Monthly Archives: March 2020

Today is primary day. Here’s what you need to know. – Hickory Daily Record

Posted: March 5, 2020 at 5:58 pm

Catawba County voters will have their last chance to weigh in on the 2020 primaries today.

Records posted to the Catawba County Board of Elections website indicate nearly 13,100 people nearly 13 percent of the countys more than 102,000 registered voters have already cast their ballot.

This includes nearly 8,600 votes in the Republican primaries and 4,500 in the Democratic primaries. There were also 21 votes in the Libertarian primary, two votes in the Constitution Party and one Green Party vote.

Heres a look at some of the key questions about todays primary:

When is voting?The polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters in line at the time polls are closed will be allowed to vote.

Where can I vote?Unlike early voting, voters are required to vote at their assigned precincts.

To find their precincts, voters can visit catawbacountync.gov/ county-services/elections and click the voter lookup link under the voter registration tab to look up their polling place or call the elections board at 828-464-2424.

What offices are up for election?There are Republican and Democratic primaries for president, U.S. Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, state auditor and superintendent of public instruction.

The following races only have Republican primaries: 10th Congressional District, Catawba County Board of Commissioners, 42nd N.C. Senate District, register of deeds, insurance commissioner and labor commissioner.

The races for the Fifth Congressional District, agriculture commissioner and state treasurer only have Democratic primaries.

In addition to the two major parties, there are also presidential primaries for the Libertarian and Constitution parties.

Who can vote in which primary?

The party a voter is registered with determines which primary they can vote in.

The Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties allow unaffiliated to choose to vote in their primaries. Otherwise, the person must be a registered member of the party to vote in their primary.

The Constitution and Green parties do not allow unaffiliated voters to vote in their primaries. The deadline to register or change party affiliation has passed.

Will I have to show an ID to vote?No. The states voter ID law is on hold as a result of litigation. Circumstances may change later in the year but for the primaries voters will not be required to show ID.

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Qualifying for 2020 election has started in Georgia. Here’s who has made the cut – Forsyth County News Online

Posted: at 5:58 pm

At the federal level, both Senate seats have candidates withlocal ties as Libertarian Shane Hazel, a Forsyth County resident who previouslyran for Georgias 7th Congressional District as a Republican, willrun for the seat against Sen. David Perdue and Rep. Doug Collins, whorepresents Forsyth County and 19 other counties in northwest Georgia in-part orin-full, will run against Sen. Kelly Loeffler for the seat previously held byJohnny Isakson.

The races for both of Forsyth Countys Congressional seats Districts 7 and 9 are also expected to see a large amount of candidates asDistrict 7 Rep. Rob Woodall is not seeking re-election and Collins is running forSenate.

Qualifying will remain open until Friday at noon for both nonpartisanand political party candidates will qualify for the general primary, which willbe held on Tuesday, May 19 after three weeks of advance voting.

The general primary will consist of non-partisan races andselecting party candidates for the Nov. 3 general election. It should be notedthat the Senate race for the seat held by Sen. Kelly Loeffler will be decidedin November.

Heres who has qualified for the races so far:

