ACE January 2020

Industry Speaks
Paul Wallett,
Regional Director, Middle East and
India, Trimble Solutions
Trimble’s digital innovations
in construction technology
revolve around constructability
Trimble is a California based service technology company and is a mix of hardware, software and
mobility technologies streamlines communication and collaboration throughout the construction
lifecycle, from planning, design and site preparation through to the finished project. Paul Wallett,
Regional Director, Middle East and India, Trimble Solutions, talks about the role of digitisation in
the Indian construction sector.
How is the construction sector coping
with current challenges in Indian
economy?
After witnessing a phenomenal growth of
over 100 per cent during the last fiscal,
the construction sector has witnessed a
continuous downward spiral. Not just this,
the turmoil tremors created multiplier
impact across sectors including steel,
cement, power, petroleum, aluminum,
IT and ports, besides badly bruising the
Indian economy.
Despite the ongoing challenges, the
government has initiated innumerable
initiatives to lift the sector from its current
dormant conditions. The measures include
authorising the Indian Infrastructure
Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) to raise
`100 billion by issuing tax free bonds
to make highways and port projects,
liberalisation of the external commercial
borrowing (ECBs) policy, revision in the
cap for home loans to `2 million from `0.5
million through inclusion in the priority
sector, increase in foreign institutional
investors limit in rupee denominated
corporate bonds from $6 billion to $15
billion exemption of countervailing duty
on cement, etc.
To resist events like present global
meltdown, the industry has to look
within to develop its competitiveness
across segments through enhancing their
capabilities in R&D to leverage innovation
through indigenous capability and
expertise.
What kind of new inventions and
techniques can we see in the upcoming
year?
This year has been a breakthrough year
in terms of digitisation of the Indian
construction industry. With Prime Minister
Narendra Modi declaring 2019-2020 as
the year of Construction Technology, there
is going to be a push from the government
towards the large-scale adoption of
cutting-edge software technology for
execution of commercial real estate as
well as infrastructure projects.
With further innovation and growth of
AI and ML, software such as Microsoft
HoloLens is now set to reshape the part
of the construction continuum that deals
with the conversion of building models
into actual buildings. Furthermore,
tools like Trimble SketchUp Viewer for
HoloLens, add computer-generated
surfaces, graphics, and objects into the
real environment around a user, bringing
3D models to life and putting information
in the user’s hands without the need to
change or adjust the data format. Using
HoloLens, a 3D BIM model can be projected
to guide construction teams on-site,
and laterby facility management teams
when evaluating required changes or
maintenance work. While 3D BIM (design
BIM) has been in use for several years now,
14 January 2020 ACE UPDATE
ARCHITECTURE CONSTRUCTION ENGINEERING