The 10 Best Construction Tech Solution Providers 2018

www.insightssuccess.com August 2018

Editor’s Pick Product Life Cycle Management Technology Transforming the Construction World

Environmental Talk Eco-friendly Strategies for a Better Tech-enabled Construction World

10 CONSTRUCTION The

Best

Tech Solution Providers 2018

Paolo Ramadori CEO

MACCAFERRI Engineering Better Solutions for Construction-Tech World

Editor’s Note

Acknowledging the New Era of Construction

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he rapid pace at which the global construction operations are occurring, prominently addresses the real-time progressions any business can possess. The technology advancements have crossed the sky line and are unveiling the insights about the changing position of a giant crane through the satellite data and imagery. This information leads to better decision-making processes which can foster the forward-planning of an organization.

Thanks to the growing population and changing customer demands the construction sector is now being pushed beyond the traditional business models into the digital age. This dynamic and seismic shift is creating a platform which can quench the needs of customers with cost-effective state-of-theart solutions. As such, Smart Cities are coming into origin- a built environment where one can enjoy the perks of livelihood. This transformation journey has significantly introduced a new world of construction to the existing market players. It will also keep the emerging entrepreneurs and startups on the forefront of the tech-enabled construction ecosystem.

The Industry 4.0 has witnessed and will continue to witness the implementations of machine learning, artificial intelligence, drones, sensors, and predictive analytics. This has created a curated standpoint which is driving the construction players and enterprises towards the pathway of success and innovation. Real-time construction machineries are soaring with competitive on-site processes to wholly transform the supply-chain capabilities. In the recent years, the companies have been on a mission to collect and analyze data to provide an eco-friendly construction dais for the businesses to become increasingly hands-on.

Currently, the construction-tech companies are focusing on upgrading themselves with the changing times aiming to create their niche in the Industry. They are consistently making huge strides parallel to the inevitable digitalization and tech trends. With these major developments, we can say that the new age of construction is here, to transform the construction space with its ultimate magic wand.

While 2017 was an enthusiastic year for Construction-tech companies, 2018 is a year which will take the globe beyond the success horizons. Looking towards a bright and innovative future we present you our special issue highlighting “The 10 Best Construction Tech Solution Providers 2018.” In this issue we will help you to walk through a list of companies which have benchmarked their existence with innovatory services. Keeping up the sheer pace with the developments in technology, these companies have paved a creative pathway in this domain as well as the marketplace.

On the Cover of the issue, we have featured Officine Maccaferri, Engineering Better Solutions for Construction-Tech World. This technology company is outshining its competitors with its innovative solutions and revolutionizing the construction space. Apart from such insightful cover story, we have also enlisted IFS: for Modernizing the Construction World through Prominent Software Solutions, IrisVR: for Reinforcing the Construction Industry through Prompt Virtual Reality, Prescient: for Digitally Transforming the Construction Industry followed by WeatherBuild: for Delivering Intelligent Weather Enabled Decision Support.

While flipping the pages, take a note not to miss out articles masterly crafted by our in-house editors. The article Eco-friendly Strategies for a Better Tech-enabled Construction World from Environmental Talk highlights the strategies for implementing cost-effective eco-construction practices. Turning some more pages will help you find Product Life Cycle Management Technology Transforming the Construction World from Editor’s Pick and “Spatial Intelligence”, Making Inroads into Different Sectors from Tech Bytes. We have also included articles like, How is Technology Going to Transform the Financial Sector form CXO Standpoint, Blockchain: The Next Opportunity for Better, Safer, Smarter Cities from Leadership Viewpoint which are authored by the industry experts. These articles will help you understand the current market scenario of this industry. Looking at the emerging opportunities and the growing possibilities this issue of ours will introduce you to a whole new world.

So enjoy the exciting read!

Suhel Mashayak

C O N T E N S

Cover Story

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MACCAFERRI Engineering Better Solutions for Construction-Tech World ARTICLES

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Environmental Talk

Editor’s Pick

Tech Bytes

Eco-friendly Strategies for a Better Tech-enabled Construction World

Product Life Cycle Management Technology Transforming the Construction World

“Spatial Intelligence”, Making Inroads into Different Sectors

20 26 36 42

IFS Modernizing the Construction World through Prominent Software Solutions

IrisVR

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Reinforcing the Construction Industry through Prompt Virtual Reality

Prescient Digitally Transforming the Construction Industry

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WeatherBuild Delivering Intelligent Weather Enabled Decision Support

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16 CXO Standpoint How is technology going to transform the ď€ nancial sector

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28 Leadership Viewpoint Blockchain: The Next Opportunity for Better, Safer, Smarter Cities

Pooja M. Bansal Anish Miller Suhel Mashayak Crescent CU Brain Smith Rahul Niraj Visualiser David King Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Priyanka Rajage Co-designer Shweta Ambilwade Art & Picture Editor Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Passi D. Business Development Manager Peter Collins Marketing Manager John Matthew Business Development Executives Sophie Smith, Jim Williams Judy Kent Sales Executives David, Kevin, Mark, Vijay Technical Head Jacob Smile Technical Specialist Amar, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Online Marketing Strategist Alina Sege, Shubham Mahadik, Vaibhav K SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chauhan, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Irfan Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Circulation Manager Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes Editor-in-Chief Senior Editor Managing Editor Executive Editor Contributors

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August, 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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Cover Story

MACCAFERRI Engineering Better Solutions for Construction-Tech World

Maccaferri is committed to outstanding safety, quality and sustainability to create value for all stakeholders

Paolo Ramadori CEO

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he story of global construction-tech industry is becoming more interesting day by day. Engineering and Construction sector (E&C) is witnessing fluctuations in numerous ways which are creating new challenges for the global management teams. People are becoming smarter before making their choices with respect to a construction project’s cost and benefits. As such, many leading E&C firms and tech-based construction organizations are adapting to this change and providing solutions for smooth and agile construction operations. Rather than simply tracking costs and passing them along to the clients these organizations are becoming proactive about identifying bloated costs and reducing them. Also, they are lending a hand in making the global geotechnical and environmental construction markets better.

It is significant to recognize that technology is changing the design, procurement, and engineering operations of the construction projects.

One such organization taking concrete steps to revive the global construction industry and firmly holding the success roots is Maccaferri, founded in 1879.

Based at Italy, the organization manufactures, designs, supplies, and constructs systems with its seventy subsidiaries operating across five continents. It has a on-site presence in more than hundred countries, offering solutions which include retaining structures, slope stabilization, erosion protection, rockfall mitigation, highway reinforcement, and coastal

Ramadori is the backbone of Maccaferri and is constantly driving the actions of the organization.

Our target is to become the best at what we do in all sectors we participate

protection. The in-house personnel of Maccaferri consist of three thousand employees who made the company a global leader in the manufacture and supply of gabions and related steel wire mesh products. It is also a leader in construction geosynthetics.

“We are highly-specialized professionals trained in designing and developing complex solutions in the civil engineering, geotechnical and environmental construction markets”.

Meet the Witful and Well-Spoken Leader Paolo Ramadori is the CEO of Maccaferri. Ramadori is a perfect example of consistency and innovativeness. He strives hard with a motive to make innovation happen around the world. He believes in being responsible, respectful, caring, and sensitive not only to the environment but also very much to the people, the stakeholders and to the world at large.