oSen. David Perdue (incumbent)- Republican

oJames Knox- Democratic

oTeresa Tomlinson- Democratic

oShane Hazel- Libertarian

o Brian Slowinski- Libertarian

oSen. Kelly Loeffler (incumbent)- Republican

oDoug Collins- Republican

oTamara Johnson-Shealey- Democratic

oRichard Dien Winfield- Democratic

oAllen Buckley- Independent

oMark Gonsalves- Republican

oLynne Homrich- Republican

oRenee Unterman- Republican

oCarolyn Bourdeaux- Democratic

o Rich McCormick- Republican

oMichael Boggus- Republican

oAndrew Clyde- Republican

oMatt Gurtler- Republican

oMaria Strickland- Republican

oKevin Tanner- Republican

oEthan Underwood- Republican

o Devin Pandy- Democratic

oBrooke Griffiths- Democratic

oClint Smith- Republican

oWill Wade- Republican

oSteve Leibel- Republican

oZach Tumlin- Republican

oSharon Ravert- Democrat

oRep. Wes Cantrell (incumbent)- Republican

oCharles Ravencraft- Democratic

oRep. Sheri Gillian (incumbent)- Republican

oNatalie Bucsko- Democratic

oTodd Jones (incumbent)- Republican

oChrista Olenczak- Democratic

oLauren McDonald III- Republican

oJason Boskey- Democratic

oTom Cleveland (incumbent)- Republican

oBarry S. Herrin- Republican

oDarla Sexton Light- Republican

oLindsey Adams- Republican

oAlfred John- Republican

oCindy Jones Mills (incumbent)- Republican

oLaura Semanson (incumbent)- Republican

oRon H. Freeman (incumbent)- Republican

oPaul W. Holbrook- Republican

oTed Paxton - Republican

oGreg G. Allen

oMatthew C. Ledbetter

oWalker H. Bramblett

oT. Russell McClelland III

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Qualifying for 2020 election has started in Georgia. Here's who has made the cut - Forsyth County News Online

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Andrew Yang launches nonprofit aimed at making his former campaign’s ideas a reality – WICZ

Posted: at 5:58 pm

By Devan Cole, CNN

Nearly a month after ending his long shot Democratic presidential campaign, Andrew Yang launched on Thursday a nonprofit group focused on making the central ideas of his campaign a reality.

The group, called Humanity Forward, will "endorse and provide resources to political candidates who embrace Universal Basic Income, human-centered capitalism and other aligned policies at every level," according to its website.

Yang, a businessman who ended his campaign in February, rose from obscurity to become a highly-visible candidate, rallying a coalition of liberal Democrats, libertarians and some disaffected Republicans to form a devoted group of followers known as the Yang Gang. A prominent platform in his campaign was his so-called Freedom Dividend, a plan to give every American adult $1,000 a month universal basic income that he argued would alleviate a host of social ills and eradicate poverty.

The new group also plans to increase voter turnout in the 2020 election, with a particular focus on young Americans, Asian-Americans, independents and "individuals who have not been engaged in the political process," according to a release.

Additionally, Yang, who is now a CNN political commentator, will launch a podcast in which he will "discuss new ideas to solve the greatest challenges of our time with" notable guests and "regular Americans" alike.

"Our campaign grew so much because we had a clearer diagnosis of the problems that face our country and a real vision for how to solve them," Yang said in a statement. "We're in the midst of the greatest technological and economic transformation in the history of the world, and we need real solutions to make the economy work for us, the people."

According to the release, Yang, in an effort to showcase how his proposed Freedom Dividend would work, has also "committed to personally give $1,000 a month for an entire year to one donor to the new organization."

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Andrew Yang launches nonprofit aimed at making his former campaign's ideas a reality - WICZ

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Microsoft Goes All-In On RPA (Robotic Process Automation) – Forbes

Posted: at 5:57 pm

UKRAINE - 2020/02/25: In this photo illustration the Microsoft logo is seen displayed on a ... [+] smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Igor Golovniov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which involves automating repetitive and tedious processes within organizations, is dominated by three pure-play software vendors:UiPath, Blue Prism and Automation Anywhere.These companies are some of the fastest growing in the tech industry and have raised substantial amounts of venture capital.

But the mega software companies want to get a piece of the RPA opportunity.And the one that is perhaps best positioned is Microsoft.

This should be no surprise.The company has a massive roster of corporate customers, a strong global infrastructure and a vast ecosystem of partners and developers.It also helps that Microsoft has been aggressively bolstering its cloud business, which is now second only to Amazon.

The key to the strategy for RPA has been to leverage the Power Automate platform, which helps automate legacy systems.Just some of the features include:the understanding of structured and unstructured data (say for invoices) and the integrations with more than 300 modern apps and services.There are also numerous AI capabilities.

Ok then, so what about RPA? Well, it was added last year. Its called UI Flows, which has both attended and unattended automation.The application also is fairly easy to use as it allows for the recording of workflows (keystrokes, mouse movements, data entry, etc) and provides for low-code and no-code approaches.For example, Schlumberger has used the technology to drive efficiency with 13,000 botsand a majority of them were built outside of IT.

