Huawei Asia Pacific Railway Forum 2021

Smart Rail, Better Future Mobility

August 12, 2021 | Online Event

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Introduction

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has brought massive disruption to the rail industry but has also led to the increased use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) — including 5G, the cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Wi-Fi 6, Long Term Evolution-Metro (LTE-M), Long Term Evolution-Railway (LTE-R), and the Internet of Things (IoT) — to help cope, effectively accelerating digital transformation in the rail industry.

Of course, in an increasingly globalized, urban world, robust railway infrastructure is a critical transportation asset. As such, every traffic and transportation system must be highly reliable, efficient, safe — and green. As operators and authorities continue to evolve their responses to current circumstance, in order to strengthen their hands, investment in solutions that will future-proof operations and assets are now seen as a priority. In short, today, ICT is the backbone of a strong digital transformation strategy.

You are invited to join us online at the Huawei Asia Pacific Railway Forum 2021 at 15:30–17:40 (UTC+8) on August 12, jointly organized by Terrapinn. Exploring the theme of "Smart Rail, Better Future Mobility," we will hear from some of the world's leading rail operators and authorities as we discover how innovative technologies can empower digital transformation, exploring examples of successful real-world practices in the implementation of smart rail. In addition, Huawei will demonstrate its innovative rail industry solutions in a virtual visit to Huawei's exhibition hall, including train-to-ground Wi-Fi 6, the SmartLi Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS), LTM-M, LTE-R, and more.

We look forward to seeing you online on August 12.

Agenda

August 12, 2021 | 15:30 – 17:50 (UTC+8)

15:30 – 17:50 (Singapore & Philippines) | 14:30 – 16:50 (Thailand & Indonesia)

Time
Agenda
Speaker
Playback

15:30 - 15:35
Opening Remarks
Aaron Wang
Senior Vice President of Huawei Asia Pacific Enterprise Business Group

15:35 - 15:55
The Digital Transformation Trend and Development Index for the Smart Rail Industry
TC Chew
Director of Global Rail Business, Arup

15:55 - 16:10
Real-World Success: MTR's Digital Transformation Journey
Dr. Ted Suen
Chief Information Officer, MTR

16:10 - 16:25
Real-World Success: Shenzhen Metro's Ongoing Exploration of Smart Stations
Changquan Luo
Director of Metro Station Digital Innovation Studio, Shenzhen Metro

16:25 - 16:30
Lucky Draw

16:30 - 17:30
Panel Discussion:
Accelerating the Digital Transformation of Railways with Innovative ICT Solutions
Moderator:
Norman Frisch
Marketing Director of The Transport Sector, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei

Panelist:
TC Chew
Director - Global Rail Business, Arup
KWEK Hyen Chee
Head Digital Transformation and Business Innovation, SMRT Corporation Ltd
Dr. Tony Lee
Operations Director, MTR
Wong Chee Seang
Global Transportation Scientist, Huawei

17:30- 17:45
Exhibition Hall Virtual Visit: Experience Huawei’s Latest Technologies
Jiang Nan
Senior Marketing Manager, Huawei Consultant Office Enterprise Business Group

17:45 - 17:50
Lucky Draw

*Agenda may be subject to change

Speakers

Aaron Wang

Senior Vice President of Huawei Asia Pacific Enterprise Business Group
TC Chew

Director of Global Rail Business, Arup
Dr. Ted Suen

Chief Information Officer, MTR
Changquan Luo

Director of Metro Station Digital Innovation Studio, Shenzhen Metro
KWEK Hyen Chee

Head Digital Transformation and Business Innovation, SMRT Corporation Ltd
Dr. Tony Lee

Operations Director, MTR
Norman Frisch

Marketing Director of The Transport Sector, Enterprise Business Group, Huawei
Wong Chee Seang

Global Transportation Scientist, Huawei
Jiang Nan

Senior Marketing Manager, Huawei Consultant Office Enterprise Business Group

Conclusions from the panel session, panellists’ response to online questions

How would you address safety on railway networks in terms of unauthorized hacking of a certain train network?

Operators have implemented stringent policy and strategy on Cyber Security, regulations and protocols to ensure safety and reliability of Railway OT and IT systems have been implemented. There is also vulnerability penetration testing to ensure system assurance maintained by operators.
Specialised firms help operators to identify vulnerability & threats and help select, define and implement policies to guard against such threats / mitigate the risk exposure.
The typical approach is to prevent access to /isolate the safety system from the external world/ internet (firewall, DMZ), cyber–security practices / hygiene, guard against internal threats.

