KONE signs multi-year agreement with IBM to provide cloud-based Internet of Things services

NEW DELHI: IBM said it has signed a multi-year agreement with elevator and escalator maker KONE, under which KONE will use IBM’s supercomputer Watson’s IoT Cloud Platform to connect, remotely monitor and optimize its management of millions of escalators, doors and turnstiles in buildings and cities worldwide.

”Our partnership with IBM is exciting and it is an important stepping stone to deliver the best People Flow experience,” said Henrik Ehrnrooth, President & CEO of KONE Corporation. ”We operate in a connected world and by working with IBM, new solutions like remote diagnostics and predictability means we will deliver even better services to our customers, and great experiences for the people who use our equipment," he added.

Watson, which uses cognitive technology, has the ability to store information and learn from its mistakes, much the same way as humans do. It shot to fame in 2011 when it beat the top contestants on the American game show “Jeopardy”, which involves contestants framing the question for a general knowledge clue provided in answer form.

KONE plans to allow a vast developer ecosystem via application programming interfaces (APIs) to build new applications. For example, community-based systems could help people pre-order elevators during the busiest times of the day or speed up evacuations during emergencies.

“Efficient, people-centric cities and buildings are better for business, societies and economies. Central to this is how people move around within them and intelligent systems are poised to make their experience more convenient, intuitive and enjoyable,” said Chris O’Connor, General Manager, Offerings, IBM Watson IoT.

IBM is betting big on Watson worldwide and in India, and Stephen Gold, CMO of the Watson Group at IBM, told ET earlier this month that it was growing faster than what IBM had estimated.