Water and Effluent Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/843774
JULY 2017 WET NEWS 7 News+ In the paper, Balfour Beatty explores how business strategies will change, pro- ductivity levels will improve, and required skills will evolve. It outlines how technology will: • Help bridge the skills gap by creating jobs, roles and industries that do not yet exist, and attracting younger generations to the industry, ultimately leading to a more agile workforce with new skills • Benefit all stakeholders through increased productivity, improved efficiency and increased value and quality while helping to bridge the skills gap and up-skill the workforce • Enable projects to be delivered for the public more efficiently and effectively through the use of such technology as Building Information Modelling (BIM), aug- mented and virtual reality, cloud data storage, telematics, drones and data analytics Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty's group chief executive, explains: "We are experiencing a digital revolution, redefining how we as an industry operate; becoming faster, better and more agile. By adopting and embracing the rise of digital solutions we are more able to deliver efficient, effective and safer solutions to our clients and customers. "These changes will mean we have to ensure our industry trains our current and future employees with the skills to exploit the use of new technology, new materials and new methods of working. "Balfour Beatty has made significant progress in its vision to become a truly digitally empowered business, developing our internal capabilities, collaborating across our supply chain and partnering with the best technologically creative minds enabling us to be bold in the adoption of new and emerging technologies". In the paper, Balfour Beatty has outlined its top ten predictions for 2050 including: • The industry becoming increasingly focused on innovation, and both contractors and customers becoming less risk-averse • Infrastructure will move on from concrete and steel to include new materials which respond to their surroundings • Thinking only about design and construction will become an outdated concept as infrastructure becomes multi-functional • Direct neural control over devices and vehicles will be accessible to the industry According to Balfour Beatty, change in the industry is overdue. "The digital revolution will redefine the sector. It will lead to a reshaping of business strategies, a reimagining of our offering to the customer and a shi' in the kind of roles infrastructure companies recruit for. "For companies to capitalise on it, the digital transformation cannot be the preserve of one specific team – it must encompass the whole organisation. More than that, it must be pushed down the supply chain to maximise the benefits. Use of the latest digital technology and tools has to become the norm rather than the exception. We must respond and embrace the transformation that new technology can provide so we can deliver the infrastructure of the future." Wearable technology is already becoming available. There are safety helmets with head-up displays; eyewear such as Google Glass. Exoskeletons is a likely choice in Balfour Beatty's future world, saying their use in