Under the leadership of Ramadori, his team overcomes various challenges related to climate change, urbanization, resource scarcity and is on its way to shape the future of the planet.

Maccaferri plays a key role to drive economic growth, and provides solutions to address social and climatic challenges.

He says, “Maccaferri is not just about what we want to be but even more importantly it is about how we want to be as an organization. We really enjoy the challenges of engineering and are able to work dynamically”.

Diversified Range of Unique Services Benefitting Clients Maccaferri is an undisputed leader in providing prominent construction-tech solutions for end-to-end customer satisfaction. Instead of simply selling products, the organization offers a unique range of services which identify, address and respond to the specific needs of each client, globally.

“We have a unique business model because we are a real partner, through all the different project stages in close synergy with our clients; manufacturing, designing and installing solutions throughout the world” Agribusiness- Maccaferri provides filtering and storage solutions through its geomembranes and drainage geocomposites which help in

The

10 CONSTRUCTION Best

Tech Solution Providers 2018

constructing storage lagoons and attenuation ponds within agricultural facilities.

Building, Industry and Sport- The organization represents itself as a brand in the complex world of civil and industrial constructions. It is amongst the leading providers of the concept of horizontal drainage in the synthetic grass fields. It offers its customers with specific products for all needs, both for homologated fields and for smaller fields through the technological development of the range of Terradrain Football drainage composites.

Coastal & River Control WorksMaccaferri experience in hydraulic works started in the 1890’s. Since then the organization has expanded its portfolio of solutions for the coastal & river control works with the developing of particular expertise and specialist knowledge in the field.

We are nurturing the world of tomorrow, harmonizing life and nature through innovative solutions

Maccaferri focuses on selecting a logical graded range of interventions enabling it to meet overall customer satisfaction. Maccaferri design software supports engineers in the design of durable and environmentally compatible coastal and river control works solutions.

Emergency & Floods- Speed and efficiency are vital to deal with flood and emergency situations. Maccaferri’s emergency and floods solutions are designed to offer an efficient and effective response in case of emergency, mitigating the effects of floods, thereby reducing the extreme impacts and costs for businesses, individuals, insurers, and the government.

Environmental Protection- The organization offers the high-quality and robust solutions to prevent environmental contamination landfills and collects precious leachates in mines. It also offers MacGrid® geogrids that reinforce soil enabling the steepening of slopes within landfill cells and maximizing the volume available for waste disposal. Clients can attain safe and cost-effective disposal by using the MacTubes® provided by Maccaferri. Additionally, these products and their solutions come with CE marking which help to meet appropriate legislative requirements.

Defence & Security- Maccaferri carries a great deal of expertise in gabions, soil reinforcement and natural hazard protection which enables it to help clients protect what is important to them; military personnel, citizens or

critical assets. Also, the reinforcement solutions improve the performance of soft ground, stabilize soils, and enable the smooth movement pathway for heavy military vehicles.

Mining- The organization provides mining solutions to its customers from access and material handling infrastructure, rockfall hazard mitigation, product concentration, and leachate storage, to dewatering and site remediation. These solutions pave the most possible ways for constructing efficient and safer mines. Maccaferri’s experience in water control hydraulic structures, erosion protection, and revegetation enables the rehabilitation of the local environment at the end of mine exploration.

Oil & Gas / Energy- From wind farms, to oil storage and pipeline, the organization provide numerous solutions to stabilize soft ground, support working platforms and other infrastructure demands. Maccaferri provides geogrids and geotextiles to reinforce access tracks to Oil & Gas/Energy facilities reinforced soil

Our vision is to become a leading international provider of advanced solutions to the construction market

slopes to enable the construction of pipelines through confined areas retaining structures solutions to enable the construction of terminals, plant infrastructure, and also stabilize soft ground to support working platforms.

Furthermore, the company provide erosion control and re-vegetation solutions to rapidly reinstate the scarred earth with greater efficiency and value-for-money.

Transportation InfrastructureExtensive involvement in projects of all sizes reassures Maccaferri’s clients that it has capabilities to recognize their infrastructure problems and deliver customized solutions to meet specific requirements. Maccaferri solutions has been used globally on some of the most significant infrastructure schemes, including what is believed to be the tallest reinforced soil structure in the world at 74m high.

Urban Infrastructure- Maccaferri’s wide range of solutions tailors as many of the urban infrastructure requirements. The organization offers solutions for steeper retaining walls while constructing narrower corridors for road and rail works. It offers soil enforcement solutions for steeply sloping housing developments and creates terraces to maximize development areas. The organization aims to solve the drainage problems associated with the groundwater adjacent to new structures. The organization deals in providing basal reinforcement solutions aiding the commercial developments to withstand the soft soils in a redevelopment zone, tunneling works for metros, and other underground infrastructure.

Unified Efforts Fueling the Success Engine Maccaferri’s consistent efforts towards outstanding quality, health, safety, and unique technical expertise have made it a renowned brand in the constructiontech market. The key ingredients fueling the growth of the organization include attentive listening, innovation and collaboration. Its vision to adapt to the fluctuations occurring in the technologies, new processes, and new ways of working has shaped its destiny. Its belief of managing costs and resource efficiency has successfully helped the company to outshine other competitors. Also, maintaining client relationships is also a major factor holding the success roots. With constant dedication and consistency, today, Maccaferri is amongst the Global rankers for its rock fall and float prevention system.

“We invest on developing our engineers’ skills as well as on increasing intellectual properties on our solutions”.

The company believes in the diversity of its employees. It respects their cultures, races and genders. It encourages them to think and act without prejudices and to keep challenging themselves and the status quo in line with the true spirit of continuous improvement. This is a key attribute fueling the success engine and has helped Maccaferri to flourish over the last one-forty years.

Message for the Budding Startups The company suggests the emerging startups to keep an open-minded approach and recognize the needs of the clients to find and build a strong curated portfolio of solutions. In addition, passion, curiosity, and entrepreneurship will take the new-age entrepreneurs to newer heights of success.

Future Perspectives Maccaferri commits to having a bright future. With the spectacular services and products positively impacting on carbon footprint reduction the organization is investing its performance with a motive to nurture the future world. It is planning to expand its geographical presence with its sound strategy levering on investments on product development and innovative technologies in the near future.

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The

10 CONSTRUCTION Best

Tech Solution Providers 2018

Company Name

Management

Brief

APROPLAN aproplan.com

Thomas Goubau CEO

Aproplan delivers an exclusive construction management software which help organizations in tracking their progress and maintain effective collaboration with the team.

BuiltWorlds builtworlds.com

Matt Abeles Co-founder

BuiltWorlds is an online media and events company fueling the conversation on emerging technology and new approaches in the built space.

IFS ifsworld.com

Kenny Ingram Director

IFS excels in developing and delivering enterprise software for customers around the world.

IrisVR irisvr.com

Shane Scranton Co-founder & CEO

IrisVR is amongst the leading software for immersive design review and collaboration in virtual reality.

Officine Maccaferri maccaferri.com

Paolo Ramadori CEO

Maccaferri excels in providing innovative solutions to the construction, geotechnical and mining industries.

NoteVault notevault.com

Peter Lasensky Founder

NoteVault provides unique speech-powered mobile apps to the engineering & construction industries worldwide.

