Hanane Pelissier, Head of Procurement and Financial Control at Telehouse France on growing their global service provision.
Shares her experience championing women while working in the startup, tech and luxury industries.
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Greetings! My name is Ben and I’m taking the reins as Senior Editor here at Digital Innovation and its sister magazine CHAIN.
Before introducing myself, the team at iThink Media and I would like to thank Anna McMahon for her five fantastic years at the helm – we wish you all the best with your future endeavours.
So, who’s the new guy?
I trained as a historian but sidestepped into commercial content and then the news media industry. Along the way, I’ve had the chance to work on some incredible projects from a commemorative book for the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee to building the world’s first voicesearchable newspaper archive with Google.
I’m thrilled to be here and hit the ground running with a fantastic magazine.
In this April edition, we have interviews with Hanane Pelissier from Telehouse who discusses how their procurement strategy is an enabler for business success (p6), Martin Hell from Wrist Ship Supply tells us about their new framework for rapidly developing digital services (p38) and Ohad Elzur shares insights into A.S. Watson Group’s strategy to enhance the offline plus online customer experience (p64).
Our features this April include seven factors you must consider in the tech selection process (p28), the top digital payment trends for 2023 (p80), renewable energy news from Poland (p90) and I sit down to chat with Maria von Scheel-Plessen, a senior executive in the luxury industry, about female leadership and authenticity (p52).
A huge thanks to all involved in making my first edition of Digital Innovation such a pleasure to coordinate – please enjoy.
A.S. Watson’s innovative solutions enhancing customer experience
80
What’s in store for digital payments in 2023?
Head of Procurement and Financial Control at Telehouse France discusses how procurement strategy, digitalisation, environmental awareness and security form the core of their global service provision and growth.
t is owned by KDDI, a Japanese Fortune 500 company which is one of the top ten telecommunications companies in the world. Telehouse has more than 45 data centres in over 24 cities – including such key locations as London, Frankfurt, Paris and Marseilles.
Representing Telehouse France, a subsidiary of Telehouse Europe,
and here to tell us more about the company’s procurement, technological, environmental and security strategies is Hanane Pelissier, their Head of Procurement and Financial Control.
With more than 16 years of experience in the industry, Hanane is a procurement and financial management expert. She specialises in project organisation
and management, performance monitoring and improvement, transformation and change management. Recognised for her emotional intelligence, rigour, leadership and agility she is a business partner and a growth enabler at Telehouse who steers the organisation's trajectory with engaging leadership while developing a growth strategy that combines economic performance, resilience and sustainable development.
When asked to describe the company’s services, Hanane says, “Telehouse France is a leading provider of data centre services in France. We operate five carrier-neutral data centres, offering a wide range of services designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes looking for secure, reliable, resilient and scalable data centre solutions.”
Telehouse offers a different range of colocation options including
Shared Facilities Management (SFM), from half-rack to full modules, which has been developed for clients with space requirements that are likely to change over time. They also offer Dedicated Facilities Management (DFM). Dedicated suites provide the confidentiality and security required for certain critical activities. All of their facilities are equipped with state-of-the-art security systems including biometric access control, CCTV surveillance and 24/7 security staff on site.
“In addition to colocation services, Telehouse France also offers a range of managed IT solutions including connectivity, security and network services,” Hanane continues.
“We pride ourselves on the quality of our services. Telehouse is committed to upholding the highest environmental, security and corporate social responsibility standards. This is reflected through our various ISO-obtained certifications, including ISO 9001 for Quality Management System, ISO 27001, HDS and PCI DSS for Information Security and Business Continuity. Telehouse has a proven record of meeting the highest international data centre standards, so we have the full scope requested for data centres in order to operate correctly.”
When asked what sets the company apart, Hanane
identifies four key factors, “Telehouse is well regarded in the industry for their connectivity, reliability, security and flexibility. We are trusted partners for companies in the business world looking to scale their IT operations, connect their business and stay competitive in an increasingly digital marketplace.”
“I'm a member of the Executive Committee and responsible for leading finance controlling and procurement functions on our different sites. I make sure we are developing and driving the implementation of finance and procurement strategies to sustain transformation and growth at Telehouse,” she says.
Telehouse sees procurement strategy as a roadmap to be implemented and ultimately make the business more competitive in its markets. For them, it defines how an organisation runs its procurement function, provides a governance framework and gives direction for the way the organisation intends to conduct its procurement function and activities.
Hanane elaborates, “Our procurement strategy reflects our
“OUR PROCUREMENT STRATEGY REFLECTS OUR ORGANISATION’S VISION AND GOALS TO SUPPORT TELEHOUSE’S PRIMARY OBJECTIVES AND BUSINESS STRATEGY”
organisation’s vision and goals to support Telehouse’s primary objectives and business strategy. Our procurement strategy is based on five key points: cost optimisation, supplier management, risk management, compliance and strategic sourcing. We aim to build strategic relationships with competitive suppliers so we can acquire necessary goods and services of the best quality, within a specific cost range and ensure they are delivered on time. As a global provider of data centres, Telehouse’s procurement strategy is designed to support the company’s growth and success. It focuses on ensuring that Telehouse can secure the goods
and services needed to operate efficiently, effectively, securely and affordably.”
Technology and digitalisation are crucial to this strategy. “Digitalisation plays a transformative role in procurement and in finance, it is reinventing these two functions,” says Hanane.
“By leveraging digital technology, we streamline our procurement and financial operations to reduce costs and improve efficiency and accuracy. By digitalising procurement, we can address current challenges and stay future proof. We have been on a journey towards digitalisation of our procureto-pay (P2P) process for several years now. This has helped us to automate some mundane tasks, accelerate purchase approval workflow, streamline certain transactions, reduce costs and processing times, mitigate the risk of error in banking transactions, free up data and improve expenses control alongside budget monitoring. Taken together, these advantages contribute to improving the technological, economic and also logistical performance of our department.
“So today and in alignment with our current business model, we are investing in new digitalisation projects as we consider it to be crucial for the success of our business.”
Underlying their digitalisation and procurement strategies, Telehouse is always looking to improve efficiency and thereby drive growth. For instance in cost optimisation, Hanane explains, “Telehouse aims to optimise costs across all areas of our procurement operations while paying particular attention to the quality. We identify opportunities in all purchasing categories by considering total cost of ownership (TCO) when analysing offers, negotiating multi-year agreements, leveraging automation and digital technology and optimising our process. We also implement short-term initiatives allowing quick wins, such as reviewing and monitoring current contracts terms, challenging technical specifications, avoiding maverick spending and challenging uncompetitive suppliers.”
