Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 20 | Page 10

NEWS Lufthansa Consulting and German Aerospace Center agree strategic innovation partnership Futurice and Peltarion partner to empower clients with operational AI S tockholm-headquartered Peltarion, a leader in operational Artificial Intelligence (AI), is partnering with international digital engineering and innovation consultancy, Futurice, to help make AI useable and affordable for all. Peltarion helps customers create real-world AI applications at scale and at speed. It dramatically cuts the cost and complexity associated with technologies like deep learning by reducing the need for specialist skills and infrastructure through its cloud- based Operational AI Platform. L ufthansa Consulting (LCG) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have agreed to work more closely together in the future and have formed a strategic partnership. The aim of the cooperation is to translate new technologies and promising innovations developed by DLR into marketable and practical solutions, products and services, and to make them available to LCG clients in joint projects. The collaboration with DLR Technology Marketing will focus primarily on the airline, airport and transport infrastructure sectors, but also in other areas in which technologies and services from these sectors can be applied. One potential area of collaboration, for example, is the development of a laser system for non-contact detection of explosives by DLR. The use of such a system at airports not only has very important security aspects but also affects the throughput speed of passengers during check-in processes, a current cause of bottlenecks at all airports. 10 INTELLIGENTCIO “Concrete practical problems come face- to-face with research and development and lead to new solutions through intensified exchange,” said Dr Rolf- Dieter Fischer, Director DLR Technology Marketing, and Bernd Knabe, Lufthansa Consulting’s Head of Corporate Office, in a joint statement. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is a publicly funded engineering research facility. In its institutes at 26 locations throughout Germany, it conducts research on important issues such as aviation, aerospace, energy, transport, digitalisation and security. DLR Technology Marketing works in cross- sector networks and employs the latest methods of innovation management to develop new products and services. Lufthansa Consulting is one of the leading management consultancies in the aviation industry. The independent subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group develops individual solution concepts for its international client groups, including airlines, airports, public authorities, institutes and related industries. “At present, organisations are just scratching the surface of what AI can do,” said Luka Crnkovic-Friis, CEO and Co-founder of Peltarion. “Peltarion and Futurice are aligned in their vision that technology is a powerful tool for change and will work together to make AI widely available for all.” Futurice’s focus on innovation includes digital product design and build, and encouraging its customers to embrace emerging technologies, agile software development and lean organisational change. “AI is not only a powerful tool for change, but also for creating value. To reap the benefits, companies need to both play to their strengths and learn a bunch of new tricks,” said Vice President, Claes Kaarni, Futurice. “It’s important to keep in mind that user- centricity still carries the day. Fundamentally, we are out to demystify AI and Machine Learning, and Peltarion is a great partner for it.” With a shared presence in the UK and the Nordics, Futurice’s partnership with Peltarion is based on deep technological understanding, engineering talent and a complementary client base that’s focused on innovation. www.intelligentcio.com