Eric Monteith, Senior Vice President for Innovation at Stantec, emphasizes the importance of consulting engineers, architects, and scientists in reducing economic uncertainty in capital projects. He highlights the need for greater design flexibility and the integration of digital technology to address challenges such as extreme weather events, energy transition, aging populations, and mass migration. Monteith points out that a McKinsey analysis revealed almost 80% of global capital projects faced cost overruns, underlining the significance of innovative solutions in project planning.
Monteith’s recent trip to the Middle East with Stantec’s leadership team focused on meeting with clients interested in digitizing their utilities. The discussions revolved around the application of smart sensors, instrumentation, and automation to collect data and optimize processes. He stressed the importance of investing time and resources upfront to deploy instrumentation and establish platforms that support automation. Monteith highlighted the benefits of partnering digital technology with domain expertise to develop effective digitization strategies tailored to specific industries and infrastructure operations.
The article discusses the challenges and opportunities presented by rapid urban growth in the UAE and emphasizes the importance of embracing digitization to support infrastructure expansion. Monteith underscores the need for a comprehensive understanding of existing systems to enable informed decision-making in dynamic environments. He commends the leadership teams in the region for their openness to innovation, particularly in leveraging digitization for real-time information and network optimization. The strategic application of digital expertise combined with infrastructure experience allows for the identification of multiple use cases and the implementation of effective digitization strategies.
The importance of developing a coherent vision and strategy for digitization is emphasized to avoid piecemeal updates that may overlook critical network impacts. Monteith advises organizations to consider the entire network when implementing instrumentation strategies, focusing on collecting essential data to facilitate well-informed decisions. He warns against narrowly focused digitization initiatives initiated at the project level, stressing the need for alignment with the overall digitization strategy at the ownership level. Monteith highlights the significance of organizational buy-in and education at all levels to ensure successful implementation of digitization initiatives.
The article also discusses the role of digital capabilities in enabling rapid evolution and operational flexibility within organizations. Monteith emphasizes the need for stakeholders to understand the range of digital products and capabilities available, as well as the balance between manual intervention and automated operations. He stresses the importance of setting a digitization strategy at the ownership level to ensure compatibility with project-level initiatives and overall organizational objectives. The relevance of effective communication and decision-making structures, as observed in the UAE’s flatter corporate hierarchy, is highlighted as a model for innovation and digitization implementation in other regions worldwide.
In conclusion, Monteith believes that the application of digitization strategies, as exemplified by the organizations in the UAE, can serve as a successful model for improving operations and addressing complex challenges globally. He advocates for a collaborative approach involving digital expertise, domain knowledge, organizational buy-in, and strategic vision to drive innovation and efficiency in capital projects. By embracing digitization and leveraging digital technologies, organizations can navigate economic uncertainty, optimize infrastructure operations, and adapt to evolving industry trends and disruptions effectively.