“TELEHOUSE AIMS TO OPTIMISE COSTS ACROSS ALL AREAS OF OUR PROCUREMENT OPERATIONS WHILE PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO THE QUALITY”
Telehouse considers risk management a critical and continuous process. Appropriate risk assessments are undertaken, reviewed and managed throughout the procurement journey, so the company built a robust risk management framework to mitigate the risks associated with procurement and finance. This includes identifying potential risks, developing contingency plans and implementing measures to monitor and mitigate these different threats.
In terms of supplier management, Telehouse maintains a strong and close relationship with key partners in order to ensure that they meet company standards for quality, reliability and security.
extension of the wider Telehouse team. We need the best
“We care deeply about delivering the best overall value and service to our customers and society. Partnerships with our suppliers are an integral part of this goal, because we consider our suppliers as a seamless
partners by our side to overcome obstacles, embrace opportunities and build an exciting future. As such, we developed performance matrixes to monitor our partner compliance while also developing a robust system of analysis of our partners’ performance. We are very careful when selecting and shortlisting providers before going to do business with them because our vision for procurement at Telehouse is to become the primary customer for the best suppliers,” summarises Hanane.
One such supplier that Telehouse works with is Ribbon Communications.
“Ribbon Communications is one of our key partners for the Telehouse Metroconnect service,” says Hanane. “Telehouse selected them as a partner after a full market assessment. The high-performance solutions they offer convinced us to go ahead with them for our strategic connectivity projects. They are a global provider of real-time communications software and IP optical networking solutions.
“In fact, before choosing them we looked for a partner offering a high level of security and operational excellence because we must have these conditions to connect our Parisian sites, which
“RIBBON COMMUNICATIONS IS ONE OF OUR KEY PARTNERS FOR THE TELEHOUSE METROCONNECT SERVICE”
Imagine that the world relied on one giant data centre with all the zettabytes of application and storage data whizzing about between servers over an area of only several tens of square kilometres. Located at the Nor th Pole for cooling, powered by several nuclear plants and linked to the world’s telecommunications networks using optical fibres strung along the lines of longitude, this might be considered the height of efficiency
Of course this vision is impractical for reasons of latency, data redundancy and competition between businesses. The result is that the world today suppor ts about 8,000 data centres. The challenge then becomes to network these data centres together, to make them transparent to each other, for caching data locally to reduce latency, interworking between applications and mirroring data for business continuity This requires many thousands of high speed optical links spanning distances from tens to thousands of kilometres. And every year inter-data centre traffic demands keep growing.
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• Industry-leading Density – OT9408 suppor ts industry-highest 19.2 in a 2RU form factor.
• Best Power Efficiency – With consumption as low as 0.11W per gigabit, OT9408 consumes 50% less power per bit than competitive solutions. This green characteristic is especially impor tant to reduce data centre energy costs.
• Optimal Spectrum Use – OT9408’s high performance 1.2T solution uses 150GHz spectral bandwidth that aligns with the 75GHz bandwidth needs of its cost-power optimised 400G solution. This enables multiple solutions to co-exist on a single fibre without any wasted spectrum.
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• Superior Openness – OT9408 is designed for easy operation, including field replaceable modules and streaming telemetry. Moreover, its wavelengths can be deployed over existing line systems as alien wavelengths, with control exercised in a disaggregated fashion using standard OpenConfig interfaces. Its 400G wavelengths also suppor t OpenROADM interoperability.
Contact Ribbon now to see how Apollo OT9408 can enhance your data centre interconnect solution. rbbn.com
are a crucial connectivity hub in France providing direct access to more than 750 global operators.
“Ribbon offered us advanced technology capability with a turnkey custom installation of their solution. So, thanks to this strategic partnership, we successfully offer our corporate customers the ability to optimise their costs by hosting their IT infrastructure in our Telehouse 3 campus and benefit from highspeed, reliable and low latency connectivity with our central connectivity hub in Paris TH2
Voltaire site which is one of the five most connected data centres in the world.
“In fact, thanks to Ribbon and our strategic partnership, we have been able to break down data centre walls to help more customers benefit from our connectivity.”
However, IT infrastructure needs the right facility to host it, and here Telehouse works closely with Cap Ingelec – one of the leading French data centre design and construction companies.
Cap Ingelec is one of the French leaders in engineering, thanks to its know-how in the design and construction of technical buildings, particul arly in the fields of datacentres, cleanrooms and critical facilities. We offer our engineering expertise through project management and turnkey projects.
“We rely on their know-how to support our engineers and help them progress on our various expansion projects and plans. This includes, among others, our new project in Telehouse 3 campus, while also respecting our expectations and requirements in terms of reducing our carbon footprint,” says Hanane.
“Cap Ingelec are committed to our objective of implementing
But even the fastest, most reliable technological solutions hosted in the latest state-of-the-art data centres still need one fundamental resource to function: energy. For Telehouse, it is vital that this energy be as sustainable as possible.
Since 2015, Engie has been the energy provider for Telehouse. Commenting on this eight-year partnership, Hanane lauds
innovative solutions and designs, optimising our CapEx costs and reducing our time-to-market. These advantages represent a real competitive differentiator in our business. With Cap Ingelec we introduced a new contractual model guaranteed maximum price contract (GMP), an openbook agreement. Thanks to this new contract model, we work with full transparency and confidence with Cap Ingelec – allowing us to move forward quickly, to unite our forces and skills to face market challenges, all while controlling our costs and deadlines.”
the connection between the companies, “We have a longterm relationship with Engie. They provide all our data centres with green electricity. Our partnership is based on proximity, listening, responsiveness, expertise and trust. Our objective in working with them is to consume less and better.
“So even with the recent situation in the energy market with high costs and volatility which strained international European governments and companies, our energy procurement strategy and
“CAP INGELEC ARE COMMITTED TO OUR OBJECTIVE OF IMPLEMENTING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND DESIGNS, OPTIMISING OUR CAPEX COSTS AND REDUCING OUR TIME-TO-MARKET”
our strong relationship with Engie allowed us to control our energy costs,” says Hanane.
Telehouse is highly aware of the environmental impact of data centres and the huge volume of energy consumption they need to operate.
“According to an international energy agency, data centres use nearly one per cent of the global electricity demand and contribute to 0.3 per cent of all global CO2 emissions,” explains Hanane. “So in this context, Telehouse is always on the lookout for any opportunity to reduce our energy consumption and environmental impact. We have present and future projects brimming with innovative solutions allowing a considerable reduction in our consumption. We are committed to a serious environmental plan, including the development of a photovoltaic park, engagement in PPA contracts
and using excess waste heat from data centres recycled for use in nearby houses, businesses, or communities.”
So what are the principal ambitions at Telehouse for 2023 and beyond?
