Recently, Bentley Systems presented a webinar entitled, “Using the Power of Digital Twins to Reimagine the Future of Infrastructure” at the EFCG Tech Leadership Conference online.
Presenters Steve Cockerell, Industry Marketing Director, Transportation, and Kat Flesh, Senior Director Transportation, both of Bentley Systems, spoke on their findings from working with some of Bentley’s most visionary users.
Kat Flesh, Bentley Senior Director Transportation
They provided an update on what has been achieved so far, and what is being planned by owners and supply chains of assets that support nearly every aspect of our lives today. For example, roads, rail and transit, bridges, water systems, and smart cities. Cockerell and Flesh also explored the innovative ideas that are shaping the infrastructure business for a better tomorrow.
Steve Cockerell, Bentley Industry Marketing Director, Transportation
“Population growth rates vary across different regions, but we’re still talking about 2 billion additional people on the planet in the next 20 to 30 years,” Cockerell said. “The United Nations predicts that the future of the world’s population is urban. Today, over 55% of the world’s population live in urban areas, but by the middle of the century that number will go up to 68%. In America, the number is already 80%, and I think this will place a huge strain on our infrastructure assets. Most of the impact will be on our roads and railways as these networks are the only way to keep our cities and countries moving.”
More customers working remotely coupled with increased frequency in cyberthreats over 2020 has spurred the release of IMAGINiT Technologies Clarity 2021.1 suite of products including new security features.
An interesting by-product of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the reworking of technologies to fulfill requirements presented by the need to work remotely, as well as address the way we will work on face-to-face projects that are essential to the AEC industry. The need to visualize large amounts of data will propel the expansion from data acquisition to data analytics and business and operational insights. Office spaces of the future may be repurposed for additive manufacturing as the maker community takes off with more entry-level machines, making it more accessible to more people. Drones are becoming smarter, and more field personnel are able to make use of them.
Industry predictions for 2021 launch from what technologies are in place, and which technologies have been relied upon during the Covid-19 pandemic. Even after the pandemic scare is over, industry professionals believe there will be a heightened need for technologies such as AR/VR/MR/XR to allow staff to collaborate remotely. Digital twins, remote working, off-site manufacturing, hybrid work situations and new ways of handling volumes of data are all predicted for the future, as fortunately they were already tools we could utilize before the pandemic.
It goes without saying that the Covid-19 virus has upended our lives and industries around the world beyond most people’s imagination and not in a good way. Most people I speak with want 2020 to end, eager to herald the start of a new year and new beginnings.
Vectorworks Design Day was held this week, outlining the new Vectorworks 2021 release and the theme of “simplicity to design the complex” that characterizes that release.
Pointfuse, a powerful modeling engine that delivers an automatic, precise and flexible way of converting the vast point cloud datasets generated by laser scanners or photogrammetry into segmented mesh models, has launched a new toolkit called Space Creator. Pointfuse Space Creator is designed to facilitate adopting laser scanning within space management, planning and utilization workflows.
Stephan Langella consultant presented a webinar recently entitled: Large Projects using Open BIM and ARCHICAD.
Langella makes his home in Brisbane, Australia and has worked for a number of organizations, including Graphisoft and Woods Bagot. He has worked on numerous large projects delivered in Australia and elsewhere in the world, including the Queen’s Wharf Project in Brisbane. He loves hearing “we can’t do that,” and seeing how things can be done.
We are winding down our Industry Predictions 2020 series now, with one more week to go. The commitment of industry professionals to what lies ahead in 2020 is demonstrated in these informative views.
This week we cover topics such as digital adoption maturity in construction, VR/AR, drone capture and laser scanning, and cloud adoption. CMiC, Autodesk, Trimble and Workspot are our featured voices.
Every January AECCafe Voice publishes blogs of industry predictions from our readers. This article is the second installment of those predictions. This year we have extended the deadline to Tuesday, January 14th for entries.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – JANUARY 01: Thousands of people line the harbour around the suburb of North Sydney during New Year’s Eve celebrations on January 01, 2020 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by James D. Morgan/Getty Images)
