3 minute read
WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE FUTURE OF INFRASTRUCTURE?
The last few months have seen a dramatic change in how we live, work and move around our cities due to the pandemic. Some states like Victoria are still facing strict lockdowns, while other states have started to open things back up. While there is a lot of uncertainty, now is the time to start exploring what the industry will look like post-COVID.
To help provide some answers to this big issue, allow them to process information of the physical and virtual Infrastructure magazine gathered the infrastructure world and react”. industry’s leading experts to explore their Frank said he and IoTAA work from the premise that data will predictions at the first Future of Infrastructure be the tool that we will use to make better decisions, and that Virtual Conference in July. while the internet had a dramatic effect on the way businesses
Speakers delved deep into issues including the rise of ran when it first emerged, the Internet of Things will have an cloud-based infrastructure; using the economic rebuild to even bigger impact. make assets more sustainable; how mobility and transport “We're collecting some of the information that allows usage will change, and what the sector can do to meet this us to start making faster decisions about how we might new demand; as well as what nation rebuilding will look like optimise services, how we might better use our assets, how post-COVID and the new waves of innovation for the sector. we might provide warnings for safety, for example. So the
Frank Zeichner, CEO, Internet of Things Alliance Australia Internet of Things is a systemic thing, and it’s about collecting, (IoTAA), spoke about the Internet of Things (IoT), digital transforming and sharing data,” he said. infrastructure and what’s needed for Australian IoT “It's ultimately about gaining insights and information from infrastructure. data, to improve business processes in operations and
IoT by International Standards Organisation/IEC definition is customer engagement.” “an infrastructure of interconnected objects, people, systems When looking at how different Australian sectors ranked in and information resources together with intelligent services to a McKinsey Australia Industry Digitisation Index, the level of
Frank Zeichner, CEO of the Internet of Things Alliance Australia (IoTAA)
digitisation for manufacturing, mining, utilities, construction, transport and agriculture is patchy at best. This is where Frank sees a massive opportunity.
According to Frank, the things that are needed are:
A culture and understanding of collecting, analysing and sharing data inside businesses and externally with suppliers and customers ♦ Understanding where data, especially real-time data can help business processes ♦ Having the skills inside or with partners to apply IoT technologies to collect, analyse and share data ♦ Drive through process change
Investment in “hard infrastructure” will require investment on "soft" data and IoT investment
On this point, Frank said, “We need to build roads, rail, ports and airports. My view is that we shouldn't be building those without the soft as well. The data collecting and sharing requirements need to be built into that infrastructure, which builds our IoT national infrastructure.” Security by design ♦ Build security in at the start, it's way less expensive than adding it later
Nationwide connectivity – for high and low bandwidth ♦ Businesses need to be able to connect via broadband and wirelessly. There will be a need to enable greater incentives for regional/rural coverage ♦ We need findable and accessible data repositories for public good and industry enablement – preferably located in Australia ♦ We should be applying artificial intelligence and machine learning in Australia — there is a massive opportunity here
So where should the infrastructure and construction industry start on their digital and IoT journey?
Frank said the first thing to do is to find people who are doing it.
“Talk to others in your industry who are already doing it. In the construction industry, I’d say look for those who are standouts and learn first.”