Besides maintaining growth and success, Hanane draws attention to their exciting ground-breaking expansion project in the Paris area which will become their main campus.
“Our new TH3 campus is a hyper-scale data centre facility with an environmentally responsible design that reconciles environmental impacts and energy performance, integrating new technology while also offering a high level of scalability. We are targeting a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.3 and a
“WE HAVE A LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIP WITH ENGIE. OUR PARTNERSHIP IS BASED ON PROXIMITY, LISTENING, RESPONSIVENESS, EXPERTISE AND TRUST. OUR OBJECTIVE IN WORKING WITH THEM IS TO CONSUME LESS AND BETTER”
ENGIE has been Telehouse’s energy supplier-advisor since 2015, providing green electricity for all its data centres.
ENGIE teams offer businesses and local authorities:
• Close relationships, expertise and customer focus via a team of two dedicated contacts
• Energy budget management expertise
• Eco-friendly solutions
As standard-setters in low-carbon energy, ENGIE works tirelessly with customers to accelerate their transition to a more sustainable world.
WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) close to 0,” Hanane describes.
“These goals are ambitious, but we are excited to be focusing on this new data centre. Located 15.5 miles southwest of Paris, the TH3 campus is strategically located. Easily accessible from the capital, the TH3 campus allows companies and organisations to keep control of their data and retain sole access. At the right distance from the many data centres concentrated northeast of Paris, away from possible risks, TH3 is the ideal campus to provide redundancy for the IT infrastructures hosted there, as part of a strategy for diversifying sites.”
The TH3 campus is not only ambitious in terms of its sustainability but also its sheer scale and security goals. Hanane elaborates, “The project is made up of five new buildings for a total IT space of 12,000 square metres. This is an exceptional size facility in the French market, making it a kind of hyper-scale data centre where our customers can expand without any limits in terms of physical space or energy needs. The new data centre has a total power of 18 megawatts.
“Moreover, the site is secured to military defence levels. The data centre is being installed on a former military site building offering exceptional security and technical specification to guarantee continuity of service for our customers. Of course, there are standard CCTV and security measures in place but we also provide constant surveillance from dedicated staff 24/7. We have a clear focus on security.”
With these exciting developments in the near future, Telehouse prides
TH3
itself on how it looks after its staff during times of change and growth.
“Two topics, I think, are crucial for our business success are developing team skills and retaining talent,” says Hanane. “It's especially important for me as a manager in my procurement and financial
functions. We believe categorically that developing team skills and retaining talented employees are critical components for our success. By investing in these areas, we can improve productivity, foster innovation, boost morale and reduce staff turnover and, of course, enhance customer services,
“THE TH3 CAMPUS IS NOT ONLY AMBITIOUS IN TERMS OF ITS SUSTAINABILITY BUT ALSO ITS SHEER SCALE AND SECURITY GOALS”
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At Ribbon we see the datacentre as the logical extension of telecoms solutions for enterprises. We have extended our por tfolio of disaggregated IP routers to provide the NPT 2032, an IP CLOS Data Center switch. The NPT 2032 uses cer tified ODM whitebox hardware, industry leading merchant silicon and Ribbon’s commercial pure SONiC distribution. And with 20 years exper tise in IP routing deployments across the world, Ribbon provides the 24/7/365 suppor t our customers need.
because ultimately Telehouse is a highly customer-centric company.”
We look forward to seeing where Telehouse goes and hearing all
about its new Parisian facility when it opens.
For more information, visit www.telehouse.fr
For Hanane, at a personal level, her children and family are a true source of energy and purpose. She insists, “There is no success without your loved ones around you.”
Hanane also emphasises her gratitude to her mentors. “For me, I value the input from my mentors who inspire me enormously and who allow me to always see bigger, farther and more positively. They make even the most challenging circumstances seem a little bit easier.”
But for Hanane it is not only the mentors we know that are important, but the input of strangers is also incredibly insightful too.
“Today, thanks to interconnectivity we have access to a wealth of information. We can follow intellectuals online, absorb new information, discover new challenges and innovations –which is a great privilege. But the one thing I’ll note is that we must
also be careful because too much information can kill communication.”
“I'm excited to be joining several different conferences this year where I look forward to participating, adding some value when possible, exchanging knowledge with different people and seeking opportunities to grow as a professional.”
Hanane has written an article due for publication soon about the criteria of choice for providers and their procurement process which will be dedicated to the new technology sector.
To connect with Hanane and see her article when it is released, you can find her on LinkedIn.
For companies striving to stay ahead of the competition or looking to become first adopters wielding game-changing systems, the pressure to be at the leading edge using the latest tech can be monumental.
THESE
MIGHT ENTAIL MEANS EVEN THE BRAVEST EARLY ADOPTERS KNOW THAT JUST BECAUSE A NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS BEEN RELEASED IT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN IT IS THE BEST CHOICE FOR A BUSINESS.
o help you contemplate if new technologies are right for your company, we have compiled seven crucial factors to consider when embarking on the technology selection process.
Take stock of your operations with thorough and honest assessments of where you want to go as a company, the obstacles before you and how you are progressing towards your goals. Remember you are
seeking technological solutions to meet your business needs, not morphing your business around the technology, and this requires a period of self-reflection.
While you must look inwardly before selecting new
technologies, resist the urge to assume you know what solution you need. Contemplate dayto-day problems, bottlenecks or other challenges and consider them within the broader context of your company’s direction. Seek creative, practical and goaldriven solutions unburdened by assumptions that might lead down unproductive paths.
Avoid putting bells and whistles before practicalities. Providers invest heavily in features to differentiate their products from the competition and go to great lengths to promote them. But remember that technology, even the newest shiniest solutions,
“RATHER THAN SEE TECHNOLOGY AS A STANDALONE ENTITY, CONCEPTUALISE IT WITHIN YOUR ORGANISATION AND ASSESS THE TECH BASED ON WHAT IT HELPS YOU ACHIEVE”
should ultimately serve your business processes.
Rather than see technology as a standalone entity, conceptualise it within your organisation and assess the tech based on what it helps you achieve – not the impressiveness of individual features.
So you have determined your direction, avoided assumptions and kept outcomes in mind – now what? The next stage is to be willing to change your ways. For technology implementation to be successful you need to refine processes because it is never just about the tech itself. Job and business redesign may be needed, as might complex tasks like retraining staff and deploying internal communication campaigns. But if embracing change ultimately turns your business towards its goals and propels you towards achieving them, the initial teething pains will have been worth it.
Anyone you seek to purchase technology solutions from should understand your company and its endeavours. Assess your vendors and gauge whether they have previous experience dealing with businesses like yours, or at least an awareness of your products and services at an industry level. If they understand what you are trying to accomplish and their knowledge arises from prior business experience they will be far more valuable partners to you.