Everybody can be a developer, said Charles Lamanna, who is the CVP of the Citizen Developer Platform at Microsoft.It takes less than 30 seconds to sign up.You can then create a bot in a few minutes.

However, might the accessibility of this technology lead to security issues?For instance, could an employee do something like put payroll information in Dropbox storage?

Microsoft is certainly mindful of the risks and has created a system to enforce compliance.This is possible since the platform is cloud native.You have complete visibility with every bot, said Lamanna.

So how big is UI Flows in the RPA market?Well, its not clear.But in a blog post, Microsoft noted:Power Automate already helps hundreds of thousands of organizations automate millions of processes every day.

For example, Ingram Micro uses Power Automate across its organization to help with onboarding, account creation, management of credit lines, and other critical workflows.About 75% of the projects took less than 30 days to develop.

Yet I suspect we will see accelerated growth of UI Flowsand soon.A big part of this will certainly be the core technology.But I think the business model is also likely to be disruptive to the RPA industry.

Consider that its typical for a software vendor to charge on a per-bot basis, which could come to over $1,000 per month.This does not include the fees for orchestration and other modules.

But Microsoft is breaking this model, which involves two tiers. First, there is a $40-per-user monthly fee for running attended or unattended bots.Next, you can elect to pay $150-per-month for each unattended bot.

In other words, this low-cost strategy should greatly expand adoption.It will also likely have a major impact across the RPA landscape.Cost has certainly been a major point of concern for customers, especially those that are looking to scale the automation.

There are three trends on the horizon for RPA, said Lamanna.First, cloud is inevitable and cloud hosting will be the only environment that matters end-to-end. Second, if RPA wants to become mainstream, it has to be democratized. The reality is Windows didnt become a big deal until it was on everybodys desk. For RPA to be transformative, it has to be on everybodys desk. And the need for RPA is real. Over 60% of all positions for information workers spend over 30% of their time doing rote, automatable tasks. The economic benefit for companies, and even more importantly the fulfillment at work for employees, is very, very large. We just have to make it possible and affordable. And third, automation is going to stretch beyond UI automation. True automation has elements like chatbots and forms that collect information and these will all start to mix together with digital process automation and robotic process automation. Customers want to solve an automation problem with one integrated solution.

Tom (@ttaulli) is the author of the book,Artificial Intelligence Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction, as well as the upcoming book, The Robotic Process Automation Handbook: A Guide to Implementing RPA Systems.

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Microsoft Goes All-In On RPA (Robotic Process Automation) - Forbes

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APAC Automation & Control Systems Market in the Upstream Oil & Gas Industry, Forecast to 2023 – Positive Market Sentiments Point to Slow…

Posted: at 5:57 pm

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "APAC Automation and Control Systems Market in the Upstream Oil and Gas Industry, Forecast to 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This research service discusses revenues generated by various automation and control system (ACS) companies in Asia-Pacific that supply to organizations involved in upstream oil and gas activities. The companies included in this study are all major ACS vendors or service providers.

Research Scope

The objective of this study is to identify the major end users, distribution channel for each product segment, and the major suppliers of ACS in APAC. The study also discusses the revenue contribution of major vendors in the market. Historical data from 2015 to 2017 are examined and included. Considering the prevailing political, legal, and economic situation and other trends, the study also forecasts revenue and growth rates till 2023 and discusses major factors affecting the industry. Drivers, restraints, and initiatives and support from public and private organizations are also provided.

It is seen that national oil companies across APAC are facing problems due to their maturing assets and growing domestic energy demand, which points toward more collaboration/need for partners with technical and financial capabilities to help maximize recovery. It is also seen that by 2020, companies across Australia will be investing in building sizeable utility storage, solar, other renewable sources. As many environmental agencies and governments are focusing on replacing conventional sources with green energy, there is a lack of transparency or clarity at different levels, especially in Southeast Asia. While benefits of using cleaner sources are well understood, it is not clear if energy generated from such sources will meet the requirements over the long term. Revenue split among major vendors has been discussed for the total market while analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the market.

