INTHEBLACK July 2022 - Magazine - Page 26
F E AT U R E
// T R A N S F O R M AT I V E
TECHNOLOGY
“AS T H E E C O N O M Y S H I F T S , O U R W O R K F O R C E ’ S
C A PA B I L I T I E S N E E D T O S H I F T AS W E L L , S O T H AT
W E ’ V E G O T A G R E AT E R N U M B E R O F P R O F E S S I O N A L S
W H O A R E C O M F O R TA B L E W I T H U S I N G D I F F E R E N T
T Y P E S O F T E C H N O L O G I E S .”
MOHAMMAD CHOWDHURY, PWC AUSTRALIA
used to generate orebody models, organising equipment
dispatch and predict maintenance needs.
Rio Tinto’s Mine Automation System Fleet
Simulator uses AI to a create a replica of the real world
and crunches more than 6 million data points in a 12hour shift. It helps with decision-making by simulating
400 decisions and their impacts in 60 seconds.
The system allows controllers thousands of
kilometres away to make decisions and operate its
mines remotely.
Parts of the agricultural sector are undergoing a
similar technological transformation.
Queensland banana farm Bartle Frere Bananas has
also been trialling new technologies. The family-owned
farm in Innisfail is using a combination of AI, IoT
sensors and RFID tags to optimise the agricultural
management of its bananas as they grow and then to
track their progress through the supply chain.
The system draws in information from weather
stations and soil moisture sensors to set irrigation
amounts and to ensure water isn’t wasted. It also
monitors fertilier levels to ensure that only enough is
added that can be used and absorbed by the trees’ root
systems and that there is no excess to leech into the
surrounding environment.
26 ITB July 2022
Mohammad Chowdhury, lead for technology,
media, and telecom across ASEANZ at PwC
Australia, says these sorts of technological
deployments change the way in which the agricultural
workforce participates in producing the output.
“What it does is it enables the labour to create
higher-quality agricultural outputs and probably to
increase productivity of the land area,” he says.
However, Chowdhury also says that in order to take
full advantage of the technology, the workforce needs
to upskill.
“As the economy shifts, our workforce’s capabilities
need to shift as well, so that we’ve got a greater
number of professionals who are comfortable with
using different types of technologies,” he says.
Mass sensor deployment such as IoT is very much
an evolved capability now around many parts of the
world, and one that Australia could take advantage of,
but take-up is being hampered by mobile connectivity,
pricing and, to some extent, a lack of awareness of
what’s possible,.
“Australia has really got an opportunity to advance
its economy for the future by digitisation. Without that,
there is also a threat of digital divide and being left
behind in world markets,” Chowdhury says.
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