Seven-year partnership will enable CN's strategic plan,
powering sustainable growth over the coming decade for customers,
people, and communities
MONTRÉAL and SUNNYVALE, Calif.,
Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CN
(TSX: CNR) (NYSE: CNI), a world-class transportation leader and
trade-enabler serving North
America, and Google Cloud today announced a seven-year
strategic partnership to transform CN's supply chain as part of
digital scheduled railroading, deliver new customer experiences,
and modernize its technology infrastructure in the cloud. The
companies will collaborate on new services to revolutionize the
North American railway system, combining CN's world-leading
expertise in the transportation and logistics industry with Google
Cloud's technology and culture of innovation.
Through this partnership, CN and Google Cloud will set a new
standard for the railway system that delivers better experiences
for customers across industries–from materials and resources, to
manufactured products, to consumer goods. CN's work with Google
Cloud will drive the railway's ability to achieve continued growth
and execute on transformational business initiatives, while
supporting its sustainability goals, as Google's platform is the
cleanest cloud in the industry.
"Our partnership with Google Cloud is central to our strategic
plan, and reinforces our commitment to digitalizing scheduled
railroading and building the premier railway of the 21st century by
investing in technologies that deliver high-quality service to
customers, improve safety, and create capacity," said Dominique Malenfant, Executive Vice President
and Chief Information and Technology Officer, CN. "We are excited
to work together to drive further innovation across our company and
support our customers, employees, and supply chain partners."
As part of the partnership, CN and Google Cloud will collaborate
on the following initiatives:
- Enabling better connectivity and collaboration with
customers and supply chain partners: CN will develop an
intuitive digital platform, powered by Google Cloud's artificial
intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) tools, ultimately
giving customers and supply chain partners more visibility into the
logistics journey of planning, shipping, tracking and payment.
- Delivering new experiences for CN's customers through
co-innovation initiatives: This multi-year partnership will
combine CN's industry expertise with Google Cloud's leadership in
data analytics, AI, and ML to deliver new solutions and
next-generation experiences for CN's employees, customers, and
partners, such as simplified ordering and automated tracking to
further enhance predictive maintenance capabilities.
- Modernizing CN's infrastructure in the cloud: CN will
gradually and securely move the large majority of its digital
infrastructure, including SAP applications, from on-premises to
Google Cloud's always-on global network. Moving to the cloud will
allow CN to scale with customer and industry demands, simplify the
company's IT estate, create efficiencies, and reduce product
delivery lead times.
"The transportation and logistics industry is evolving rapidly
to build more resilient, responsive supply chains that adapt to
global events and provide customers more visibility and
flexibility," said Jim Lambe,
Managing Director, Google Cloud Canada. "We're proud to partner
with CN as it leverages technology to reimagine the future of the
railway system."
CN Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements
included in this news release constitute "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and under
Canadian securities laws, including statements based on
management's assessment and assumptions and publicly available
information with respect to CN. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. CN
cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current
economic conditions render such assumptions, although reasonable at
the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty.
Forward-looking statements may be identified by the use of
terminology such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates,"
"assumes," "outlook," "plans," "targets", or other similar
words.
Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve risks, uncertainties and other factors
which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of CN
to be materially different from the outlook or any future results,
performance or achievements implied by such statements.
Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. Important risk factors that could
affect the forward-looking statements in this news release include,
but are not limited to: the duration and effects of the COVID-19
pandemic, general economic and business conditions, particularly in
the context of the COVID-19 pandemic; industry competition;
inflation, currency and interest rate fluctuations; changes in fuel
prices; legislative and/or regulatory developments; compliance with
environmental laws and regulations; actions by regulators;
increases in maintenance and operating costs; security threats;
reliance on technology and related cybersecurity risk; trade
restrictions or other changes to international trade arrangements;
transportation of hazardous materials; various events which could
disrupt operations, including illegal blockades of rail networks,
and natural events such as severe weather, droughts, fires, floods
and earthquakes; climate change; labor negotiations and
disruptions; environmental claims; uncertainties of investigations,
proceedings or other types of claims and litigation; risks and
liabilities arising from derailments; timing and completion of
capital programs; and other risks detailed from time to time in
reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the
United States. Reference should also be made to Management's
Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) in CN's annual and interim
reports, Annual Information Form and Form 40-F, filed with Canadian
and U.S. securities regulators and available on CN's website, for a
description of major risk factors relating to CN.
Forward-looking statements reflect information as of the date on
which they are made. CN assumes no obligation to update or revise
forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in
circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable
securities laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking
statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional
updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any
other forward-looking statement
About CN
CN is a world-class transportation leader and
trade-enabler. Essential to the economy, to the customers, and to
the communities it serves, CN safely transports more than 300
million tons of natural resources, manufactured products, and
finished goods throughout North
America every year. As the only railroad connecting
Canada's Eastern and Western
coasts with the U.S. South through a 19,500-mile rail network, CN
and its affiliates have been contributing to community prosperity
and sustainable trade since 1919. CN is committed to programs
supporting social responsibility and environmental stewardship.
About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates
organizations' ability to digitally transform their business with
the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and
expertise. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage
Google's cutting-edge technology – all on the cleanest cloud in the
industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn
to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve
their most critical business problems.
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