“ONCE YOU FIND VENDORS WITH RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND VIABLE TECHNOLOGY ON OFFER – MAKE THEM PROVE THE PRODUCT DOES WHAT THEY CLAIM IT CAN”
Once you find vendors with relevant experience and viable technology on offer – make them prove the product does what they claim it can. Ideally they will be able to show immediately how it solves your problems or pushes your
company towards its KPIs with minimal lag time, or at least be able to give a detailed demonstration of how it can be adapted to meet your needs.
Exceptional technology secured from a brilliant partner is all well
and good – but at the end of the day it will be your employees that deploy it as a tool and determine its successful implementation. Therefore you must secure buy-in from your staff. Remember that people are not inherently scared of change, but uncertainty can be disconcerting. Present the new technology as a solution to an urgent or pervasive
problem, explain how it will help towards a pursuit they are invested in and you will see far greater success with the uptake across the business. Bringing in senior managers early on and seeking their input into the initial stages of exploring new technology options can pay dividends when the solutions are rolled out.
Martin Hell, IT Director & Head of Group IT at Wrist Ship Supply, expounds on the virtues of the company’s new framework for developing digital services – called OHOI.
Wrist Ship Supply is the world’s leading ship and offshore supplier of marine provisions and stores. A one-stop-shop for the shipping industry, delivering supplies and expert care to the seafarers bundled and distributed to the harbour to be brought onto the ships, including toilet paper, personal hygiene products, food, spare parts and other mechanical equipment.
he company has recently launched OHOI, a framework to develop its digital services. It serves as the innovation hub for Wrist Group IT, bringing together internal and external innovators to design, develop and deploy digital platforms rapidly and efficiently.
Director & Head of Group
Martin Hell, IT
IT at Wrist Ship Supply, tells us more, “Within this
framework, we have introduced several services, such as a dedicated platform for our transport management, WML (Wrist Marine Logistics). We have purpose built this platform specifically designed for the Business Unit operating this part of the business, serving them and their customers' specific needs. Previously, they had to work with our ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system and an old Excel-based tool, grappling with all the
“There are some key players in the market, but when you look at the ship supply industry, we are the leading global provider”
Martin Hell, IT Director & Head of Group IT
nitty-gritty details of the rest of the business. As their services are so specialised, it makes sense to design a specific tool for them to use in their daily work.”
The platform has optimised processes in several places, as Martin explains, “If our team had to give a quote, it used to take up to three hours. Now it takes less than three minutes. Through the self-service portal, we give our customers direct insights into environmental, social and governance (ESG), so when a customer places an order they can understand on the fly the ESG impact of the transport method they choose. The system is therefore very focused on the customer and their specific needs.”
But why is it so important to fast-track and rapidly develop IT products and services for B2B clients in the maritime industry? Martin explains, “If we are not delivering the desired digital service, someone else will. It is a game of speed in getting the service out first to the customer, having the best idea and having the best tailor-made service to bring it online as fast as possible. Those are the principles we are
working with within the digital framework.”
Dedicated individuals organised in delivery teams within Wrist Ship Supply and their external partners are focused on specific tasks, with the aim to push products out onto the market quickly. Martin elaborates, “The foundation of this
approach is service design. We interview our business colleagues to ensure that their service needs are built into the desired solution supporting real business needs. So it is not only a technical delivery. It is about the process and service design prior to the technical delivery. Previously, IT was viewed as a technical vendor, but we
are now more seen as a partner, delivering business benefits and purpose.”
Martin believes the ship supply industry is a decade behind other leading industries in terms of leveraging technology. He says, “There are some key players in the market, but when you look at
the ship supply industry, we are the leading global provider. There are not many truly digital platforms supporting a global setup, so we want to disrupt that space. It is very important for us to be the first movers.”
Speaking of Wrist
Ship Supply’s success stories, Martin highlights Wrist Marine Logistics (WML). WML offers digital convenience and transparency by providing an online portal where customers can optimise vessel deliveries, consolidate provisions, drive down last-mile costs and access live data and KPIs. Martin continues,
“There are not many truly digital platforms supporting a global setup, so we want to disrupt that space. It is very important for us to be the first movers”
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“They have exceeded their budget by as much as 200 per cent by implementing the system whilst maintaining the same workforce. The other success story is the fact that we have landed significantly more customers due to the insights and possibilities that our platform offers. Our customers are choosing us because we have this digital advantage compared to our competitors.”
development parts. If we do not collaborate with our colleagues and customers in this way, we do not get these insights. We also interview our end customers to ask what they anticipate from the service and then reverse engineer that into a technical delivery.”
Wrist Ship Supply has partnered with SIVIS Enterprise Security, owned by SIVIS, on the control of
It is essential to have a collaborative mindset and form partnerships to achieve success. Martin explains, “Going out and sitting with our colleagues in the sales and purchasing departments, for example, helps us to understand what is going on. How are they working? What do they need from the system in terms of output? Before we have this information, we are unable to go to the technical and
internal and external access to data. Martin continues, “When you are providing services externally, you exploit data and insights. In doing so, you need to be sure that customer A can see their data, but they do not have access to customer B’s data.
SIVIS Enterprise Security provides a system that can handle and secure these assets, both externally as well as internally. When you have different
“When you are providing services externally, you exploit data and insights. In doing so, you need to be sure that customer A can see their data, but they do not have access to customer B’s data. SIVIS Enterprise Security provides a system that can handle and secure these assets, both externally as well as internally”
business units, one business unit may not see data from another business unit. SIVIS Enterprise Security has been instrumental in starting the journey toward giving IAM (Identity and Access Management) control of our data. Additionally, we are working with SIVIS in framing a lot of different systems to do the same thing.”
Martin and his team have traditionally done the testing phase on-site but are now also going to the customers to test the systems in their everyday environments. He elaborates, “Not everyone on a ship is tech-savvy, so we need to see first-hand if they understand the software and hardware, how they use it and how they adapt it. We
“We are going to be front runners in how we deliver digital services in the ship supply industry”
can actually learn a lot from seeing the application used in real-life conditions. It gives us fast input to change both the user interface and the functionality of the systems.”
In short, the principal ambition of the Wrist digital offerings is to disrupt the global ship supply market. Martin enthuses, “We are going to be front runners in how we
deliver digital services in the ship supply industry. Being a global leader, it is our responsibility to ensure our supply chains around the world can deliver the same
service no matter where they are located. That is a guarantee we are giving.”