Product Scope

The product segment includes the following categories:

Key Issues Addressed

Key Topics Covered:

1. Executive Summary

2. Market Overview

3. Automation Trends in O&G Industry

4. Drivers and Restraints - Total ACS Market

5. Forecasts and Trends - Total Market

6. Market Share and Competitive Analysis - Total Market

7. CEO's 360 Degree Perspective on the Total Market

8. Growth Opportunities and Companies to Action

9. PLC Segment Analysis

10. DCS Segment Analysis

11. SCADA Segment Analysis

12. HMI Segment Analysis

13. SS Segment Analysis

14. The Last Word

15. Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/hxv81e

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How automation is taking some of the burden for healthcare workers – Tech Wire Asia

Posted: at 5:57 pm

Hospitals should focus on reducing staff workload and human errors. Source: Shutterstock

The concept of going digital can sometimes be misinterpreted as hoarding complex technologies in a bid to be more advanced, which is actually inaccurate.

Instead, going digital means deploying technological solutions to help improve processes and solve operational issues that are hampering an organization from achieving its goals. Chief information officers (CIOs) know this best.

Hua Chiew Hospital CIO Panuratn Thanyasiri recently revealed in an interview that a successful digital transformation within the healthcare space must satisfy certain efficiency and productivity benchmarks.

Specifically, he elaborated that the key to success relies on whether or not the digital strategies implemented and solutions deployed result in the reduction of healthcare providers workload burden and errors.

True enough, back-office workloads have been affecting the performance of doctors and medical staff in delivering patient-care services. In fact, according to a study, doctors who spend more time on administrative tasks have lower career satisfaction.

Thanyasiri, who was once a cardiologist, explained that going digital should benefit the staff while at the same time, improve the delivery of healthcare services.

He explained that while administrative tasks are part of the staffs workload, they are essentially unnecessary and burdening, as they limit staff from focusing on patient care

Not only that, the CIO explained that this burden then result in medical data that are ridden with human errors. Especially when it comes to tasks like transcribing and data-entry which by right, requires high focus and attention, and an ample investment of time.

With an immense amount of affordable digital tools available in the market, hospitals can now easily automate these tasks and improve work processes for their staff.

He emphasized the fact that reduced workload and fewer errors would significantly impact how staff can deliver excellent services as he shared that the vision for the Hua Chiew Hospital is to improve patient care and drive sustainable business growth.

Additionally, he also made it clear that digitalization should result in operational processes that are easier to manage. The systems and devices used must be easy to operate allowing staff to focus on attending to patients instead of configuring complex technology.

One of the primary focuses is to develop a standard interface system that would allow information to flow from one device to another. He pointed out that an effective standard interface enables data from medical devices to be delivered smoothly to the health information system.

Having achieved this would mark a success in a hospitals digital transformation journey which is admittedly true because going digital is an emphasis on greater efficiency and higher productivity. After all, improving operations and driving efforts towards delivering patient-centric services can only result in greater business development opportunities.

Adlina AR | @RahimAdlina

Adlina A. Rahim is a content writer, looking for innovative technologies and solutions that help SMEs move forward in the digital-first world.

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How automation is taking some of the burden for healthcare workers - Tech Wire Asia

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Cisco Focuses on Industrial Cybersecurity and the Edge – Automation World

Posted: at 5:57 pm

Best known for its front office networking technologies, Cisco is increasingly developing technologies for industrial networks. Of course, Cisco is not new to the industrial networking realmthe company has worked with Honeywell on industrial wireless, Claroty on cybersecurityand produces its own industrial network switches.

Now Cisco is offering industrial cybersecurity and edge software technologies.

Cisco Cyber Vision screenshotOn the cybersecurity front, the company has released Cisco Cyber Vision, which it describes as the first software-based security product for automated discovery of industrial assets [that] analyzes traffic from connected assets and creates segmentation policies to prevent lateral movement of threats across operational environments. Ciscos Talos threat intelligence enables Cyber Vision to monitor cybersecurity threats in real time that affect uptime, productivity, and safety.

Cisco is embedding Cyber Vision in its industrial network equipment.

