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Helsinki and Armonk, N.Y. — PRNewswire — Feb. 19, 2016 — IBM and KONE, a leader in the elevator and escalator industry, announced a multiyear agreement in which IBM will provide cloud-based Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and services to drive innovation in smart buildings.
Under the agreement, KONE will tap into the IBM Watson IoT Cloud Platform to connect, remotely monitor, and optimize its management of millions of elevators, escalators, doors, and turnstiles in buildings and cities worldwide.
The system will analyze vast amounts of data from sensors embedded in equipment, helping to identify and predict issues, minimize downtime, and personalize the experience for users. Instead of having to call in a service engineer or stick to maintenance schedules, KONE will be able to predict and respond to selected technical issues in real time, with the ability to run tests remotely and make commands over the cloud.
With real-time insight about the operation of its equipment, KONE's plans to drive further innovation and develop new solutions and services to improve the flow of people in some of the world's busiest cities and buildings.
Using IBM's open standards-based Watson IoT Cloud platform, KONE plans to allow a vast developer ecosystem via Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to build new applications to make a smoother, safer, and more personalized people-flow experience for building users. For instance, community-based systems could help people pre-order elevators during the busiest times of the day or speed up evacuations during emergencies.
As buildings get taller and taller with the capacity to serve tens of thousands of users simultaneously, there is increased pressure on elevators and escalators to keep people moving smoothly. KONE is leading the way in bringing together technology and innovation to meet the requirements of some of the world's most ambitious and iconic buildings.
Its projects include the Leadhenhall Building in London, which features the world's largest and fastest suite of panoramic elevators; the Makkah Clock Royal Tower Hotel, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which is the tallest hotel and clocktower and largest indoor space in the world; Madison Square Garden in New York City, known as the world's most famous arena; Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, which is a pioneer in adopting state-of-the-art building technology; and the Jeddah Tower, Saudi Arabia, which at over 1km tall, will be the world's tallest building when completed.