Onyx Solar onyxsolar.com

Alvaro Beltran Founder & President

Onyx Solar is amongst world’s leading manufacturer of transparent photovoltaic (PV) glass for buildings.

Prescient prescientco.com

Magued Eldaief CEO

Prescient is a technology company that has a software and hardware platform that offers a faster, greener and more costeffective alternative to conventional building structures.

SmartMobileVision smartmobilevision.com

Ferenc Balazs Founder

WeatherBuild weatherbuild.co

Adam Omansky CEO & Co-founder

Smartmobilevision is startup with research and development background that aims at supporting various industries with innovative cutting-edge computer vision technologies on portable devices.

WeatherBuild® leverages weather data, machine learning and predictive analytics to increase productivity, enhance safety and manage risk for the leading contractors, owners and operators across the construction industry and built environment.

CXO Standpoint

About the Author Koichiro Yoshida is the President and CEO of CrowdWorks. He founded CrowdWorks Inc, in 2011 which provides the Japan’s largest crowd sourcing service and has taken lead in offering.

The company was listed on TSE Mothers in 2014 and provides services to over 1.87 million crowd-workers which includes, 12 government institutions and 240,000 companies as of June,2018. In 2015,he was awarded to Workstyle Innovative Award in Japan’s Venture Company Award of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry proposed

by Shinzo-Abe Prime Minister.

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August 2018

F

How Is Technology Going To Transform The Financial Sector August 2018

intech (Finance + Technology) is one of most significant trends in the world. Transformational technologies, such as smartphones, smartwatches, blockchain, P2P network, cryptography, machine learning and optimization algorithms will rapidly and drastically convert the current financial world. In my opinion, there are four mega-trends in this area: 1) Cashless Society, 2) Rise of the Consumer Credit Economy, 3) Cryptocurrency and Financial System Reform via Blockchain Technology, and 4) Trade Automation using Machine Learning.

Cashless Society Firstly, digital payments using smartphones and smartwatches are expected to further accelerate. In Japan, contactless payment systems such as SUICA and PASMO are widespread, but using smartphones for payment will become the norm. I am convinced that in the near future, you won’t need to use a real credit card, but you can pay for your dinner by simply using a smartphone at the restaurant, and you can transfer money to your friend using your smartphone. Alipay and WeChat Pay have already started to reform the way money is used, and China is now shifting to a Cashless Society. In the U.S., Venmo and CASH App are used for transferring money to each other, making cash unnecessary.

Japan will also adapt to such, where there will be an enormous opportunity for business. In the next few years, many startups will produce products that will lead to a cashless society.

The Rise of the Consumer Credit Economy Second is the “Consumer Credit Economy”. With the spread of the Internet and SNS, there is a significant change in how individuals work, and how one obtains credit. In the last century, corporations had considerable authority, and personal trust depended on the type and size of the companies they engaged with. But now, data of an individual’s skills, expertise and career are stored on the Internet and SNS, and in some cases, the number of followers on Twitter / Instagram and friends on Facebook may be more important than what kind of company you work for (there are people who have many followers called “Influencers”). In addition to this trend, individual workers

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such as users of Crowdsourcing platforms (e.g., CrowdWorks), can earn more than those who work for a company. In the U.S.,“Freelancing in America 2017”, the survey conducted by independent research firm Edelman Intelligence and commissioned in partnership by Upwork and Freelancers Union showed that the number of freelance workers is 57.3 million last year, an increase of over 4 million since 2014. In addition, based on the survey, it is predicted that the majority of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers within a decade (by 2027). With acceleration in such direction, the way of personal credit will change. In the last century, individual workers, freelancers, and small business owners had difficulty to get credit and loans from financial institutions. However now, on Kabbage.com, small business owners can get quick access to working capital by SNS information. In China, Sesame Credit, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, uses data to create a score for each person based on how trustworthy they are, and high-scored users can gain various benefits such as social security and welfare, the right to be admitted to expensive private schools, and smooth clearance of Chinese customs. As these examples show, a flexible social system optimized for each individual starts to emerge. Of course, countless companies will invent some revolutionary financial product such as insurance and lending services for individual workers in the next few years, and many Fintech startups will intensely endeavor to produce such products.

Cryptocurrency and Financial System Reform via Blockchain Technology The third is blockchain and cryptography technology. As you know, blockchain is a necessary technology, the core of which is an “open and distributed ledger” and cryptocurrency is one of the hottest applications of blockchain. Cryptocurrency, represented by Bitcoin, has a tremendous impact on the economy, and is creating a new ecosystem. The combination of cryptography, P2P network and blockchain is very compelling, and it may eliminate the existing model of currency and the way money is transferred. The market value of Bitcoin is now over 10 billion US dollars.

But blockchain technology represented by Ethereum is not limited to cryptocurrency, but to various fields such as

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audit, credit investigation, and transaction management.

With blockchain, the system records all data in a block, and the applicants of the network monitor each other’s data correctness, making blockchain secure by design and exemplifies a distributed computing system. With this kind of distributed system, the overhead fees currently charged will be close to zero. There are many possibilities, such as most business processes of the traditional financial institutions would be automated and decentralized by blockchain, and some blockchain companies like Bitfury and bitFlyer would begin to provide blockchain technology to existing banks and financial institutions. In addition, I am convinced that a future would come where venture companies and startups will invent new insurance products (such as automated credit surveys), and unique real estate transaction structures using blockchain.

Trade Automation using Artificial Intelligence The last is the rise of Artificial Intelligence, represented by Machine Learning / Deep Learning. “AI” has started to change the structure of the financial industry. For example, Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, has reported that they have automated trading

by Machine Learning and drastically reduced the number of traders in the company, and now there are only two persons who work as traders. In Silicon Valley, some “AI hedge funds” have begun to appear recently, where AI completely judges an investment without human intervention. As these examples show, AI can drastically improve productivity of trading businesses that are based on algorithms, eliminating need for human intervention to a bare minimum.

High-speed trading (HFT) has become a popular topic of conversation, made possible with increased computer performance and algorithm evolution, is exceeding speeds beyond human ability. Machine learning has enormous potential to transform the financial business structure.

As I described above, there are many possibilities where transformational technologies are revolutionizing the financial industry, and I’m extremely optimistic about the future. I look forward to a great future, and our lives will evolve for the better.

August 2018

IFS

Modernizing the Construction World through Prominent Software Solutions

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he technological advancements and software applications in various industrial sectors have been increasing at a shocking speed. New innovations are being adopted to streamline the existing traditional construction processes and the tech-enabled construction industry.

IFS is one such organization which is paving a creative way to modernize the Construction-Tech industry. It is a world leading provider of business software for Project and Asset Lifecycle Management. The organization is investing in solutions to allow construction companies to adapt, be agile, and be the innovators and leaders of the future. Team IFS consists of 3,500 employees that support more than 10,000 customers worldwide from a network of local offices and through its growing ecosystem of partners.

IFS’s Take on Tech-Enabled Construction Industry Trends There are a number of trends that are rapidly transforming the construction-tech industry.

Construction-integrated manufacturing, often referred to as offsite or modular construction, is a trend that is gathering pace, thereby forcing BIM to be adopted at a much faster pace.

IoT presents challenges and opportunities by offering a tremendous amount of data on the condition and performance of assets after project completion. As such, IFS can help them, enabling straightforward methods to incorporate IoT data into operational software systems.

