European companies from the mechanical engineering, industrial automation and software industries are driving the foundation of the Open Industry 4.0 Alliance with a cooperation agreement for the digital transformation of industrial manufacturing plants.

Microsoft Corp. and the BMW Group announced a new community initiative, the Open Manufacturing Platform (OMP), to enable faster, more cost-effective innovation in the manufacturing sector.

Siemens Digital Industries Software and SAS announced a new partnership that will help companies create new IoT analytics for edge and cloud-enabled solutions by applying SAS and open source streaming analytics through Siemens’ MindSphere.

GE announced it has completed the sale of its Current, powered by GE, business unit to American Industrial Partners (AIP), a New York-based private equity firm.  Current’s portfolio spans LED and traditional lighting solutions, along with a variety of intelligent controls, sensors and software.

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), now incorporating OpenFog, and Plattform Industrie 4.0 announced that they have deepened their relationship.  The two organizations work together to drive global interoperability and advance the IIoT.

GE Healthcare and Rockwell Automation are combining their automation, IT and single-use solution experience to build digital bioprocessing operations.  The two companies will help biopharmaceutical manufacturers to create more flexible and scalable facilities.

ABB and Ericsson have strengthened their commitment to accelerate the industrial ecosystem for flexible wireless automation, which will enable enhanced connected services, industrial IoT, and artificial intelligence technologies in the future.

Siemens will be the integration partner for Volkswagen’s Industrial Cloud, according to a joint announcement by the two companies.