Industry Speaks
Paul Wallett, Regional Director, Middle East and India, Trimble Solutions
Trimble’s digital innovations in construction technology revolve around constructability
Trimble is a California based service technology company and is a mix of hardware, software and mobility technologies streamlines communication and collaboration throughout the construction lifecycle, from planning, design and site preparation through to the finished project. Paul Wallett, Regional Director, Middle East and India, Trimble Solutions, talks about the role of digitisation in the Indian construction sector. How is the construction sector coping with current challenges in Indian economy? After witnessing a phenomenal growth of over 100 per cent during the last fiscal, the construction sector has witnessed a continuous downward spiral. Not just this, the turmoil tremors created multiplier impact across sectors including steel, cement, power, petroleum, aluminum, IT and ports, besides badly bruising the Indian economy. Despite the ongoing challenges, the government has initiated innumerable initiatives to lift the sector from its current dormant conditions. The measures include authorising the Indian Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) to raise `100 billion by issuing tax free bonds to make highways and port projects, liberalisation of the external commercial borrowing (ECBs) policy, revision in the cap for home loans to `2 million from `0.5
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million through inclusion in the priority sector, increase in foreign institutional investors limit in rupee denominated corporate bonds from $6 billion to $15 billion exemption of countervailing duty on cement, etc. To resist events like present global meltdown, the industry has to look within to develop its competitiveness across segments through enhancing their capabilities in R&D to leverage innovation through indigenous capability and expertise. What kind of new inventions and techniques can we see in the upcoming year? This year has been a breakthrough year in terms of digitisation of the Indian construction industry. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi declaring 2019-2020 as the year of Construction Technology, there is going to be a push from the government
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towards the large-scale adoption of cutting-edge software technology for execution of commercial real estate as well as infrastructure projects. With further innovation and growth of AI and ML, software such as Microsoft HoloLens is now set to reshape the part of the construction continuum that deals with the conversion of building models into actual buildings. Furthermore, tools like Trimble SketchUp Viewer for HoloLens, add computer-generated surfaces, graphics, and objects into the real environment around a user, bringing 3D models to life and putting information in the user’s hands without the need to change or adjust the data format. Using HoloLens, a 3D BIM model can be projected to guide construction teams on-site, and laterby facility management teams when evaluating required changes or maintenance work. While 3D BIM (design BIM) has been in use for several years now,