According to Martin, IT can pull the organisation, but it can also push the organisation. He refers to the example of Steve Jobs pushing for everyone to have an iPhone even if they had a Nokia or another mobile device. Martin explains, “That is the role IT has in the ship supply business. We see things that the organisation might see but may not believe. We use AI to do code cracking, for example, to analyse incoming requests for quotes from customers. We support almost 15,000 ships globally and that’s almost a third of the global fleet. We receive requests in a lot of different ways, so what we are doing with AI and code cracking is taking the information, unifying it and standardising it, enabling us to provide a quote significantly faster and highly automated to our customers going forward.”
We look forward to watching Wrist Ship Supply’s journey in leveraging AI as a positive driver for the business.
For further information on Wrist Ship Supply, visit www.wrist.com
ENTHUSIASTIC INNOVATOR MARIA VON SCHEEL-PLESSEN SHARES HER GLOBAL EXPERIENCE WORKING IN THE STARTUP, TECH AND LUXURY INDUSTRIES.
MARIA VON SCHEEL-PLESSEN LIVES IN MILAN BUT HAS WORKED AROUND THE WORLD IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES, FROM BERLIN AND SINGAPORE TO NEW YORK AND LONDON.
MARIA IS A SENIOR EXECUTIVE IN THE LUXURY INDUSTRY AND JOINS US TODAY TO DISCUSS TWO CAUSES CLOSE TO HER HEART: CHAMPIONING WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AND PROMOTING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF WOMEN ENTERING LEADERSHIP ROLES.
What are some of the characteristics and behavioural patterns women can bring to the table to forge ahead in the tech and retail spaces?
From my point of view, it is crucial to be very self-aware – to know your strengths and weaknesses, what gets you excited and what you find challenging. Where are your current limits and how much
do you want to push them? This is very important in order to identify the right path for yourself, turn your weaknesses into strengths by working in a certain environment or industry where you can unlock your full potential.
Once you have done this exercise and know exactly what you want to focus on, what you want to achieve and also what you are
willing to deprioritise in order to do so, I am sure you will find that your environment can read you well, can be very direct, challenge you and by that support you in your growth.
You need to know who you are and where you want to go next and proactively communicate it. Transparency and authenticity are both very key as well.
What kind of learnings and advice can women give other women to break into tech and retail?
It is important to understand the full dimension of the retail business. I started my career in e-commerce startups so coming from a digital-first strategy I needed to learn offline tools, dynamics and tap into areas from supply chain to logistics such as how product demand varies from online to offline and how the consumer profile varies as well.
In the retail industry, the online share is often only up to 30 per cent of the business so retail has high importance and
needs to be treated in a different way. However it is important that in front of the consumer, the retailer acts as one. It is easier to transform an online store than a sizable retail network – you need to think in longer lifecycles for actions and their implementations. So my advice would be to focus on economics and pricing in your studies and gain experience in the retail business.
On the other hand, it is important to remember that many retailers need talent coming from digital companies in order to support them in digitally transforming the business. The digitalisation of retail is driven by tactics well understood by digital natives, so remember that you can already bring a lot to the table even if you have not worked for a retail business yet.
“IT IS MY STRONG BELIEF THAT IT IS THE MISSION OF WOMEN IN LEADING ROLES TO EASE THE PATH FOR FOLLOWING GENERATIONS AND PUSH THE BOUNDARIES”
Can you tell us a little bit about Mission Female?
Mission Female is a network for women in female leadership roles, founded in Germany and currently expanding to further countries in Europe due to its strong organic demand. I am a big fan of the network as it consists of women from various industries and this often drives a very fruitful exchange. Everyone is open to
connecting and sharing success as well as stories of failure and this is an important game changer: you need to be in a circle in which you can open up and share opinions with your peers. The network offers weekly sessions on topics from negotiation skills and rhetorical skills to finding your leadership style. We are often very busy at work and tend to not take the time to take a step back and upskill ourselves in certain areas – this is what the network is for: a constant
accompanier of honest exchange and knowledge transmission. There is also a workstream for entrepreneurs being self-employed and for mentees who have applied to be mentored by us.
Secondly, creating your very own metaverse is imperative. More and more brands are jumping on the bandwagon and incorporating elements like gamification or NFTs into their metaverse strategies.
What are some of the exciting and innovative ways brands are transforming their engagement with consumers you think will become more prominent in 2023 and beyond?
Firstly, the consumer nowadays demands a very personalised approach – even 1:1 communication. The brand messages are ideally very tailored, include products a consumer has shown previous interest in and could be the next step in a common consumer journey. This is why strong investments flow into automation and personalisation tools.
Lastly, using social media as an engagement tool is still absolutely worthwhile – if it is used creatively. For instance, brands can choose to create exciting behind-thescenes content or even memes that are relevant to their brand and thereby build stronger relationships with their customers, encouraging social commerce. What lessons or takeaways would you like to share with young women looking to take on leadership positions?
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, once said: “Your brand is what people say about
“I AM A BIG FAN OF THE MISSION FEMALE NETWORK AS IT CONSISTS OF WOMEN FROM VARIOUS INDUSTRIES AND THIS OFTEN DRIVES A VERY FRUITFUL EXCHANGE”
you when you are not in the room.” As important as it is to be very self-aware and vocal about branding, it is key to establish your own brand. Know your own value set and determine which ones you intend to amplify and why. What motivates you to be a leader? Is it the growth you enjoy seeing in others, the reward when thoughts turn into actual projects or the diversity of various topics you can manage? Define this for yourself and then start building your own brand to be the advocate of your own story. I can recommend sharing your thoughts on channels such as LinkedIn as well in order to connect with like-minded peers. Tell your manager where you want to be in the future and work together on making this happen.
How can women in established leadership roles help young women who are prospective leaders rise into these positions, stay there and thrive?
My recommendation is to always interview men and women in a 50/50 split for all positions open within your team. Oftentimes you are not in the driver's seat in hiring your own successor,
but you are for the positions within your own team. Especially in technical jobs, it is often tricky to find female profiles but if you can work together with a headhunter and stick with the rule you applied for yourself, results will come. Yes, it often takes longer to find the right female candidate as there are in some industries not as many, but it's worthwhile to take the time and interview 50% male
“ONCE YOU ARE IN A LEADERSHIP BE A MENTOR! GIVE YOUR AIMING FOR THE SAME YOUR PERSONAL JOURNEY LEARN AND
and 50% female candidates and then go for the best match. These are small tactics which can be impactful if executed by many.
What are your thoughts on where tech is going in the following spaces:
>> Consumer to brand
Consumers have constantly rising expectations towards brands, they demand transparency and communication on subjects that matter to drive change in the world. Diversity and sustainability are two very important topics. The expectation towards brands is that they use their voice and reach in order to be an agent of change. Automation and AI put additional pressure on brands since all the data being obtained needs to be understood and leveraged to drive an excellent customer experience.