Cisco's Liz CentoniDescribing the industry drivers behind the companys development of this product, Liz Centoni, senior vice president and general manager of cloud, compute and IoT at Cisco, says, While the communication network has always been the backbone for IT, it is becoming foundational for operational environments where customers require real-time access to machine data. But access to this real-time data is seen as being risky by many industrial companies because its been nearly impossible to know what is out there in those vast operations. I have never talked to a customer who says they know 100% of their devices and industrial controls. Industrial environments have been operational for decades, grown to meet demand and through mergers and acquisitions. So theres a mix of legacy and IP-based equipment that customers dont want to touch for the fear of disrupting current operations.

Acknowledging that the identification of assets and vulnerabilities is the first phase to successfully securing an industrial network, Vikas Butaney, vice president of product management at Cisco IoT says, Ciscos Cyber Vision enables organizations to gain a full understanding of what devices are on the network, what devices are communicating to each other, and what the devices are saying. Using this information, Ciscos Cyber Vision can identify known vulnerabilities, enabling organizations to quickly identify where they are and how to correct or protect against them.

Cisco's Vikas ButaneyButaney explains that Cyber Vision is integrated with Ciscos IT security to provide device data directly to Ciscos DNA-Center for policy creation, as well as with Ciscos Identity Services Engine for segmentation and enforcement, and with Ciscos Stealthwatch to provide the context of the asset behind the IP address. We also have OT-specific intrusion prevention (using Snort rules to detect the actual vulnerability, rather than an exploit) that can be enforced in our OT-specific firewall, the ISA3000, he says.

He adds that Cyber Vision has the ability to understand and decode industrial protocols used in the manufacturing, utilities and oil and gas industries, and that Cisco strives to cover the majority of protocols that customers will see. Cyber Visions RESTful API (application programming interface) can be used to connect Cyber Vision to proprietary protocols in any industrial environment.

With Cyber Vision, Cisco claims it has removed the complexity of a multi-vendor, multi-data, and multi-asset infrastructure to deliver simple IoT cyber security solutions that can be managed on any of Cisco's gateways, switches, or routers, bringing end-to-end security and simplified data management together.

For edge applications, Cisco offers Edge Intelligence. According to the company, this product simplifies the extraction of data at the network edge to streamline data delivery to multi-cloud and on-prem destinations to help businesses better manage data from start to finish.

Centoni says she often hears customers lament that current approaches [to edge computing] require custom software and integrations of technologies from multiple vendors both on the IT and OT side. These projects quickly become overwhelmingly complex to deploy and manage. These solutions are further challenged with no easy way to control what data is delivered to specific applications running in modern multi-cloud (public, private, and hybrid) environments.

Cisco Edge Intelligence reportedly addresses these issues by allowing operators to create data flows that deliver data from the IoT edge to multi-cloud destinations reliably and securely. Like Cisco Cyber Vision, it is a software service deployed onCiscos IIoT Networkingportfolio for out-of-the box deployments, Centoni says.

Features of Cisco Edge Intelligence include:

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Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India 2020-2024 | Evolving Opportunities with ABB Ltd. and Eaton Corp. Plc | Technavio – Yahoo…

Posted: at 5:57 pm

The industrial automation and instrumentation market in India is poised to grow by USD 2.58 billion during 2020-2024, progressing at a CAGR of over 10% during the forecast period. Request free sample pages

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200303005718/en/

Technavio has announced its latest india research report titled Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India 2020-2024 (Graphic: Business Wire)

Read the 120-page report with TOC on "Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India Analysis Report by Product (Industrial automation and Industrial instrumentation), and End-users (Process industry and Discrete industry), and the Segment Forecasts, 2020-2024".

https://www.technavio.com/report/industrial-automation-and-instrumentation-market-in-india-industry-analysis

The market is driven by the simplification of manufacturing through automation. In addition, the shift toward lean manufacturing is anticipated to boost the growth of the industrial automation and instrumentation market.