Contractors are also increasingly looking for revenue after project completion through aftermarket contracts for operation, maintenance and service (OMS), often with help from IoT data. IFS can help them in executing aftermarket contracts profitably, and also price and design the initial project with the aftermarket in mind.

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A Man who Recognized the Need of Better Integrated Business Systems For the last 21 years, Kenny Ingram has been the Global Industry Director for Engineering, Construction and Infrastructure at IFS. Kenny has always been passionate to improve the performance of the construction industry enabling companies to take advantage of new-age technology. He recognized that the construction industry needed better integrated business systems that would allow projects to be cost-effective, less time consuming and quality-based. Today, he is developing innovative construction solutions at IFS focusing on project- and assetcentric industries. Under his leadership, the organization has invested heavily with the goal of offering the world’s best integrated business solutions to the construction industry.

Kenny is the driving force who has been contributing in developing a global IFS customer base of world class construction customers.

Promising Services Quenching Every Single Business Need IFS develops and delivers agile, component-based software for enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM) and field service management (FSM).

Its user-friendly enterprise application software helps organizations to outshine their competitors. Its combination of PLM and EAM software is rarely found in one integrated software solution. IFS provides project-based manufacturing solutions aiding the offsite manufacturing facility and international business settings. It operates integrating a common set of supporting modules including finance, human resources, document management, procurement, supply chain, subcontract management, quality, health, safety, plant, and equipment hire and rental.

IFS is the solution for engineering, construction and infrastructure by offering the best-of-breed field service

August 2018

The

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software for the aftermarket maintenance contracting. It also deals with enterprise projects like utilities construction including nuclear power.

Fueling Client Benefits through Constant Efforts IFS solutions cover all stages of the asset lifecycle and provides its customers with flexible, integrated solutions and manages all the services it offers to its clients, allowing them to adapt their offerings with fluctuations in the business needs. This helps customers to manage their companies efficiently and make well-informed decisions based on accurate, timely, trusted information. IFS is committed to generating business value for its customers, giving them a competitive advantage.

Keeping in mind the client’s choices, IFS offers its software through a perpetual license or subscription which can be implemented on premise or a cloud solution. It also helps clients to take advantage of the disruptive trends that are impacting the construction-tech industry now and in the future.

Today, IFS is fueling client benefits through its constant efforts across all segments of the construction industry in more than twenty-five countries.

Cornerstones which Helped Achieving Milestones IFS’s first customer, a nuclear power plant is still using IFS Applications to manage its mission-critical processes. This indicates that IFS is wholly committed and dedicated towards its customers.

IFS is an organization which values its employees. IFS encourages employees to be creative and innovative by offering projects they are passionate about. This helps in developing prominent staff skills which fueled the growth of the business leading to the success pathway. IFS also has a small, fast-moving internal unit known as ‘IFS Labs’ group. IFS Labs monitors consumer technologies, digital trends, and explores their applicability to its products and industries, thereby bolstering creativity and innovation. In addition, the construction industry expertise of team IFS helped it to become a recognized leader in today’s techenabled construction world.

Futuristic Approach IFS aggressively builds features suggested by customers into its core product set. The company is also planning to design new technologies through its forward-looking IFS

August 2018

Kenny Ingram Director

We consistently generate business value for our customers globally

Labs group and is exploring the applicability of drones to augment the construction-tech space.

Major targeted investments have been made across all sectors of the industry with a futuristic approach to support the construction businesses and to support the total asset lifecycle management process. This will enable its customers to adapt their business and withstand the market complexities in the future. IFS is also majorly focusing on the digital transformation including integration of BIM model data with a view to renovate the existing construction-tech operations. It also offers a proven product to support servitization by integrating IoT data.

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ECO-FRIENDLY Strategies for A BETTER TECH -Enabled Construction World 22

August 2018

Environmental Talk

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oday, the national and global economies are on a consistent booming pathway. There is an upsurge in the use and implementation of cutting-edge technology in the construction-tech companies. Recognizing these technology trends, many construction-tech solution providing companies are focusing on its usage and adoption. Additionally, these global corporations are now majorly swinging their interest in executing sustainable construction procedures thereby leading to an increase in sustainable building materials reaching to the masses.

It is essential for the construction-tech companies and developers to adopt the ecological values which can ensure sustainability and longevity to withstand the market complexities. The customers and corporations are shifting towards preserving the environment and the construction-tech industry is following the suit. Besides, rapid population growth demands an eco-friendly environment to live in. There is a need for strategies that provide alternative construction solutions to safeguard the environment. Therefore, the construction-tech companies are planning to implement cost-effective ecoconstruction practices.

Using Eco-friendly Material Sustainable tech-based construction operations can involve the use of environment-friendly and non-toxic paints, solvents, and building materials. This can enhance an organizations’ productivity highgrounds in the construction-tech industry lending a hand towards construction of an eco-friendly building. This creates healthy and safer indoor spaces in homes, offices, and recreational areas. Besides, the integration of ecoconstruction practices in the technology will prove to be a long-term benefit for commercial and industrial buildings leading to the end-to-end customer satisfaction.

Using the safe, natural and readily available insulation material like the sheep’s wool can prove profitable for the construction. The recycled cotton sourced from shreds of discarded clothing can be a strong move

August 2018

towards non-toxic insulation and sustainable construction. Also, the by-product of the timber industry wood fiber made from wood chips can represent a good eco-friendly insulation option.

Reducing the Demolition Procedures Instead of dumping the hazardous materials like concrete and structural steel into landfills, these can be recycled and reused for various other tech-based construction operations. Using the industrial crushing amenities, the small-scale as well as large-scale construction-tech organizations can recycle these materials into dry aggregate for new construction operations. This would provide the organizations with a substantial savings opportunity and can help reducing the demolition construction procedures. It will also aid and cut-costs associated with the disposal of toxic materials from the site. Additionally, recycling and reusing the carpet, flooring and ceiling materials can be a small but strong move towards eco-friendly construction environment.

Implementation of Locally-obtained Resources Construction materials are transported over an extremely long distance with greater consumption of energy in that transportation phase. But emphasis can be placed on the use of locally-sourced materials with green construction.

Also, this would reduce the carbon footprint, and creates a far more efficient tech-based construction processes.

The use of the resources available in any city or town can help, support, and grow the local businesses on a large scale.

Conserving and Recycling the Water Water is the key enabler for every construction-tech operations; residential, industrial or commercial. Hence, water must be conserved to power the implementation of eco-construction processes into any kind of constructiontech project. This can involve simple techniques like rain-water harvesting and or watershed management.

This collection and storage of rain-water can be used for

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landscape irrigation. In addition, the recycled rain-water and its condensation from HVAC units can also be collected and used for same causes. The construction-tech companies can take advantage of recycling water through readily available water resources which would otherwise go down the drain.

Long-term Sustainable Solutions With the soaring energy costs, investing in solar power could be a long-term sustainable solution for tech-based construction companies. It can cut-costs, reduces grid reliance, and lessens the strain on electricity providers. The construction companies can transform the rooftops of the homes and buildings into generators with the use of this solar power and maintain a good electricity ow. To take one step further, use of photovoltaic windows consisting of solar cells can boost the operations controlling interior temperature.

Another way to execute successful eco-friendly construction practices can be achieved through the use of wind power.