Once you are in a leadership position, be a mentor! Give your advice to women aiming for the same dream and share your personal journey so they can learn and strive.
>> Brand to consumer Brand communication is becoming more and more personalised. Brands listen to consumers needs, analyse much more insights and adapt themselves towards today's needs while staying true to their heritage. Brands are detecting a commerce-everywhere mindset from the consumer, meaning the general receptiveness towards advertisement and brand identification is always-on.
LEADERSHIP POSITION, YOUR ADVICE TO WOMEN SAME DREAM AND SHARE JOURNEY SO THEY CAN AND STRIVE”
What do you think will be the most important changes to customer expectations in the next few years and how will brands have to adapt to these changes?
To my mind, there are three predominant consumer trends on the horizon. The first trend seems to be the most intuitive: as consumers become more environmentally conscious, brands must take impactful steps towards
sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Second, today’s key to winning new customers is personalisation. Consumers expect tailored experiences – therefore, brands must invest in the ability to deliver a unique 1:1 message based on previous searches and personal preferences.
Lastly, consumers demand digital experiences across points of contact (POCs) and brands must adapt by investing in a state-ofthe-art omnichannel presence.
What are your principal ambitions for the next few years?
To continue to be a spokesperson for female leadership and digital transformation, to modernise organisations with awareness of the past, to be a connection builder and take my mentees with me on the journey. To drive success in any condition, by producing, stabilising, innovating and controlling whenever needed.
My favourite quote is: “What you should focus on next lies within the discomfort of now,” from the book
“The Courage To Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi. It highlights very well that we intuitively know where we should go next and this often leads to the direction of discomfort which means we learn something new, execute something for the first time, jump into the cold water and start growing.
Maria Recommends...
PODCAST
The School of Greatness.
Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod are wonderful resources to help you to start building new habits.
Ohad
Watson Group, sheds light on his company’s strategy to enhance offline plus online (O+O) customer experience.
A.S. Watson Group is the world’s leading international health and beauty retailer with more than 16,000 stores to its name and over 130,000 global staff. It is a Hong-Kong-based company with business units located in Asia, Europe, the UK and UAE, it is part of Asian conglomerate CK Hutchinson – a Fortune 500 company.
With over five billion transactions each year, 140 million loyalty members and its huge presence both offline plus online, you probably have one of their products in your bathroom cabinet.
Due to its prominent position as the world's largest international health and beauty retailer, A.S. Watson Group embraces the work it takes to make sure they stay
ahead. Crucial to this is close collaboration across different business units.
Here to tell us more is Ohad Elzur, the Store & Promotion Technology Director at A.S. Watson Group. According to Ohad, the main challenge is finding innovative
solutions and actively navigating the digital transformation process.
He explains, “A.S. Watson Group is structured like a federation with various local business units, operating with group entities that help the company as a whole to move forward. To take the
“TO BRING OUR STRATEGY TO LIFE, A.S. WATSON GROUP NEEDS TO FOCUS ON DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, USER ADOPTION IN CHANGE PROCESSES AND THE INTERNAL DIALOGUE WITH OUR BUSINESS STAKEHOLDERS”
Ohad Elzur, Store & Promotion Technology Director
responsibility we have as group entity, our team has developed the Store Technology Strategy to make sure we are ready for the future and stay ahead. We work with the business units to see how we can ensure successful adoption. We need to focus on internal marketing, digital transformation and change management to facilitate this process.”
Group IT, being one of the central functions, has established a close
collaboration with the different business units across the company. It is actively helping these business units through the digital transformation process. Regarding the central solutions in the Store and Promotions Technology domain specifically, the team has developed a future-proof strategy to lead business units to accelerate offline plus online (O+O) success.
“To bring our strategy to life, A.S. Watson Group needs to focus on
digital transformation, user adoption in change processes and the internal dialogue with our business stakeholders,” summarises Ohad.
A.S. Watson Group is on a mission to build technology solutions that create and deliver a seamless O+O customer experience. In the context of constantly changing markets, the solution is simple: employees need scalable technologies to be
able to react to these developments. As a result, the company’s Store Technology Strategy aims to make things simpler and faster for everyone.
When asked to elaborate on their Store Technology Strategy, Ohad breaks it down into four elements: transactional platform, operational platform, digitalisation and data.
The transactional platform focuses on one transactional engine that serves any in-store touchpoint or journey involving transactional services, wrapped with A.S. Watson Group’s own API layer to integrate all touchpoints such as the Point of Sale, kiosk, handheld terminal or even a customer app.
Next, the operational platform consolidates and replaces the different operational applications – such as item stock management, operational reports or task management, etc – into a single
“DIGITALISATION
“ALL APPS ARE COMBINED PLATFORM AND THE A CONSOLIDATEDOhad in the Store Technology Innovation Lab
platform, irrespective of the operating system or device so employees can do everything in real-time on one central platform.
Digitalisation efforts ensure that screens in stores are managed by content management systems. It can be a screen at the window, behind the cashier, on a shelf top or digital shelf label. The aim is for an internal module to manage the content, connecting the dots to backend processes and facilitating internal business processes such as promotions.
Underpinning the Store Technology Strategy is data and having real-time decisionmaking capabilities is the goal. However, to get there you need to make sure the first and second elements are completed to provide new business logic.
Ohad elaborates, “All apps are combined in a single in-store platform and the store’s applications have a consolidated user experience. Using data in this way gives us the ability to learn, improve, and be future-ready. We can tell that our customers who
COMBINED IN A SINGLE IN-STORE THE STORE’S APPLICATIONS HAVE USER EXPERIENCE”
are shopping with us via various channels, spend up to 30 per cent more and show increased levels of loyalty. This is the essence of the O+O strategy and it is key for us.”
As A.S. Watson Group starts to bring the first functions of their operational store platform to life, they are ensuring that captured clickstream data is fully embedded into the app. On the importance of data helping development, Ohad specifies: “With data, we can tell how fast a colleague could find a function and
says, “You need to acknowledge where your expertise lies and where you need other experts to join your journey. There are processes you can coordinate internally and others where you need to find the right partners to help you.
“We have a microservices platform embedded into our architecture where we build all the operational flows, allowing us to easily connect all the dots together. We need to make sure what we are building is based on best practices and
how much time they spent using this function. This fuels our conversation with the business about how much time they want to spend on a specific function each week, for example. Put another way, one employee hour per week across 16,000 stores adds up to several million dollars spent in a year. Therefore, we see great importance in making sure we’re as efficient as possible.”