Manufacturing firms in India are increasingly adopting automation to overcome various complexities and simplify the manufacturing processes in a bid to improve productivity. The integration of technologies such as robotics, AI, and machine learning is helping manufacturing firms reduce labor costs, eliminate human errors, and automate the entire process with improved lead times. Also, the incorporation of sensors, analyzers, and transmitters provides valuable insights and ensures controlled production operations. With increasing competition in the Indian market, the adoption of automation systems is expected to gain momentum during the forecast period. This will fuel the growth of the industrial automation and instrumentation market in the country.

Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free.

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Major Five Companies in Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India:

ABB Ltd.

ABB Ltd. operates its business through segments such as Electrification products, Robotics and discrete automation, Industrial automation, and Motion. The company offers a wide range of industrial automation process products such as PLC automation, control systems, motors and generators, and measurement products.

Eaton Corp. Plc

Eaton Corp. Plc operates its business through segments such as Electrical products and electrical systems and services, Hydraulics, Aerospace, Vehicle, and eMobility. The company offers a range of contactors and starters, sensor and limit switches, pump panels, soft starters, and control relay and timers.

Emerson Electric Co.

Emerson Electric Co. operates its business through segments such as Automation solutions, Climate technologies, and Tools & home products. The company offers a wide range of industrial automation products. Some of its key offerings include control valves, pressure transmitters, remote automation and SCADA solutions, and liquid and gas analyzers.

General Electric

General Electric operates its business through segments such as Power, Aviation, Lighting, Renewable energy, Healthcare, Oil and gas, and Transportation. The company offers automation and protection equipment and software solutions.

Story continues

Honeywell International Inc.

Honeywell International Inc. operates its business through segments such as Aerospace, Honeywell building technologies, Performance materials and technologies, and Safety and productivity solutions. The company offers standalone instruments, smart sensors, and integrated systems.

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Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India Product Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024)

Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India End-user Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2020-2024)

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Related Reports on Industrials Include:

Plastic Crates Market in India Plastic crates market in India by material (PE, PP, PVC, and others) and end-users (F&B, industrial, retail, pharmaceutical, and others).

Agricultural Machinery Market in India Agricultural machinery market in India by product (tractors, harvesting machinery, haying machinery, planting and fertilizing machinery, and others).

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Industrial Automation and Instrumentation Market in India 2020-2024 | Evolving Opportunities with ABB Ltd. and Eaton Corp. Plc | Technavio - Yahoo...

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IS AUTOMATION A THREAT TO CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCES? – KHL Group

Posted: at 5:57 pm

According to a 2017 survey by PwC, 37%[1] of people are worried about automation putting jobs at risk. But with around 23% of roles in construction globally likely to be affected by high automation rates[2], is there really anything to worry about?

Not new and needed

Concerns about the impact of technology on the UK labour market are nothing new. Going back to the Industrial Revolution, the UK saw protests in the streets over the effects of machinery in the textile industry. But in reality, the changes had limited impact on roles and led to huge improvements in productivity.

Looking to our industry and current times, similarly, its projected that the increase in automation may actually cause greater investment in infrastructure and in turn, construction, meaning job gains[3] and significantly, will likely lead to a marked increase in productivity. When you consider that the construction sector remains the least productive industry in the UK economy, at more than 20 percentage points below the average output per hour for the whole economy in 2017, this is something we desperately and urgently need to improve.

A technological evolution or revolution?

When some people think about technology in construction, initial thoughts might be of exoskeleton suits and robots. Yet the replacement of skilled bricklayers with machines isnt something were going to see overnight. Instead, we can expect the role of automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and big data to continue to penetrate and enhance our industry as it is already doing so in many places.

Within its Will robots really steal our jobs? report, PwC described three waves that were likely to see in the next 10 years. Algorithm, it outlines, is the automation of simple tasks such as payments and scheduling. Augmentation covers the use of automated statistical analysis of data and human controlled UAVs two technologies already heavily used in our industry to positive effect. Then a final wave, Autonomy, which may see the automation of labour and is more akin to the futuristic view of what technology in construction means to some.

As part of this phased approach, PwC predicts that around 15% of jobs in construction globally may be at risk of automation in the Algorithm and Augmentation waves broadly where we are now with a further 15% likely affected when we the third Autonomy stage.

