Innovation incubator Digital G and Esri China join forces on GIS AEC solutions
Gammon Construction Limited announces a collaboration between their innovation incubator Digital G Limited and Esri China (Hong Kong) Limited to co-develop GIS-based solutions for Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry.
These solutions will focus on combining BIM and GIS to support the construction digitalisation process and facilitate the implementation of Digital Twins, Common Data Environment and Smart Site Management System. The collaboration will also explore potential opportunities that may arise from the Common Spatial Data Infrastructure (CSDI) and Smart City development initiatives in Hong Kong.
Gammon and Esri HK have been leading the growth of the digitalisation of their respective expert domain areas, namely construction process and the built environment space, in the region over the years. The convergence of geospatial technology, building information modelling (BIM), and interactive 3D visualisations has led to the emergence of digital twins, which are virtual representations of the real world including physical objects, processes, relationships, and behaviours. Digital twin is the common data environment sitting between all key stakeholders in the construction process, that gives project managers insights to enhance project outcome through real-time data visualisation and predictive alerts, as well as the clients and end users a digital asset after the completion of the construction phase that seamlessly integrated all digital data captured in the construction process, as well as ongoing data from the surrounding environment.
This collaboration will explore how Esri’s ArcGIS® comprehensive suite of cloud-based mapping and spatial data analysis platform can be used to develop and visualise all types of data collected on a construction project including those complicated data types such as geometric data, geographical data, as well as stereo photography images. Such kind of data handling capability is crucial to the development of digital twin.
“Our collaboration with Esri HK will be an important step in developing cutting-edge digital solutions for our valued Clients and the broader AEC industry. The collaboration will also support the Gammon vision of becoming the ‘smart and digital contractor of choice’ through our implementation of our Integrated Digital Project Delivery (IDPD) vision. We have already been working closely with the Esri team and have deployed Esri’s ArcGIS to form the visualisation backbone of our Integrated Digital Platform (IDP) for data integration and information exchange on all Gammon construction projects”, said Paul Evans, Gammon’s Executive Director & Chief Technology Officer. “Through this on-going collaboration we will also look to connect and work with the Esri R&D team, which will bring Gammon a unique technological edge to continuously lead the digital development of the construction business and for the smart city development in Hong Kong.”
Mr Evans also noted that the timing of this collaboration neatly coincides with the HKSARG Construction Industry Council (CIC) Construction Digitalisation Roadmap for Hong Kong – a pathway towards smart construction release during the CIC Construction Digitalisation Awards 2021 ceremony on 1 November 2021. This roadmap outlines the CIC vision of Smart Data Sharing being at the “core” of construction digitalisation and sets out how Common Spatial Data Infrastructure (CSDI) and Common Data Environment (CDE) when combined can facilitate collaboration among all stakeholders on a city or project level.
“Gammon is well known to be a leading pioneer and innovator in the construction industry and has been responsible over the years in building many of our iconic and critical infrastructure projects in Hong Kong hence we are very excited to be collaborating with them to develop new and unique solutions targeted at the AEC sector.” Sr Paul Tsui, the CEO of Esri China (Hong Kong) said. “Working closely with the Digital G team we will look for more opportunities to expand Esri’s GIS solutions portfolio and embrace the bold targets set out in the CIC Construction Digitalisation Roadmap for Hong Kong. These solutions will focus on smart construction initiatives which combine the best attributes of BIM, GIS and CSDI into a ‘single source of truth’ Common Data Environment (CDE) and Digital Twin and facilitating the development of centralised Smart Construction Site Management Platforms which support and build on Hong Kong’s vision to be world-class smart city.”
