NEWS
Digital Realty and EXA Infrastructure partner to advance Crete as a major connectivity hub
D igital Realty has announced the activation of a point of presence( PoP) in collaboration with EXA Infrastructure( EXA) to bring enhanced connectivity solutions to Crete.
The partnership will support the development of Digital Realty’ s first data centre in Crete, HER1 – scheduled to become operational in early 2025 with an expected initial capacity of 1 MW.
HER1 will serve as the first carrier-neutral facility in Crete, with intentions of addressing a significant gap in the region by allowing international and regional subsea cables to interconnect, a transformative step toward making Greece a major connectivity hub for Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as regions beyond.
Fabrice Coquio, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe Med, Digital Realty, said:“ By leveraging EXA’ s extensive network capabilities, HER1 will not only bridge critical connectivity gaps in the Mediterranean but also further position Greece as a strategic gateway for data traffic between Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and beyond.” connectivity landscape, EXA will deliver robust connectivity between Eastern and Western Mediterranean.”
Extending connectivity further into Eastern and Central Europe, including key locations such as Zagreb and Vienna, EXA will also offer network links between Heraklion and Chania on Crete using HER1 as an interconnection facility to exchange traffic and optimise capacities.
Steve Roberts, Senior Vice President Network Investment and Product Management, EXA, said:“ Strengthening Crete’ s
Conch Group partners with CBMF and Huawei to launch AI model for cement industry
C onch Group, China Building Materials Federation( CBMF), and Huawei, have collaborated on the launch of an AI model for the cement building materials industry, marking a significant milestone in the Digital Transformation of the cement building materials sector.
With the support of the China Building Materials Federation, Conch Group and Huawei began constructing an AI model for the cement building materials industry in April 2024. Since then, Conch Group and Huawei have identified over 200 promising AI application scenarios across 15 categories spanning the entire process – from mining to packaging and shipment. Conch has set up an AI training centre using Huawei Cloud Stack – specifically, Huawei Cloud
Pangu prediction, CV and NLP models to create an AI operating system that integrates central training, edge inference, cloud-edge synergy, continuous learning and ongoing optimisation.
The AI model in the cement building materials industry leverages extensive cement industry data and industry expertise. Through real-time data analysis and autonomous learning, it has made significant breakthroughs in more than 40 scenarios in five categories: quality control, production optimisation, equipment management, safe production and intelligent Q & A.
In places where the model has been implemented so far, operators have benefitted from dynamic optimisation of process parameters, response to exception warnings in seconds and maximisation of resource utilisation, introducing a new intelligent engine for highquality industry development.
A Conch Group official introducing the cement building materials industry AI model at the launch event in Wuhu
The model represents not only a significant achievement for Conch Group but also embodies the result of its deep collaboration with Huawei. Both organisations plan to continue using advanced technologies like AI to fuel intelligent transformation and foster steady and rapid growth in sectors like cement, building materials and the wider manufacturing sector. �
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