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Industry insight
KARTHIK VENKATASUBRAMANIAN
ORACLE CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING
Curb risk and improve decisionmaking with predictive AI
Automation efforts have accelerated by many engineering and construction (E&C) organizations as they feel the squeeze of growing risk, strained supply chains, and narrowing margins continue to increase. Traditionally organisations have focused on achieving operational improvements through the use of technology to refine processes and procedures, but putting the data collected from digitisation to good use can sometimes be an afterthought.
AI holds enormous potential to help E&C organisations optimise their decision-making and to drive project success by proactively unlocking new predictive insights from project data.
Vast amounts of data are being generated by the construction industry as digitisation is embraced, and with it, there is a significant opportunity for teams to learn from and use this data to create better estimates, plan smarter, and reduce risk.
Historical data provides a starting point for organizations to analyse their business. The ability to gain insights from historical data and apply them to current projects is key to creating organisational baselines and benchmarks which can help prevent the same mistakes from being repeated and ensure there is a focus on driving continuous improvements.
At the very least, it prevents the “copy from a past project and paste onto the current project” mindset, which can be common when team members are under time constraints.
Until now, the focus of business intelligence (BI) technologies have generally been on lag indicators, things that have already happened on the project.
While these insights are valuable, new developments in AI can unlock a new level of project intelligence, where the focus is on lead indicators based on realtime data, driving predictive insights that can bring about better outcomes.
These AI technologies use machine learning (ML) to power active intelligence, helping organizations learn from their past data while continually assessing the present.
This use of ML enables organisations to regularly monitor developments and adjust plans using up-to-date predictive insights. For example, such a system can learn from historical schedule data and make predictions about potential delays on current projects. These systems become smarter over time with increasing data quality, improving in accuracy.
Active intelligence yields predictive insights that add value to nearly every aspect of construction project management, including critical areas such as schedule, cost/ budget, quality, safety, risk, and collaboration. AI can provide an effective early warning system that surfaces potential issues like project delays, cost overruns, defects and rework, etc. long before they boil over.
Active intelligence leverages rich internal and external data sources to continuously improve prediction accuracy and precision. When combining these along with external data, such as weather forecasts/history, supply chain disruptions, and workforce disruptions, it is possible to create a more accurate schedule and manage them proactively to reduce risk.
The Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and the rich data they can provide are additionally set to play a growing role with how active intelligence can improve quality of work, site safety, and tracking progress onsite.
There’s a lot that can be learned from the past, but the real benefit of active intelligence is in its ability to predict the future and make the decisions needed to change the course of a project before it’s too late.
Karthik Venkatasubramanian, vice president of data and analytics at Oracle Construction and Engineering.
SARA DEVITT
AECOM IRELAND
Today’s digital world is driving global demand for more data storage space
Described by some industry commentators as the ‘new oil’, data is expected to increase 10-fold worldwide between 2017 and 2025, with 75% of the global population interacting with data every day, according to
International Data Corp. Driven by the growing use of mobile technologies and cloud computing by both businesses and consumers, this relatively
‘new’ global data industry is growing, and fast.
To cope, more data storage space is needed. This has led to a boom in data centre construction, bringing about significant opportunities for further investment in this alternative but growing asset class — globally, data centre construction is set to expand by more than 8.24% to US$32.37bn between 2018-2025. In the Middle East alone, rapid digitisation of ‘smart cities’ is spurring the data centre market, which is expected to grow annually by 7% between 2018-2024.
To keep up with demand for ‘white’ or data storage space, the data centre industry is under
pressure to bring resilient, efficient and secure infrastructure and facilities to market quickly. In response, hyperscalers and operators are increasingly looking to complete site selection, acquisition, design and construction work as efficiently and innovatively as possible.