Having turbine fans at the rooftop of a building can help in producing energy and also reduce electricity consumption.

Besides, they require little maintenance, maintain indoor air quality, and reduce utility investments.

Appropriate Use of Land With the increasing population, urbanization of smart cities is also on its way. Planning for green space and multipurpose areas can be signiďŹ cant in avoiding land degradation. The construction techniques can support the ideology of eco-friendly tech-based construction with the suitable use of landscape. Appropriate use of land by the builders, architects, and designers while developing a building, will encourage the addition of green spaces on rooftops or in other parts of that building. This will provide the masses with a multiuse space.

The future construction world would witness transformations with more sustainable and alternative construction methodologies. However, creativity and innovations in tech-enabled construction practices will ensure the maximum longevity of resources for future generations. Also, these innovations will be the cornerstones of the developments and could help in leaving a better landscape for next-gen. Eco-construction practices and technological advancements will open the future doors for the green construction leading to a cleaner and greener construction-tech world.

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August 2018

IrisVR

Reinforcing the Construction Industry through Prompt Virtual Reality

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echnology is increasingly becoming a driving force in the construction industry - an industry in dire need of a solution to solve the stagnant productivity rates stunting its growth. As construction planning and administration processes are increasingly going digital, many construction-tech companies in the residential, nonresidential, and infrastructure sectors are embracing this opportunity to transform the future.

IrisVR is the leading software provider for immersive design review and collaboration in virtual reality. This software is used by BIM & VDC teams, design firms, and engineers who coordinate 3D models and implement design and construction processes. IrisVR can be integrated with Revit, Rhino, SketchUp, and other 3D tools to create an immersive VR experience for users. It takes client engagement to a new level with productive coordination meetings at 1:1 scale.

IrisVR was one of the first companies to develop VR software specifically for AEC workflows. Since its inception, it has been helping thousands of users in the US and abroad deploy VR in their office or at the job site.

IrisVR’s Exceptional Products IrisVR helps firms accelerate and streamline their workflows by providing a platform that makes project coordination & planning simpler and more accurate. It currently offers two products which are available for a free 45-day trial at www.irisvr.com.

Prospect- Prospect unlocks data-rich, immersive workflows for design review, coordination, and owner engagement,

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enabling smooth on-site and off-site operations. It creates fully immersive, interactive VR experiences from your desktop 3D model that can be viewed with an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. This one-stop solution for users lets them explore BIM and 3D files in virtual reality with one click.

Its in-VR tools allow users to interact with and manipulate their model for more efficient and productive discussions.

You can even collaborate with multiple stakeholders from any location with their Multiuser Meetings features.

Prospect supports Revit, Sketchup, Rhino, Grasshopper, FBX and OBJ files. They also just announced a new native integration with Navisworks, where customers will be able to use a Navisworks plugin to send 3D models into VR with one click.

Scope- Scope is IrisVR’s mobile application that launches 360° immersive panoramas with the Samsung GearVR, Google Daydream, and Cardboard. It facilitates quick presentations on the go and can be used to drive client buyin and present final designs.

The Fanatical Duo After studying architecture, Shane Scranton (CEO) and Nate Beatty (CTO) - IrisVR co-founders - shifted into 3D technology in 2013 as BIM consultants. They saw the immense potential of immersive technology to increase efficiency on the job site. The duo was on a mission to drive better coordination and design review in the office by offering a true-to-scale experience. Shane and Nate took a dive into the deep end with a vision to define enterprise workflows through an effective and innovative platform.

Their passion for 3D technology and the idea to change the way people create, develop, and communicate ideas about

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3D space motivated them to launch IrisVR in 2014.

Today, with the constant efforts of Shane and Nate, IrisVR has been recognized amongst the notable leaders in virtual reality and enterprise technology by various outlets.

Surpassing Challenges When IrisVR was gearing-up to set its foundation in 2014, VR was just starting to capture mainstream interest and most of the headsets had not even been released. Their team of engineers had to spend most of their time developing the early proof of concept for the software while costumercentric personnel focused on operations to withstand the market complexities. Team IrisVR travelled throughout the U.S. and abroad giving thousands of in-person demos to firms while gathering feedback and answering questions.

They faced the challenge of developing easy-to-use, oneclick, and innovative solutions in an era where VR technology was still in its embryonic stage. But with persistence and investments in evangelism, the company established itself as a trusted brand with its turnkey VR software solution for AEC. The Success Mantra IrisVR provides a workplace where employees can experience personal growth while feeling connected to the customers and projects. The co-founders believe that ‘employee engagement’ is the key to unlock the door to success. In conversation with them, they addressed “we constantly try to set and refine goals that give employees creative freedom and ownership of their roles while also working towards a common vision. We also try to bring our day to day work closer to the customer by hosting frequent lunches, test sessions, and feedback meetings with construction firms.”

Shane Scranton CEO & Co-founder

We help our clients to Win Projects, Save Time, and Catch Errors

Revealing the Future Plans With a futuristic vision to reach newer heights, IrisVR is excited about the next generation of immersive headsets that will be more accessible and easier to use in varied environments, making immersive technology better suited for construction projects. The company is also working to position its core technology for larger teams for effective use of immersive technology in mega projects.

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Blockchain: The Next Opportunity for Better, Safer, Smarter Cities About the Author: Gianni Minetti Passionate and eclectic technology expert, Gianni Minetti is the President and CEO, Paradox Engineering SA has about 25 years of business experience in information and telecommunication systems, with peculiar interests in Internet of Things, smart technologies, blockchain and cryptography. In 2005 he founded Paradox Engineering as the vehicle for bringing his unique technology vision to the market through pioneer IoT platforms for Smart Cities and Smart Factories. He is currently President and CEO of the Company, which has been part of MinebeaMitsumi Group since July 2015. Gianni is also chair of the Southern Alps Chapter of the Crypto Valley Association, active investor and advisor to several blockchain venture projects. He is based in Ticino, Switzerland.

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oday, about 55% of the world’s population lives in urban areas, but this share is expected to increase to 68% by 2050.

Combined with the overall growth of global population, this could add another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050, with close to 90% of this increase taking place in Asia and Africa, as reported by the United Nations’ 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospects.

Since the world continues to urbanize, a wiser and far-sighted management of urban resources is more and more needed, especially in low-income and lower-middleincome countries where the pace of urbanization is projected to be the fastest. Smart technologies and smart

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Leadership Viewpoint

urban platforms can support City managers in tackling the increasing demand for energy, infrastructures, affordable housing, well-connected mobility systems, healthcare and education, as well as quality of life and jobs.

consumption, optimize costs and simplify processes for City operators and managers. Even more, it provides actionable information to feed strategic decisions about services efficiency and improvements, and take evidence-based actions where and when needed.

To understand how smart technologies work, we should picture Cities as distributed communication systems, where urban objects – think of streetlights, meters, parking lots, waste bins, Wi-Fi hotspots, video surveillance cameras, etc. – are not dumb, isolated devices, but smart nodes of a citywide network. With the Internet of Things (IoT), all these objects are injected with intelligence and acquire the capability to receive and transmit data and execute commands, thus enabling remote monitoring and dynamic, adaptive control functions.