Most of the technical systems like signalling, SCADA, etc used for day to day railway passenger service operation are isolated & independent systems, placed in secure equipment cubicles and rooms, accessible only by trained internal staff and licensed contractors.
Administrative systems for business, they should be separate from the operating railways systems. So vigilant, well designed and carefully implemented process must be put in place right at the beginning of the asset life.

Question from: gi****8

How to solve disaster recovery for secure and sustained critical services?

This is an interesting and important question. Best addressed to the specialist security experts who would review Business Continuity Plans and make sure that there is a well-tested / practised and structured process that at least allow the railway to operate in a gracefully degraded manner until recovery. Contingency plans developed for foreseeable scenarios and regular exercises should be conducted to evaluate and ensure resiliency, robustness and adequacies of emergency preparedness.

Question from: jo****d

Is there any project for small country like Nepal？what can we do to manage there

Every key city in even the smallest country would like to have a well-planned transportation system to ensure the city mobility requirements are well managed.
As railway, whether it’s a metro or LRT systems can be expensive and railway is an Asset Heavy system with higher cost in infrastructure investment. Careful assessment, plan and design must be put in place.
The complexity of managing rail communication systems have vastly decreased thanks to standardised protocols, automated management systems and centralised Network Management and Control centres. With this operational costs have been reduced and dependency on large number of experts to operate these networks has been made reduced.
Also we cannot speak about the specific project mentioned in Nepal we sure it’s in the mind of the country’s transport authority as urban and intercity mobility is critical to a sustainable future.

Question from: ab****9

How does Work-From-Home affecting the Public Transport Operator revenue? What is the challenge in containing cost?

The “ new norm “ of Work-from-Home affects ridership and with this has potential to affect the bottom line
The impact by the Pandemic on the transport industry across all countries is well noted. The recovery will be gradual one with some will continue to work from home.
However, by virtual of the fact that human interaction and the desire of wanting to meet up to socialise will bring back the passenger volume but not necessary to the pre-pandemic level.
Public Transport Operator will look for efficiency enhancement and drive down cost. This is when digital technologies will open up the opportunities to make it possible to understand your asset better and help to generate great efficiency and reliability.
Some countries introduced whole of country measures and collective industry-wide efforts to overcome the COVID-19 impacts.

Question from: an****9

With the current pandemic, there have been so many innovations introduced to the public in every form. Do you think these innovations will continue to exist in post pandemic?

The Pandemic has accelerated the drive for innovations. Digital Transformation for railway has just started and will continue to find new avenues to allow better quality service delivery at the right cost base.
Digitalisation and new normal ways of working will continue to exist and transform enabled by 5G and IoT technologies.

Question from: af****1

What is your top of mind in coming 3 years that should take place with DX / emerging technology should kick start to enhance operations?

1) Customer experience de-carbonisation of railway, AI and cloud based services for improved customer services
2) Operational efficiency ( safety & reliability : smart O&M. Upskilling the workforce and transforming the workplace so as to enable new business value creation and maximise productivity and benefits to be reaped from introducing digital technologies.
3) Smart asset management system (cloud based solution). Application of sensor technology capturing data to support effective and efficiency operation. The data collected to be utilised to support better understanding and transformed into useful service for operation.

Question from: on****b

What are some of the biggest roadblocks that mid-size businesses face along the journey?

Lack of knowledge, understanding and well trained staff will be a major roadblock. Small and Medium Enterprises may face challenges in manpower and talent availability due to travel restrictions from transnational COVID-19 precautionary measures.
One typical roadblock seen is the reluctance to ascertain values that Digital Transformation can bring mixed with a lack of Policy & Planning on Investment for Digital Transformation

Question from: e****a

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Case Studies

5G and an Urban Rail Cloud: Shenzhen Metro Breaks the Mold

On August 18, 2020, Shenzhen Metro Lines 6 and 10 were officially opened — the first lines to comprehensively apply Huawei's Urban Rail Cloud Solution in China. They are also the first in Shenzhen to benefit from full 5G coverage. Indeed, taking in the bigger picture, they set a record for the rail transportation industry as a whole as the first lines to use cloud computing and big data technologies to handle diverse metro service systems.

Huawei Wireless Solution Improves Rail Services

Shenzhen Metro rail improves operations and offers new services with eLTE wireless network solution.

Solutions

Urban Rail Operational Communication Solution

Unified network supports train-ground communications, video monitoring, and onboard passenger services.

Urban Rail Cloud Platform

Urban Rail Cloud Solution offers a smart cloud platform for transfer from single to multi-line operations.

Introduction

Agenda

Speakers

Aaron Wang

TC Chew

Dr. Ted Suen

Changquan Luo

KWEK Hyen Chee

Dr. Tony Lee

Norman Frisch

Wong Chee Seang