To scale up its technology, A.S. Watson Group partners with leading tech solution providers to embrace a ‘stronger together’ mentality. Ohad
market expertise, so we partner with companies to upskill, enhance our efficiency and speed up development.”
One of the valuable strategic partners A.S. Watson Group works with is Zebra Technologies. Ohad enthuses, “We have partnered with Zebra Technologies for our handheld devices worldwide. The Zebra handheld is robust and enables fast scanning which is a key time saver for our store staff. Besides the hardware itself, Zebra brings expertise on how best to use the
“WE HAVE PARTNERED WITH ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES FOR OUR HANDHELD DEVICES WORLDWIDE. THE ZEBRA HANDHELD IS ROBUST AND ENABLES FAST SCANNING WHICH IS A KEY TIME SAVER FOR OUR STORE STAFF”
Our Modern Store framework resolves your most pressing challenges and meets you wherever you are on your digital modernisation journey to:
• Elevate customer experiences – by delivering frictionless shopping services which boost transactions by up to 25%
• Optimise inventory – by gaining real-time visibility throughout the business to achieve up to 98% cross-channel accuracy.
• Engage associates – by making it easy for them to prioritise tasks, provide memorable service and work better together, and you can expect to see staff turnover fall by up to 8%.
Versatile, flexible and with cost-efficiency in mind, the Modern Store by Zebra drives success today, while helping you predict and capitalise on tomorrow’s opportunities.
Learn more at:
https://connect.zebra.com/the-modern-store-gb-en
device for software development. With the right partnership, we can help each other with our roadmaps and futureproof the technology.”
Cross-business unit collaboration is also necessary to ensure all functions
are on the same page. Ohad gives the example of sharing a familiar visual across the organisation in discussing a specific concept. He explains, “A shared vision helps to explain internally what we want to do. Collaboration is important because we all share a common goal, which is to help A.S. Watson
Group grow. We must work on understanding each other’s needs and capabilities in order to optimise what we do.”
Speaking of collaboration, the company launched its Store Technology Innovation Lab just before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Its goal is to define new technologies that bring business value by improving sales or reducing costs, as well as putting a smile on customers’ faces. The Innovation Lab facilitates new technologies to be tested and showcased for business unit decision-makers, truly bringing future technologies to life.
“A lot of what we do in the lab is customer-facing because that is a key part of our DNA,” insists Ohad.
“We want to achieve a balance between technology push and business pull. We know customers can start their journey online and then come into the store or go online when they are in the store itself. The moment the customer decides to come to the store is when we step in from a storetechnology innovation perspective.
The Store Technology team looks at every step in the transactional journey and tries to make improvements using technology, from finding the product to putting it in the basket or from queuing up to checking out. They also consider ways to improve the business model, such as introducing a locker wall to facilitate click-andcollect.
“The Store Technology team tests and explores technologies that aim to meet a business need in an environment that looks and feels like a store. If the technology is promising and they think it can bring value, the team will try it out in the field in a proof of concept (POC) store. If that is successful and we want to go for a pilot, we then find a sustainable solution to move forward. If the technology is not good enough, the idea is not viable, or the supplier is unsuitable, for example, the idea can be put aside.”
So, how would Ohad describe his company’s vision for the future? He answers, “Our company vision is to put a smile on our customers' faces today and tomorrow. To do that, we must continue to be a global leader in O+O health and beauty. From the IT side of things, it means that we need to get to a full real-time API-based set of platforms that are data-driven, allowing us to serve the business with any touchpoint, flow, or need across the stores. We are
also working on our sustainability agenda. If you consider how we can be more sustainable and efficient from a technology perspective, using and managing the right devices is key.”
Ohad foresees huge developments in terms of mobility while shopping as a fundamental trend for the future. He concludes, “Either the customer will use their mobile or colleagues
working in the stores will have handheld devices, ensuring more and more mobility in the stores. We can serve the customer at any point in the store, and with any device. It is our aim to be future-ready with our new technology, with everything built around a single real-time platform.”
For further information on A.S. Watson Group, visit www.aswatson.com
“IT IS OUR AIM TO BE FUTURE-READY WITH OUR NEW TECHNOLOGY, WITH EVERYTHING BUILT AROUND A SINGLE REAL-TIME PLATFORM”
"The team were professional and diligent throughout"
Leigh Feaviour, CTIO for BT’s Supply Chain
"Absolute pleasure working with the Digital Innovation team"
Mun Valiji, Chief Information Security Officer at Sainsbury’s
"A highly professional approach"
Andy Brierley, Vice President, Cloud Application Modernisation at IBM
"Digital innovation Magazine is a very flexible and professional team"
Kim Larsen CTIO, T-Mobile Netherlands
he digital payments market is now estimated to be worth more than the car manufacturing sector and is expected to reach €19 trillion by 2026.
According to virtual payment card provider Lanistar, this extraordinary growth of some 24 per cent per year is being driven by a combination of technological innovation along with changing expectations and spending habits among consumers.
Jeremy Baber, CEO at Lanistar, said, “Today, we are seeing a surge in demand for prepaid or eBanking debit payment cards... This change is being driven by the unbanked and underserved, as well as by younger generations, who are making an active lifestyle choice to switch to this payment card type. We are also seeing a number of key trends in the market that providers need to be aware of. In our way, while the payment card market is established and substantial, there are still opportunities for expansion.”
The Millennial and Gen Z demographic groups are now well established and have considerable spending power and economic impact. They are the two generations who are leading the charge on digital innovation, embracing digital and smart device payments and virtual cards. Increased adoption combined with a wider choice of alternative payment cards is making financial services more accessible than ever before, 'democratising' the process
through technological innovation.
Baber continued, “In today's increasingly digital society, in which more people than ever before own a smartphone, consumers want and expect tailored financial products and services that can be accessed through a smart device. These services must be seamless and intuitive, while providing the services young people need. This is a generational expectation and failure to address it will have an adverse effect on any payment provider's business.”
High levels of underserved and unbanked consumers are prevalent among lower-income and younger households.
“Generally, these households opt for prepaid or eBanking debit payment cards because they are inexpensive and secure, which makes them best placed to meet their financial needs. But at the moment, this is an underdeveloped market,” Baber added.
“These payment cards have become integral to daily life for millions, and the people who use them are often open to exploring new features on their cards – at the right price point. The increase in adoption of cards among the unbanked and underserved populations will create multiple opportunities for players operating in the global payment market – but only if they offer the right services at an affordable price point.”
The rhythm and pulse of contract work differs from other employment arrangements, so the payment options and technological solutions underpinning it need to evolve to meet the demands from workers and companies alike.