Let’s apply what we’ve just described to a basic service such as street lighting. By connecting street lamps to a wireless IoT network, it becomes possible to turn them on/off and adjust brightness according to daily solar times and ambient light levels, defining variable patterns for working and festive days, residential and industrial districts. Sensors can be integrated to bring lights up when human or vehicle presence is detected, and on demand actions can be triggered in real time for single or grouped lamps – for instance when a car accident or an emergency requires intense lighting in a specific area.

Acquiring and correlating data from urban assets is a significant step forward to improve quality of public services and citizen satisfaction, reduce energy

It is proven that implementing LED lighting and an IoT remote management and control platform can cut energy consumption and greenhouse emissions up to 70%.

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Moreover, connected lamps can monitor key operating parameters and automatically report failures, generating extra savings on maintenance costs. Considering LED technologies last about 50% longer than traditional light sources, the US Federal Department of Energy estimated that if the entire country converted to LED lighting over the next 20 years, it would save a total of USD 120 billion.

Even more interesting developments are possible with blockchain technology, which can make Smart Cities far more secure, transparent, efficient and resilient. As an original combination of mature technological concepts, including peer-to-peer networks, distributed consensus algorithms, validity rules, ledger technologies and cryptography, blockchain can be successfully applied in any domain where stakeholders’ relations are based on

trust and may be entirely disintermediated. This is particularly true in Cities, as they rely on accurate, secure, authentic and trustworthy information exchanges to deliver services to people and businesses.

About energy distribution, for instance, blockchain-based metering solutions can accelerate the adoption of real-time differential pricing models and encourage users to participate to power generation by connecting their renewable energy microgrids to the main grid. In water networks, blockchain technologies enable smart contracts and validated rules to automate water supply in the most possible efficient manner, minimizing leakages and tampering.

Blockchain technology can be combined with IoT solutions to provide better waste collection services: it allows to accurately track

waste input and optimize waste truck routes upon parameters like bin status, filling levels, etc. This increases service quality and efficiency, and generates further savings on fuel expenses and overall maintenance costs. Garbage-related data could also support the introduction of customized fees for household and commercial users, thus rewarding recycling and correct waste separation.

Coming to public government and administration, blockchain can be used to automate and digitalize civil registries, as well as property, real estate and business registries, generating notable cost savings and increasing quality of service.

Considering citizen participation, blockchain-based voting platforms can improve present, analogue electoral systems by achieving secure, anonymous and unique voting in a decentralized manner.

Same platforms can be used to poll citizens on specific urban initiatives, making sure contributions from civil society are recognized in Smart City planning and development.

Blockchain technology is still in its early days, but most experts agree it has a potential for disruption. And some pioneer experiences – from Dubai to Tokyo, from New York to Tallinn – demonstrate that benefits for Smart Cities can really be worthwhile.

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August 2018

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT

Technology Transforming the Construction World

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Editor’s Pick

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n the modern global economy, the construction enterprises have to face several challenges to streamline processes; increase revenues and cut cost whilst at the same time meet regulatory demands. The Product Life Cycle Management technology (PLM) is aiding these enterprises with innovative Product Data Management (PDM) solutions. Currently, PLM is playing a vital role in providing the companies with keys to optimize their businesses. It is also playing a significant role in the designing, developing, and managing the construction machinery and products so that the enterprises can attain a greater profitability and stability.

Boosting the Mobility In the fast stirring construction world, technology is becoming explicit in making the process faster and more efficient. PLM enables enterprises with improved communication and responsiveness. Efficient communication and information-sharing can foster the setting of a construction company and enforce smooth on-site and off-site operations. As such, PLM provides more flexibility to the work leading to frequent collaboration, cut costs and escalate business outcomes. It is integrating applications that help the companies to innovate their products regarding the development and the engineering performance. Also, consistency of working methods and more efficient data management leads to mobility in the workplace and provides prominent decision-making process assistance.

Catching the Wave of Business Analytics Data is of great use for any construction enterprise. This data need not be disputed. PLM technology is the key to monitor the engineering data and process information in a significant manner. It provides selective access to the data and mechanism related to the control of the data leading to end-to-end construction processes. This helps in carvingout better construction solutions. PLM is making significant efforts needed to bring right data in the right form and delivers functions that allow the information to be under control. It precisely supports the construction processes with the suitable risk & compliance as well as the service management. PML is surely assisting the business analytics with its applications, delivering strategical and tactical business values.

The integration of PLM with analytics will help the construction companies in capturing and analyzing any sort of content, allowing transparent delivery of only the important data into the 3D-experience platform. This facilitates the elimination of legacy tools and systems in a controlled and low-risk manner.

Connecting Every Dot of the Market— Construction Lifecycle Management Construction Lifecycle Management (CLM) is simply PLM for Construction and Engineering. It promotes innovative ways of thinking and doing business by

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delivering cutting-edge Construction Process Integration framework. This helps the organizations to withstand the market complexities and manage all the phases of the Lifecycle of a Capital Asset holistically: design, build, operate and retirement. In the construction market, Production and Manufacturing are unique fields on their own but share a great deal of things together. Individually these fields are concerned with creation. Broadly, manufacturing is concerned with creation of products and production is concerned with capital assets. CLM helps organizations to clearly build a symbiotic relationship between the two. It has helped connecting every dot of the construction industry and is profoundly transforming the construction-tech processes.

CLM provides a complete strategic business approach for the companies by which they can implement a consistent set of business solutions— integrating people, processes, and information. It highlights these solutions in support of the collaborative creation, management, dissemination, and use of construction definition information. It is a comprehensive business approach that conduits the opening between design, engineering, construction and profitmargin for the business enterprises.

CLM covers missing support regions and overcomes the lack of integration and collaboration between different business operations taking place in the industry. It facilitates the involvement of construction information across all enterprise functions, customers, and suppliers.

CLM is taking the construction market to the next level by underpinning both lean practices and standardized modules. It gives a solid foundation to an organization. It is nothing more than a PLM for construction practices which is improving how information is organized and how changes are managed. It can prevent inhibiting the reintroduction of waste into operations once it has eliminated and generated profitable business outcomes. It helps in managing how the products and their designs are standardized, organized into configurable modules, and efficiently manufactured based upon the data.

A Tech-Enabled Future There will be an exciting future for the construction industry with the rapid development in the PLM industry. It will empower the next wave of business productivity. Integration of PLM in the cloud, mobile, and the IoT will lead to rewarding opportunities with extraordinary contributions to the construction world. PLM will provide the construction enterprises with a seamless data integration layer to access the core database information in a simple and efficient manner. These curated moves would create a successful platform for an organization to set its pillars right into the market. Furthermore, systems decomposition and process re-engineering would become paramount to the IT skill inventory. This would be due to the business operations and master data hitches decomposed in unison and enabled by the PLM technology platforms of the future.

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August 2018

Prescient

Digitally Transforming the Construction Industry ”

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n infrastructure developed with innovation, will seldom crumble. But will unquestionably sustain life.”

The above quote elucidates the prominence of innovation or the inclusion of technology in construction. Although, it is at an emerging state in the construction business, technology has evidently increased the agility and quality of conventional building methods. One eminent organization that has been ceaselessly implementing and innovating technologies in the construction industry is Prescient.

Prescient, founded in 2012, is a technology company that has a unique patented platform that offers a faster, greener and more cost-effective alternative to conventional building construction. The company has developed an End-to-End Software & Hardware Technology Platform that is revolutionizing construction with the purpose of providing Attainable housing for all.

