NEWS
WHAT THE INDUSTRY IS SAYING ABOUT
DIGITAL AND CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE Industry leaders came together virtually in October for the Critical Infrastructure: Digitisation Series – two free-to-attend Virtual Conferences on 5 and 7 October exploring how digital technologies are impacting infrastructure. Here are the highlights from the conference.
T
he Critical Infrastructure: Digitisation Series was the latest event to be held under the highly successful Critical Infrastructure Summit umbrella, and took a deep dive into two sides of digital transformation: the digital technologies that are being employed in the design and construction of infrastructure; and the infrastructure being built to enable Australia’s digital transformation. Created and run by Monkey Media – the publishers of Infrastructure, Utility, Energy, Council and Pump Industry magazines – the event saw more than 650 infrastructure professionals registered over the two days. The conferences included: ♦ Digital Infrastructure: Implementing digital in physical assets – 5 October ♦ Cloud Infrastructure: The systems behind the new virtual economy – 7 October With speakers from the Federal Government, NT Infrastructure Commission, NSW Government, Office of Projects Victoria, UNSW Canberra, PwC, Digital Twinning Australia, Cross River Rail, Australasian BIM Advisory Board, IoT Alliance Australia, Infrastructure Australia, Queensland AI Hub, and nbn Co – there were in-depth discussions across both conferences. These conferences wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the sponsors – Series Partner Everbridge, Session Partner Snowflake, and Sponsor Hexagon. The Snowflake Data Cloud is being used across the utilities sector to quickly and easily digitalise both business and operational technologies. By collapsing data silos into Snowflake’s data platform, utility businesses are able to quickly and
14
easily enable high-value outcomes, from live condition monitoring and bushfire mitigation, to customer analysis and risk-based maintenance planning. Because Snowflake is built for ease of use, speed of development, and hands-off maintenance, Snowflake’s customers report dramatic reductions in time to value and total cost of their data projects, and we appreciate their insights and input into the event.
IMPLEMENTING DIGITAL IN PHYSICAL ASSETS Conference 1 explored how technology can help deliver a more profitable, resilient infrastructure industry and a better built environment. It looked at how tools and technology like BIM, big data and analytics are changing how infrastructure is planned, designed, built and managed. Wayne Patterson, Director of Spatial Operations, Spatial Services, NSW Department of Customer Service, kicked off the event with his keynote presentation on the NSW Spatial Digital Twin. Wayne has led the team that developed the ground-breaking NSW Spatial Digital Twin, a 4D (3D+time) Foundation Spatial Data Framework. The NSW Spatial Digital Twin is helping the NSW Government with infrastructure asset planning and management, integration with land use planning, data collaboration, and sharing. Wayne also gave delegates a live demonstration of the digital twin, showcasing what it is capable of and how it can be used to best advantage. It was a fantastic session, combining a look at what the wider industry is doing, with the advancements happening in NSW and a first-hand demonstration of the digital twin in action. Our second speaker was Sue Keay, CEO of the Queensland AI Hub. Sue was formerly a Research Director for CyberPhysical Systems at CSIRO’s Data61, and the Chief Operating Officer for the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision. She delivered a fascinating presentation outlining how robotics and automation are being implemented in the critical infrastructure sector, and the opportunities available.