In essence, this report and intelligent, measured thinking in our industry shows that there is no significant or immediate threat to our sector, with people simply replaced by technology and rendered useless. In reality, this is far from the case.

Yes, roles are likely to change due to the emergence of new technologies, but it doesnt necessarily mean they will disappear altogether. Whats more likely is an evolution, with jobs changing overtime to, amongst many things manage, control and complement technology.

A change in skillset and mindset

When looking at the emerging role of technology in construction, we must be aware of our language and refrain from extremes and hyperbole. As you might expect, stating we should automate everything creates resistance from those who, naturally, are afraid of their career lifespan as a result.

Yet when we frame it as adaption and talk about how technology can complement, remove laborious manual tasks and improve worker safety, were likely to be met with a different response. In fact, around two-thirds of people are ready to learn new skills or re-train to remain employable in the future[4].

By harnessing the appetite for technology amongst digital natives and re-training and establishing continuous learning programmes with our more traditional workforce to change perceptions of technology, we can alter the skillset of our workforce for the better and at the same time, build their confidence and flexibility.

A great example of how Topcon is helping to narrow the skills gap is through Class Of Your Own (COYO). Weve been a supporter of the initiative for many years, as we believe this is an organisation that is tackling the skills problem in ways that are having a real impact. The team has delivered its Design Engineer Construct! (DEC) learning programme in around 100 schools so far, but not alone. COYO has been training up industry experts to support the delivery of the programme, enabling them to develop their own classroom skills and have an opportunity to speak to the next generation on behalf of their business.

Technology and change in action

Within vertical construction, we have been putting these principles into practice with great success, focusing on how, as the PwC report outlines, technology can augment processes and methodology.

When building upwards there is a significant investment of time in design and planning to ensure the structure, while being built and once complete, is stable and safe, which requires project delivery teams to meticulously verify their work. Without this, misplacements and deviations are easily missed, which can have a knock-on impact on progress and of course, safety.

Verification technology exists to help with this process allowing project teams to account for and adapt to unanticipated design variations almost instantly. Yet many construction firms have needed to outsource the equipment and expertise needed to third-party scanning teams, affecting cost and meaning there can often be months between scans.

In reality, for verification technology to be powerful, it needs to be scanning constantly and with the capability to interpret and monitor these scans done by those already on-site.

Fortunately, the advent of new workflow software and technologies means that this is now a reality. With comprehensive manufacturer training, these systems are quick and easy for site engineers to use to identify out of tolerance items in near real-time.

This is a great example of how technology can augment a process, giving those on-site new skills and capabilities, as well as improving cost and job productivity.

A top down approach

While a great example of whats possible when technology, employee training and a change in mindset come together, the benefits of verification technology are currently only being realised on a project by project basis. And this is symptomatic of a wider challenge in our industry: getting full buy in.

As Topcon Positioning Great Britains own research with the Institution of Civil Engineers, Breaking Barriers in Infrastructure in 2018 found, current corporate culture is one of the biggest barriers to the adoption of new technology and working processes, second only to financial implications.

At corporate level, there can be adversity to risk and a belief that change isnt necessary. But if we are to at least catch up with other industries and finally put to bed the critical comments of the 2016 Farmer Review, our industry needs the support of everyone not just those on the ground, or in technology or innovation departments, but those at board level too.

At present, we sit at a huge intersection in our industry. My hope is that as more businesses realise the opportunities and possibilities of technology and as more millennial digital natives move into leadership and management roles, we can build on the successes and momentum achieved at project level, becoming a whole industry that showcases the complementary nature of people power and technology, building smarter and more productively.

[1] Workforce of the future. The competing forces shaping 2030), PwC, 2017

[2] Will robots really steal our jobs? PwC 2018

[3] Ibid

[4] Workforce of the future. The competing forces shaping 2030), PwC, 2017

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IS AUTOMATION A THREAT TO CONSTRUCTION WORKFORCES? - KHL Group

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Growing Importance of Automation and Robotics in Manufacturing & Supply Chains – Analytics Insight

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Autonomous robots are in a growing class of devices, consisting of drone aircraft (aerial robots) that can be customized to perform tasks with next to zero human mediation or interaction. They can shift fundamentally in size, functionality, mobility, dexterity, artificial intelligence, and cost, from robotic process automation to flying vehicles with ground-breaking picture and information capturing capacities. Progressively, autonomous robots are programmed with artificial intelligence to perceive and learn from their environment and settle on choices independently.