The foundation for this revolution is Prescient’s Unified Truss Construction System (UTCS™), a standardized light gauge framing system that utilizes proprietary software applications which create a design and construction platform. This seamless method enables higher productivity, higher quality, fewer last-minute conflicts on site, less waste, shorter schedules, and a better ROI.

engineering from the American University in Cairo and an MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

Prior to Prescient, Magued spent 27 years at GE in various leadership roles around the globe with GE’s energy division. Most recently, he led the global commercial operations of the $4B Industrial Solutions business of GE which was recently sold to ABB. Upon being asked about his views on Prescient’s mission, Magued states, “The founders of the company were frustrated with the way construction was being carried out and all the inefficiencies they have personally experienced in developing and building multifamily projects across the US. They wanted to find a better more efficient way to do construction and streamline the whole construction value chain leveraging Industrial manufacturing practices and digitization. Thus, with this aim, Prescient was incepted” Disrupting the Industry Prescient provides a comprehensive turnkey structural solution made out of light gauge steel for buildings up to 17 stories. This solution is enabled by the company’s software that uses 3D BIM modeling to ensure speed of design and constructability at an early stage of project development. It is coupled with accurate & predictable project costing to ensure attractive project economics.

Prescient uses precision manufacturing technology including robotics, laser cutting systems, and state-of-theart numerically controlled flexible manufacturing systems to deliver buildings with very tight tolerances, comparable to the automotive industry. Prescient’s approach is enabling it to create the first multifamily OEM in the construction industry.

This same software enabled by the digital thread takes these designs and drives the company’s automated and lean manufacturing to generate all the structural elements of a project for precision manufacturing. The same thread continues to ensure computer aided logistics and assembly and building of all those manufactured components.

A Proficient Leader Magued Eldaief is the CEO of Prescient since 2017. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical

With this solution, Prescient can save up to 6 months off of a design schedule as well as 8-12 months off of a construction schedule leveraging its technology. In addition,

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the organization provides BIM integration services that enable owners/General Contractors to model all their Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing in its structures to ensure fast and predictable execution at installation with no clashes. Prescient’s goal is simple, to reduce overall project cost by 30% and shave 12-18 months off of a project schedule.

Surpassing Challenges The key attribute that helped Prescient to overcome entrenched mindsets is belief. It truly believes in its technology and its platform. “The hard part is convincing customers of our technology and its merits. What really helped us is simply focusing on key pain points that customers face during construction and looking at how we can drastically improve schedule, safety and more importantly drive down risk and cost,” states Magued.

Demonstrating that value is what helped Prescient overcome the challenge. This belief coupled with a total focus on customers is what is driving its innovation engine and acceptance in the marketplace.

Commenting over the opportunities and challenges involved with the advancements in the construction industry, Magued says, “There is plenty of opportunity to do better. The fact that productivity has not moved in the last 20 years and that our sector has the lowest level of digitization in itself is telling of the massive opportunity.”

Sharing his opinion over the solution to tackle the challenges, Magued asserts, “In my view we have to start by eliminating the two-party contract that we see in every project where interests are not aligned between owner, general contractor and all the trades and sub suppliers. We need a different approach where there is collaboration, transparency and efficiency in decision making around projects.”

Pertaining to this, Prescient is focused on, building a platform around which all stakeholders can drive efficient decision making to reduce cost, eliminate waste, improve schedule while eliminating risk.

Catapulting a Revolution Prescient has aided the advent of software technology, advanced manufacturing and precision engineering quality to the construction sector. With over 75 patents and 60+ pending, the company is driving innovation to streamline the total value chain and bring stakeholders to think differently about developing and building projects.

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Magued Eldaief CEO

Our goal is simple; reduce overall project cost and timing to make housing attainable for all!

Developers approach Prescient for consultation before committing to purchase land to validate their project economics since it can provide specific designs and accurate costs in a matter of days leveraging the company’s platform. Once those are validated, the subsequent approach is to optimize building designs to shave 6 months off of the design schedule and 12 months off of the project construction.

“As mentioned earlier, our purpose is ‘Attainable housing for all’ and with housing costs rising around the globe and affordability becoming a major crisis for countries to deal with, we believe that technology and an open mindset will continue to propel innovation and growth for Prescient,” states Magued.

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“Spatial Intelligence”, Making Inroads into Different Sectors

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hether moving in a driverless car or deliver an e-commerce product at customers doorstep. “Location” plays an important role. There is a significant dimension of “Location” in every business transactions.

Location can be an address, a service boundary, a sales territory, or a delivery route. Therefore location-specific data and its analytics are high in demand among various enterprises. Analytics of location-based data helps an organization to earn more profit and also contribute in making operational activities much more efficient and faster. Enterprises from different domains, therefore, now started using location-based data analytics application. “Spatial Intelligence” is one of them.

Spatial Intelligence Spatial Intelligence (SI) is an application of GIS and is also known as Location Intelligence. Spatial Intelligence is the process of deriving meaningful insights from geospatial data captured by GIS. With many different observations, patterns get discovered which help a business to take better decisions, optimize their business operations and increase their profits.

Eminence of GIS GIS stands for Geographic Information System. GIS is a system, which is designed to capture, store, manipulate, manage and present “Location” specific data to its end users in graphical format. It is a system which comprises of software, hardware, people, data, and methods.

GIS software lets an organization to produce maps and other graphic displays of geographic information for analysis and presentation. GIS is much more than a container of maps in digital form. GIS hardware helps to capture an image and other digital data for a particular location. People are the end users of GIS; it can be GIS technicians, managers, administrators, etc.

Spatial Intelligence for Businesses Transformation It is generally known fact that more than 80% of all data has a location element to it and that location directly affects the kind of insights that you might draw from many sets of information. By carrying out a spatial analysis of this data using varied business intelligence (BI) tools, decision makers will able to better understand the past, current and forthcoming aspects of business operations to derive valuable insights and make most effective decisions for their businesses.

Most of the time enterprises require customer’s data related to specific locations to know income levels, educational background, buying habits of persons residing in a specific area which helps a business to find a probable location where that particular business get flourished.

Spatial Intelligence derives meaningful observations for an existing business as well. In which areas an organization is performing well? Which are the underperforming areas? Which are the areas where a company

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needs to focus immediate attention?

There is a series of many important questions related to a business growth.

Spatial intelligence has the potential to derive meaningful answers to these questions.

Spatial relationships, patterns and trends reveal priceless business intelligence and bring easy-tounderstand visualization to business applications. The power of location intelligence enables companies to identify and increase where business performs stronger and cut down on failing assets.

Spatial Intelligence is Getting Recognition among Different Enterprises Companies from different verticals are taking Spatial Intelligence very seriously and investing huge money on it. Traditional players of the geospatial industry like Esri, Hexagon and Pitney Bowes are working with spatial data on a large scale. Apart from these companies many hard-core IT corporations like Oracle, Microsoft and IBM are also venturing into spatial analytics at full throttle. For instance, by integrating Esri’s technologies into Azure IoT Suite’s preconfigured solutions, Microsoft is empowering customers to gain valuable insights about where their assets are and what they are doing at all times, anywhere in the world.

Which sectors are gaining from Spatial Intelligence?

There are two categories of businesses which are using Spatial Intelligence.

