This past November, I travelled to London, England to partake of Bentley Systems’ ‘Year in Infrastructure 2014’ Conference. It was an extremely enjoyable, mind-bending, time.

The conference was a global gathering of executives and thought leaders in the world of infrastructure. Early on day one, after an in-depth presentation to over 120 media-types from all over the world, I prepared for the next three very full days. Leaders in the industry engaged in interactive sessions that explored the coming together of technology and business drivers with the view to seeing what technologies and next, best practices will shape the future of infrastructure delivery.

Throughout the time, industry-specific forums were presented comprising keynote addresses from industry experts. One of the cornerstones of the event was the Be Inspired presentations and awards, which showcased 54 real-world projects from across the globe.

The forums were of prime importance to me as a journalist and, in particular, the one that encompassed utilities. They covered topics of relevance to all types of utilities including the impact of cloud technology on utility workflows, new technologies to help meet the challenges of subsurface utilities, best practices in engineering collaboration, and how to achieve operational excellence through better-performing assets.

The other forums broke down as follows:

Building: Engaged building professionals in a broad range of presentations including business requirements for Building Information Modelling (BIM), the benefits of multi-discipline design collaboration and knowledge sharing, and innovations in construction management.

Rail and Road: Focused on improving productivity, increasing efficiencies, reducing risks, and adding value. It also covered the industry’s best and next practices and highlighted new technologies being used in the industry.

Oil, Gas, Chemical, and Mining: Designed for executives who wish to explore new methods and techniques improve project and asset performance on new capital projects and ongoing operations.

EPC and A/E: Addressed topics pertaining to the entire project lifecycle and the impact of cloud and mobile technology. The audience heard from industry leaders from world-class organizations on how they are using the latest innovations and technologies that result in improved project delivery and better-performing projects.

Visions for the Future – Presented by Bentley Fellows: Opportunities for improving construction productivity and sharing data between BIM and SIM (Society for Information Management) were discussed in detail. The presentations also covered deep intelligent analytics, augmented and virtual reality, new 3D capture methods, and focus devices for hybrid datasets.

The first night saw all of the visiting journalists on board a cement-hulled river barge that had been converted to a four-star floating restaurant. We travelled the Thames admiring the sights along the river for several hours. There was a live band on board and we enjoyed good food and great conversation with the Bentley folks. The group travelled to and from the river in three vintage ‘London Buses,’ a nice trip down memory lane.

The next night I, and a contingent of about 40 other journalists, were treated to a most enjoyable Lebanese meal at one the restaurants near the hotel. Sitting amongst journalists from across the globe was a particular treat and the opportunity to share in their knowledge was quite refreshing.

It was raining when we left the eatery and one would think that I’d know better but I came within a few centimetres of getting knocked down by a London cabbie racing around the corner. Living in Britain and visiting so many times and knowing from experience that I didn’t want to end up in their health-care system, I should have remembered the pedestrian’s cardinal rule – if you step off the pavement (the British term for sidewalk) against a light or outside of a Zebra crossing, you are fair game for motorists. You might as well paint a Day-Glo bull’s-eye on yourself if you insist on taking such risks.

I was late getting to one of the lunches after our utilities session ran overtime. The lunch was a large affair with dozens of tables filling one of the grand ballrooms of the hotel. The Be Inspired finalists were also at this lunch so seating was a real premium. I noticed a lone seat at a table that had seven or eight people already seated. When I sat down the conversation that was buzzing around the table came to an abrupt silence.

At that point, a young lady turned the description card around to indicate this table was for the Russian delegates only. I put on my best toothy grin and nodded my head as a friendly gesture and they invited me to stay. Soon, Boris, Natasha, Igor, Alexei, et al were nattering back and forth to each other in their native tongue. My meal was broken up by smiling at them as if I understood their lingo and by throwing in a few ‘das’ and ‘nyets’. Finally, as I stood to leave, one man sitting across from me had noticed my name tag indicated press and he politely asked, “You go now and make press release about Russians?” I immediately replied, “Sure, I’ll just go to my room and brush up on your language.” We all laughed somewhat knowingly and in a friendly manner and I left, having enjoyed another experience at the conference.

Throughout the conference, finalists in the Be Inspired competition presented to the attendees. I spoke with a few members of this brain trust and was absolutely blown away by the level of innovation, originality, and timeliness of their projects. Of particular note were undertakings like:

• Tenaga Nasional Berhad – Asset performance management at Tenaga National Berhad Power Plants
• Guangdong Hydropower Planning & Design Institute – 3D Design for Qinqyuan Pumped Storage Power Station – Detailed design and construction
• Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy, Ltd. – Development of decommissioning engineering platform based on plant 3D model
• I.Y. Genesis Advanced Engineering Ltd. – Bobo II-III 54 MW power plant
• Kavin Engineering and Services Private Limited – Power plant for Garraf Development Facility Operation

Over the course of the next few days, I attended utility and energy-related presentations including:

• Enterprise GIS strategy for increased revenue and lower costs using Bentley’s Communications Solution
• Bentley substation implementation and integration into ElectraNet SOP
• Zhaotong converter station
• Technology trends and the value-conscious utility
• New technologies for meeting the challenge in subsurface utilities
• Mission critical geospatial technology in utilities
• Best practices in multi-disciplinary collaboration in engineering
• Designing and operating better performing substations
• Achieving operational excellence through better performing assets
• Utilities of the future: Postcards from the edge

Each presentation room was equipped with full wireless AV and every presenter was totally engaging. Unlike many presentations I’ve sat through, Bentley insisted there was always enough time for a Q&A. It’s amazing how much valuable material can come to the surface ‘after the fact.’

I also learned that the phrase ‘Big Data’ has this year been replaced by ‘The Internet of Things,’ (IoT) a Microsoft-coined term taking us into the future. Using this technology, companies and enterprises need to consider the following:

• Where is your business going?
• How are you going to make it thrive?
• How will you make the most of what you have, and incorporate today’s and tomorrow’s technology breakthroughs to ensure your business is set up for the long term?
• How are you going to help your employees become more efficient?
• How are you going to reduce costs yet improve customer service?

The answers to these questions – and many more – likely already exist in any enterprise with the data and systems already in place. Ideas, innovation, and technology partners may be needed to help stop running the business and start making it thrive.

During the last evening, the awards dinner for the Be Inspired finalists was held. Again, my chin dropped a mile at the world class quality, inventiveness, ingenuity, technology, and thought processes of those who received awards. If the ones I met were any indication of achievement, however, there wasn’t a single loser in the room. My hat comes off the Bentley for giving such bright minds the opportunity to really shine.

New technology can at once be exciting and challenging to assess from a business perspective. The IoT is an amazing trend. It provides vast opportunities, but can also present a challenge. It often seems overwhelming, complicated, and expensive. What is needed is to look beyond the hype and start on a path that will unlock the potential of the Internet of Your Things. Real, transformative results in an organization await. Apparently, it’s easier than is thought.

I had to scramble to get to the airport on time following the last Utility Forum. Another British Airways Triple Seven winging its way across the Atlantic. It was there and I was there and now here I am all the wiser. The Bentley experience will stay with me and feed my mind for a long time to come.