Saudi Telecom Company (STC) inked a strategic collaboration agreement Thursday with global technology leader Honeywell, as part of the company's ongoing efforts to build a digital economy and provide modern specialized business services, a key enabler for the achievement of Saudi Vision 2030. The agreement was signed at GITEX Technology Week 2019 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, by Eng. Riyad Muawwad, chairman of the board of directors of STC Solutions and senior vice president of STC Enterprise, and John Waldron, president and CEO of Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions (SPS). Under the terms of the agreement, STC will work with Honeywell to deploy advanced productivity solutions to help digitalize day-to-day operations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that employ mobile workforces across various industries. Drawing on Honeywell's global expertise and class-leading hardware platforms, STC will create industry-specific productivity-as-a-service (PaaS) bundles that combine handheld industrial mobile computers and mobile printers with advanced data-connectivity and voice plans to help fieldworkers and vehicles stay connected with their company offices and warehouses. The bundles, which will be offered on a monthly subscription basis, will help drive competitive advantages for Saudi private and public sector entities, including ministries, with a focus on supporting advanced field service, maintenance, inspection and logistics capabilities. The solution will aid digitalization and economic diversification initiatives outlined by Vision 2030, and enables SME's to grow and expand their businesses at a lower cost. The solution also helps customers with large mobile workforces to migrate their existing handheld devices to the Android operating system before the Windows Mobile platform is discontinued in December 2019. Commenting on the signing, STC's Riyad Muawwad said: "STC is working to define the future of digital transformation in Saudi Arabia. We are leveraging our advanced cloud and data infrastructure capabilities to develop innovative solutions that will help streamline operations and boost the productivity of the Kingdom's workforce across the public and private sectors. By working with global technology leaders such as Honeywell, we are positioning ourselves to support the advancement of Saudi industry and the digital economy by delivering the latest technologies as part of our overarching strategy to become a world-class digital services provider." Honeywell's Waldron added: "Honeywell has been delivering cutting-edge technologies to Saudi Arabia for over 60 years and we are committed to advancing digital transformation initiatives in the Kingdom across key industries in line with Saudi Vision 2030. We are very proud to be collaborating with STC and look forward to leveraging our advanced solutions to empower the Kingdom's SME organizations." STC will bundle data and voice plans with a selection of Honeywell's handheld computers and mobile printers, including the Dolphin CT60, ScanPal EDA51, ScanPal EDA71, RP4 and RP2. The agreement also details how the telecom provider will explore further avenues of cooperation by leveraging Honeywell's technology and know-how to deliver smart cities solutions, as well as services for advanced building automation, smart electricity grids and other industrial applications. — SG