Autonomous robots are characterizing the supply chain of the future by helping organizations decrease long-term costs, provide labor and utilization stability, increase worker productivity, reduce error rate, reduce the frequency of inventory checks, optimize picking, sorting, storing times and increase access to difficult or dangerous locations.

Robots have a long history of keeping the supply chain moving. Truth be told, one of the worlds first industrial robots was made for the sole purpose behind transferring objects starting with one spot then onto the next. Today, most tasks that are indispensable to the supply chain, similar to the movement of products through a warehouse, rely on robots as standard.

Think about Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs) for instance. These convenient robots use markers, magnets and vision systems to explore a warehouse floor. The machines can move faster than a human laborer, moving merchandise from one place to another without the requirement for any intercession. Furthermore, they are not confined to the weight limits that a human worker could be fit for lifting.

Autonomous robots are required to see solid development over the following five years, especially within supply chain operations that incorporate lower-value, possibly risky or high-hazard tasks. Autonomous robots have a solid presence as of now in manufacturing, final assembly, and warehousing, for instance. The store chain of the future is probably going to see the continued growth of autonomous robots in these regions, permitting individuals to move to progressively strategic, less dangerous, and higher-value work.

Autonomous robots will be increasingly omnipresent in the store chain of future advances because they work with progressively human-like abilities. For instance, enhancements in haptic sensors, those identifying with the feeling of touch, will permit robots to grasp objects extending from delicate eggshells to multi-surfaced metal assembly parts without changes in programming or robotic components.

As autonomous robots become progressively modern, the arrangement times are diminishing, they require less supervision, and they can work next to each other with their human partners. The advantages are extending as autonomous robots become fit for working independently nonstop with progressively predictable levels of quality and productivity, performing tasks that humans cannot, should not, or do not want to do.

As the market for autonomous robots develops, the end-to-end supply chain operations alignment will turn out to be progressively fluid. Right now, numerous organizations utilize autonomous robots for targeted functions in the supply chain, piloting various robots to verify gains. As imaginative organizations develop and grow operations, robots that build robots could be one of the future trends in the supply chain, turning into the standard for enhancing manufacturing tasks.

Later on, its conceivable that what could be portrayed as the traditional linear conveyor system, or production line, will to a great extent vanish. Its most likely hard to envision that, yet the option as of now being inquired about is fairly intriguing. Research is being led by different organizations into the future of automotive manufacturing, and one situation being explored includes autonomous mobile robots carrying vehicles through the production procedure, starting with robotic cell to another.

One robotic cell may install the electronics system, another put in the motor, at that point another welding the body parts together, and others doing things like get together, painting, etc. This robotic cell-based process may bring about the autonomous mobile robot carrying the vehicle in a wandering manner through the plant, though now, we principally observe a straight production line.

Introducing conveyor systems and a linear production line is more costly than utilizing autonomous mobile robots since its fixed infrastructure costs more to develop. Autonomous mobile robots dont require any fixed infrastructure to be set. Every little thing about them from the machines themselves to their charging points is moveable.

Another large advantage of what might be called the flexible production line including autonomous mobile robots is that it empowers manufacturers to change designs in any way, shape or form. Reasons may incorporate finding and implementing processes that are increasingly effective and changes in product or system design.

Generally, changing a fixed-infrastructure operation includes enormous cost and a great deal of time. It should be included, notwithstanding, that there might be advantages to having a fixed infrastructure that autonomous mobile robot-based system will be unable to beat, speed is one of the biggest. Nonetheless, autonomous mobile robots are getting quicker and greater. Some have payloads moving toward three tons and they may get modular in that robotic arms could be joined to them.

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Growing Importance of Automation and Robotics in Manufacturing & Supply Chains - Analytics Insight

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