Geographical Information System (GIS), earlier, an exclusive domain for Governments is fast becoming an essential tool for private companies to derive location-specific data. However, the technology comes with its own sets of challenges, such as collecting accurate information, real processing, and its presentation. Rudrabhishek Infosystem, urban planning, architecture, and civic infrastructural planning company, is leading its peers in GIS technologies by designing, developing, and deploying GIS solutions for its clients. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Prajjwal Misra, Director, Rudrabhishek Infosystem Pvt. Ltd.

1. Kindly share your point of view on the impact of Big Data Analytics in the Infrastructure Industry. How is IoT/Big Data/AI/Robotics contributing to the growth of the Infrastructure Industry? What are the most important trends that you see emerging in the Infrastructure Industry with respect to technology?

The infrastructure industry is seeing a monumental shift in the way the infrastructure industry will operate in the coming decade. This change will largely be driven by three emerging trends. Firstly, the use of internet-of-things devices (including sensors, etc.) will provide executives/project managers/engineers with real-time data, unlike earlier when data was compiled and provided to executives on a daily or weekly basis. Secondly, innovations in machine learning and big data analytics will consume this vast data pool and not only generate back-looking insights but also provide accurate predictions. Finally, advances in robotics will make it possible to automate many tasks based on the learnings from our vast data pools. It is an exciting time to be in this industry and executives have to realign their operations to leverage these capabilities.

2. How is Machine Learning (ML) shaping the infrastructure industry today? How is it changing the role of CIOs and Leaders?

Given that business data is generated with a lag, CIOs and leaders used to focus on gaining insights on past-done work with not much visibility into the future. Machine Learning (ML) has completely transformed this view of business data. Using ML tools, CIOs and leaders can not only predict future events accurately but can do a more thorough risk analysis. This changes the role of CIOs from those who shine a light on already done work to torchbearers and guidance providers for project managers, operations, etc.

3. Please brief us about the products/services/solutions you provide to your customers and how they get value out of it. How is your company helping customers achieve the outcomes through the adoption of technology and innovations?

We, at RIPL, pride ourselves as the digital transformation partner for many in the infrastructure industry. We take a holistic view of digital transformation with services ranging from BIM-enabled ERP services for the construction industry, digitizing existing operations across departments by developing custom tools for our clients, and implementing innovations in computer-aided design and BIM. We have partnered with global brands including Bricsys, Graphisoft, SIMCON, and TeamSystems to provide end-to-end digital transformation services.

4. What technology are you currently using in undertaking the projects? And what is your go-to-market strategy? How have you seen the evolution of the infrastructure industry? As you said that you have been here from the beginning, how has the growth been?

The infrastructure industry has digitized its processes in many phases in the previous years. In the last decade, it started with the adoption of computer-aided design tools and the implementation of enterprise resource planning tools to manage business workflows. At present, we are seeing significant adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in design workflows across segments in the infrastructure industry. Looking ahead, this vast data generated from BIM models and ERP tools will need to be analyzed using a machine learning algorithm to derive actionable insights.

5. Would you like to highlight a few Case Studies where analytics has benefitted the project?

Our BIM-enabled ERP product has enabled many clients to automate various reporting processes in their companies. It significantly reduces the time and effort of hard-to-get quality civil/structural engineers and ensures that their skills are used in more value-adding activities.

6. Do you also feel that the right kind of talent is a challenge in the industry? How can C-suite executives leverage data to deliver business value to their organizations?

Our experience with various clients has been that a partner with expertise in digital transformation is a must to reorient one's organization. While IT expertise can be hired even internally, a partner is required that understands the challenges that emerge during digital transformation exercises and can foresee issues and mitigate them. At RIPL, we pride ourselves on focusing not only on the analytics part but also on the people processes, ensuring successful transformation for our clients.