GE has opened its Africa Innovation Centre, a GE’s local centre of excellence for innovation and technology transfer, based in Killarney in Johannesburg.
GE first announced the intention to begin the project in 2004, and committed R500 million towards a Centre where GE intends to innovate its global technologies in Africa for Africa.
GE already has 10 Innovation Centre globally, with others based in China, Canada and Saudi Arabia.
The centre will become GE’s regional hub for innovation and technology transfer, as well as a platform to collaborate with local customers to innovate African inspired solutions to address Africa’s challenges.
The GE Africa Innovation Centre is an integrated centre that is dedicated to innovation; learning; exploration and invention – with internal and key external stakeholders.
It focuses on global and local solutions to African challenges and opportunities, leveraging the best of GE methodologies, technologies and tools – the GE Global Brain.
The centre will also be a hub that seeks to accelerate supplier development in South Africa through equipping Small Medium Enterprises (SME) to participate in the GE value chain.
The GE AIC includes:
- The GE Africa Experience – an interactive exhibition centre on the ground floor
- The GE Healthcare Experience – a training facility, equipped with state-of-the art GE Healthcare technology
- An agile workspace for Healthcare Employees
- The GE Learning and Development Centre
- Pause spaces, flexible collaboration and ideation zones throughout the building
- The GE Cafe is stocked daily with fresh locally-sourced brainfood