The first set is of those businesses which are naturally embedded in geographies like transport, telecommunication, or real estate, which absolutely depend on locationbased information. The second set comprises of the group of users who

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not essentially use geospatial data on an everyday basis but they still depend on it for better performance. These would be retailers, insurance companies and banks.

Let’s enlighten how these sectors are gaining with Spatial Intelligence: Logistics: To check the consumption rate of a particular product on a particular location help warehouse management to determine, which stock is needed on a priority basis? Thus it helps a logistic company to maintain demand-supply ratio without any caveat. Companies like United Parcel Service and FedEx are augmenting delivery routes using spatial analytics.

Transport: To determine the shortest and fastest transportation routes for delivery, SI is very helpful. Apart from this, it also provides direction to travellers while driving.

Real State: Many people buy a house based on the location. People prefer a location which is near to a hospital, a railway station, schools etc. Spatial analytics provides research, analysis, and presentation of each prospective site. It helps in determining ideal sites for development.

Telecommunication: In analyzing rivals network coverage, actual bandwidth, potential area to tap new business opportunity, SI is really helpful for telecommunication.

Energy: Spatial Intelligence is helping energy industry to identify the potential location for energy exploration.

Retail: Spatial analysis is helping the retail industry to maintain stock delivery, store management, inventory management, marketing and sales.

Advertisement Industry: SI helps

Advertisement and PR agency in order to find potential location, to install billboard so that it gets maximum views.

Healthcare: To identifying those locations, which are more prone to a certain disease, SI provides valuable inputs to the health officials to make policy and administrative decisions to control epidemic diseases.

Airports and airlines: Air traffic control use SI to track flight operations with greater accuracy and efficiency. SI helps airlines to reroute flight path in case of an emergency. It also helps in optimizing fuel and staff cost.

Government agencies: Not only private companies but many government agencies are also using SI. Defense agencies, town planning department or public distribution system all are using SI for better administration and efficient operations.

Insurance Company: Climate is not under anyone’s control but policies are.

Drought and hailstorm have become a common phenomenon since last few decades. Drought and hailstorm contribute to large-scale crop damages.

Crop insurance has gained popularity due to drought and hailstorm. SI helps insurance company to predict in advance about future climate behaviors for a particular location and helps them in making crop insurance policy and promotion as well.

Humans think visually, therefore spatially. Due to visual decoding, comparison of data and invaluable business insights, SI has already made inroads across various enterprises.

With many emerging technologies like crowdsourcing, human geography and visual analytics, dominance of Spatial Intelligence will only grow further.

August 2018

WeatherBuild Delivering Intelligent Weather Enabled Decision Support

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he construction industry is continuously impacted by frequent fluctuations occurring in the climate and with the weather. To fight these adverse weather conditions, technological innovations are playing a key role in aiding the construction industry. Currently, many organizations are striving hard, proving the best-inclass construction-tech solutions to enterprises and ensuring real-time flow of actionable intelligence. These organizations are providing effective decision support solutions with efficient project, facility and asset management, including the capability to manage and measure schedule activities, maintenance tasks, equipment operations and work results. Additionally, they play a crucial role by offering innovative applications for decision support, predictive analysis, scenario planning, risk management, operations research, and systems engineering.

WeatherBuild is one such leading organization delivering actionable intelligence with its decision support solutions for the construction industry and built environment. The organization offers a suite of weather enabled decision support solutions that empower the leading contractors, owners and operators improve situational awareness. It also helps project executives, project managers and safety managers make better-informed decisions about weather events, schedule impacts, safety risks and probable outcomes. WeatherBuild focuses on leveraging weather data, machine learning and predictive analytics with the purpose to increase productivity, enhance safety and manage risk in construction, operations and maintenance (O&M).

About the Co-founder of WeatherBuild An established thought leader and recognized technology innovator in the construction industry and built

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environment, Adam Omansky is the CEO and Co-founder of WeatherBuild, based in Cambridge, MA. Multidisciplinary innovation company Applied Invention co-founded WeatherBuild together with Adam. Prior to WeatherBuild, Adam was the Co-Founder and Vice President of Product Strategy at Vela Systems, the leading field management and field BIM (Building Information Model) software company for the AEC (ArchitectureEngineering-Construction) industry -- now Autodesk BIM 360 construction management software. Adam launched WeatherBuild with the objective to improve weather based situational awareness for the leading contractors, owners and operators in the construction industry and built environment.

Under Adam’s leadership, WeatherBuild offers a suite of weather enabled decision support solutions including: WeatherBuild -- hyper-local weather risk and lightning reports with automated delivery to project teams; and, WeatherBuild Pro -- custom hyper-local weather analytics solution with risk management and dispute resolution tools.

These solutions help project stakeholders and site operators increase productivity, enhance safety and manage risk, across the total asset lifecycle.

Powerful Data Analytics for Better-Informed Decisions WeatherBuild has created a powerful data analytics platform for construction project and capital program managers and executives, empowering them to make betterinformed decisions. The organization helps the leading contractors, owners, and operators to leverage its solutions across the total asset lifecycle, from new construction to ongoing operations and maintenance (O&M). It also focuses on providing top service contractors with solutions for shutdowns, turnarounds and outages (STOs), retrofits

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and repairs, and is contributing to repowering of existing assets, such as wind turbines, across the alternative and renewable energy sector. The organization’s weather enabled decision support solutions include WeatherBuild and WeatherBuild Pro. WeatherBuild: The solution provides its users with hyperlocal weather risk and lightning reports. It offers daily weather reports with risk assessments of construction activities, automated delivery via email, text or SMS messages, and push notifications. WeatherBuild also offers a hyper-local weather data based on the exact geo-location of each project and site, which helps construction managers (CMs) and general contractors (GCs) mitigate the risks of weather events, schedule impacts and safety incidents. It alerts outdoor operating personnel of dangerous thunderstorms and lightning strikes provide all clear countdown notifications when to ready, idle and resume work outdoors.

Best-in-Class Weather Enabled Decision Support Solutions WeatherBuild concentrates on customer feedback across a broad spectrum of market sectors, lifecycle phases, and project types in non-residential building and non-building structures. The organization’s design and development processes to release new features and enhancements to its suite of solutions at a rapid pace have made it a renowned brand in the construction-tech industry. The dedication to deliver the best-in-class weather enabled decision support solution has helped to pave a pathway for success. Further, the organization’s focus on its data analytics platform and its intuitive user interface helped it to create the best-inclass weather enabled decision support solutions.

Within the organization, WeatherBuild encourages creative thinking and problem-solving across its teams. The company synthesizes lessons learned by team members in other adjacent industries, such as ag-tech and fin-tech, integrated to the construction industry and built environment. The company’s iterative and incremental software development methodology is one of the many keys which has unlocked the doors of success for the company.

August 2018

Adam Omansky CEO & Co-founder

A project manager at an ENR top contractor explained, “We can’t control the weather, but we can take control of its impacts, both threats & opportunities, with WeatherBuild.’’

Predictive Analytics and Breakthrough Enhancements WeatherBuild is developing predictive analytics and breakthrough enhancements to its suite of award-winning, decision support solutions at a very rapid pace. The organization’s weather enabled decision support solutions; WeatherBuild and WeatherBuild Pro help the constructiontech world increase productivity, enhance safety and manage risk, across the total asset lifecycle.

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