We believe it is possible for the industry to increase speed to market through integrated, multi-disciplinary delivery across a data centre’s journey to completion:
Inception: Selecting a suitable site with appropriate power and utilities is fundamental in getting projects off the ground. An integrated approach starts from project inception with site selection, master planning, environmental screening and planning permissions. When planning experts share their in-depth knowledge and experience of navigating the complex data centre planning process with designers, we can ensure designs meet the essential requirements needed to obtain permission.
Design: Design briefs should be developed collaboratively with clients and appropriate stakeholders. Working as a single, multidisciplinary team enhances collaboration, driving faster delivery through seamless and efficient handover between disciplines. This ensures a flexible, resilient design that fits with the client’s requirements to satisfy their end customers more efficiently.
Delivery: Working closely with the client, an integrated team of architects, engineers, environment and planning specialists share knowledge of the various customer, planning and construction requirements to achieve a better, more adaptable solution.
We applied these principles to design new-build data centre campuses on three sites in the Middle East. Our specialist Centre of Excellence data centre teams collaborated with in-country offices on the due diligence process for an initial critical load of approximately 4MW per data centre, complete with a shell and core suitable for 15MW, as well as an overall masterplan of 90MW per site.
As a result of effective engagement with local statutory authorities, all planning, building and utility permits were successfully obtained, and we were subsequently retained to provide construction supervision services to the client’s construction management team.
DR HARPREET SETH
HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY DUBAI
Architects have a great role to play in influencing changes
Since the advent of the pandemic, governments at various levels have been implementing smart city technologies to help combat its impact – using it to track the spread of infections and to support the execution of medical strategies.
In addition to demonstrating the value of smart technologies, these new applications are helping shape the future of smart cities. The pandemic prompted governments and authorities to repurpose existing digital infrastructure in many innovative ways that were difficult to imagine previously.
Some of the key and immediate changes to the concept of smart cities post-pandemic requires accelerating digital transformation and envisioning new design approaches. These will not only help us adapt to the new normal but also create new modes of social interactions essential for our wellbeing and make our cities more resilient.
Embracing automation: Even before the pandemic began, we had already started to see and experience automation in the form of touchless faucets and sensor-operated doors, especially in hotels, malls and airports. Now that we have been facing a pandemic for over a year, it is obvious that everybody wants to avoid touching anything unnecessarily. In terms of design upgrades, it is office buildings and even residential properties that should prioritise replacing doorknobs, light switches, thermostats, and other touch operated objects with motion sensors and voice controls, in order to reduce avoidable human contact.
Feeling safe with cleanliness and hygiene:
Without a doubt, cleanliness and hygiene is now an integral part of feeling safe in day-to-day life. As we re-evaluate our built environment – especially public places – architects and designers are adopting new design considerations in the form of anti-bacterial surfaces and antimicrobial fabrics that will eventually become more common in new projects. Educating people and encouraging a shift in their attitude will also remain vital to ensuring their safety.
Striking the balance between live-work-
play: With many still working from home and some firms allowing their employees indefinite remote working, people’s leisure and recreation needs will need to be reimagined as well. The design community is already seeing a rise in the demand for repurposed living spaces. From reducing tactile contact to integrating fitness and work into their homes, none of these are going to be possible without the aid of smart technologies. Live-work-play is the new design typology that has become more prominent over the last one year. Hence, the need for balance and taking a pause between each facet of live-workplay will continue to grow into the near future.
Although it is positive to see the roll-out of vaccines across the world, reclaiming a world as it was prior to the pandemic could be a few years away. It is therefore important to make urban resilience a top priority.
Smart city technologies can help us make our cities more habitable, resilient, and sustainable – and this is exactly what we need to create a safe and prosperous future that is responsive, not reactive.
The pandemic is also a lesson on why cities need to partner and collaborate with national governments to follow a consistent set of policies and synchronised actions. Though most cities can lean on their national governments for help during major crises, that is not always the case, even when it comes to more developed countries.
Cities must become more independent and innovative, enrolling all stakeholders in their crisis response and recovery planning – and that’s where current and new smart city technologies will play the role of a critical enabler.
