Earlier this week Amazon’s AWS unit and automobile giant VW announced a joint effort to build the “Industrial Cloud”. This effort delivers on the Cloud vision from more than a decade ago of driving operating efficiency by migrating large, complete enterprise data sets to the cloud. Massively scaled, secure cloud environments like AWS enable interoperability between otherwise disparate data sets. Further, scaled cloud environments are optimal for data-driven processes such as AI and machine learning given that the cloud facilitates data sharing. The greater the number of high quality data sources (inputs), the faster the machine learns. We covered the Industrial Cloud in a recent podcast.

Highlights from the Press Release:

• Volkswagen and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are to develop the Volkswagen Industrial Cloud together.
• The Volkswagen Industrial Cloud will combine the data of all machines, plants and systems from all 122 facilities of the Volkswagen Group.
• In the long term, the global supply chain of the Volkswagen Group with more than 30,000 locations of over 1,500 suppliers and partner companies could also be integrated.
• Volkswagen is creating its Industrial Cloud as an open industry platform which other partners from industry, logistics and sales may use in the future.
• Production planning and inventory management is to be standardized and networked across all 122 production plants of the Volkswagen Group.

• Technology