Tech giants have already built massive data centers to house everything from photos to music and all other types of consumer data. But with more people and devices connecting to the Internet each day, GE has decided to invest in the future of industrial data, which is growing twice as fast as any other sector, by giving it its own secure space.

This week, GE announced it will launch the world’s first cloud service built specifically for industrial data and analytics. According to GE, this platform-as-a-service (PaaS) will capture and analyze the unique volume, velocity and variety of machine data within a highly secure, industrial-strength cloud environment. GE built the new Predix Cloud using its Predix software. “Cloud computing has enabled incredible innovation across the consumer world. With Predix Cloud, GE is providing a new level of service and results across the industrial world,” declares Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE. “A more digital manufacturing plant means more products are made faster. We look forward to partnering with our customers to develop customized solutions that will help transform their business.”

GE says the Predix Cloud will enable operators to use machine data faster and more efficiently, which could save billions of dollars annually. By combining GE’s deep domain expertise in information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT), GE’s Predix Cloud will deliver advanced tools like asset connectivity, machine data support and industrial-grade security and compliance.

“A cloud built exclusively to capture and analyze machine data will make unforeseen problems and missed opportunities increasingly a complication of the past,” says Harel Kodesh, vice president, general manager of Predix at GE Software. “GE’s Predix Cloud will unlock an industrial app economy that delivers more value to machines, fleets and factories—and enable a thriving developer community to collaborate and rapidly deploy industrial applications in a highly protected environment.”

The Industrial Internet is generating data twice as quickly as any other sector, according to GE. With investment in infrastructure expected to top $60 trillion over the next 15 years, the number of devices connected to the Internet will continue to swell, generating an unprecedented collection of data and analytics. The Predix Cloud is designed to provide a highly secure infrastructure for this next phase of growth, which will generate a new level of insight, asset performance management (APM) capabilities and innovation in the developer community.

GE says its businesses will begin migrating their software and analytics to the cloud in the last quarter of 2015, and the service will be commercially available to its customers and other industrial businesses by 2016.

More information on the Predix Cloud can be found at www.gesoftware.com/predix.