“The advent of the gig economy shows no signs of slowing down. And while
3
the flexibility of contract work clearly offers benefits for both workers and companies alike, one of the biggest trends we have seen is the role of payment cards in guaranteeing contract workers receive timely payment for their work. Whether it's via a physical or virtual payment card or via a payment app, the gig economy is powering a payment revolution in its own right," said Baber.
Conservative estimates put the number of smartphones on the planet at seven billion, equating to ownership by roughly 86 per cent of the world's population. Providing an easy-to-use, seamless and intuitive mobile-first experience is a priority, including in the payments space.
Baber explained: “Consider Amazon, for example. This
4
is a company that is currently shipping 1.6 million packages every day, and in part, that's due to just how easy their mobile platform is to navigate and use. They stock just about any item a person could need, make all the crucial information clear as day, and rarely have any hidden charges. If this model could be imposed onto a banking platform, imagine the success it could have.”
While it is likely we will not see the end of physical transactions anytime soon, as technology continues to grow and evolve, so do the capabilities of virtual transactions. There are many benefits to digital solutions and one that is particularly noteworthy is its reduction of plastic waste.
According to ABI Research, the amount of plastic used annually in the production of banking cards equals that of 80 Boeing 747 planes, with the carbon footprint of this production being equivalent to 300,000 passengers flying from New York to Sydney. As an age group deeply concerned with environmental issues, Gen Z and Millennials will often find themselves seeking out alternatives that negate environmental damage, and digital solutions are just one option.
Furthermore, effective payment solutions must balance speed,
cost and security with user experience. Customers today demand 'anywhere service,' and payment providers must follow suit and ensure their services are available wherever customers are spending their time and their money. The rapid pace of technological advancement means the scope of 'where' continues to expand from physical to virtual.
Baber concluded, “The real success of payments will not come from them being the focal point of our daily lives, but instead from them slipping into the background and providing invisible, embedded payment experiences. The ultimate goal has to be that the user experience of payment cards and the apps they sit on becomes so deeply integrated with a person's day-to-day transactions that eventually they are not even conscious of it. In other words, payment providers should focus on developing and bringing to market payment solutions that aren't just frictionless, but invisible.”
Source: Lanistar
One of the largest renewable energy sources (RES) plants in central and eastern Europe will be built on former mining land in Poland using technology supplied by Huawei.
In a major step towards largest hybrid energy be built on former mining
The Kleczew Solar & Wind facility is combining a photovoltaic and wind power plant to reach a total capacity of 205 MW. The annual production will supply electricity to more than 100,000 households and reduce CO2 emissions by nearly 160 tonnes. To develop the plant's technological infrastructure, Huawei will supply 710 string inverters and 23 smart transformer stations.
The first phase of construction includes building a 193 MWp photovoltaic power plant and a 12 MW wind power plant. The assumed annual energy yield from the photovoltaic power plant is about 222 GWh and about 47 GWh from the wind farm.
Ryszard Hordynski, Director of Strategy and Communications at Huawei Poland, said, “Huawei has been consistently involved in the development of the modern energy sector with smart photovoltaic solutions
towards Poland’s decarbonisation, one of the energy parks in central and eastern Europe will mining land at Kleczew, Wielkopolska.
for several years. I am extremely pleased that our technologies can proactively support Poland's green transformation in such key projects as the hybrid power plant in Kleczew. This is a very important investment on the way to the full decarbonisation of the Polish economy and the provision of green, clean and cost-effective energy to the entire society.”
Kleczew Solar & Wind's investor is the Lewandpol Group, the asset manager is Ergy and the Electrum Group is responsible for general contracting and the implementation of the active and reactive power regulator, Renedium.
Marcin Kuprel, CEO of Ergy said, “This is a strategically
important project towards the decarbonisation of the Polish economy. Suppliers and
contractors involved in the supply chain were carefully selected in order to ensure efficiency and
“We are confident we will be cooperating with the best suppliers, this includes Huawei, already known on the Polish market as a reliable supplier of high-end inverters”
Marcin Kuprel, CEO of Ergy
reliability during and beyond the construction period of the power plant. We are confident we will be cooperating with the best suppliers, this includes Huawei, already known on the Polish market as a reliable supplier of high-end inverters.”
Huawei leverages its advantages in digital and power electronic technologies and innovates in integrating its established digital technologies with PV, energy storage, cloud and AI technologies. It offers intelligent PV+storage solutions for three main scenarios in power generation, transmission, distribution and consumption: Utility-scale Smart PV Solution, C&I Smart PV Solution and Residential Smart PV Solution. The solutions reduce the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE)
“Huawei leverages its advantages in digital and power electronic technologies and innovates in integrating its established digital technologies with PV, energy storage, cloud and AI technologies”
of PV plants over the lifetime and improve the grid forming performance, making PV a primary energy source.
Paweł Strzałkowski, Senior Account Representative, Digital Power at Huawei Poland added, “The selection of inverters and
smart transformer stations by our business partners is the best confirmation of the high quality and reliability of our technology. The Kleczew Solar & Wind investment is both the culmination of many years of holistic business cooperation, as well as an important factor for
the further development of hybrid power plants. The confidence of business partners Ergy, Electrum and investor Lewandpol in our products fills us with pride and provides motivation for further work, in the name of developing emission-free energy sources. It is worth noting that Huawei inverters
were the first in Poland to receive indefinite mandatory certification for all photovoltaic inverters.”
The photovoltaic part of the Kleczew Solar & Wind power plant is being built with the participation of Electrum, Jinko Solar, Budmat and Tele-Fonika Kable.
Source: Huawei
French start-up Cityscoot offers full access to electric moped scooters in Paris, Nice, Milan and Turin through its app and Uber.
n June 2016, Cityscoot started operating 150 free-floating electric moped scooters in Paris.
Four years later in 2020, Cityscoot partnered with Uber so users could locate and unlock straight from the Uber app.
Since then, it has grown its fleet to 5,000 moped scooters across Europe in Paris, Nice, Milan and Turin.
Users search for mopeds available nearby in the app, book it free of charge at which point it is reserved for 10 minutes
and then unlock it with a fourdigit code or directly from the app.
After riders complete their rental journey, they simply park the moped in any public space authorised for motorised twowheelers in the Cityscoot zones.
The Cityscoot service includes comprehensive insurance coverage for riders to ensure safe rentals. Each moped also comes with a safety-approved helmet underneath the seat – including a single-use hygiene cap. Cityscoot also offers free training to beginner riders so they can be more confident on their journeys right from the get-go.
Cityscoot boasts that it is the only operator to have developed its own software and hardware technology. Its fleet management process also sets it aside from the competition: employees constantly maintain the mopeds in good condition and perform their duties from electric utility trucks and mopeds.
For more information visit www.cityscoot.eu/en
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