Digital Built Forum (DBF)

So we asked some friends who we consider to be close to the intersection of artificial intelligence and the built environment to join us for what we consider a 'baseline discussion'.

Both Claire Daniel (Scientia PhD Scholar UNSW) and Ollie Lock (AI Studio Director at Deloitte) had some very pragmatic things to say in our discussion that ranged from cautious excitement to prudent stewardship.

We covered everything from 'keeping up' to 'slowing down', frameworks for structured process and where the wins might be.

We kick off Season 2 of the DBA podcast in our new format, featuring multiple guests.

And first up is Jenny Tseng from Mott MacDonald and Steven Coyle from Arcadis, joining us to discuss Digital Twin.

But not before we go back and check in on BIM - its recent history and where the market is at now.

Jenny and Steven share some great insights on the amplifying effect that BIM has played in institutionalising digital and data literacy in the built environment sector, and the journey we are now on in pursing greater capability uplift with Digital Twin.

With Season 1 of the DBA podcast done, Gavin and Adam take some time to share the ideas behind the creation of TEMPO Institute, the education platform for digital built knowledge. This episode includes some reflections on the mission and purpose of TEMPO, along with some inpromptu questions thrown in from both of the co-hosts!

Carys Evans, Director of Digital Twin Victoria, has been stewarding one of the nation's leading state government-led Digital Twin initiatives. Having been underway for close to 2.5years we felt it was time to hear more about the journey. In this one-on-one interview Gavin sits down with Carys to understand more about the drivers, the methodology and critical steps along the way that has led to the programs success.Carys also shares her views on what's next and how the marketplace more broadly can embrace this capability.

We love a good story, and in this episode of the DBA podcast Gavin sits down with Serryn Eagleson (Digital Advisory Lead) from Arup to track her key moves professionally in evolving her digital and data passion. From growing up and hanging out on building sites in regional Australia to early work on the Australian Census, Serryn shares how she evolved her love of information management. With time spent across multiple sectors including national government, local government, academia and reasearch and now the private sector, Serryn both reflects on our past milestones as an industry as well as sharing her hopes for Digital Twin futures.

With legacy city data and a passion for continually evolving it's service to the community, the City of Melbourne have turned to Digital Twin as an opportunity to build capability for enhancing their sustainability and resilience agenda. In this episode Gavin chats with Sam Shaheen (Chief Data Officer) and Tegan Kop (Acting Head of Smart City Incubator) about how the City's Digital Twin journey came about, and why. With clear goals in hand and a history of digitising data and work flows, Melbourne was primmed to get the ball rolling on Digital Twin.

For a number of years now the American Planning Association (APA) has been identifying the key trends relevant to the future of the planning profession, and the practice of planning. In this episode Adam sits down with Petra Hurtado, APA's Director of Research and Foresight, to talk about the introduction of Digital Twins in the APA 2023 Trend Report for Planners. They discuss the future of the planning profession in light of Digital Twin advancements, the opportunities, the barriers and journey ahead.

High Speed (Rail) 2 (HS2) in the UK has been years in the making, with many more to come - so how is the digital transformation process going on one of the UK's largest infrastructure projects? In this episode Gavin sits down with Dr Sonia Zahiriddony who is Interim Chief Information Officer with HS2 Ltd, to discuss the latest insights on the project's digital transformation process. Having dedicated much of her career to applying her computer and information sciences background to the construction industry, her insights on applying data management, modelling and analysis processes to this heroic infrastructure project are both practical and inspirational.

With momentum building on the 'digital by default' narrative across the infrastructure policy landscape in Australia, the question must be asked - "how do we measure, report and hold ourselves accountable to this idea?" In this episode Adam chats with Sara Stace, Director of Cities at WSP in Australia. Throughout the course of the conversation Sara digs into insights about building the necessary elements of successful national infrastructure policy, how digital intersects with mainstream infrastructure and what types of leadership and governance arrangements may be required. Sara also shares her tips for effective industry engagement and how success might be realised.

Gavin heads back to New Zealand for this episode and sits down with Stacey Young (Chief Information Officer) and Brenda Pottinger (Data and Information Governance Manager) from Marlborough District Council. Marlborough is located on the top end of the southern island of New Zealand, and is a place one would not immediately consider fertile ground for Digital Twin action. With Blenheim as its main population centre (approx. 30,000), Marlborough is made up of many villages and towns, scattered throughout a predominantly agricultural landscape. Gavin gets to the bottom of how and why Council embarked on their Digital Twin journey and analyses with Stacey and Brenda the lessons learned in getting started.