BIM and related digital engineering services are becoming more the norm. It will be imperative for the design and engineering community to step up and proactively guide how new technologies and research will be applied. Global standards organizations, such as the buildingSMART alliance and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), are accelerating involvement to drive these discussions. It is important these talks are infused with infrastructure domain expertise. The design and engineering community need to help make the technology better—truly a call to action for this industry to lead what many call the ‘fourth industrial revolution.’
Importance of people
People are the last, and most important point to understanding resilience and interdependency risks. Education is the best investment for resilience of future cities when it comes down to it. People inherently live in ‘silos’—it is human nature to gravitate toward what is familiar and trusted. Since interdependencies by their very nature require there to be interaction, what happens if people refuse to interact? Leave it to the computers to model these interactions and make the decisions accordingly?
Currently, there is more data than ever and it is impossible to comprehend what that data set will look like one or five years from now. What has become increasingly more important today for industries is society has learned to leverage this data and apply it to the next generation of designs. The data can also be leveraged as a means to bring people together—to break down silos and analyze a situation as a team, recognizing the interdependencies and people are now living in a connected system of systems. It does not help to connect the bits and bytes if people are not connected to make higher order decisions.
Conclusion
One of the most prevalent arenas where these silos are present are where cities are addressing impacts of climate change. Climate change does not pick a specific type of infrastructure or location or socio-economic faction. It cuts across and requires a coming together of disciplines and ideas to drive solutions.
In a recent project supporting climate change management in the Dominican Republic, results are drive by this author has observed that when discussions emphasize people-related aspects, building common interests, discussing experiences, learning from different perspectives, and most importantly, building the relationships that develop.
Many sources of data, tools, and technology will aid and facilitate the work of understanding interdependencies as it relates to resiliency. Data and tools are used to help tell a story, but the heart and soul of these efforts is the coming together of the diverse discipline leaders, evaluating together the interdependencies, sharing knowledge, and ensuring connections are established to other people and resources. These are skills that surpass data and technology, that need to be taught and encouraged. They are sometimes tough abilities for a lot of nuts and bolts engineers, but the development of these services in the industry is what will enable clear recognition of the interdependencies and truly drive resiliency.
Donna M. Huey is the senior vice president and client technology and innovation director for Atkins. She also chairs the company’s technical network that focuses on successful integration of digital solutions for the company and its clients. Huey has extensive experience in consulting related to technology selection, development, and implementation and has brought her particular expertise in geographic information systems (GIS) to bear on projects ranging from transportation management systems to floodplain delineation and mapping programs. She has a bachelors of science degree from the University of South Florida and is a certified GIS professional, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) wetland delineator.
