Huawei, Honeywell partnership to address urban development pressures with global smart cities

Huawei and Honeywell Home and Buildings Technologies have partnered to introduce smart building offerings as a viable solution to address urban development pressures.

“Through this collaboration, the two companies will jointly pursue large-scale smart city projects globally to help city administrators build intelligent urban infrastructures that enable them to control costs while making their cities desirable and functional for their residents,” the companies said in a statement.

Adam Lane, Huawei Senior Director, Public Affairs in Kenya said in the statement that “as urban migration accelerates and megacities across Africa begin to emerge, partnerships in ICT infrastructure will be the innovation gene that underpins the future of the continent’s urban development.

“The growth of the Sub-Saharan and indeed the Kenyan economy over the last two decades has been phenomenal. But the subsequent transition from rural to urban based economies continues to place immense pressure on Africa’s large cities. As the continent’s economic growth gives rise to megacities, the demand for sustainable and smarter infrastructure will require a major shift in the building and construction industry. This partnership between Honeywell and Huawei is a perfect example of how the convergence in ICT will revolutionize our buildings and give rise to the megacities of the future.”

Utilizing the latest Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, am IoT gateway collects and analyzes data from buildings to provide detection, deduction, determination and decision-making capabilities to customers, the statement said.

The IoT Gateway solution will also be providing functions such as; access control, intrusion monitoring, and disaster detection in the security and safety field. The solution, which has energy-saving features, provides illumination, transportation, and communication control for efficiency and convenience, according to the companies.

The partnership comes at a time where Kenya has kicked off a number of smart-city projects with the Government of Kenya-driven Konza Techno City as the flagship initiative.