VP of Aramco Digital & Information Technology, said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Nokia’s award-winning research arm Nokia Bell Labs. This MoU signifies a major step towards digitalizing our industries and transforming our national talent capabilities. Together, we aim to foster a culture of innovation, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in our industrial sectors during this Industry 4.0 era."

 

Thierry E. Klein, President of Bell Labs Solutions Research at Nokia, said: “This collaboration with Aramco reflects our commitment to driving innovation and jointly developing advanced industrial use cases with world-leading ecosystem partners. Together, we will accelerate the digital transformation of industries providing new technologies for a safer, more productive and more sustainable future. We look forward to co-creating ground-breaking solutions that can unlock new business opportunities for industrial operations in Saudi Arabia and globally.”