GE Digital held a three-day virtual User Conference this week, showcasing companies in digital transformation. The conference also featured sessions from GE Digital executives, partners, and customers.

“We have had a year of unprecedented challenges, in our personal lives, in our communities, and in our industries,” said Pat Byrne, GE Digital CEO. “The determination and commitment companies around the world have mustered is unmatched in modern business. With this conference, we are recognizing those leaders as ‘Industrial Superheroes.’”

In conjunction with the User Conference, GE Digital introduced new products, including visual intelligence for electric utilities, remote operations, and operations performance management solutions for the power generation industry, and upgrades to digital plant solutions.

“Where organizations are on their digital transformation journey varies,” said Colin Parris, GE Digital CTO in a presentation by Parris entitled, ‘The Future of Digital.’

“But all share the common goal of making our businesses smarter, leaner, and more profitable,” the 2009 BEYA winner for Professional Achievement added.  “We can create new technologies, we can build powerful solutions and scale them like never before, but if there’s no clear path to value, no clear return on investment, all we’re building are barriers. This is especially true in the world of industrial IoT, where innovation is often seen more as evolution than revolution.”

Parris discussed digital twins, a technology that GE Digital has delivered for customers through reduced operations and maintenance costs, as well as avoided downtime. He also talked about new Artificial intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) initiatives like Humble AI, Digital Ghosts, and “Twins that Talk.”

“Our 1000+ dedicated software engineers, plus 4,000 professional services, managed services, and support staff are industrial experts,” Byrne said in a statement. “This conference demonstrates our commitment to those customers, helping them navigate this changing world and take advantage of the future with Digital Transformation.”

A special Careers issue of US Black Engineer magazine recently featured  Parris, who was vice president of digital convergence at IBM when he won the BEYA in 2009.

The USBE Career special showcased Parris’ work at GE Software Research and GE Global Research as well as:

• GE people in software, analytics, and research
• GE in the Digital Industrial revolution
• Software and Systems You Need to Know for Success in the Data Economy
• Innovation and the Industrial Internet of Things at Black Colleges

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